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the Bells of Rhymney \\by Idris Davies

“O what can you give me? Say the sad bells of Rhymney.

Is there hope for the future? Cry the brown bells of Merthyr.

Who made the mineowner? Say the black bells of Rhondda.

And who robbed the miner? Cry the grim bells of Blaina.

They will plunder willy-nilly, Say the bells of Caerphilly.

They have fangs, they have teeth Shout the loud bells of Neath.

To the south, things are sullen, Say the pink bells of Brecon.

Even God is uneasy, Say the moist bells of Swansea.

Put the vandals in court Cry the bells of Newport.

All would be well if — if — if — Say the green bells of Cardiff.

Why so worried, sisters, why Sing the silver bells of Wye.”

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Story boards

After the inital concept work was completed and the the outline for the story was established I went on to storyboarding the the film.  the story board process was where the first concepts began to change and we started adding newer elaments.

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Lost concept

Orginaly the story for CWM DDU was quite diffirent.

The original concept was more about someone whith a split personalit rather than someone havig to open their eyes.  the people wern’t all blind or bad and the film wasn’t entirly set within a very yellow and black setting.  however after a short part of one to ones we had started to hammer out the newer concept that was posted below for the BFI submission.

The submission itself is mostly the changing force in my work and created a new course for me away from the initial concepts I was playing with to move more introspective rather than escapist.

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Concept Designs

Durring the application process there was a period where I had to visualise the project in some way.  As I always wnated to use basic colours to styalise my work I chose to initialy only use black, yellow and red.

The concepts themselves were initally just spitballed ideas and designs that evntually stuck.  There was not much else changed in lated designs however the young boy (Gwyn) did end up having larger eyes in the final animation to help give more emotion.

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BFI ANIM18 APPLICATION

The following was the original questions and answers that I had to answer on the application form.  Appart for them treatemnt the BFI required me to defend my ideas and explaine to them key aspects of the production.

Although on second viewing I find the I had answered most of the questions in quite an underwhelming way, I still stand strong about sevral points.

*side note All refrences to the welsh language was saddly dropped and more of a influence from the poet Idris Davies taken up in it’s place.

Roadkill (2016) https://vimeo.com/218697667 I AM (2015) https://vimeo.com/183228415 showreel (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R02Bw-jrucE&t=1s Piller (2014) https://vimeo.com/121825011 Snow Star (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K01-LML81Zk&t=3s

Name * Arwyn Neil Hughes

Are you a resident in the UK? * Yes

Email * arwynneilhughes@gmail.com

Are you entering as an individual or as the main applicant of a team? * Team

How did you hear about Animation 2018? * Through twitter and a personal email addressed to me.

Project proposal: *(250) This project is to be a representation of the divide in the disadvantages areas of the South welsh valleys, and how those divides have caused paranoia and anti social behaviour amounts the communities.  The film itself is about a town surrounded by walls in a state of divide, living with the emptiness of the loss of industry socially and physically scaring their community.  One young boy called Gwyn however realises the deep issues affecting his town when a large crack appears at the centre of the town.  This young person hopes to bring awareness to the townspeople, and end the violent paranoia that grips his dying town.

Is this project entirely new (i.e. yet to be started)? * Yes

How will you achieve your idea? * (250) I will achieve my idea through experimenting with multimedia techniques and visual design, mostly in the realm of overlaying traditional 2D animation over elaborate sets created from card and cut out materials.  Through this process I will blend these techniques together to create a type of surrealism and dreamlike world with an element of tactility through the materials.   Another way I will achieve the idea is through utilising a simple colour design and lighting to create a lived in environment and vibrant landscape.  The characters themselves will be represented at times either through cut out animation or full 2D animation to represent the diversity of the community featured in the town and to add an elements of pop/pulp stylings to the artistic direction of the short.  I would also like to incorporate the welsh language into my production either in a bilingual manner or for the production to be fully in he welsh language, aether through dialogue or narration.

Do you have principle contributors and if so who are they? * (250) The team I’ve put together for this project are a mix of fine artists and former animators that I have collaborated with in my studies.  Ronnie cook is a fine artists studying a MA in Fine art at the Cardiff School of Art and Design and will be the lead background and set designer.  With her help I hope to create the card sets and landscape of the film, this including all 3D elements. My second Collaborator is another fine artists called Jonathan Humphries who will help create some of the flat scenery much like the sky, the landscape and general still 2D backdrops that will be pared with Ronnie’s 3D models.  At current there is discussion to bring on an additional animator to help with the compositing and animation during the end of the project.  This person would be an animator by the name of Ynyr Emlyn who's expressed his interest in helping with these aspects of the production further on.  Lastly I would like to mention the community themselves as I hope to go out and interview members of my local town to get their opinions of how they personally feel about the divide in the community, and to help me further represent their thoughts and feeling through the film.

Where will you make the film? *(250)  The films production will be at Cardiff Metropolitan University, School of art and Design campus. This is because as a student at the school of art and design I will have access to a large space, where I will be able to build and shoot a lot of the sets for the short.

When will you make the film? *(250) Film Production will start around May of this year.  Until that date I will be working on key development and preproduction for the film, and ironing out other aspects like full design sheets and concepts.  Also during this period I will be scouting the community for their views and thought.

What size grant do you require? *(250) The grant size I’d be looking at would be around £4,000 to £4,500, I believe that is a sufficient amount to allow me to keep production going and to complete the short on schedule.  I also believe that this amount would help with equally supporting my team and allow them to have access to equipment, supplies and other necessities for this project.  More specific spending information can be found in the attached budget sheet.

How does your submission reflect diversity in Britain in 2018? *(250)  With this film I looking to reflect on the socio-economically disadvantaged communities of the welsh valleys towns and the communities so often forgotten by mainstream media, unless it is to mock or to represent them as under educated or backwards.  With the film I will also be introducing voices of the youth of these forgotten valleys towns and to represent opinions shared by young people from these communities and to also represent the older generations thoughts on their community.  Through this film I will build awareness to the divide that in these current times has pushed these communities to xenophobia and social and economical divide and has began to tear apart community of the welsh valleys as more young people leave to pursue work prospects and education away from their home towns, leaving the towns to slowly die and prompting further divide on the committees struggling to maintain their relevance.  As a welsh speaker and a member of these valleys communities and as someone who has had to see this slow death happening, I feel that as a local voice these issues and divides eating away at these communities is vastly under represented and reflects the ever changing diverse landscape of the UK in this current political landscape.

How is your submission distinctive? *(250)  The distinction in my submission is the use of storytelling through the welsh language, as I feel that the welsh language is under represented in short form animation and should be used more frequently and seen as another way to drive the story of a short film and be used to engage with audiences and represent the issues relating to the welsh language and the communities that still use it.  Another part of this project that makes it unique is the artistic style and visual aspect of the production.  With this I’m opting for a vibrant black and yellow colour motif and a mixed media approach top design.  In this I hope to use large painted backdrops, small and large card sets painted in the black and yellow scheme and to place the animation over the top and layering it into the sets.  Through this I hope to achieve a unique stylisation that would make the production stand out, and have a unique voice.

Can you confirm that you and, if relevant, your team members, have not had a key creative credit on more that three (3) professional short films and no broadcast tv programme or feature length film? * Yes

Who will manage production resources and budget? What experience do they have in this capacity? *(250) Thomas Edgar – Producer of Barneyloon Films, experience in both TV and film production and so is familiar with short film budgeting Also a Stop Motion Animator so is aware of the stop motion process and the budgeting surrounding the process.

Are you or your team members students? Yes

Do you have a mentor? Yes

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Treatment and other documentation for BFI application

Even tho I failed at getting to the next stage of the submittion I still had to complete the full application form.  The following is the original treatment written for the submission however since thne there has been sevral amendments to the original outline.

Cwm Ddu (Black Valley) Film Treatment

Cwm ddu (Black Valley working Title) Film Treatment

by Arwyn Neil Hughes

The film itself takes place in a Welsh valleys town surrounded by roads that lead away from it. The town is stacked on top of itself over and over again and surrounded by a large wall. The towns mines have long since gone, it’s industry long since dead and now the population is sitting on a large empty abyss that echoes below its streets. The town is divided over its future, torn between the ageing population and the youth that still lives there. What I hope to represent with the abyss is the emptiness of the community, and how they feel now that all the industry and vibrancy of their town has been sucked away. Most of the towns people are run by the TV boxes distracted from the great crack that has surfaced from the abyss. The great crack itself is a physical and psychological representation of the community’s psyche, and how the town is a living, breathing thing - becoming the burdening metaphor for the collapse in communication between people. However, one young man on the cusp of watching his town pull itself apart looks out across the wall hoping to get away and escape the needless social dismay that has brought the towns people to fight and divide. The young man symbolises the people looking for a solution. Watching the great crack worsen as the divide in people grows stronger. Paranoia running rampant, people becoming anxious and all communication breaking down in the desolated wasteland of this small valleys town. Where the walls surround, and the roads lead away. All the while this one young man watches on looking for hope and a way to escape, while feeling the impending doom of the abyss waiting to swallow the town in its mighty jaws. The duration of the film will be roughly 3 to 5 minutes as I believe this will be long enough to be completed by deadline, and to represent a story of this scale. The film itself will utilise sets to bring to life the scale of the large town and to imply it being stacked on top of a mountain. The size of the sets themselves will fluctuate from close up shots to large establishing shots to give the town a sense of scale and realism. The reasoning behind me using these sets made of card and paper is because the material evokes the fragility of the social situation in the story. The material itself, either paper or card, is easily torn or ripped apart, and I believe through using these materials for the sets it adds another layer of depth to the sub context of the story. For the colour scheme, I’ve chosen a black and yellow motif to give it a vibrancy to make it stand out against the dark dirty landscape. This will also be echoed in the colours used for the sky backdrop and the characters themselves, both will have their own unique defining colours. The sky backdrop will be solid broad colours reflecting times of day. A deep blue for the midday scenes, and light orange for the sun sets and an almost navy and black colour scheme for night. I also want to include a garish red into the sky as the story progresses to intertwine that sense of paranoia and divide in the towns people. For the characters, I hope to use utilise a type of green and quite earthy colours, something more natural. The dark themes, pulpy aesthetic and overall feeling of division were chosen to be represented in the film, because of how they relate to my personal experiences living in these valleys communities and from what I’ve personally witness over a long period of time. I believe these rather dark themes and subject matters relating to devision, violence and a sense of hopelessness, have a strong connotation with the Valleys post

industrialisation. They are both intertwined with each other and in some way match each other. This is not to say that there is not hope, or there is no light in these communities. Which is a subject matter I hope to explore in this animation also. But these dark atheistic and themes help paint an atmosphere about the film that can convey devision rather than having to spell it out to the audiences watching.

Also I believe that the Welsh language has no representation through the rest of the United kingdom and should be put as a priority to the production, in order to show widespread audiences that the Welsh language can be used to tell dynamic and engaging stories that represent the communities that still use it.

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Update

After being unsuccessful with my BBC4 BFI pitch I will be continuing with the project over my initial idea of a police film and will got being completing Doorway for the time being to focus directly here.

Attached is the initial ideas sheet

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I’m looking to write something this powerful

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Phanomonology!

That word hurts to think about but it’s the word of the year.

Phanomonology has plagued me ever since I was asked to dig deep and look at what introspective themes have informed my work.

I’m drawn back to a memory of my first year where I was asked to present three painting that I enjoyd.  The three paintings I picked were:

- Guernica by Picasso

- Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco Goya

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An what I noticed was these paintings have direct relation to what I would call my three favourite films:

- Apocolyps Now

- Pink Floyd the Wall

- Akira

The link is in the themes that the paintings and the films share.  Masculinity, war and some for of polictical or social unrest.  These key themes are important to my phanomonology as they come back up time and time again in my research, books, animations etc.

Violence on the other hand (which is a theme that is ofton associated with my work) actually is the theme or pin that holds all of these other themes in place and adds to them a sense of danger.  Through violence I’m exploring maculin archetypes, fring culture, political unrest, the disinfrancised and war (in a more socail way).

I belive more research is required however These are important themes and Ideas that all tie back to audiences and nostalgia for the VHS and that interaction with people and how they consume meadia and even how it influences their perception of reality.

21/02/18

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A short note to feeling low

In these current times there are so many terrable things happening in the world that it’s hard to see some sort of joy or light.

It just makes you feel drained and tired.

However it may seem at times and how tired you feel you must remember tha the sun will always rise in the morning and the wind will always blow.

In times of feeling low we should rest and recharge and allow our bodies natural feelings to refule or else feel drained.

Let’s hope that through rest we can awaken into a better world

15/02/18

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Doorway storyboards draft 1

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Animation 2018

Recently it has been brpought to my attention that Anim18 has started and that the BFI and BBC 4 have started a process of giving grants to new animators to create a brodcast animation.

The frst I heared of this was yesterday from a twitter post by the BFI, however I have now been emailed by a Matimba Kabalika asking about my intrest and linking me the artical with the application links.

I have asked for a one to one on this new development and fingers crossed we apply and it works out.

link:

https://network.bfi.org.uk/news-and-features/industry-insights/animation-2018

heres hoping 15/02/18

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Current Reading:

Pulp by Charles Bukowski

So far Bukowski has crafter an interesting, exciting and engaging thrillride that I can’t seem to fathem how it’ll end.  His writings remind me of my favorite style of wring GONZO. And although Bukowski himself did not experience these thing first hand and is mearly wrting in the pulp style as indicated by the title, the world he crafts feel asthough he has livied it and even witnessed it.  I’m very excited to see where this story leads and ultimatly concludes.

FLCL by Stephanie Sheh, Hajime Ueda

Many moons ago I had come across the OVA (original video animation) of FLCL and found it exciting, bizzar thrill ride that never stopped entertaining.  The manga however is much diffirent and runs at a much slower pace than the OVA opting to take a more contemplative look at dissinfrancised youth and how the adults around them seem to ignore their childern.  The story itself is mostly focused on metaphores for puberty in young people and uses large robots appearing from their heads as the example.  Over all looking to see where this story will differ in the ending from the OVA.

Gunsmith Cats by Kenichi Sonoda

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The State Department (short film) Update #1

Following the animation clean up and completion of DOORWAY I will be creating another animated short film revolving around state police control and distopian society in the not to distant future.  So far I have met recent graduate and alumnai Rosie Bowery who visted the campus to talk at one of the Vertical Studio sessions.

Rosie’s focus is on activism and politics in art relating to illustration which I belive are prevelent themes that I wish to access and disscuss through this short.  After the session i asked if to have a one to one with Rosie which went well and was very insightful.  Rosie expressed great intresst in the short and the idea of state controlled police attacking indeviduals willing to speack out at their oppression.

Because of this I have been sent sevral links and examples to look into by Rosie which I will share the email in it’s entiraty down below.

Hi there!

It was great to chat to you today, I'm really looking forward to seeing how your work resolves itself.

So there are a few things that I got thinking about...

Firstly, there's a great chapter on private security in James Meek's book. https://www.versobooks.com/books/1731-private-island It's an easy read. It'll be in a library! I'm sure you've seen 13th on Netflix? It talks a lot about how the prison system/police system is stacked against the black community.

Oh my! I almost forgot. One of the most... upsetting issues of late for me was Standing Rock. I mean, the images that came out of that were absolutely staggering. Such an amazingly powerful photograph.

Also I don't know if you've come across Foucault's elaboration of Bentham's 'panopticon' design?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/23/panopticon-digital-surveillance-jeremy-bentham

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

I think the idea of police state and surveillance go hand in hand. We're in a strange place now where you can find yourself in trouble before something illegal has even been done. I lived with a guy who was detained under anti-terrorism laws at an airport for a very long time merely because he is outspoken on anti-police and other politcal issues.

These ideas are also re-presented in this book - it's got a tech twist on the panopticon.; https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/30/psychopolitics-neolberalism-new-technologies-byung-chul-han-review

Anyway! Aesthetics... I think you're bang on the money when you talk about banking on the strong visuals of fascism. It's almost a universal language isn't it? Depressing!

Nevertheless, bring Jonathan Meades in to your life! He did an amazing series on Italian fascist architecture. This programme is amazingggg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiQE9xs-yac

Jonathan Meades - Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism

www.youtube.com

Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European ...

Brutalist architecture comes off pretty darn fascist as well doesn't it? Lots to look at in terms of a set design.

Anyways, it was great to meet you. Give me a shout if you have any questions or just want to talk an idea through.

Best wishes,

Rosie

I’ll try and digest this stuff as soon as possable, fingers crossed I can get it done soon.

14/02/18

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Doorway: An animated short extras

This post is being made in order to share some of the other pre production and edits, animation tests etc that have been made since of september 2017.  The following videos are of animation tests, an animatic edit and short digital animation tests.

DOORWAY: ANIMATIC EDIT

DOORWAY: ANIMATION TESTS

12/02/18

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Doorway: An animated short update #1

Production on my first short film of my MA Illustration course has reached a sound edit and a music edit.  At this point in time the only available edit to view online is the sound edit which I will link below. 

Other thank that new the film itself has undergone a complete plot and definition editing with the film no longer being a random act or series of events, but transforming into a commentery on the ‘have’s and have not’s’ lifestyle that has become prevelent in our current society with the man not killing the woman out of hate, sexism or assoult but because of wealth.

The revised edit will follow shortly along with the music/sound edit that contains the original narritive structure intact.

I will probabaly be back with the other production stuff relating to this animation.

14/02/18