HAV is an animated short film commissioned by New Creatives North, a talent development scheme supported by Arts Council England and BBC Arts, and delivered by Tyneside Cinema.
I directed, wrote and designed the film, and the animation was produced by Arcus Animation Studios.
"A boy swims out to sea,
haunted by its call
both in his dreams
and waking hours."
haunted by its call
both in his dreams
and waking hours."
Set on an isolated island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the film follows the story of a boy haunted by visions of fish crawling under his skin. He has an unexplainable urge to become one with the sea, and the more he resists, the stronger the visions become.
〰
STILLS
A selection of illustrated stills from the film pre animation. These were created to both provide assets and a clear reference for shots. The film has a mix of frame-by-frame and rigged animation, with some shots looking quite different in the final film.
The dream (illustration by Eleanor Szydlowska)
Hav awakes (illustration by Eleanor Szydlowska and Rachel Middleton)
Hav awakes (illustration by Eleanor Szydlowska)
Plunging underwater (illustration by Eleanor Szydlowska and Rachel Middleton)
A vision (illustration by Eleanor Szydlowska)
Swimming (illustration by Eleanor Szydlowska)
COncept Art
Concept art created to explore the mood, characters and environments within the film. I used this to also finalise a palette and style of the film, and used it as reference for myself and other illustrators working on the project, as well as design documents for other contributors such as composers and producers.
The Village and the Sea
Drowning as the Whale Watches
The Beach
I focused on creating a moody and atmospheric feeling to the film, using different tones of teal as the main colour in the film. I used minimally used red as a stark contrast to this, using it for buildings and small details. I also aimed to use a simpler style to my regular illustration work to make it easier to animate and be consistent with the character model.
The Village
Hav's Bedroom
The Village
Hav's Concept
From the initial design, I focused on simplifying the character design to both match the landscape style and be easier to animate. As the film centres around a dream, his clothing is simple pyjamas, and his hair is messy to reflect his disrupted sleep. I wanted the design to have two key colours, red and teal, like the rest of the film.
I also focused on making his features more youthful, giving him a doe eyed look as well as softer, rounder features. As Hav is around 16-18, I didn't want his face or frame to appear much older and adult.
ANimatic
Early Development Art
Hav (Initial Design)
Hav's early design
Hav's early face design
In this first design, I used a much closer style to my normal drawing style - lots of lines and fine details. Firstly, we decided the style was too complicated for the budget and time to make the film, and further, that his frame and features were much older than his actual age. I liked how distinctive the red lines looked, and so I used this and the other suggestions, and implemented them all into the later designs.
World Concept Art
Drowning
Through these sketches, I wanted to explore the world Hav inhabits, focusing on the sea and Hav's relationship to it. I experimented with brushes and effects to see what style would work for this project, as well as sticking to a small palette of red and teal.
The Whale
Haunted by the Sea
PRE Development Concept Art
HAV (2017)
The first concept piece exploring the initial idea I had. Here, the boy lays still, floating in the sea. This image was very strong for me, and started off the whole project.
Visions of the Sea (2018)
A piece exploring the imagery of this project. The boy is haunted by fish in his sea themed nightmares.