What is the film about?

Once there was a taxidermist, whose collection was his life; and what his life lacked most, he decided, was a Lady. But the Lady in question had other ideas.

What influenced it?

UPA animation, early Disney concept artwork of Evynd Earle and Mary Blair. Comic artwork such as the Moomins.

The film began life as an analogy on modern day dating – the main character is a taxidermist, who takes living creatures and collects them, transforming them literally into objects. To my mind this is similar to the ways in which the likes of Tinder allows us to ‘collect’ matches simply for the instantaneous gratification of being liked back, without necessarily engaging with the person at all.”

A little background information...

My grad film from the Royal College of Art, inspired by my love of fairytales, Gothic imagery, and mid-century design. It was my intention to create something stylish, silly, and OTT.

How was the film made?

The film was animated entirely frame by frame in Photoshop, and I took design inspiration from mid-century illustrators like Mary Blair, whose work on early Disney concept art I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. I wanted to use the Disney illustration style to highlight the ways in which the film undermines fairytale tropes – it’s dark, has a protagonist who’s also a serial killer, features a Damsel who refuses to be distressed.