A Talk With Barry Purves

A while ago, we were lucky enough to have Barry Purves come in to talk about his work and give us tips to help our practice. His work was so beautiful that it made me want to drop everything and start a career in Stop-Motion Animation and I found it particularly inspiring when he talked over his animations, breaking down each scene, telling us about what was happening and the reasoning behind each decision made, especially with Plume.

Still from Plume

Plume is a about a "primaeval winged man" that "falls to earth and is robbed of his freedom by his alter egos. He finds redemption by casting off his former existence", and according to Barry, is a "textbook 3 Act structure". Whilst watching, Barry explained the importance of shot framing, and how he had always shown the character facing and travelling right to left, to show his journey and the geography of the scenes. It was also made sure that the character fell from the top right hand corner of the frame when he was beginning to struggle and experience trauma, and rise up towards the top left hand side of the frame when he is beginning to heal in the end. The lighting and colour that was used also helped to portray how the character survived trauma. For instance the white character on a black background shifts to a darker character on a light/white background when he is recovering at the end of the animation. 

Barry's Tips:

- Try to keep a 'front' to your compositions. Sometimes it can make things confusing if you start working from the 'back' and view more than 180 degrees. 

- Similarly, always cut to things that are in the same relation to the frame. For example, if you have a wide shot of a character laid down and want to cut to a close up of the face, make sure to keep the same shot framing, otherwise the cut can be quite jarring and/or confusing. 

Example of Shot Framing

- Blinking out of sequence can help create un-nerving characters.

- Even the smallest gesture can greatly improve the story-telling

- "Tell stories to say 'I'm here'"

- Use colour, editing, texture and lighting to help tell your stories.

- 'Masks' can be used to help talk about ourselves, and are often used to aid storytelling. For instance, Mary Poppins is a mask that helps us see the damage in the family, and she helps the family see this so that they can heal. Mary's Umbrella is her mask that allows the audience to learn more about her character as she talks to it. 

- Have a good showreel for when you leave.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to what Barry had to say, especially because he talked with such passion about his work. I thought the way he captured movement in his animations was astonishing, his love for theatre clearly shows in his work, as the characters really put on a performance that makes for very touching pieces. This is definitely something I would like to strive for, and shall practice in future projects.