Lou Romano

One of the artists whose work inspired the next stage of the design process, was the American animation and production artist Lou Romano. Known for his work and collaboration with ‘Pixar Animated Studios’, Lou’s work came to mind the instant my director compared the target audience of ‘Instinct’ to that of a Pixar animated film. The playful style and storybook quality to Romano’s artwork helped to inspire the look of the final design.

The simple, geometric style of Romano’s artwork, strips down each scene of the film to its core elements and characteristics.

Lou Romano, colorscript, “The Incredibles,” 2004. Digital painting.

Alfred Hitchcock Research

My dissertation, which ran concurrently with the project, proved to be the key source of inspiration for the final design of ‘Instinct’. The research focused on the work, and theories, of the famous film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) and his cinematic technique known as ‘pure cinema’. Throughout my research, Hitchcock enthusiast Joel Gunz provided what I consider to be the most profound analysis of the technique, by describing it as follows: “‘pure cinema’ is a combination of all the individual elements that go into a movie, working together to serve this single purpose: to draw the audience mentally, psychologically and emotionally into the world of the film.” The application of this technique to my own design work, provided the means to increase the involvement of the audience by using the set to hint at locations, rather than attempting literal representations. This approach would enable the audience to establish the world on stage in their mind and actively engage them with the performance.
Visit Joel Gunz’s blog post on ‘pure cinema’:
http://www.alfredhitchcockgeek.com/2011/07/following-hitchcock-down-pure-film.html

Realised design project – The Television Workshop 2018

The main objective of this project was to design, and produce, a set for ‘Instinct’: a devised performance courtesy of ‘The Television Workshop’. The project commenced on the 15th January, and concluded with the final performances taking place between 20th – 24th March 2018.

Visit The Television Website for more details about ‘Instinct’:
https://www.thetelevisionworkshop.co.uk/2018/instinct/