Reflections

Animation Everywhere

2008-06-27T02:33:00.000-07:00

Here's the first of the animated segments from Hasan's book. In the scene at his apartment, Dorit imagines the illustrations coming to life. This piece was done in After Effects by Darren Lakes. It will then be mapped to 3D pages which are basically just flat polygons but will move like suspended paper with a realistic motion. The scene has about 30 images mapped in such a way, about 5 of these will have full animation.

Under the Bridge

2008-05-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the blog is finally back! We haven't been idle though...After many long and hard decisions our film is settling down at the six minute mark and is as lean as we can get in animatic form. We have a team of animators working classically, a 3d department in place and we begin assist and colour next week. Here's a sneak preview of one of the 98 secnes of 'Reflections'. It's an establishing shot under the Queen's Expressway ( a little artistic licence with the Greenwich sushi bar!) on a rainy night in the winter of 2002. In the final composit, Hasan and Dorit will shelter from the sleet under the bridge while a train thunders overhead. Background art by Ray Forkan, After Effects by Katja Schumann. We're working on a teaser in house so watch this space for more of the same!

Character Design

2008-01-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

Just getting in the first approved character design from June, who is doing a fabulous job. The final 'look' will be looser, more like an ink drawing, but these drawings are helping nail the underlying structural reference the animators will need.

Hasan and Andrew

2008-01-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

When I was in Ramallah, Khaled gave me this clip of Hasan, caught on his friend Andrew's cellphone. Its the only footage I have of him, but so much of his personality is on show even in these few seconds...

Now that the task of animating Hasan is nearly here, such clips are invaluable.

Preproduction

2008-01-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Well, we're finally up and running, although making as many revisions as decisions for the moment. In January Ray Forkan, fresh off 'Brendan, Secret of Kells' took up the helm on layout and last week June Wright took on the turnarounds for character design. Meanwhile, I am trying to piece together the new narrative, based on Ray's concept design, my experiences travelling to New York and Palestine and the myriad of photographic and video research that resulted from those trips. We need to kick off production on February 11th, so lots of hard decisions to be made in the coming week...

2007-10-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

'Suddenly, and how ironic that it should happen with you of all people, I found in my voice a true love of homeland. I had to sit with a Palestinian guy on the freezing steps of City Hall in Brooklyn in order to admit to myself how attached I am to Israel. I had to go all the way to New York so that you, with the nostalgia of one born to a refugee family, who grew up with the ongoing longing for the landscapes that surrounded me throughout my whole life, would describe them to me. Far from them, by your side, I loved them perhaps more than ever.'

2007-10-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

'The Indian owner of the cigarette stand on West 4th Street, for example: To me he would sell the daily packet with impassive politeness; in your presence, he turned into a glib conjurer with a mysterious expression, who juggled with his fingers and pulled the change out of his left ear.'

-From 'The Exile's Return' by Dorit Rabinyan

Sourcing the Inspiration

2007-10-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

Started tracking Hassan's footsteps in earnest yesterday by walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan, I wanted to get a feel first hand for the places that inspired his drawings. One of my favourite images from 'Hassan Everywhere' is the magic train out of which Hassan flies on his way to a glittering city. For me, this is clearly inspired by the neo-gothic architecture of the Brooklyn Bridge. I made my way to the Lower East Side, looking for the Cairo Cafe on East Houston, but sadly Mohammed Ouda's establishment seems to have fallen prey to Bloomberg's anti-smoking laws (they made 75% of their income from Hookah sales), and a kebab shop stands in the place where one of the most poignant scenes in the film takes place. I ended the night walking to E.8th Street in the East Village, where Dorit and Hassan met, and walked along the tree lined sidewalks where the first scene of the film takes place.

Brooklyn

2007-10-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Everything here is a photo op. You put the camera down for two seconds and you miss something. Since I got here I've mostly been in Brooklyn staying with Shivers, but been downtown in Manhattan and out to Hoboken N.J. as well. Was pretty fried yesterday, but happy with some impromptu shots I got just buzzing about town. Today I'm going to head out the East Village to start looking for Dorit and Hassan's hangouts, and whatever texture comes my way in the meantime.

A Story about Friendship

2007-10-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

I first heard the name Hassan Hourani in Dorit Rabinyan's article 'The Exile's Return' in the Guardian in April 2004. Since then I've been trying to find a way to tell the story of their friendship, and in a style which reflects Dorit's prose and Hassan's drawings. In June of this year that opportunity arose. The film was commissioned by the 'Frameworks' scheme, a joint initiative of the Irish Film Board, RTE and The Arts Council of Ireland. This will be my fifth Frameworks film, and without doubt the most challenging to date. I set out from the start to reflect the true life circumstances with began with their meeting in late 2002 up until Hassan's untimely death in summer 2003 as faithfully as possible. To this end, I am retracing their footsteps, from the initial meeting on 8th Avenue in New York, through Hassan's home in Ramallah, and ultimately to the beach at Jaffa in Israel where Hassan drowned. I have been aided immeasurably in getting to this point by Dorit herself, Hassan's brothers Khaled and Mahmoud, as well as the Hourani family and Khaled's colleagues at the Palestine Art Academy. Preproduction begins this week, and my first step takes me to New York this friday to visit and film the places where Dorit and Hassan lived and worked.