Marvin: A Short Look at How the Film was Made
Marvin's Glasses
Original Storyboard
Early Concept Art
New Storyboard and Color Schemes
Further Concept Art
About H. and Marvin
Born in Oxford, Mississippi, H. graduated in 2015 from Bennington College in Vermont with a BA in Animation and Music and is currently completing a MFA in Animation at Edinburgh College of Art. Beyond independent animation projects, H. worked with ceramicist Arnie Zimmerman and animator Steve Oaks at Inner City Productions in 2015 to make a stop-motion animation featuring Zimmerman’s sculptures. H. also has worked in a variety of media and fields, including creating large-scale sculptures of bioluminescent jellyfish for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, working with children and creating interactive learning experiences at the Providence Children’s Museum in Rhode Island, and developing a new program for the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council that fosters the talent of up-and-coming young artists in Mississippi.
While studying, H. has enjoyed exploring and experimenting with new techniques of animating, focusing particularly on combining media and techniques to create a unique, hybrid product. With a passion for traditional forms of animation but a desire for the ease and quickness of digital animation, H. has sought ways to base work in hand drawn or stop motion animation but to also integrate computer-based techniques for compositing scenes and creating a sense of harmony between distinct styles.
For Marvin, H. wanted to continue to experiment with techniques as on previous films, but in such a way as to support the plot of the film. Marvin takes place in a rich and diverse city where no two characters look alike; however, the main character Marvin still manages to stand out. With the unique but uncontrollable ability to take on the physical characteristics of everybody he meets, Marvin quickly finds himself in a constant state of flux and with an ever-growing desire to fit in. After some experimentation, H. found the desired look for the film in a style sometimes called 2 ½ -D. H. built largely flat, two-dimensional sets, with select props in full three-dimensions, and filmed background stop motion animation on a multiplane system, in which the sets are layered on tiers of glass to give depth of field to an otherwise two-dimensional image. H. then animated the characters by hand on paper, scanned each frame into a computer, and added textures, colors, and additional shading digitally, finally integrating the final product on top of the filmed backgrounds. To create a greater sense of cohesion between the multiple styles utilized, H. added additional digital effects and lighting to the scenes. This blend of techniques and styles gives the film a roughness and tactility despite its clean lines that mirrors Marvin’s constantly changing internal and external situation.
H.'s Demo Reel
