A chilling battle unfolds within the eerie confines of a graveyard, revealing a deadly clash between a relentless demon and a mysterious stranger. This atmospheric tale delves into the realms of dark magic, forbidden rituals, and the haunting power of a disembodied beating heart encased in a jar.
Created as part of the La Horla Collective event that took place on the 23/02/2024 this animatic was a collaboration between myself and musical artist Alex Sinesi otherwise known as ‘Horla’ (also a founding member of the collective)
With Alex's initial concept in mind, he tasked me with visualizing his idea to be projected during his stage performance at an upcoming show. The brief was straightforward: a showdown between good and evil, drawing inspiration from the hammer horror films of the seventies.
Approaching the animatic like storyboarding a film sequence, I mapped out the main action points and then added the necessary detail and camera movements. During the editing phase, I opted to give the sequence a motion comic feel, framing the images with motifs reminiscent of my favourite comics.
During the storyboard process, I was concerned that the scenes were lacking impact, therefore I decided to come at the project from a different direction. By starting with a black canvas I tasked myself with drawing in the light areas of the scene (rether than making dark marks on a white canvas). This achieved a distinctive visual style that took on the appearance of a woodblock print.
Later, Alex expressed interest in visually contributing to the piece, incorporating a dance sequence to disorient the viewer before the climactic showdown between our hero and villain.
Performed to a packed audience in February 2024, True to our DIY approach I was tasked with initiating the performance. As the preceding audio drew to a close, we paused for dramatic effect. I then started the animation and at the correct moment I (slightly over dramatically) raised my fist into the air signalling Alex to begin.
This approach was risky, however the jeopardy added a tension to piece which worked in our favour. The performance and accompanying animation received an incredibly warm reception, for which I am immensely grateful.
I had the pleasure to work with Nick on numerous projects, the most recent one was “Deliah’s Heart“. His vision and knowledge of the his craft are unbelievable , making the working process very quick whilst still delivering an outstanding final result.
Nick is also one of the nicest people to hang out with , which is probably the most important qualities to possess in this line of work!
Alex Sinesi
Co-Founder La Horla Collective
• Translating the concept into a visual narrative
• Illustrating the storyboards with adequate stage direction.
• Editing the stills from a static sequence, into a sequence the compliments the accompanying music
• Adding animation to the sequence to bring specific elements to life.
• Liaising with collaborator to ensure the vision is true to the original brief.
• Live performance, giving the queue to initiate the performance.
