FROM AN EVIL CRADLING
PRE-PRODUCTION 1
Introduction
'From An Evil Cradling' (1999) was produced and directed by Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran (Kavaleer Productions). Art direction was by Owen Fitzpatrick of Rocket Animation.
In the pages presented here, Kavaleer Productions and Rocket Animation would like to give a behind-the-scenes look at some of the work that went into producing this intelligent, haunting and highly visual film.
Based on Brian Keenan's book, 'An Evil Cradling', this is the story of one person's five year incarceration in war-torn Beirut, a city ravaged by civil war and secterian hatred.
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From An Evil Cradling screened at Australian cities - Summer 2002
From An Evil Cradling was screened at The Melbourne International Animation Festival 2002 (MIAF). The festival ran from 25-30 June 2002 and then moved on to Adelaide from 4-7 July and Sydney from 9-14 July. It showcased the best of recent animation as well as some special themed programs.
From An Evil Cradling is distributed by Network Ireland Television
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The selection of pre-production designs below were used to formulate the design and concept of the production. Many thanks to Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran for allowing us to present them for the first time.
A pre-production drawing of the compression chamber/coal bunker in which Brian Keenan spent a significant portion of his imprisonment. Much of the detailing, the tiny candles, matchstick stubs, 'Time' magazines used for toilet paper, and slop bowl, was gleaned by Directors Keith Foran and Andrew Kavanagh from conversations with Brian Keenan. Art director, Owen Fitzpatrick, then began the task of designing this chamber of horrors.
You can get some idea of how small this prison chamber was from the small blue sketch to the bottom left of the main drawing.
Directors Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran and art director, Owen Fitzpatrick, each contributed ideas to the film's storyboard, the shot by shot structure of the production based on Andrew Kavangh's script. The storyboard page above is taken from the 'Sea Dream' sequence of 'Music' - the chapter of 'An Evil Cradling' which the film focuses on. The storyboard is an essential element in animation filmmaking in that all of the various departments involved in the production process are made aware of what each and every shot entails - and how those shots combine to make a film that works.
A pre-production marker drawing that expands on the 'Sea Dream' storyboard shots above. The sunset sky, depicted here, was seen by Andrew Kavanagh and Owen Fitzpatrick as being rather too literal for this sequence so a more elaborate, dream-like sky technique was employed.
A production still from the 'Sea Dream' sequence. All of the various drawn elements (figure, raft, bird, reflection, thin white horizon and background) were composited at Mark Taylor's A for Animation in Bristol, England. The production employed Mark Taylor's Animo digital post-production system to composite the many thousands of drawings that were produced for the film. The animo was also used to produce many of the film's F/X. Screen ratio is 1:1.85 (35mm). Figure and bird animation supervised by Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran.
A design for another sequence of the film - the great hall of music. Due to the horrendous nature of his imprisonment, both physical and pscychological, Brian realised that he was beginning to lose his sanity. In a great hall of his imagination he could hear all the music of the world playing simultaneously for him - and him alone. The hall interior design was loosely based on Art Deco - however, the interiors reflected a somewhat glorious but empty vision of human achievement. Christian design motifs were subtly worked in with Moslem patterns.
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