Herborn 2001, real-footage and animation, ca 18min
sketchbook • conceptual art • storyboard • stills • quicktimes
Herborn was my degree-film at Bauhaus University. The idea to create a film about the history of my hometown I developed when I realised how few publications there were dealing with the topic in a satisfying way. My approach was to try and recreate the atmosphere of the various historical periods that have shaped the town, and over the centuries have left traces in its architecture. I also wanted to show the more hidden corners and fascinating places and artefacts that are mostly unknown even to locals.
My research involved a lot of reading, and collecting material, texts and images alike, which I arranged in a sketchbook – parts of which can be viewed below. Moving on from there, I began filming in the town. Often I got permission to visit and film in places that are restricted to the public, which provided me with unusual and quite fascinating imagery. All in all I had about 18 hours of raw material which was then edited down to 18 minutes.
To recreate historical events and personae, I used animation (again pencil on tracing paper). The animated scenes are suggestions, associations that I have with particular periods. Below are conceptual and costume sketches, and storyboards I used for planning the animated sequences. I did not add a spoken commentary in order to let the images work their magic unexplained. I did use music, though, mostly from Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque times, these being the periods that are the most prominent in Herborn's history.
The film was shown at Herborn's Historical Society in 2002, and also at an exhibition of several of my Tolkien-inspired illustrations in Herborn the same year.
conceptual art and costume sketches
Parts of film as quicktime-movies:
• beginning (11,8mb)
• library (1,8mb)
• not planned (712kb)
hts:
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