Every now and then, a lull in our hectic schedule of commissioned animation means we are able to give one of our creatives the opportunity to spend time on a personal project, and experiment with a different style or technique, and we’re always just blown away by the results.

This time, spotlight on Ada Polcyn: Ada has been working with us for several years, starting as an animator on the Oxford University Press ‘Activate’ series of films, wowing us all with some absolutely stunning background designs for Etefy and Seafarers amongst others, and recently moving in to directing on a series of films about Psychology. We couldn’t be prouder. And when given the recent opportunity to return to her first love – animating in sand – Ada did not disappoint.

Animating on sand is… painstaking to say the least. Each frame (12 for every second of screen time) must be created or adapted from the previous frame, using nothing but various thicknesses of sand arranged over a lightbox. When done as beautifully as this piece, it creates an ethereal, poetic style of animation that retains the fingerprints of the artist who made it.

Here’s what Ada has to say about ‘Paper Ships’:

Big ships are made of wood
Small ships are made from paper
They all sink equally
Destroyed trees, destroyed planet
Dialogue between elements
And human intervention

 

Storyboard and animation by Ada Polcyn, Music and sound by Tom Silas