Although he may not ever be harassed by ‘normal people’ when he walks down the high street, become a household name or find himself ‘pap-ed’ and in the pages of Heat Magazine, to most animators, Barry Purves is a God amongst men.

With some of the most beautiful and intelligent films ever animated on his CV, he’s a director/animator/storyteller with an abundance of passion and a frankly scary amount of patience. His films have a unique aesthetic that reveal his love and extensive knowledge of theater, culture and literature from around the world. They are also amongst the first examples I use when I need to provide evidence of animation as a serious, grown up medium.

But I didn’t write this post merely to wax lyrical about Barry Purves (although if you have a few hours, I definitely recommend checking out his website and films (in particular Screenplay, Rigoletto, Next, Achilles and… you know what? just buy the DVD)). He’s recently finished his latest film about the life of Tchaikovsky and has posted a time lapse video of the process. This video is a great insight into the art of bringing a model to life through the painstaking animation process, so I thought I’d bring it to the masses (that’s you…)