House of the Rising Sun

Fergal Hughes

“I saw this project as an opportunity to experiment with combining the two types of film I’ve been practising; animation and live action. My motivation behind applying was that if my proposal were to be selected I would have to produce something which looked professional and intriguing. My inspirations for this are of course the Aardman films in terms of the stop frame plasticine animation, and then the films of Wes Anderson, in terms of the flat, square framing and deadpan style.”

Fergal's proposal

My idea for the brief “It gets Lighter From Here” was to make something which is not only a challenge and experiment from my point of view, but something entertaining and interesting to watch. As one of the main aspects of the brief was to be only 60 seconds in length, I was keen to not fall back on my usual tendency to overcomplicate things. This is why the film predominantly only shows one point of view, and shows a very simple story of a wizard walking past a miserable looking house, and in the course of 60 seconds transforms it into a bright and vibrant house.

About the artist

Over the last couple of years Fergal has been making short films, teaching himself camera, lighting and editing (and in some extreme cases, acting). In the last year in particular, Fergal has focused most on animation, using plasticine, photoshop and pastels creating films which are silly and entertaining to watch. Fergal's ambition is to find a job in the production industry where he can do what he enjoys professionally!