Wednesday 18 Nov 2009 - 13:48
A spot to promote the forthcoming series of E4's teen drama Skins features a trailer drawn from the illustrations of Ben Tallon. We sat down with him to learn more about the project.
DA: How did you come to work on the project?
BT: "I met a director from Channel 4 at the 'Decked project,' a Brick Lane exhibition of 50 designers work on skateboard decks. I went down to check out the Channel 4 HQ and stayed in touch with the guys. The job came through a few weeks later. Good break."
DA: What was the brief?
BT: "The brief was for a 30-second trailer to air on E4 for six weeks to promote the Skins season 4 'mash up' trailer, encouraging students and recent graduates to put together their own videos. My style is very frenetic, lively and super contemporary so the trailer needed that very choppy feel about it."
DA: What were your ideas on how to execute it?
BT: "I just got really excited and felt like I should cast off any inhibitions and fears of making mistakes. Just get the scalpels and inks out and attack the paper. I wanted to be surreal with it, let the ideas and quirks flow as I developed each character."
DA: Did you create the animations yourself?
BT: "No, I worked with Mike Moloney Studio in London. I sent everything over as separate Photoshop layers -- from the initial skeletal marks right thorough to the finished multi layered files. The guys over there then dropped in the cast photos and the hand drawn type I also created."
DA: How does it feel to have someone else animate your work?
BT: "It's always hard to envision the final outcome when somebody brings their own ideas to the table and it's out of your hands -- but this was relatively new territory for me so I was happy for the pros to take charge. They executed it superbly in the end."
Digital Art Staff
For more information see the Ben Tallon Web site.
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