Mixed-Media | Effy 'Silent Believer' Animation Snippets
I created ten mixed media animation sequences for Effy’s ‘Silent Believer’ music video, combining hand drawn elements, collage, scratching, print textures and hand written lyrics. Working frame by frame at 8fps before retiming to 24fps, I experimented with different materials and techniques to bring a tactile, handmade feel to the footage.
Here are 6 of the 10 animation sequences. View all ten animations in the full music video here.
I cut out the subject from the original footage and layer them over paper textures inspired by old school exercise books. I then animated the different frames by hand, playing with movement and layering to create a collage that feels like the subjects have been cut out and brought to life on the page.
01
COLLAGE
ORIGINAL ARTWORK / SCAN
FINAL ANIMATION / WITH SOUND
For this animation, I experimented with glossy photographic paper, scratching directly into the frames to bring out colour and texture. It reminded me of scratching into a film negative, which I really enjoyed. I combined this with collage and hand drawn animation, playing around with different colours, marks and styles to see what I could create and how each approach could evoke a different feeling.
02
COLLAGE & SCRATCH
ORIGINAL ARTWORK / SCAN
FINAL ANIMATION / WITH SOUND
I experimented with scratching alone this time, using glossy photographic paper to see what I could achieve with just the scratches themselves. I loved how they revealed the white underneath, which can be quite tricky to bring out in mixed media. When scanning the frames, I used an illustrator’s light table to illuminate the paper from below as well as above, helping the scratches stand out and giving the final images a bit more punch.
03
SCRATCHING
ORIGINAL ARTWORK / SCAN
FINAL ANIMATION / WITH SOUND
FINAL ANIMATION / WITH SOUND
05
For this one, I combined scratching with collage and hand written captions. I scratched directly into the frames, then wrote the lyrics onto school textbook paper inside little cartoon speech bubbles. Cutting them out and sticking them onto the right frames with Sellotape meant the paper, tape and handwriting all became part of the animation. I liked how the rough edges and visible tape gave the captions a life of their own, making the words feel like they’d been physically added to the footage rather than layered on digitally. It was all about showing the time and care that went into making it. No prompts, just patience.
COLLAGE, SCRATCH & SYNC CAPTION
ORIGINAL ARTWORK / SCAN
For this one, I wanted to see if I could bring some of the song’s lyrics into the animation by scratching the words directly into the glossy paper. I had fun working out how to time each word so it appeared in sync with the lyrics on screen. It became a way of playing with motion graphics, but using a much more tactile, hands on approach rather than creating everything digitally.
04
SCRATCH & CAPTION
ORIGINAL ARTWORK / SCAN
FINAL ANIMATION / WITH SOUND
06
My printer was running low on ink, leaving streaks across the frames. I was going to reprint them, but I started to like the patterns the printer had created and wondered what I could do with them. The lyrics for this frame reference being ready for battle, and the streaks had an energy that felt almost like the chaos of a battlefield. I decided to lean into that, adding more scratches and working colour into the marks and exposed white areas. When I scanned the frames using an illustrator’s light table, the light brought out the colours and made the whole thing feel even more vibrant. What started as a printing mishap ended up shaping the direction of the animation.
LIGHT, COLOUR & SCRATCH
ORIGINAL ARTWORK / SCAN
FINAL ANIMATION / WITH SOUND
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
I’m available for directing, animation and mixed media projects.
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