The Foundling
Abandonment & Dreams
J— dreams of a family where wild birds are his brothers and sisters and he can escape the urban chaos of London. He lives with his adopted dads in a loving home, but can’t forget his past and the violent emotions he feels towards the young mother who abandoned him. In times of anger and sadness, he turns to the piano and the music that allows his dreams to flourish.
Commissioned by Animate Projects and Anim18 / Created at Figuration.
UK | 1 min | 2018
Untold Tales
Seven animators have been commissioned to create micro-shorts that give voice to untold stories of life in the UK and explore our rich and culturally diverse communities. The animators are: Jessica Ashman, Leo Crane, Ian Gouldstone, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Osbert Parker & Laurie Hill, and Kate Sullivan.
As part of this, The Foundling gives voice to a boy who has experienced abandonment, separation and loss. Fully immersed in the post-adoption therapy, he is eloquent and forthright in describing his impressions of life, with an emotional range that shifts from intensely vulnerable to fiercely independent. With absolute authenticity, he can expose the need for family, in whatever form it takes.
Animate Projects nurtures creative talent in order to create thought provoking and inspiring projects. Anim18 is a celebration of British Animation led by Film Hub Wales and BFI Film Audience Network.
Technical Production
The Foundling is an animated documentary rooted in a series of interviews with the subject, 9-year-old J—. These interviews were edited into one clear narrative concept against further recordings of J— playing the piano. The sound edit was completed with contrasting noises of the city (recorded on location at Vauxhall Cross) and birdsong (from the British Library sound archive).
Concept images and the storyboard followed, all drawn in charcoal on A2 paper, the same scale as the animation. Before animating, Leo studied the movement of hands playing a piano and birds in flight to familiarise himself with key visual imagery.
The studio was set up with an easel, two lights and a phone on a stable tripod and animation began. Using charcoal and a putty rubber, the same drawing was worked up, photographed, erased and redrawn (straight-ahead erasure animation). Every six to eight drawings, the photos were downloaded onto a laptop and sequenced in Adobe After Effects. Minor adjustments were made digitally, mostly to counteract small movements in the camera, easel or tripod. The paper was changed twice.
Credits
Film: Leo Crane/Figuration
Voice & Piano: J—
Sound Mix: Andrew Hayes
Producer: Abigail Addison/Animate Projects
An Anim18 and Animate Projects commission, supported by Lottery funds from Arts Council England, British Film Institute and British Council
The Foundling’s soundtrack includes a number of bird song recordings downloaded from the British Library’s Soundcloud playlist British Wildlife Recordings. They are some of the many sounds available royalty free from the British Library Sound Archive.
Exhibitions
The Art of Music, King Street Arts, Lancaster
19-25 October 2021
Exhibition as part of Lancaster Music Festival
Just Imagine, World Wildlife Fund/David Attenborough
From 29 April 2021
Exhibition & campaign in the run up to COP26
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
29 Sept - 1 Dec 2019
167th Annual Open Exhibition
Morley Gallery, London
9 Sept - 19 Oct 2019
Untold Tales gallery installation on multiple screens
LUX Moving Image, London
27 Jan 2019
Screening, talk and display of studio material for Untold Tales productions.
Derby QUAD
1 Nov 2018 - 3 Jan 2019
Single-screen, looping programme in the Anim18 newly commissioned VR Gallery
British Library, London
12 Nov 2018
Screening for BL Labs Awards at the annual digital research conference
Selected Film Festivals & Screenings
Northern Visions Inheritance Festival (with primetime local TV broadcasts across the UK)
Strangelove, Folkestone UK
Mobile Motion, Zurich (Semi-finalist)
Canterbury Anifest (Best of British)
Miami Independent Film Festival
The Lift Off Sessions
Dumbo Film Festival, New York
Berlin Flash Film Festival
London Animation Club
