Institute of Art Design + Technology Dún Laoghaire
Ireland’s campus for the Creative Industries

Caitríona McGuinness 

BA [Hons] Animation

Caitríona is a visual artist from Dublin who specialises in direction/art direction, graphic design, motion graphics, editing and illustration. She has always been passionate about art’s storytelling ability and used her grad film ‘Hospital Bed’ as an opportunity to tell a story very personal to her.

Hospital Bed - Grad Film

My grad film 'Hospital Bed' depicts the relationship between a mother and daughter, exploring themes of how illness affects a family through the lens of one hospital visit between the pair. I focused particularly on the lighting, atmosphere and passage of time with the aim of submerging the characters in the environment and capturing the specific feeling that comes with being in the hospital for a long time.

Throughout the film I aim to balance the overwhelming elements of the hospital with the serenity of the characters to create the feeling that this film is an insight into one of many such hospital visits between the two. This project was 2D animated as I found that to be the best fit for the story I was telling.



Does A Picture Speak A Thousand Words? The Representation of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Cinema.

This thesis explores the representation of the Deaf and hard of hearing community in film, analysing from pre-twenty first century film and the emergence of stereotypes of deafness to the modern day and the advancements that have been made in deaf representation. Investigating the depictions of Deaf individuals and their experiences over a century the author invites readers to reflect on how deaf, disabled and marginalised individuals are portrayed in media and explore how such depictions can be improved upon.

Through close analysis and cross examination of twentieth century films such as Children of a Lesser God and twenty first century films like Sound of Metal this body of work explores the developing representation of deafness over time, the impact of these representations on both Deaf and hearing audiences and the role of cinema in shaping societal perceptions of deafness. Drawing on disability studies and film studies the research aims to examine whether cinema reflects a shifting cultural attitude towards disability.