On Show

Abigail Webster

BA [Hons] Animation

I'm Abbey, I have a keen interest in animation and design! I was excited to direct my own short film, "A Pearl of Great Price," during my fourth year at IADT Dun Laoghaire. As a director, I was involved in all stages of production such as storyboarding, design, animation, ink & paint and comp. Here, I am displaying some of my backgrounds, prop sheets and concept work for the film. As well my showreel for "A Pearl of Great Price."

The opening scene. This story is a metaphorical take on the cost of addiction to individuals and their loved ones. The house is built on a tall stack of rocks. The landscape is precarious. By the end of the film these rocky foundations would give way, destroying the house. The house is pink to symbolize naivety and innocence, which is later lost.

The final scene background. Our male character (James) is an addict, and our female character (Anna) is trying to save him from the collapsing house. Metaphorically, when your foundation is unstable your world will collapse. That is what I wanted to visually depict. This background is bleaker and darker in contrast to the opening scene.

Prop sheet of some of the landscape elements.

Prop sheet of the furniture and household objects.

The office background. This room is James's domain, the room where he hides away and keeps his secrets. I wanted it to be slightly more unkept than the rest of the house, as seen by some of the clutter such as the dishes on the front table.

The front room background. I wanted this room to have more of a feminine touch as it is often used by Anna. She has adorned it with lush pillows, flowers and pictures. Anna is a homemaker, and I wanted the room to reflect her. This room is brighter and contrasts to James’s office.

The kitchen background. This scene was a flashback sequence, so I chose a slightly different colour palette to differentiate. I wanted this background to have a warm and homely feel.

Here are some early character designs and expression sheets!

Here are some blocking poses from a sequence in my film. In these scenes the couple are having a dispute as the urgency to escape their collapsing surroundings escalates. Anna wants to leave and James resists her.

Some location workups for the interior of the house.

In the very first drafts of the story it was set on a ship at sea, then later a house on the sea, until finally I created the rocky landscape in the final film! I wanted the landscape to be unstable and at risk for the purpose of my story. Here is some of the concept work from the early stages of the film.

SHOWREEL. Character performance was my focus, here I have displayed a few scenes from the film in my showreel.

A Pearl of Great Price

This year I directed my own film. I greatly enjoyed doing the storyboards, design, animation and other aspects of the project. This film tells a story of loss caused by a man’s inability to leave behind his addiction and save his own life. The topic of addiction is one I am quite close to, having witnessed several beloved friends and family struggle with issues over the years. In my film our male character (James) is an addict, and our female character (Anna) is trying to save him from their collapsing home. In the end, she is unable to do so as final choice costs him his life. I learnt a great deal in the process of making this film, the character performance and backgrounds were my favourite part. TV Paint, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro were all used in making this project.

The History of Drugs & its Depiction in Film (1900s to 2000s)

In this thesis, I explore the history of drug use over the last century and look at how the substance and the addict are depicted in film through these periods. I look at how our perception of addiction is influenced through cinema and vice versa. Is the addict glorified or scorned? Given the power of film to tell a story in a way that will connect with an audience, I identify whether film has indeed played a positive role in the fight against drug abuse. And if so, why is it that substance abuse is still on the increase despite having more knowledge about the nature of addiction and the drugs that keep the addict trapped?