Feature Film Storyboards: The Simulation

Feature: 'The Simulation' 

Phase VI FIlms
UK
In Development

Director: by Mark Buchanan 
Writer: Gregor Barclay

Sci-fi feature set in the science lab of an underground bunker in an alternative reality. Death, armageddon, and obsessive experimentation lead to disaster.

For 'The Simulation', we wanted a bold, blocky style to the graphics, with a nod to comic books, for the development of the film.

Music Video Animation Storyboards: Anavrin

Music Video: 'Anavrin'

Anavrin: The Sleeping Town
Developmental Art

Fantasy animated music video developed with director Mitja Okorn and animators Lesley Barnes & Jan Lennon. Provided storyboards, concept & character art for the animation.

Feature Film Storyboards: Shaking Dreamland

Eagle Pictures
UK
2006

Director: Martina Nagel

When Robert marries the beautiful Alice they are the 'perfect couple'. But the moment he learns his wife is pregnant, dark secrets from the past fly unbidden into the present and threaten to destroy their future.

Working closely with director Martina, we developed the psychological environments that reflect the descent from happy family life to a darker, more dangerous nightmare.

The images were hand-painted with watercolour and ink, acrylic, or pencil/chalk. We also developed initial concept art to define the romantic/impressionistic mood of the film.

Short Film: Suspension

In 2006, my solo animation project for the Glasgow School of Art 'Suspension' premiered at Darklight Film Festival in Ireland.

Blending my traditional hand painting methods with 3D, a painting unravels onscreen.

The curtain rises, clouds pass, a tower flies into the night. Swirling through a nighttime landscape, the film follows a shadowy female form on a windswept quest chasing a star. 

Feature Film Storyboards: Starcrossed

Feature: 'Starcrossed'

Yellow Pictures
Portugal
2005
Director: Mark Heller

Based on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, set in modern-day Portugal. Romance set amidst the fictional rivalry between two of Portugal's most prominent football teams (Invicta and Castelo), when mutual disdain has spread further than the pitch.

For 'Starcrossed' - I produced watercolour storyboards to evoke the mood and vivid locations for the film.

Music Video Production Design: Diyala - Raw - Mitja Okorn

Music Video: Diyala 'Raw'

Low Budget Music Video
Director: Mitja Okorn

Shot in a silo on top of a coal mine in Slovenia over 2-3 days.
Production design, carpentry, painting and props. 

Feature Film Animation Design: Gamerz

Feature: 'Gamerz'

Low Budget Feature Film
Directed by: Robbie Fraser
UK, 2005

Geeky and charming Scottish feature film, live action film.
I created traditional hand-painted watercolour backgrounds for animated/shadowplay sequences in a gothic/expressionist style, working with animator Konstantinos Koutsoliotas.

'Gamerz' received great positive critical feedback for the animation sequences and was nominated for the Méliès d´Argent Award for best European Fantasy Film 2006.

Feature Film: Storyboards: 'The Silk Road'

Feature: 'Silk Road'
Triptych Films
UK
In Development

Director: Bart Gavigan

Set in picturesque China, a family drama, featuring motifs of the mythical red-crowned crane.
Created graphic storyboards for pitch and development of the film in watercolour and inkwash.

Theatre Set Design: Mojo

Theatre: 'Mojo'

Mary-Arrchie Theatre, Chicago
Director: David Cromer
Set Design: Elizabeth E. Schuch

Set in a seedy nightclub in Soho in the 1950's. Making use of the unique black-box theatre shape to it's full depth and width, using the building's architectural features where possible.

Theatre Set Design: Journey's End

Theatre: Journey's End

Seanachai Theatre
Director: David Cromer
Set Design: Elizabeth E. Schuch

WINNER
Chicago Joseph Jefferson award for Best Set Design, 2003





Trapped in a claustrophobic underground bunker, the whole production team aimed to make the experience feel as real as possible, bringing the audience into the WWI bunker to witness the tension intimately.

Real dirt, twig-woven trench walls and found felled trees dragged into the theatre gave the set realistic texture and earthy smell. I wanted realism, but also psychological weight to the space.

Theatre Set Design: Polaroid Stories

Theatre: 'Polaroid Stories'

Merle Reskin Theatre
Director: Lisa Portes
Set Design: Elizabeth E. Schuch

Greek myths crash with inner city youths, in the environment of an abandoned theatre. Set and prop design, scenic painting.

Scenic Rendering: Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler, Set Design, Gouache. Elizabeth E. Schuch 2000

Scenic Design for Hedda Gabler.  Concept Rendering.  Using a muted palette and a round room to increase the sense of being trapped and depressed, as an echo of Hedda's current view of her life.

Theatre Set Design: Mother Courage Scenic Rendering

Mother Courage Scenic Rendering. Acrylic on Matte board

Inspired by the wonderful renderings of Franco Zeffirelli, I created this version of Mother Courage.

The set, comprised of the debris of the never-ending war, has a flexible turntable for the procession of time and events.

Mother Courage

Scenic Rendering