Recorder
Scripted for music. Animated in oils.
Recorder, a paint-on-glass animation, tells the story of an unknown person in a nearby future observing the natural world through the lens of their urban detachment. Touching on themes of nature, surveillance and objectivity, the film explores ideas of seeing and interpreting, as well as communication, where music serves as both a doorway to belonging and a linguistic barrier.
Recorder is being produced by a multi-award-winning team, including writer Roy Joseph Butler, composer Alex Mills, and BAFTA-nominated animator Oscar Wyndham Lewis.
Concept
What would happen if a screenplay was written first for musical improv before being interpreted into animation?
Recorder began as an exploration of a script’s potential as a facilitator of musical experimentation and subsequent creative collaboration. By integrating principles of instrumental improv with traditional moving-image scriptwriting, dialogue traditionally reserved for actors became the arena for sonic interpretations of instrumentalists - recorder players and a pianist, in this case. This approach engineered a creative unknown for the cast, facilitating a process of filmmaking leading with the audio and from which visual assets are created in response.
CAST
Emily Bannister - bass and sopranino recorders
Seb Marshall - alto and soprano recorders
Hannah Parry - tenor recorder
Julie Dean - Garklein recorder
Iain Hall - alto recorder
Ellen Falconer - piano
CREW
Anthony George - Sound Engineer, Sound Designer
Oscar Wyndham Lewis - Director, Lead Animator
Roy Joseph Butler - Screenwriter and Producer
Christopher Braime - Sound Engineer
Alex Mills - Composer, Sound Editor
Production
How might the medium and process of animating best reflect the creative concept?
BAFTA-nominated animator Oscar Wyndham Lewis fuses fine art with moving image, specialising in oil-on-glass animation. This process that echoes and complements the fluidity of the sonic dialogue; diverse, vibrant ways of seeing; and swift, flowing actions intrinsic to the screenplay. It also resonates strongly with Packed Lunch’s mission of advancing visual storytelling.
And, like the realisation of the concept, this production process opens the door to substantive levels of collaboration. We plan to host a series of community and schools-based workshops in oil-on-paint animation, generating visual assets for the project as well as engaging the public with a unique, exciting animation technique. Supporting this initiative and animating alongside the Oscar will be a team fine-art moving-image specialists with a real passion for the oil-on-glass process.
Production Support
A massive thank you to our existing partners for their technical, financial and casting support in this project. Thanks to Arts Council England, we were able to finalise the script and complete first-draft soundtrack. London’s Royal College of Music was integral in casting for all players through their alumni network, and both the Rathbone Society and Studio Falkland Lodge provided our recording and sound editing needs.
As Recorder moves into full production, we’re keen to engage individuals with expertise and interests in Executive Producing, fundraising support and community engagement. If this is you, please get in touch!
