Jessica Ashman, at the RCA, gives us a miraculous lesson in biology with “the Cycle.” It reads like an awesome mashup of Brazil with a 70’s educational film, also calling to mind Japanese director/animator Katsuhito Ishii‘s sweet and strange organic twistiness. This poor girl’s parts may not coordinate very well, but Ashman’s film certainly does. Read on to hear from Jessica about the inception of this conception.

From Director Jessica Ashman:

The idea came from a project brief set in the 2nd term of the first year of my Animation MA at the Royal College of Art. We had to respond to any type of archive. After stumbling on a medical illustration archive at The British Library, I discovered the work of a German physician and science writer called Fritz Kahn. He created these amazingly detailed metaphorical illustrations explaining how various parts of the human body work, (i.e the brain is a factory with light projectors, switchboard operators and secretaries). So, i thought ‘how could I show, metaphorically, how falling in and out of love feels like inside a person?’….which is what The Cycle is my attempt at doing!

Production wise, it was all very small and low key. I pretty much designed and made everything as well as animating and editing. You only really have about 3 months to complete the project. I wanted the world to look bold and bright, limiting myself to a palette of four colours and generally giving the film a 70’s, faux-educational feel. Like something you might watch in school as part of a science lesson. I contacted my friend Charlie Jefferson, an incredibly talented film composer, to create some music for the project and he thankfully said yes! I also contacted another friend, Ev Buckley, who is a sound artist who just so happens to do rather excellent sound design. The final sound mix of the film was done in house at the RCA’s facilities, with the lovely sound technician Mike Wyeld.

By the way, the film is called The Cycle due to the cyclical nature of falling in love and out of love (from my experience… ) and the bittersweet nature of this whole love thing.

Thank you, Jessica. We are both charmed and disarmed and will eagerly await future lessons. -Dragonframe

Time lapse of the paper digestive process:

Credits:

Inspired by the anatomical illustrations of Fritz Kahn
Animation and direction by Jessica Ashman
Music by Charlie Jefferson
Sound Design by Ev Buckley
Sound Mix by RCA’s Mike Wyeld

Blog written by Vera Long