FROM AN EVIL CRADLING
PRE-PRODUCTION 1
Introduction
'From An Evil Cradling' (1999) was produced and directed by Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran (Kavaleer Productions). Art direction was by Owen Fitzpatrick of Rocket Animation.
In the pages presented here, Kavaleer Productions and Rocket Animation would like to give a behind-the-scenes look at some of the work that went into producing this intelligent, haunting and highly visual film.
It's not often that an animation studio has the good fortune to assist in the making of such a special project. 'From An Evil Cradling' is one of those rare productions that reached into all of the artists working on it. Every member of the crew seemed to be aware of the special nature of the production and their responsibility towards one individual - Brian Keenan. This was not fiction filmmaking but a filmic exploration into the dark side of human experience and how the human mind, in this instance, managed to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
Based on Brian Keenan's book of his own real life, nightmare experiences, 'An Evil Cradling', this was the story of one innocent person's five year incarceration in war-torn Beirut, a city ravaged by civil war and multi-cultural hatred.
The pre-production designs below are the drawings and sketches that were used to lay out a design and concept for the production. Many thanks to Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran for allowing us to present them for the first time.
A pre-production drawing of the compression chamber/coal bunker in which Brian Keenan spent a significant portion of his imprisonment. Much of the detailing, the tiny candles, matchstick stubs, 'Time' magazines used for toilet paper, and slop bowl, was gleaned by Directors Keith Foran and Andrew Kavanagh from conversations with Brian Keenan. Art director, Owen Fitzpatrick, then began the task of designing this chamber of horror.
You can get some idea of how small this prison chamber was from the small blue sketch to the bottom left of the main drawing.
Director Keith Foran and Andrew Kavanagh and art director, Owen Fitzpatrick, all contributed ideas to the film's storyboard, the shot by shot structure of the production based on Andrew Kavangh's. The storyboard page above is taken from the 'Sea Dream' sequence of 'Music' - the chapter of 'An Evil Cradling' that this film primarily focuses on. The storyboard is an essential element in animation filmmaking in that all of the various departments involved in the production process are made aware of what each and every shot entails - and how those shots combine to make a film that works.
A pre-production marker drawing that expands on the 'Sea Dream' storyboard shots above. The sunset sky, depicted here, was seen by Andrew Kavanagh and Owen Fitzpatrick as being rather too literal for this sequence so a more elaborate, dream-like sky technique was employed.
A production still from the 'Sea Dream' sequence. All of the various drawn elements (figure, raft, bird, reflection, thin white horizon and background) were composited at Mark Taylor's A for Animation in Bristol, England. The production employed Mark Taylor's Animo digital post-production systems to composite the many thousands of drawings that were produced for the film. The animo was also used to produce many of the film's F/X. Screen ratio is 1:1.85 (35mm). Figure and bird animation supervised by Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran.
A design for another sequence of the film - the great hall of music. Due to the horrendous nature, of his imprisonment, both physical and pscychological, Brian realised that he was beginning to lose his sanity. In a great hall of his imagination he could hear all the music of the world playing simultaneously for him - and him alone. The hall interior design was loosely based on Art Deco - however, the interiors reflected a somewhat glorious but empty vision of human achievement. Christian design motifs were subtly worked in with Moslem patterns.
A sketch for another part of the hall of music. The structure depicted here was designed to be a form of strange musical organ within the hall. Many of the 'From An Evil Cradling' set-piece designs were first worked up in this manner and evaluated before being dropped or produced.
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