Directors statement

Traditional stop motion animation is under threat from imitation computer generated (CG) imagery. Increasingly films and puppets claiming to be stop motion are made with computer assistance, with printed replacement heads and complete CG character sequences rendered with "stop motion style" filters. Attempts to mimic and control the live performance intrinsic to stop motion animation is disrespectful to the art - the power of a live performance captured on camera cannot be replaced. "Husk" is a statement against the drive for total control that CG techniques impose. Husk embraces environmental unpredictability with changes in lighting, weather and events giving the film a genuine living feeling. It is not pretend, made up from polygons, the film is part of the real world and existed during filming. While the lead character, Husk, is a single facial sculpt, music and body language mean her emotions and motivations are constructed in the audiences mind. Trusting the audience to see a directors vision in this way is becoming rare in cinema. "Husk" aims to show how a film can be made which exploits chance events, rather than eliminating them.

A husk is all that's left when the goodness has been taken out.

Paul Howell, January 6, 2014

Photo: Jason Reekie