Digital Stories: imitating the dog

Digital Stories was a creative project led in collaboration by theatre company imitating the dog and the National Festival of Making.

The project was an opportunity for recent arts graduates to collaborate with experienced storyteller Emily Hennessey and digital artist Virpi Kettu to develop their digital skills and turn their stories into brand new web-based digital work.

The participants Ian Mathison, Juvairiyya Patel, Christian Bell and his daughter, Evelynn, explored their own personal stories, rooted in their connections to Blackburn and Darwen.

Working with Emily and Virpi, they each developed their own, unique narratives and storyboarded their ideas, before working with video, stop-motion animation and animation of still photography with 3D effects to create their short films.

Each piece, in its own personal way, offers individual perspectives on people, place and art in the heart of communities.

Sparked by the participants’ stories, encouraged and developed with the mentoring of Emily and Virpi, the films are available to watch, enjoy and take inspiration from.

Artists

Christian & Evelynn Bell

Evelynn has grown up in Pendle with her Dad, Christian. As a practising emerging artist working in Blackburn, Christian introduced Evelynn to areas of Blackburn and Darwen which were relevant to the narrative of his development. Through this process, Evelynn was given the freedom to develop her own exciting narrative via stop motion animation. 

“The most interesting and rewarding part of this project has been the opportunity for Evelynn to get a more intimate experience and understanding of her Dad’s work life, as well as the opportunity for her to learn new and accessible creative techniques that have inspired her to take forward and carry on creating.”

Watch Film: Significant Insignificance

Juvairiyya Patel

Juvairiyya Patel is a Deaf and Disabled Artist living in Blackburn. She is a graduate of Blackburn College, where she completed her Fine Art degree. She has a strong connection to Blackburn as her artwork and experiences have all been in and around Blackburn.

“My favourite parts were performing and recording whilst connecting with my childhood and Blackburn. I love getting my hands in the paint and going for it. With professional recording, it felt amazing.”

Watch Film: My Life Growing Up with Blackburn

Ian Mathison

Liverpool-born Ian Mathison is a multi-disciplinary artist who moved to Blackburn in 1993. From the early 1980s, Ian balanced a career in business with life as a semi-professional photographer, which became a full-time occupation in 2012. Having completed his degree in Fine Art, Ian now describes himself as a photographer, printer, painter and poet. He is married to Karen with three grown-up children, one granddaughter, three dogs and two cats.

“My story is one of a growing love for my adopted hometown, going from where I was, to where I am now. One that looks past the neon and perspex fascias that adorn so many small town high streets and shopping malls, discovering the beauty and character underneath.”

Watch Film: Life Through a Lens

Virpi Kettu

Virpi Kettu is a film director and animator working extensively in the EU and Canada. Her portfolio includes animation for the Wallace and Gromit Oscar winning feature film ‘Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ and ‘Shaun the Sheep’. She has also worked with DreamWorks, Passion Pictures and Universal Pictures in animation, consulting, production and directing.

In 2012 she founded Kettu Studios, an Animation and Film Production studio in collaboration with exceptional artists based in Canada and EU. Kettu Studios was created to connect skills and experience in the animation and film industry to a worldwide network of talented freelance friends.

Website

Emily Hennessey

Emily Hennessey is a bold and dynamic performance storyteller who tells myths, epics, folktales and wondertales from across the world. 

With a Swedish background, Emily has a particular passion for Norse mythology and Scandinavian folktales. Work and travels in India have also infused a great love of Hindu myth and epic.

Emily has toured in India, Iceland and Japan and performed at venues and festivals across Europe.

Website

About imitating the dog

imitating the dog have been making ground-breaking work for theatres and other spaces for 20 years. The company’s work has been seen across the world, and their work for outdoor festivals and events has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. As a company, imitating the dog is most interested in telling stories. The aim is to create beautiful, memorable images for audiences, and the work fuses live performance with digital technology, in order to serve the story in the best possible way. The work is always fresh and often surprising.

Website

The support [and] mentoring we have received throughout this project [has] opened our minds to different ways of sharing our individual interests both professionally and personally. We’ve enjoyed the whole experience of working on something together and bridging my professional life with my personal life as a father.

Christian Bell, Graduate Artist and participant of Digital Stories along with his daughter Evelynn

The support and mentoring of Virpi has been great, helping with recording my video and editing etc. I was always able to ask questions which is important to me. The relationship with everyone was also amazing and important to me.

Juvairiyya Patel, Graduate Artist and participant of Digital Stories

Photography by Ed Waring.