2D animation

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The National Gallery is collaborating with Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design on 'Transcriptions: Animation’, an innovative new project which involves postgraduate animation students producing short films inspired by the Gallery’s collection. The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Gallery.

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From the Film Maker

While looking at Claude’s ‘A Seaport’ I felt I could sense the atmosphere depicted in the painting and hear the sounds of the environment and the people within it. As I continued to explore the picture I was drawn to the nautical theme and was reminded of sea shanties. This led me to the songs and poems used to tell the story of Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the Americas, and I wanted to combine these with the feeling I got from the painting. The seaport Claude depicts is a fictional one made up from elements of a variety of ports. I decided to use this sense of bricolage and have an adult retelling the story of how, as a child, they told Columbus’ story and drew upon other narratives. I decided to create a child-like visual style to match the narration and the feeling of fun.

Ashley Jones

A piece inspired by Claude, A Seaport, 1644