Watery Brain



Watery Brain (2014)
Director and animator

2D short animation commissioned for the Old Operating Theatre Museum, London
Individual project for MA Character Animation, Central Saint Martins – UAL

Watery Brain was produced for an exhibition at the Old Operating Theatre Museum in London, which in set in a real Victorian operating theatre and herb garret. The museum commissioned UAL animation students to produce one minute films inspired by one of the objects in their collection. My object of choice was a little booklet called Every Mother’s Book or The Child’s Best Doctor, by Alfred Fennings. Published in 1856, it is aimed at young mothers and describes the symptoms for all sorts of illnesses that could affect their children and what are the best means to cure them. The idea behind the film is to portray a good intentioned mother and doctor worried about a child and doing what is not necessarily the best for them, in a comic way. All over a reading of an extract from the book

Technique:
2D digital – illustrations in Photoshop, animation in After Effects

Synopsis:
Having a young child in 1856 is not an easy task, with so many terrible illnesses threatening your little darling. But you need not despair, this film is here to help. All the information the Victorian mother needs to deal with one of our time’s dangerous disorders: watery brain. With original text from ‘Every Mother’s Book’ by Alfred Fennings, Watery Brain takes a humorous look at the Victorian period and at the things we do to protect our children.

Credits:
Directed and animated by Tatiana Mazzei
Music by Seth Scott Deuchar
Voice by Carl Thompson