PASSION, PROCESS, PERFORMANCE
Masterclass with Barry Purves
Internationally acclaimed animator and director Barry Purves presents “Passion, Process, Performance”, a masterclass offering a rare and detailed insight into the creative process behind his work in animation and theatre.
At the heart of the masterclass is Purves’ celebrated short stop-motion film Achilles (1995), his distinctive interpretation of the myth of Achilles from Homer’s Iliad. Barry will deconstruct the film in detail, examining every technical choice, design decision and narrative element, while also exploring how creative ambition can be maintained within the limitations of time and budget.
Through storyboards, behind-the-scenes photographs and material from Achilles and other films, participants will be invited to follow the journey from the initial idea to the final image, discovering how character, movement, rhythm, design and performance work together to create meaning in animation.
The masterclass will also explore the close relationship between animation and live performance. Drawing on his extensive experience as a director and designer of plays and operas, Barry will discuss how similar principles can be applied to work for the stage, and how every element of a production can — and must — contribute to the storytelling.
Questions of design, movement, lighting, space, rhythm and performance will become part of a broader conversation about artistic choices: what makes an image communicate, how does movement become dramatic action, and how can technical decisions serve the emotional and narrative core of a work?
“Passion, Process, Performance” offers a unique opportunity to look closely at the creative mechanisms of one of contemporary animation’s most distinctive artists, while opening up a wider discussion about the relationship between idea, technique, form and narrative.
Barry Purves
Barry Purves is a stop-motion animator and director with more than thirty years of experience. His films have received more than 60 major international awards, including Grand Prix and Best Director and Best Film awards, as well as Oscar and BAFTA nominations.
His diverse body of work includes The Wind in the Willows, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Rupert Bear, Mars Attacks!, King Kong and Hamilton Mattress.
Barry has conducted masterclasses at major animation studios and educational institutions around the world. He is also the author of Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance, a widely recognised book on the craft and creative practice of stop-motion animation.
The masterclass is presented as part of Eternal Stories, a hybrid theatre and animation project that brings ancient literature, live performance and contemporary animation into dialogue.
