Intro sequence I illustrated and animated for an interview series titled Cabinetul de Literatură (Literature Cabinet) for Scena9. The series features contemporary writers discussing their work and writing process.
The key inspiration for the series, both visually and conceptually, was curio cabinets, collections of small but fascinating and meaningful objects. It also drew on occult, heavily symbolic imagery.
For the intro, naturally the main visual element was a curio cabinet, filled with object-symbols that come together in a sort of visual representation of the writing process, books, pencils and pens, and notebooks.
But I also included visual metaphors thematically linked with the interviews: the cracked, imperfect egg about to reveal its secrets, the labyrinth-like ammonite, bottles of mysterious essences, the apple representing knowledge, cut in half to reveal what is inside, the eye representing the visual component of the interviews, and the mouth, as a representation of conversation.
The central window reveals a bright, glowing scene, a book opening to the audience to display its heart.
The arms both guard and create the context in which these tender feelings are displayed to the audience.
Interview Questions
Each interview features three fixed questions that each guest must answer.
For each question, I designed two small animated illustration, to mark them in the flow of the conversation. The designs can be mixed and matched for each installment.
1. Ce-ți blochează scrisul și ce faci să mergi mai departe?
What blocks your writing and what do you do to move forward?
1a. The first design for question no. 1 is a small leafy branch that is cut, allowing for two smaller leaves to grow. I wanted to focus on the fact that sometimes what seems as an impediment can actually be an opportunity for growth, and is sometimes even necessary for development, just as a plant needs to be pruned to allow for better growth.
1b. The second design centers on the idea of an eclipse. While we think of an eclipse just in terms of the Moon blocking out the Sun, an eclipse also creates a new kind of light, that can be just as revealing as that of the Sun. It is a new way of looking at things.
2. Care au fost trei cărți formatoare pentru devenirea ta?
What were three formative books in your development?
2a. In keeping with the mystical visual theme, this design centers on the most well-known tarot spread involving three cards that reveal the past, present and future. In Romanian, the metaphor works on a linguistic level as well, since Romanian uses the same word for both card (as in playing card) and book, namely "carte."
2b. The second design for question no. 2 features a compass. The needle of the compass swivels between three books that guide the way.
3. Care este ultima carte bună citită?
What was the last good book you've read?
3a. I kept the first design rather minimalist, a book with pages turning, with the Moon and Sun twirling around it, to represent the passage of time.
3b. The second design for this question, similarly to the first, features a book with its pages being turned. The rays represent the the book revealing itself to the reader as they go through, that ultimately leads to love of the book.
