‘The Pub’ started life in a North London pub followed by 2 and a half months in Tokyo before returning to a studio in East London, and concluding above the very pub it was first conceived in. A year from start to finish which encompassed the Japanese earthquake, London riots, recession anxiety and a whole lot of drawing, it’s my most personal film to date.
The third in a trilogy of ‘rotoscoped’ shorts, the idea followed an open-call by the Japan Image Council for a 3 month residency in Tokyo for any non-Japanese animators. Fitting the criteria was easy but the subsequent questions proved more cryptic; how would the proposed project benefit from living in Tokyo? Rather than adapt an idea to fit the city/culture I would be visiting I decided to turn my attention on my own; London. Living above a pub in the heart of one of the capital's busiest destinations, Camden, offered inspiration literally on the doorstep. I proposed I would present a snap shot of London life through the eyes of a foreigner (the barmaid), an almost zoological observation of the characters who flow through the bar. Although the narrative is fictional, every word and event has occurred at some point in the bar, in fact many of the more extreme events witnessed didn’t make the cut. For me, the idea of creating a film about London whilst staying in Tokyo was an enticing one and luckily the Japan Image Council Agreed.
The film soon outgrew the residency in its sheer ambition, at almost 8mins, with almost 70 (hand held) shots and 16 different characters it dwarfed my previous shorts by some margin. Having completed less than a minute in Tokyo the film demanded a great deal of personal investment and sacrifice in terms of finances and time to complete it. It received no further funding and wasn’t made by a team of animators but singularly. As a film devoid of commissioners, tutors or private investors, without the unwavering support of Fifty Nine Productions it could have easily fallen by the wayside.
I’m immensely proud to finish it and present this warped vision of Britain to the world and hope it feels like there’s a bigger story buried among the distorted features.
Joseph Pierce Jan ‘12
A day caught up in the murky slipstream of a North London pub.
Featuring Aneta Piotrowska
Written and Directed by Joseph Pierce twitter.com/#!/josephpierce
Produced by Mark Grimmer
Sound by Dominic Fitzgerald
Edited by Robbie Morrison
Cinematography by Vanessa Whyte
Music by Blair Mowat
For full list of credits go to.- 59productions.co.uk/project/the_pub
Awards.-
Curtocircuito, Santiago de Compostela '12 - Winner Best International Animation
Los Angeles Film Festival '12 - Winner, Best Experimental Short
Melbourne International Film Festival '12 - Winner, Best Animation Short
Budapest Short Film Festival '12 - Winner, Best Animation
Alphaville Film Festival '12 - Winner, Alpha-ville Future of Moving Image Award
Raindance Film Festival '12 - Winner, Best UK Short
Leeds International Film Festival '12 - Winner, World Animation Award
Interfilm Festival '12, Berlin, Germany - Winner, Best Animation
Couch Fest 2012 - Winner, Gold Couch Award
