Playing Hearts
Playing Hearts was a collaboration between myself and my friend, Sachiko Nitta. We originally started animating an entirely different story, involving 3 animals having a dinner party, but we completely changed our minds as we didn’t love the characters. So, we wrote this unusual little animation instead.
The story is about a young woman called Marie. She still lives in her childhood home, but she is engaged and about to marry her partner. She feels anxious about her life changing and isn’t sure whether she’s ready or not yet. She’s a superstitious creature so she makes a pact with herself; if she can successfully create a house of cards, the wedding will go ahead and it’s meant to be. If the house falls down, she should delay it. We watch as Marie carefully makes the house of cards.
Marie’s puppet making was a step up from my previous film, Cedric. She had a static face with moveable eyeballs and her hair was made from a scalp I made from latex and carried around with me for a week, sewing wool into it whenever I had the chance. Her clothes were also made by me and her initial design was mine. Sachiko made Marie’s set and all of the props.
