'The Divide' and 'Childhood Memories' by Mary Martins
Mary Martins is a London filmmaker who makes animated documentaries and experimental films. His short film The division he won the Mother Art Prize in 2017 and the Best New Voice award at the Factual Animation Film Fuss in 2016.
The Divide from Mary Martins on Vimeo.
In 2018 Martins was commissioned by BFI and BBC4 to make the short film Childhood memories, based on his memories of a vacation in Lagos as a young man. The film combines archival footage with stop-motion and 2D animations to create a rich and evocative image of a remembered time and place. The film's narrative emerged from a poem written by Martins, who also led the visual development.
Discussing his process, Martins tells me "I turned my memory into a poem to create the rhythm, and that drove the animation, so the animation flowed from the rhythm of the poem." His decision to use a mixed method was driven by both tonal and narrative needs. “The reason I chose the puppets was because I wanted to create that feeling that he was a real person going back in time,” he explains. “I think you can capture it well with puppets, you can really bring them back to life. And then there were some pieces that I couldn't get out of the footage, no matter how much I edited it, and that's where the hand drawn design came in. To fill the missing gaps, between the visual elements, the film and the memory itself - the narration ”.
Martins is set to study for a Masters at the Royal College of Art from September, as part of their animated documentary journey, and sees it as an opportunity to develop his signature voice. "My work will always be very experimental", he predicts, "I still don't know if I still have my style, I hope going to RCA will help me get closer to this ... I see my work as a personal journey and I really want to work to discover myself through my work. "
Childhood Memories can currently only be viewed online in the UK at: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-childhood-memories-2018-online
Background information on the project is available at: https://abandonedmemories.weebly.com
Other works by Martins are available on his website: http://www.marymartins.com
