Itch
Skin-crawling!
Itch is an experimental short about skin, and how it feels to be tested and prodded. It is inspired by my own past experiences of allergies and eczema, and was a way for me to channel my frustrations into something creative and positive.
The film is brought to life using pixelation, a technique where real people are used to produce stop-motion animation. The resulting effect can be quite jarring and eerie, which made it the perfect medium to use. Having previously used the technique on other shorts, One Minute Workshop and Random Acts: Ready or Not, it was something I wanted to keep exploring in a different, more experimental context.
What really sets Itch apart from my other films is that the sound design came first. The whole film is derived from and inspired by a one-minute soundtrack, created by NFTS Sound Designer Antek Rutycznski. Assigned tracks at random, each of the 8 NFTS Animation Directors had to devise a film to accompany the soundtrack, in what is known as ‘Project 3’ at the school.
In the edit, Oli Bauer and I enjoyed our first collaboration. What began as a film shot tightly to my animatic became something all-the-more exciting in post. It was also a chance to collaborate with my brother, Matt Lawson, who plays the patient, and my good friend Ethan Bates, who plays the doctor. The nurse is played by me.
To watch Itch, please contact me for the private link.
