A girl is standing atop of a cliff. She closes her eyes en lets herself fall down into the sea. She opens her eyes under water and sees all kinds of fantastic visions. A symbol of light appears at the bottom of the sea and curious, she reaches for it with her hand. Just like the festival visitor, she goes with the flow of the film visions and becomes ‘enlightened’ by the festival. 

The message that i wanted to express in the movie is that the Shorts programme visitor has to let everything go what is safe and known to fully absorb the movies. The fall is a symbol for letting go en the sea for the cinema. For this movie, I painted the drawings with oil paint on glass. It was definitely a challenge, because every drawing needs to be wiped clean in order to paint the next. But this way of working was actually what attracted me. The rough strokes of the brush have a charm that wouldn’t be able to be accomplished by working digitally. The technique was also fitting for the visual elements of the film, because of the fluent movement of the sea and the movements of the girl, that follow a fluent line.

Oil paint on glass
Animation: Merel Hamers
Music: Mari-anne Hof
Sound design: Merel Hamers
2012
merelhamers.com
mari-annehof.nl

In English my name means Blackbird Hammer. This leader was a joke surroundig the meaning. 

Toonboom Animate
Animation: Merel Hamers
Sound design: Merel Hamers
2013
merelhamers.com

I was writer, storyboard artist and animator for this episode of my magic pet Morphle.

I worked as an animator at "Woezel en Pip"a famous Dutch children's Television serie. I worked at season 3 and the feature film.

This is a trailer for the film.

Het is bijna groot feest in de Tovertuin, want de Wijze Varen wordt alweer een fraai jaar ouder. Woezel & Pip krijgen de belangrijke taak om het grote verjaardagscadeau te verstoppen, totdat de grote dag daar is.

Tante Perenboom kondigt aan dat er een hele speciale gast komt logeren: het schattige neefje Charlie. Al snel ontdekken Woezel & Pip dat het cadeau en hun spullen zijn verdwenen!

Wie heeft dat gedaan? De Wijze Varen weet het antwoord, maar of de vriendjes daar zo blij mee zijn? Woezel & Pip, Buurpoes, Molletje, Vlindertje en Charlie gaan in dit spannende avontuur op zoek naar de gevaarlijke indringer…

‘Woezel & Pip Op zoek naar de Sloddervos!’ is een vriendschapsfilm vol kleur, emotie en avontuur.

a film by: Joost Lieuwma 
animated at Frame Order

When his father decides Richard is old enough to leave his parental home, he sends him out into the world. Only Richards keeps returning home: every time in a more bizarre way. Somehow he seems attached to the house. When an unfortunate alteration in life takes place, Richard is forced to stand on his own feet.

Een jongvolwassen man is oud genoeg om op eigen benen te staan. Maar als zijn ouders hem de wereld in sturen keert hij steeds weer op miraculeuze wijze terug.

Regie & Scenario: Joost Lieuwma 
Animatie: Joost Lieuwma, Lukas Krepel
Kleurontwerp: Patrick Schoenmaker
Stagiairs: Merel Hamers, Dennis Luijsterburg, Florian Walraven, Kim van Engelen
Productie il Luster Films: Chris Mouw, Arnoud Rijken, Michiel Snijders
Productie NTR: Astrid Prickaerts 
Eindredactie NTR: Marina Blok
Muziek: Jorrit Kleijnen, Alexander Reumers
Geluid, foley en cinemamix: Jeroen Nadorp
Advies verhaal, storyboard en montage: Daan Velsink, Lukas Krepel, Patrick Schoenmaker, Michiel Lieuwma
Met speciale dank aan: Ronald Nadorp, Ellen Blom
Met dank aan: Dorien van de Pas, Jeanine Hage, Miryam van Lier, Erik van Drunen, Esther Bannenberg, Jan Pieter Ekker, Job ter Burg

Gemaakt in het kadar van NTR kort 2013
Financial support: NTR, Netherlands Filmfund, CoBo

Preview only

Part of Volume 2 Crackbrained Comics 'Feeding the Soul' about eating disorders.
Crackbrained Comics is a group of comic artists who publish books about psychiatry.

Please click to read

Winning short comic for booklet of Animefestival Nishicon