This is the final animation piece for the projection onto Saltwell towers - Enchanted Parks.
It introduces Estella to us and strips time back to the 1800's. It gives us a ride through the wonderfully imaginative mindscape of the little girl who dreamed of space. This piece covers over 200 square meters and needs to be seen loud and live really. So full screen it and turn the headphones to 11.
Estella - Isla Mcmonigle
Special Thanks to Steve Lavelle for his invaluable creative input.
A HUGE Thanks to Sunderland University for use of the Green cube and their continuing support of my work.
And big thanks for St Peter's RC Primary School and Kelvin Grove Primary School for their voices!
projecteer extraordinaire - Huw Semmens
The Story:
The striking roofline of Saltwell Towers, with its cluster of fairytale turrets, is often dismissed as Victorian Gothic whimsy. There is, however, a more intriguing explanation for its design. Built by William Wailes in 1862, the roof was intended as an unconventional schoolroom and playground for his youngest and most beloved daughter Estella.
Estella was a determined but isolated child who, from a young age, had an obsession with stargazing. Keen to keep her close, Wailes had Saltwell Towers designed such that its roof could be her observatory.
Over time Estella’s passion for the stars grew. She studied, observed, measured, drew and collected with a growing mania for astronomy and astrology. From her diaries we know that she was possessed with finding a way to fly into space where she felt she could live more freely.
To many Estella was misguided, a dreamer searching for meaning in the mythology of the stars. However, others say she was decades ahead of her time and even claim that she succeeded in launching a rocket from Saltwell Park. There are certainly accounts of a stormy night over Gateshead when a ball of light was seen hurtling into the sky with a deafening roar.
But space travel in Victorian times is impossible to imagine… isn’t it?
Software/Visuals:
Adobe creative suite
Maxon c4d
Maya
Mettle
X-particles
Greyscalegorilla
Trapcode Particular.