Joseph Wallace (animator)

Joseph Wallace is a BAFTA Cymru-nominated[1] film and animation director based in the UK.[2] He uses stop-motion puppet and cut-out animation techniques to produce short films and music videos.

Joseph Wallace
NationalityBritish
OccupationDirector
Years active2007–present
Websitewww.josephwallace.co.uk

Life and career

Wallace grew up in Bristol and developed an interest in animation through short films made by Aardman Animations, the Bristol-based studio known for its stop-motion clay animation techniques.[2] He studied at Newport Film School,[3] receiving a BAFTA Cymru nomination in the "Short Form & Animation" category for his graduation film, The Man Who Was Afraid of Falling, in 2012.[1][2] He was then made a BBC Performing Arts Fellow in 2015 and included in a list of 32 "Ones to Watch".[4] Wallace has also worked in theatre, and has likened the process of working with animators, and of animators getting to grips with puppets and the characters they represent – building an atmosphere informing the work – to directing a theatre play.[2]

Wallace collaborated with Péter Vácz on the 2016 music video for the track "Dear John" by British band James.[5] Wallace and Vácz had met as students on "Animation Sans Frontières", an animation course, and have collaborated on a number of projects over the years,[5] as well as teaching stop-motion animation together.[6]

External video
video icon Sparks Edith Piaf: Behind the Scenes

In 2017, Wallace created a critically acclaimed stop-motion puppet music video for the Sparks song "Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)".[7][8] Depicting a surreal adventure set in 1930s' Paris, the video used wire puppets moving in cardboard scenery with painted backgrounds and was completed in just six weeks' time.[9][10][11] Wallace was given a great amount of artistic freedom for the video and Sparks were very pleased with the result, pronouncing it a "work of art in its own right" that perfectly captured the song's mood, and "perhaps Sparks' best video ever".[10][12] Wallace subsequently created animated sequences for the 2021 British-American Sparks documentary The Sparks Brothers. Directed by Edgar Wright, the film reviews the 50-year career of Ron and Russell Mael and had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.[13]

2018 saw Wallace make a music video for Parker Bossley's track "Chemicals", using cut-out animation, a technique Wallace had previously employed in a short film titled Natural Disaster.[3] Bossley had seen Natural Disaster and was interested in a video using a similar type of collage animation technique to depict a psychedelic trip in which the lead character metamorphoses into various animals.[3] The video won a nomination in the short film category at the 2019 Palm Springs International Animation Festival.[14]

Wallace has also been working for some years on Salvation Has No Name, a 16-minute stop-motion tale about the refugee crisis, and was invited by Aardman Animations co-founder Peter Lord, who admired Wallace's work, to set up production in Aardman's studio.[2] The film is part-funded by the British Film Institute and will feature the English-language debut of Itziar Ituño as well as the voice of Yasmine Al Massri.[15] The film is executive produced by Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams and BAFTA Cymru winner Lowri Roberts through their company RAPT.[16] Production was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, with about a third of the film's shoot completed before moving to Manchester to resume filming in 2021. The film had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 13th August 2022.[17]

References
  1. "British Academy Cymru Awards Winners in 2012". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  2. Alex Dudok de Wit (5 June 2020). "Quarantine Chronicles: How A Filmmaker At Aardman Has Kept His Stop-Motion Project Alive During Lockdown". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  3. "Joseph Wallace Pushes the Boundaries of Cut-Out Animation with 'Chemicals' Music Video". directorsnotes.com. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  4. "BBC Performing Arts Fund announces 32 Ones to Watch for 2015". BBC. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  5. Ben Mitchell (23 August 2016). "Interview: Péter Vácz & Joseph Wallace on the making of JAMES music video "Dear John"". Skwigly. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  6. "Péter Vácz Discusses Making the Jump From Animation to Live Action Filmmaking in Playful Short 'Pillowface'". directorsnotes.com. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  7. "10 of the Best British Animated Music Videos". Anim18.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  8. "Public Choice Programme". British Animation Awards. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. "Watch Sparks Chase an Elusive Parisian Bird in Joseph Wallace's Enchanting Stop Motion Puppet Music Video". directorsnotes.com. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  10. "Joseph Wallace Creates Beautiful Stop-Motion Video for Sparks". Animation World Network. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  11. Gary Graff (29 August 2017). "Sparks Shares Incredible Stop-Motion 'Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)' Video: Premiere". Billboard. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  12. Isabel Galwey (2 October 2017). "Joseph Wallace on the Making of 'Edith Piaf Said it Better Than Me'". Skwigly. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  13. "The Sparks Brothers, Sundance 2021". sundance.org. Sundance. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  14. "'Funan' and 'I Lost My Body' Lead Film Selections at PSIAF 2019". Animation World Network. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  15. Tom Grater (20 May 2020). "Shanghai Fest Delays; 'Money Heist' Star Sets English Debut; Baby Cow Hire – Global Briefs". Deadline. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  16. Grater, Tom. "Maisie Williams' Rapt Boards UK Animation". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  17. "Mclaren Animation 1". Edinburgh International Film Festival. Retrieved 9 August 2022.


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