Animator Katy Davis has set up a project to animate random voicemail messages left on her number. Call up and take part
The animator and illustrator Katy Davis - AKA Gobblynne Animation - has come up with a novel idea for a self-initiated creative project. She's inviting members of the public to leave messages on her phone, and will then create animations to accompany the most interesting ones. The project's called After the Beep and by calling 07513 315164 you can take part.
The idea came to her after someone left an odd message on her phone. "I won't mention any names, but I recently received a voicemail from a professional woman that was about four minutes of stuttery and nonsensical madness and I found it so funny," she explains. "I played it to my brother and said how brilliant it would be as an animation. He then said, 'Well, why not do this as a big project?' I love hearing people's awkward warbles and think it's so interesting to find out what people consider to be funny or worthy of a call."
No doubt some people will be rubbing their hands together thinking of what kind of weird messages they could leave. With the phone hacking scandal and the issue of stalkers out there, we wondered if certain darker themes might arise. But the Bristol-based animator doesn't want to pre-empt or steer the kind of messages people leave. Anything goes.
"I love to see how people interpret opportunities on their own. I've already received numerous awesome voicemails including a 10-second long 'YAY'. Each one differs from the next, which is brilliant," she continues. "I don't want this to hold people back in being obscene or abusive - in fact I would love to experiment with animating the dark side."
The Whores of Horus - an illustration by Katy Davis.
The creative work will get under way soon and Davis, who loves textures and often generates a hand-made aesthetic in her work, hopes to experiment with different styles of animation for each piece. Not every voicemail will be animated, but you should start seeing the ones that inspire her most appearing online soon. Watch for a heady mix of hand drawn animation, After Effects, Flash, paper cut outs, puppetry, and so on.
Other work by the animator include a recent promotional piece for Samsung's Galaxy Tablet, several pop promos, and a series of Sofa Surfer animations for a CBBC documentary, highlighting the plight of homeless children (above).
What Part Deux - another illustration from her portfolio.
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