Daisy Jacobs Talks ‘The Bigger Picture’

The UK animator discusses her Oscar-nominated stop-motion graduate film.

All imiages courtesy of Daisy Jacobs.

When talking about interesting animated short films, it’s easy to overuse the superlative -- we constantly toss around words like “unique” and “cool” almost as often as phrases like “cutting-edge” and “visually stunning.” So many good films, so few good words -- you do the math.

However, in describing Daisy Jacob’s multiple-award winning graduate student film The Bigger Picture, one of this year’s five Oscar-nominated shorts, it’s hard not to conjure up the whole lot of superlatives we seem to throw around so haphazardly. Is it fair or just lazy, in this case, to say I really mean it this time?

Jacob’s film is unique, cool, cutting-edge and visually stunning. It uses a technique I’ve never knowingly seen before -- life-sized sets filled with full-sized characters painted on walls in 2D, interacting with hand-painted paper mache constructed appendages and other 3D elements, shot in stop-motion. It’s uniquely captivating. Married to a funny and poignant story about the sometimes tender, sometimes distressing realities of dealing with an elder parent in decline, The Bigger Picture is a thoughtful, engaging and truly enjoyable film.

I recently had a chance to talk with filmmaker Daisy Jacobs about her chosen animation medium, the rigors of working with life-sized hand-painted characters and the reasons she chose to tell this particular tale.

Dan Sarto: Getting an Oscar nomination caps a tremendously successful festival run for your film. What were your first thoughts when you heard you were nominated?

Daisy Jacobs: It didn’t really sink in particularly. I was obviously seriously delighted but it hasn’t really sunk in until now.

DS: There are many ways to “measure” the success of a film. From my vantage point, your film has been extremely successful and received numerous awards and accolades. Did you ever dream your film would achieve such notoriety and critical acclaim, culminating in BAFTA and Oscar nominations?

DJ: Not really. I always hoped that people would get a chance to see it and enjoy it. I didn’t think about awards at all. It’s great when someone comes up to me and says, “Oh, that happened to me” or “Oh, that’s my story.” What’s been so nice for me is that people who know a lot about mental health say I’ve touched on things that are important. It’s very rewarding when people connect to it. And people who know about film, people who make films, they’ve told me I’ve gotten something right. These things are all very important to me.

DS: This film is based in part on your own experiences with your Grandmother. The unfortunate reality of caring for our elderly in their years of decline can be devastating to families. Can you tell me the genesis of the story?

DJ: My Gram had Parkinson’s [Disease] and for her last three years was completely disabled. She was completely paralyzed and in a wheelchair. So I became interested in the role of the caregiver in the family and what that means for societies with aging populations as well. This type of situation is going to happen more often as parents get old.

DS: How did you take the idea from concept to production?

DJ: When I write scripts, they’re based on my experiences, which I want to put into a clear and engaging story. When I write, I work in technique as well. So I’m doing quite a few things at once. I try to make characters that are honest and have a range of personality traits. I always start with the characters and then branch out.

DS: Were you always planning on making a film with these life-size painted figures and stop-motion technique or did you make that decision based on the nature of your story?

DJ: I had done a couple of tests with the life-size techniques during my first year [at school] so I knew it was a technique I wanted to use. The idea of animating Nick [a character in the film] Hoovering up [vacuuming up] and interacting with a painted person and a whole set was important.

DS: Your animation style is unique. Can you describe how you mix stop-motion with life-sized hand painted characters and real prop elements?

DJ: Everything is animated in stop-motion. The characters are painted on the wall with their arms done in 3D using paper mache, as is the middle area of the set. All the time you’re moving objects, repainting the characters for every short you take. I tie everything together with 3D elements like bits of furniture. We make these in-between bits out of paper mache as well. I paint all the sets. My painting style brings it all together. I use a slightly David Hockney-esque style with things like water. If you look at his style he uses quite fat bits of water. Everything had to fit in with my design ideas.

In terms of my characters, everything was quite physically demanding because everything was so large. I had to repaint lots and lots of characters every day. We’d take a shot, then have to repaint.

DS: How long did the film take to make?

DJ: It took six months to do the animation, a year to do the whole film, which includes script and post.

DS: What were the biggest challenges you faced making this film?

DJ: [Before I began the film] I’d already figured out how to do the technique, but not in a particularly sophisticated way. So, I hadn’t tested working with two characters at once. I use straight ahead animation. There’s no going back. It was very challenging animating two characters at the same time, each with their arms going out.

DS: You obviously love to paint. As an artist, what led you to become an animator?

DJ: I have a real obsession with paint. The look of paint, squeezing paint, everything to do with paint -- I’m completely obsessed with paint.

But ultimately, animation has to do with movement. It also has to do with the idea that your illustrations, the world you’re creating, are actually becoming real. For me, once my characters are walking and talking, I’ve created a real person, a real world, and that’s a powerful thing to be able to do. It’s very satisfying to me.

In addition, when you work with people on a film, you can create something much bigger than you could do on your own. I find that process very interesting.

DS: Who inspires you creatively?

DJ: I’ve always completely loved David Hockney because of his use of color. He’s very impressionistic. When I paint something, I’m not looking at anything really. I’m looking at and thinking about the colors when I paint. I paint through colors. I don’t think that’s a particularly normal way to do things. People look at line, they look at shape, all sorts of things. I look at color when I’m laying on paint.

DS: What is it you hope an audience experiences and comes away with after watching your film?

DJ: I’m hoping it’s not an ordinary everyday experience for people. As they begin the film, I’d like them to feel really good, really interested and experience something really enjoyable. By the end, I’d like them to think about and possibly question something I’ve brought up in the film. The idea of experiencing guilt over what you’re going to do with your parents. I’d like them to enjoy watching the film and also to connect with my message as well.