WHEN THE TILES SPEAK
I produced the animation for Soudade Kaadan’s beautiful film When the Tiles Spoke, with animation by the talented Barış Gürsel.
As Soudade describes it, “The film moves between documentary and dream because memory itself moves that way.” The tiles in Leighton House’s Arab Hall speak as exiles, telling the stories of their journeys. Soudade had already established the film’s rhythm in the edit. Working with her and Barış, I developed an approach to movement that would bring the tiles to life while staying true to their nature, finding just the right amount of animation to match the spirit of the film.
Commissioned by Leighton House
Writer, director, editor & producer: Soudade Kaadan
Animation producer: Ayşe Ünal
Animation: Barış Gürsel
TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE
I directed and produced the animated television commercial that opens Tunç Şahin’s İnsanlar İkiye Ayrılır. Tunç Şahin describes Kapital Anne as the principal antagonist of İnsanlar İkiye Ayrılır. I directed and produced the animated television commercial that opens the film, introducing her before the camera pulls back to reveal it playing on a television. Working from the supplied script and voiceover, I proposed the visual style, guided the team’s character development and created the storyboard. I then oversaw animation and compositing through to delivery.
İnsanlar İkiye Ayrılır, 2020
Director Tunç Şahin
Produced by: BirFilm
Animation producer & director: Ayşe Ünal
Character design: Ahmet Tabak
Art Director: Melis Şeylan
Animation: Ahmet Tabak, Fatih Okan, Leyla Gezen
Character design Ahmet Tabak
Render Melis Şeylan
WHO IS MIHRI?
Berna Gençalp’s award-winning documentary Kim Mihri traces the overlooked life and work of painter Mihri, following her journey from Ottoman Istanbul to Rome, Paris and New York.
I supervised the character design process during the film’s early animation development, seeking a depiction of Mihri that captured both her era and her extraordinary personality. Working with talented artists Melis Şeylan, Beril Bıyık and Nur Diker at Anima Istanbul, I explored character designs, visual styles and animation techniques.
The material shown here documents that exploratory phase. These designs and tests were not used in the finished film, which ultimately adopted a rotoscoped approach based on an actress’s performance.
Film director: Berna Gençalp
Producers: Yonca Ertürk, Berat İlk
Animation director: Berat İlk
Development artwork shown here:
Concept art: Melis Şeylan
Character sculpting: Beril Bıyık, Nur Diker