Only 14% of England’s rivers are in good health, with the rest heavily polluted by sewage and chemicals from industrial farming. The plants, animals, insects, and birds that once thrived in these vibrant ecosystems are now at serious risk. Now, London-based filmmakers Tom Wrigglesworth and Matt Robinson of Tom & Matt studio are creatively spotlighting the urgent need to protect the UK’s freshwater habitats in their new film, Flow.
Wrigglesworth and Robinson partnered with The National Trust to set up a unique animation installation in South Wales. The piece consists of several kinetic wooden sculptures, dotted throughout the river and carved with fish and bird cutout motifs. As the river flows, the current sets the sculptures in motion, creating continuous animated loops that symbolically breathe life back into a once-thriving river.
“The idea was to take the wildlife hidden below and bring it up to the surface by creating dynamic animated loops of different river based wildlife,” Wrigglesworth told My Modern Met. “Inspired by the negative space in the work of Kunio Kaneko, we cut shapes out of the wooden panels. The texture of the background became part of the image, the river illustrating itself.”
The filmmakers built 168 paddles attached to 21 spinning wheels. Each paddle showed one frame of a looping animation, all hand-cut from 2-millimeter-thick sheets of FSC-certified wood. The river’s natural flow powered the movement, controlling how fast the animation played.
“We chose a quiet stretch of the River Neath in South Wales, a visually beautiful home for the installation; but, unfortunately, one at increased risk of pollution, just like so many other freshwater habitats across the UK,” Wrigglesworth tells us. “Using the natural shape of the river we installed our sculptures. It became our timeline, as we moved down the river, we introduced each animated sequence, the narrative being written by its natural flow, dictating the final compositions of the film.”
Wrigglesworth and Robinson teamed up with a local crew and spent a week camping on-site to install the wheels. They then dedicated another week to filming each part of the installation, patiently working with the natural flow and light to capture the animated sculptures. “Despite careful planning, we had to accept we were at the complete mercy of the ever-changing river and weather for the shoot,” they admit. “On paper, it was simple, in practice, it was anything but—a reminder that we can't control nature, only work with it.”
As well as making their own independent films, Wrigglesworth and Robinson create work for advertising agencies and brands. Flow allowed the creative duo to do something different, away from screens. “At a time when branded content is crowded with heavy VFX,” they tell us, “we wanted to step away from the noise and make something real, in camera, built by hand, rooted in nature and raising awareness to something that's important and affects us all.”
Check out Flow below and find more of Wrigglesworth and Robinson’s projects on the Tom & Matt website.
London-based filmmakers Tom Wrigglesworth & Matt Robinson of Tom & Matt studio spotlight the urgent need to protect the UK’s freshwater habitats in their new short film, Flow.
As the river flows, the current sets the sculptures in motion, creating continuous animated loops that symbolically breathe life back into a once-thriving river.
The filmmakers built 168 paddles attached to 21 spinning wheels. Each paddle showed one frame of a looping animation.
Watch the animations come to life in the full short film below.
Tom Wrigglesworth & Matt Robinson: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Tom Wrigglesworth & Matt Robinson.
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