High Street Repeat
Directors: Osbert Parker and Laurie Hill
United Kingdom, 2024, 5 min
Shooting Format:Digital
Festival Year:2025
Category:Experimental
Genres:Street documentary, Art, Animation, Experimental
Crew:Writers: Osbert Parker, Laurie Hill. Producer: Osbert Parker. Sound Design by: Rob Szeliga. Picture Research by: Lucia Ortiz Aditi Anand
Email:osbertparker.films@gmail.com
Synopsis
Parker & Hill's latest collaboration, High Street Repeat, is an experimental, archive-delving collage film originally made as an artists' commission for the UK's Migration Museum. The film uses a range of animation techniques and archive materials to explore the story of migration and enterprise, told through the changing face of Britain’s high street. But what makes this film extraordinarily fresh and entertaining, is the playful combination of stop motion with digital techniques and manipulation of photographic cut-outs, creating a continuous transition between the past and present - it has a strong rhythmic quality too, while the filmmakers avoided paper cuts in the process!
About the directors
Osbert Parker - Three times BAFTA nominated and award winning Osbert Parker, is perhaps best known for creating stories that use experimental and innovative film techniques. They often combine photo cut-out animation with objects and live action to create one-of-a-kind imaginary landscapes in mixed media short films, commercials, TV entertainment and online content. With 35 years experience of working in film, Parker consistently works on a wide range of industry and personal projects while delivering masterclasses & running international film workshops.
Laurie Hill - Laurie Hill is an award-winning multi-media animator and director based in London. He often works with archival and found materials. He studied at the Royal College of Art and his work has screened at many festivals and galleries worldwide including Sundance, AFI Fest, Telluride Film Festival, Museum of Modern Art New York, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, New Art Gallery Walsall, Cornerhouse Manchester and Museum Of London. Selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2007. Finalist in Jerwood Moving Image Awards 2008. His film Photograph Of Jesus won Best Experimental Short Film at Chicago International Film Festival, Best Animated Short at Seattle International Film Festival and the McLaren Award at Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Filmmakers' note
First it’s the ingredients - we’re assembling a huge archive of images (shop fronts in this case) from many sources. Then it’s about combining them in unexpected ways to bring out interesting clashes, crossovers and flavours.
The film combines stop motion with digital techniques and manipulation of photographic cut-outs, creating a continuous transition between the past and present - it has a strong rhythmic quality too.
This project offered a creative challenge and fantastic opportunity - we’re both interested in archives of images, building sequences and finding poetic connections to communicate narratives.
Our main rule for ourselves is: be playful with the material ... and watch out for the paper cuts!