It’s only been a year since Mancunian motion graphic designer Gary Dumbill made his first promo. But with his latest effort, a music video for Airship, Dumbill is showing real talent for creative storytelling and beautiful mixed mdia visuals. Laura Swinton caught up with Gary to chat about designing sneakers, satirising the general election for Al Jazeera and what it might be like to be a superhero.
https://vimeo.com/11800867
In the grand tradition of Blind Date – what’s your name and where do you come from?
Gary Dumbill, Manchester, U.K
What first attracted you to filmmaking and animation?
I was a bit of a music video fanboy as a kid. When my parents first got Sky TV in the mid nineties I’d tape MTV Europe throughout the night then watch it back the next day, piles of VHS tapes must still be under my old bed next to my worn out skateboard videos. After being side tracked deciding I wanted to design sneakers and learning about the creative thought processes at Uni, I taught myself animation on the job and here I am. I love the way you can enhance the mood of a piece of music with visuals, and how the same piece of work can evoke different emotions in different people.
Love the mixed-media feel of the Airship promo – what attracted you to that style of animation? What was the idea behind the promo?
It was dictated by the tempo of the track. I liked the idea of using a narrative drawn from the lyrics; that there’s something else, and from that the organic papery world just seemed to fit perfectly. It’s your classic paper-robot-boy meets paper-robot-girl love story/tragedy. The band and record company Love & Disaster were brilliant and gave me complete creative freedom.
What inspires you?
The things which happen to people everyday. As a kid lightening once stuck just outside my home, this was while I was thinking that it would amazing if lightening struck just outside my home…..for a moment I wondered if I was a super hero, and do I tell anyone about what I’d just done! I’m very a much a product of my surroundings in terms of music and art, but I also get inspired by the old punk ethos; if you can afford a dvcam, pencil and paper, cow bell, etc… then why not get out and make something.
Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
Hopefully I’ll have a beard. Its less than a year since I made my first music promo, so it may be too soon to tell, but I love the process of creating things. I tend to think short term and concentrate on the immediate, but with lots of short film ideas, more music promo’s in the pipeline and a lot of ambition I’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Aside from Algebra, what pieces of work are you most proud of?
The animation is a little basic but I produced this piece ahead of the U.k general elections, more as a satirical commentary on the whole thing. It was shown on Al-Jazera English during their election special edition of the listening post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s44FxCONTII
And this is my first video made in collaboration with Rampant Records, I provided the editing and graphics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShUs1TPfCxs
Gary is currently unsigned as a director – you can contact him through his Vimeo page www.vimeo.com/gary
