Julia Pott’s Little Scraps Of Paper

As with most good projects, it started with coffee.  The idea to create a series of short film portraits on creative people and their sketchbooks came to British filmmaker Tomas Leach after ‘lots and lots’ of the stuff.  And other than making beautiful pieces of film, there were just three rules: each one should be no more than 90 seconds, should focus on the artist and their sketchbook, and they will always be filmed in the morning.

Little Scraps of Paper—an independent film project that has developed into a series of more than 20 artist profiles—is the baby of the London-based film director. For Leach—who specialises in documentary and commercial work and whose clients include Adidas, BMW and the BBC—the venture gave him the freedom to go off and create what he wanted.

“I think I was just very curious as to how others work and what they surrounded themselves with,” he explained to us. “It was all a good excuse to nose around people’s studios.  I don’t really consider myself that creative and I’m still in awe of people that can draw, photograph, design … Trying to understand how and why people do things is what I love about making films.”

This particular short looks at the creative process of illustrator Julia Pott, who creates amazing, abstract animations with her awkward little characters (including short film Belly previously featured on Portable.tv).  Whether it’s an overheard conversation on the bus or her own inner confusions, all her ideas, sketches and animation development go into her sketchbook.  As a personal insight into her work and her immersion in it, Leach gives a peep into her sketches of animated characters, her workspace and how she works with her creations.

And how does the filmmaker—being a creative type himself—arrange his own ideas when making these profiles? In an A5 notebook filled with scattered notes and lots of lists.

“For the Little Scraps films, I have a loose framework that each film is structured around, but lots of the best stuff comes from me talking to the people in the films and drawing out their personal insights.  It’s a privilege entering into these people’s worlds, so I try and make the most of it.”

You can have a look at the collection at littlescrapsofpaper.co.uk.

Details

• Directed by

  Tomas Leach

• Art by

  Julia Pott