Tilly Wallace

Hi! My name is Tilly, I’m an animator originally from Nottingham who specialises in traditional, handmade animation techniques. I’ve always loved making a mess when I work. I’m drawn to natural textures and so I usually animate using physical materials, such as paint or pastels. My time at UCA has allowed me to explore animating with a stop-motion rostrum set-up, which allows me a lot of creative freedom, even if sometimes it can be painfully slow!

My graduation film, ‘Wings for Butterflies’ is an animated short exploring the relationship between humans and nature, set amidst the magical landscape of a redwood forest. The peaceful existence of the forest’s occupants is disturbed upon the arrival of a storm of manmade destruction, which threatens to uproot their trees and their way of life. It is up to a tree spirit and her small winged friends to restore the balance of their ecosystem.

I used paint on glass animation technique to make the film; it involved hand-painting individual frames with a mixture of acrylic paint and glycerine, to slow down the drying process. The fluid look of the paint really helped me to capture the magic of the forest, the graceful and fleeting movements. One of the most important elements in ‘Wings for Butterflies’ is colour; I chose to use unnatural colours to make the setting seem more dreamy and to add to the surreal atmosphere of the film.

The film is loosely based around the story of Julia Butterfly Hill, who lived in a redwood tree for two years to ensure that it wouldn’t be logged by the Pacific Lumber Company. Her story inspired me, in reading it I wanted to create a film that focused on the environment and forests, but also emphasises how sometimes individual actions can make a large difference, especially when it comes to protecting the environment.

You can see more of my work at my website, http://tillywallace.co.uk, or on my Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/tillanimates/.