A creative lockdown project.
The story of a couple and the place they call home.
The story behind the film
In 2010, my long-time collaborator, David Willows published Fragments, a collection of stories and reflections on modern family life. Drawing upon personal experiences, the wisdom of philosophers past and present, as well plain common sense, he brought a unique, thoughtful perspective to a wide range of issues, ranging from in-vitro fertilisation and preparing for the birth of a child, to coping with divorce, human loneliness and the loss of a loved one.
The collection contained two fictional short stories, one of which was entitled The Couple in their Caravan. The story is not rooted in historical events, but it is perhaps no coincidence that David’s parents once had a caravan.
From pages to pixels
I first read The Couple in their Caravan in 2017 and immediately had the idea to adapt the story into a short-form graphic novel. As is often the case, however, work and life took over and it was one of those ideas that ends up being shelved for a while.
Fast forward to 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic, and the opportunity to finally start work on The Caravan presented itself. It was the perfect sanity-preserving illustration project!
The Caravan was first realised, during the course of the first lockdown, in the form of a printed graphic novel that I presented to David on the occasion of his 50th birthday. With the advent of a second lockdown, we then collaborated on a project to turn the story into a fully animated short film.
The original graphic novel version of The Caravan