'Death Of A Showjumper '
Title sequence for the Sky Studios documentary series investigating the tragic death of promising young, horse-loving jockey, Katie Simpson.
Thank you to
@walkonairfilms @ni_screen and
@skytv for having me involved in such a brilliant project and a special mention to series director Niamh Kennedy, who was incredibly supportive of my work and a joy to collaborate with.
I had the opportunity to create and direct the title sequence for Death Of A Showjumper, Sky Studios’ three-part documentary exploring the tragic death of Katie Simpson.
In close collaboration with series director Niamh Kennedy, we set out to craft a haunting narrative that would capture the journey of a young girl dreaming of becoming a showjumper. To achieve this, I developed a series of recurring visual motifs that act as a quick shorthand for the audience.
One motif contrasts two pairs of hands: the young girl’s, shown treating both her toy horses and real horses with tenderness, and those of an older male figure, portrayed as harsh and aggressive. Another motif plays with reflections—the innocent girl mirrored in the eye of her toy horse, later juxtaposed with a sinister figure reflected in the eye of a real horse.
We were drawn to the idea of these majestic animals as silent witnesses to the darkest truths hidden within the stables. This perspective also allowed us to parallel the way the perpetrator broke the young girls’ spirits with the way a horse is broken in.
We chose a stripped-back palette to create an atmosphere that felt both sensitive and unsettling. By blending traditional cel animation and hand-drawn imagery with digital compositing, I aimed to craft a piece that was visually beautiful yet imbued with sorrow—one that could honour the gravity of the subject matter.
#illustration #animation #skydocumentaries #art #conceptualillustration #narrativeillustration
