Mouth Full of Blood
Mouth Full of Blood is a collaborative animation made entirely through collagraph print, based on Toni Morrison's seminal text Mouth Full of Blood.
The animation is primarily inspired by the humanity and integrity of Morrison's language. To capture this, we used the abstract visual metaphor of a circle to symbolise the themes of unity and cooperation present in Mouth Full of Blood.
In making this film, process and concept were inextricably linked. The use of collagraph print and collage text gives the animation a distinct hand rendered quality, alluding to human touch and honesty. The sound design echoes this through the use of natural human sounds which build up to form a harmony, suggesting themes of community and the power of voice that Morrison writes of. The text is comprised of short excerpts from the book to form a poetic verse. This was subsequently collaged directly onto our film, emphasising the influence her writing has had on us as makers.
This short film was created in response to a live brief set by Penguin Vintage Books to make an animation for the re-release of Morrison’s award-winning set of essays. Made in collaboration with Stella Chapman.
