Production

The Story Behind The Caravan

In 2010, 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 Fertilization 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

Dave Low 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 graphic novel that Dave presented to David on the occasion of his 50th birthday.


With the advent of a second lockdown, David and Dave then collaborated on a project to turn the story and the novel into a fully animated short film.

The Caravan: Behind the scenes

Audio facilities: David's couch, under a blanket

Locations: Brussels, Belgium and Shefford, UK

Procreate

Audition

Photoshop

After Effects

Original drawings drawn in Procreate on iPad Pro with Apple Pencil
(mostly in front of Netflix in the evenings)
Additional retouching in Adobe Photoshop
Music and sound effects mixed in Adobe Audition
Animated with Adobe After Effects
Frame size and video format: 1920x1080 pixels, mp4