Mark Tree

Bio

My PhD title:

Fantasia on a theme of witchcraft: The visual language of Folk Horror 

My PhD summary:

My thesis will consist of a written study and an animated narrative film. The research question centres on how the visual language of ‘folk horror’ is shaped by the aesthetics of landscape and habitat. It will conceptualize why certain filmic images evoke strong associations with these themes and how and when these associations occurred. As folk horror creates a distinction between agricultural and uncultivated land this project will demonstrate how selected film texts draw on folkloric traditions that reflect the disparity of film-style between various regions of Europe and how visual texture is used to create ideological meaning. It will argue that folk horror can be considered as an aesthetic more so than a genre, as such associations are understood by respective audiences from the conventions of culture and heritage. The film will incorporate visual motifs and pictorial conventions associated with folk horror and will be the creative interpretation of the theoretical research by unifying the theoretical concepts of visual texture with the process of handcrafted animation.  

I studied Film Practice as an undergraduate at University of the Arts London where I specialised in set design and cinematography. My dissertation explored the films of Carl Theodor Dreyer. I then studied at University College London for their MA Film Studies course, writing about British cinema in the 1940s. I have worked on numerous stage productions as a set designer and made short films as writer and director. I am drawn to the aesthetic beauty of imperfection which can be achieved through hand-crafted forms of animation and illustration. I am interested in practical visual effects and traditional animation techniques.