Oliver Harrison's first short - Amore Baciami made up entirely of typography was filmed as a graduation piece at St Martins School of Art in 1988. Using multiple overlapping exposures, the film animates the words of the song sung by Nuccia Bongiovanni. It is the first kinetic typography film. Nominated for Best British Animation (BAA) in 1988, Amore Baciami also featured in the Spike and Mike festival and on MTV’s Liquid Television in the USA. The Royal Mail used a ninety second excerpt of the film in 1989 for a Valentine's commercial entitled 'Letters of Love'. The commercial won: a Gold Lion at the Cannes Advertising Awards 1989, a Gold Arrow at the British Advertising Awards 1989, and a D&AD pencil and the Epica d'Or 1989.
'Time' was commissioned by The Late Show (BBC2 ) in 1989. It is a carefully choreographed typographic sequence based on the poem by Nicholas Breton, set to Berceuse in D flat by Chopin. In 1992 as part of the first Channel 4 Animate commissions, Harrison filmed Spirit of Place (35mm). "Every room has a spirit which sleeps beneath the layers of peeling paint and wallpaper. Spirit of Place observes the awakening of such a spirit, coerced into life by moonlight". Camera and lighting by Doug Foster, it was the first film to be shot entirely on a motion-control camera. Spirit of Place won best B&W cinematography at the 1992 Cork Film Festiival
Set to the kitsch classic by Deanna Durban and funded by The Arts Council of England and Channel 4 , Love is All was filmed in 2000 featuring artist, Mia Buckton as the 'winter-bound' snow queen. Time Out called it “ An ineffably sweet ode to amour, a non-narrative fairy-tale in black and white ” . The film was shown as part of the Tate Modern 'Thresholds of the Frame' screenings. it went on to win the Jury Prize at the2000 Oberhausen Film Festival , Best b/w film at Cork Film Festival 2000 , 'Prix Cocotte Minute' at the Court de Brest FIlm Festival 2000 , Highly Commended at TCM ‘Classic Shorts’ and the Jury Award at the New York Expo of Short Films . The making of the film was also featured in the Barbican exhibition "a passionate obsession" in 2002. The film is featured on the British Animation Awards DVD number 3.
Oliver Harrison's feature debut: Badinage is a dark ‘fairy-tale' - a poetic, surrealistic fantasy . Under the brutal rule of a new religious sect, art, music and free speech have been outlawed; the poets are the last line of resistance. This is tale of love lost and found, of friendship and betrayal and of the magical power of language and words... Oliver Harrison has directed commercials for Nike, Toyota Rav 4, Marie Claire, P&O Ferries, Molson beer. He has also made environmental spots for MTV and designed the titles for the oscar winning Howard's End.
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Oliver Harrison
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