The Spring of Nijinsky
My final year film at UWE Bristol. I was inspired to make it when I stumbled upon the story of Vaslav Nijinsky, a ballet superstar of the early 20th century. I was struck by the parallels between Nijinsky’s real life and the fate of the Sacrificial Virgin from Rite of Spring – the third ballet he choreographed. I found the themes of self-destruction through art very poignant and wanted to create a film which would reflect those parallels. I immersed myself deeply – too deeply, perhaps – in research before moving into pre-production. Collected here are sketches, notes, designs and pictures from that stage.
Initial concept exploration
Some of these were done long before I decided on this project for my final year film. Very rough sketches of character design, elements I was interested in including and thumbnails.
Thumbnails - first pass
In my initial concept, the film started much earlier, with Nijinsky being given the task of choreographing Rite of Spring. It then followed him, in snippets, through the process of mounting the choreography, the problematic rehearsals, and, finally, the premiere.
Thumbnails - second pass
After some feedback, I decided to start the film much later, at the point where Nijinsky first shows his choreography to his dancers. It marked the first attempt to condense the rehearsals period into a montage of sorts, showing Nijinsky’s unravelling under hardship and lack of understanding from his dancers.
Notes, sketches, feedback etc.
Being a visual thinker, I kept a sketchbook on hand at all times, especially during feedback sessions, to record any new ideas, criticism, solutions and so on.
Storyboard
Here the story has been condensed further, now down to about five minutes. Another half a minute or so would be shaved off in the animatic stage, after I had already begun production.
Visref and moodboards
A collection of references for both the appearance of my leads, the environment and the visual style I wanted to pursue. I also maintained a blog where I compiled a lot of my research in an easily organised manner.
Character design - initial exploration
I experimented with a lot of different artistic influences, always trying to maintain the slightly awkward, stern, wide-eyed look I’d envisioned for Nijinsky.
Colour design
The colour design of the film had to be dynamic, changing to reflect the different moods as well as settings.
Background design
The production of the actual backgrounds was handled by my incredible background artist Filipa Gaspar. These are some of the layouts, sketches, floor plans, rough colour schemes and other notes I gave her to communicate what I wanted.
