NYC-based sculptor/filmmaker George Higham attended the School of Visual Arts on a merit scholarship, graduating with a BFA in the late 80's, where he met co-producer/post production supervisor Tony Pellegrino. His SVA thesis film, NECROMANIA was broadcast on PBS. His early career consisted of creating special effects for film and television. He then began to create sculpture and jewelry for worldwide gallery exhibition and sale.
ANNABEL LEE presented a challenge to all of his skills, from designing and sculpting the puppets and sets, to bringing them to life using various special-effects techniques in a dramatic re-enactment of Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem of the same name.
His passion for old, fantastic literature and interest in puppetry seemed to make ANNABEL LEE inevitable. Another aspect that he found appealing, that's quintessential Poe, was the point of view of the narrator. "Cinematically, this POV allows for a very expressionist world, as the viewers see through the eyes of the possibly disturbed mind of the main character," Mr. Higham says. " In this film, Poe sees himself as a mere plaything of cruel and envious angelic beings with this in mind, I designed them as I felt that he would see them and they're unlike any angels and cherubs that you've ever seen!"
Since the completion of ANNABEL LEE, Mr. Higham has finished another stop-motion puppet short, this one contracted by Toxic Toons based upon the gonzo-cartoonish character MEATBOY.
Animated footage from ANNABEL LEE has appeared in CRADLE OF FILTH's music video for MANNEQUIN.
FILMOGRAPHY:
1988 - Necromania, 20 minutes, SVA Thesis film of a dark/occult nature.
2001 - Annabel Lee, 20 minutes, stop-motion animated/puppet film.
2002 - Meatboy, 3 minutes, stop-motion animated/puppet promo video
2003 - Mannequin, 4 minutes, music video for CRADLE OF FILTH (directed by Thomas Mignone)