Love Story is a short animated film on collaborations between academia and creative practitioners.  It was created by Alys Scott Hawkins in collaboration with Dr Abigail Gilmore and Dr Roberta Comunian as part of the research network ‘Beyond the Campus: Higher Education and the Creative Economy’. The film captures the emotional journey of an academic (Hedda) and a creative practitioner (Claudio) as they meet, share interests and collaborate to produce a common project. It uses the language of a 'love story', contemplating commitment, engagement, team work and moving on, to help audiences reflect on the spiritual and emotional connections that develop within a collaborative project.

Also available on vimeo 

Animation Dalila Rovazzani
Script Editing Bryan Johnson
Voice Colin McAllister
Sound Recording Dale Sumner
Music Alexis Bennett
Compositing & Edit Katerina Athanasopoulou
Design & Direction Alys Scott Hawkins

As a practising artist and animation director Alys has more than ten years of professional experience working in London and overseas. Her short films have won several international awards; been exhibited widely in the UK, at more than 30 international film festivals; and featured in commercial DVD and print publications. Her practice has led to a prime time broadcast commission for Channel 4 Television, as well as residencies at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna and the National Media Museum in Bradford. 
Within Southampton where she lives, teaching at Solent University and working at Tower House studio, she has delivered commissions for Southampton City Council, The Point arts centre in Eastleigh, financial services firm BDO, the NHS and University of Southampton.
Her specialist field is in animated documentary, using drawing to explore the world and tell difficult and unusual stories. She thrives on working closely with people and communities to articulate their experiences and imagine the future through drawing. You can see Alys portofolio here: alysscotthawkins.co.uk

The project is not only a reflection on collaboration but also in itself an intense period of collaborative work. Read below some reflections from Abigail & Alys about working together in this film

Abigail Gilmore: "This project was not just about presenting the Beyond the Campus research in different ways by using animated film - it allowed us to consider the different things that matter in the collaborative process, to both creatives and academics (and the institutions they work with), and discuss ways of making the process smoother and more productive. Work between the creative sector and universities isn't simply a case of getting the technicalities right: we also had to take into account different timetables and systems, as well as the different values we each bring to the creative process."

Alys Scott Hawkins: " The project was a great opportunity to reflect on the collaborative nature of creative work across creative practitioners and across academia.. Every project is different but some of the feelings of excitment, frustration or shared achievement that Hedda and Claudio experience in the film are also emotions and connections I felt along the way. This gives me the confidence that the film will engage audiences with similar and different experiences and will give us more opportunity to discuss these themes in the future"

We would love you to use this space below to offer feedback on the film and its content but also in general on how it represents your own experience of collaboration across academia and creative practice. Here are some questions you might want to consider:

• How do you feel Hedda and Claudio story represent your own experience of collaboration?
• What makes relationships work between creative and academics?
• What kinds of issues arise from your experience in undertaking creative collaborations?
• Do we need marriage counsellors, divorce lawyers, midwives?
  

On March12th we attended the AHRC Creative Economy Showcase in London. 
The event offered us an opportunity to share the findings from our Tweetchat event via the creative posters designed by Robin Bini Schneider.
The stand offered the opportunity to our team to introduce visitors to the project and also to share current and future initiatives.

As part of the event, we held a small workshop to present the film 'A Love Story' by Alys Scott Hawkins and discuss with the audience their experience of the rewards and challenges of collaboration across academia and the creative economy. 

You can download here the presentation given during the seminar 

The AHRC Showcase event was a success also thanks to our collaborators Silvie Jacobi & Jack Welsh. This is a final photo of our (tired) team before packing up our banners. 

Read here the account of the creative process behind these amazing creative presentation posters created by Robin Bini Schneider. "To create the tweetchat infographic I followed a few steps, first make sense of all the email conversations happening around the project, check out website, links and get a clear global understanding of who my client is, what needs to be represented, who the audience is going to be, the format/final output, tone of voice and general atmosphere and vibe. Second, research. Once I gain a clear understanding of a project I search for inspiration for example what are the current infographic trends, what has been done on a similar topic? Third, sketch! I never start a project without pen and paper. After reading all data available I sketched a few examples of how to represent the information I had. Then I sketched how to merge organically different data streams in one visual. I choose a simple clear style, I kept my visuals more technical, geometrical, detail oriented in the first infographic to represent in a digestible and comprehensible way a complex variety of data. Maintaining a coherent color palette, font set and overall style I adopted a more human approach for the second visualisation, where tweets emotions had to be the key message. I introduced hand made elements, drawn all of them, scanned them, cleaned them and merged them to style elements from the first graphic.
For the other infographics I kept a consistent style, chose even more simplicity but highlighted key messages with few icons and graphic elements. "

Robin Bini Schneider is a compulsive traveler and meticulous Designer. SHe is charmed by foreign cultures, fascinated by human behavior and always try to live life to the fullest. Right now  she is living and loving Scotland, working as a visual and service designer a little company, made of pretty inspiring people, Snook. She is always on the look for interesting projects and adventures. 

Calling all twitter users who are involved in creative engagements between universities and creative practitioners: 
Join us for a Valentines lunch time discussion to stimulate and capture a debate around the peculiar relationship between Higher Education and the Cultural and Creative Industries. 

When?
14th February 2014 
11am-1pm

How to join?
You can follow the conversation by using hashtag:
#LoveCreate (Hosted by Hedda and Claudio )

What is this all about?
The Beyond the Campus research network has been looking at the different ways in which collaborations and partnerships between Higher Education and the Creative Economy take place in the UK and beyond, and what policy makers, funders, local agencies and other stakeholders within the sectors think of them.  We know a bit about how universities and creative practitioners collaborate from policy documents and from our research workshops. We want to find out more about these relationships from those who are intimately involved - the academics and creative - in particular their own experiences and expectations.  This seems like a fun way to do so.

What data will be collected?
We think it will be interesting to look across what people have been saying as a whole and see what narratives, arguments and evidence emerges. So, we are planning to collect up the digital traces of the tweetchat and undertake some analysis using data visualisation and concept illustration to present back to you after the debate. We will also be presenting this as part of the AHRC Showcase on Connected Communities and the Creative Economy in March.   
We welcome any links to initiatives and case studies that contribute to our wider research activity. If you want to appear on our tweet map please make sure your location is switched on when you tweet.   

Thanks for taking part and we look forward to chatting with you, Hedda andClaudio on Valentine’s Day.   

Love,
@HeCreativeCon

@claudio_create_
Name: Claudio Create
Subject Area: Theatre Practitioner  
Specialism: Scriptwriting and Performance based on Social Media

@hedda_love_ 
Name: Hedda Love 
Subject Area: Cultural Historian  
Specialism: Digital Technology and Heritage Collections

Twitter
@HECreativEcon
#LoveCreate

This Tweetchat is part of:
AHRC Creative Economy Showcase 2014