Nic Rawling is clearly a very passionate man, he oozes enthusiasm and excitement as he talks openly about his work with The Paper Cinema which originally came out of the music scene in Bournemouth. The Paper Cinema are currently performing their 2008 Edinburgh Fringe hit production of The Night Flyer at London’s Battersea Arts Centre, here he talks to The Public Reviews editor John Roberts.

You are first and foremost and illustrator, was this always going to be a career choice for you?

I never really see myself as an illustrator, but it has always been in the family. My father was an Illustrator for Walt Disney and worked a lot of Mickey Mouse Cartoons, I went off and did a fine art course but afterwards was not really sure if this was the area I wanted to work in, so many jobs followed including a stint as a Gardner. Whilst living in Bournemouth I started to meet and mix with several bands and musicians and over time they started to incorporate my images into their live performances and from then on things started to progress, other than The Paper Cinema I still do freelance Illustration and am constantly looking for commissions – but it was never the plan to become one.

Over the past two years you have entered into the theatrical arena – how did this come about?

Whilst touring with The Paper Cinema we happened to be doing a gig at the BAC and afterwards they approached us, asking us to create an instillation to be used as part of Punch Drunks – Masque of the Red Death, the piece was King Pest and based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, and from that several other projects and commissions came to light. Working in a theatre environment has been really interesting especially learning how to construct a narrative that holds the audience’s attention, and how the music illustrations need to come and work together, this is still an area which we are learning and constantly evolving in.

Night Flyer – which is currently being performed at the BAC received huge critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, what is the show about and why do you think it has captured the audiences hearts and imaginations?

The Night Flyer is deliberately left open to interpretation – in essence it is simply a lyrical story about a boy who rescues a girl. Who the boy and girl are, is completely up to you as an audience. We have had many people read the story in so many different ways – from them being lovers, to being a brother and sister, or that the boy dies in the story. This open ended interpretation really lets you find what you want in it, we as The Paper Cinema have included several subtle nudges within the images we use to add an extra layer or dimension, a bit like a comic where in every frame there is something that just gives hints to what is to come or what is happening and to be honest I am still even as the creator finding new things every time I perform the show.

Your work has been likened to that of a silent movie, was this a conscious decision to stay away from live vocals? And underscore the work with live music?

I think the use of Silent Movie is slightly misleading though because what we do is unique people use anchor points to hone in on what it is we do, some people use Silent Movie, others use shadow puppetry and I guess in a sense they are right, we are creating a new language with the work we do. I like to call what we do ‘Illustrative Song’as it is more of a merging of the two forms than as separates that come together. I suppose most decisions on what we have done, forms from the work we have created with the bands and the groups in the past. One of the things we are doing with our scratch performance of the‘Odyssey’is exploring these areas, we are not overt to using lyrics or the spoken word and we are currently looking at seeing how this can be used and that the audience who attends really do have a major input in us driving our work forward.

Where do the ideas for your productions come from?

Out of the three pieces we have done so far two have been direct commissions so we never really had as much artistic control as we would have liked, but with our new piece The Odyssey which we are working on with the BAC, we are exploring how we can really throw our own creative ideas in the mix and seeing how this forms the work which we are doing. The Odyssey we hope will be a full length theatre piece with a much bigger cast, bigger band and happen on a slightly grander scale, but generally the ideas for what goes into the production is a college of ideas, I then start to see links in the ideas and find a language with which I can use for the piece. I then work out how it should be sequenced and draw them up and start to work the ideas out in front of the camera.

What are your plans for The Paper Cinema over the next year?

Well for the next year we are continuing our development of The Odyssey which will see us continue our association with the BAC. We are also in talks with several companies about future projects including a big two day outdoor production on the environment and a possible collaboration with Ariel Group – Upswing. We plan on touring a bit more with the Night Flyer and have lots of projects and workshops planned within schools and community groups.

On a personal level I am doing some freelance illustration for various things and for the first time since I left art school I will be having an exhibition from the 9th Jan through to the 21st February at the Walford Mill Crafts Centre in Wimbourne, Dorset. The other exhibitors are members of my immediate family, my mother is a textile artist, my father will be showcasing some of his illustrations, my brother is exhibiting some of his photography work and I will be hanging some of the puppets from our work on the walls too, not to mention performing at the opening night.

The Night Flyer and the Scratch presentation of The Odyssey is currently running at the Battersea Arts Centre in London until the 23rd December for more information on the show click here

To read our review of the Night Flyer click here.

Tags: BAC, Film, Interview, Nic Rawling, Odyssey, Puppetry, The Night Flyer, The Paper Cinema