Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing: From Book to Film

Overview

There was always that one kid in every primary school who was known as ‘the good drawer’. They could navigate a tray of Derwent pencils with their eyes closed, and their Wonky Vase with Sunflower still life made it into the annual school calendar three years in a row. Shaun Tan was this kid, except unlike the one from your primary school who probably didn’t sharpen their grey lead past grade six, he directed and developed one of his picture books into an Oscar-winning animated film. The logical next step from annual school calendar selection.

Dealing with political and social issues illustrated in dream-like, surreal worlds, Perth-born artist and author Shaun Tan creates beloved books that delight both adults and children alike. ACMI will be hosting the world premiere of Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing: From Book to Film, opening Tuesday, July 16, and running through to mid-January 2014. Divided into two parts, the exhibition will show Shaun's original sketches, collages and finished paintings from The Lost Thing, as well as documenting and examining the painstaking process of transforming the picture book into an animated film.

I've made a few page corner flipbooks in my time, and I can tell you first hand what a laborious task this is. I assume the processes are somewhat similar.