Francis Taaffe

Production Design Showreel 2011

2011-02-16T23:45:00.008Z

This is my latest showreel. It showcases my design work on a number of films. The films from which the clips are drawn are listed at the end.

Corp + Anam

2011-02-08T16:32:00.000Z

CORP + ANAM, an Irish language drama which I art directed last year, begins screening on TG4 on Wednesday 16th February. The 4 part series was written & directed by Darrach Mac Con Iomarie & produced by Paddy Hayes for Magamedia. Pictured are 2 posters which I designed for the show.

The Night Nurse at the Fleadh

2010-06-30T18:26:00.001+01:00

THE NIGHT NURSE, a short film which I designed earlier this year, premieres at the Galway Film Fleadh on Saturday 10th July. The film was directed by Terence White & produced by Ian Davis & Gary Kelly for Dig Productions. The film, funded under the Irish Film Boards Short Shorts scheme, was photographed by award winning cinematographer Kate McCullough.

Production Design Showreel 2010

2010-01-25T13:59:00.006Z

This is my latest showreel. It showcases my design work on a number of films. The films from which the clips are drawn from are listed at the end.

Your Bad Self

2010-01-06T14:40:00.010Z

YOUR BAD SELF, a six part comedy sketch show, which I worked on at the end of last year, begins screening on RTE 2 on Monday 11th January. Directed by John Butler & produced by Ben Kelly for Treasure Entertainment the show stars Amy Huberman, Michael McElhatton, Jason O'Mara, Peter McDonald, Domhnall Gleeson, Justine Mitchell, Hugh O'Conor, Andrew Bennett, Tom Farrelly, Karen Egan & Emily Fairman . Pictured are two illustrations which I produced for the show.

Ernest Shackleton Autumn School 2009 Poster

2009-09-18T18:00:00.004+01:00

This is the poster for this years Ernest Shackleton Autumn School. The event is now in it's ninth year & takes place in the Athy Heritage Centre-Museum from 23rd-26th October.

Glas Energy At The Electric Picnic 2009

2009-09-02T14:55:00.003+01:00

This is an exhibit, consisting of 7 panels, designed for the company Glas Energy. They will be on view in the Global Geen area at this years Electric Picnic, running from 4th-6th September.

Corduroy Trailer

2009-08-31T19:57:00.010+01:00

This is the trailer for CORDUROY, a short film which I designed in April. Directed by Hugh O'Conor & produced by Emu Productions it was funded under the Irish Film Boards Signatures scheme. The film will premiere at the Cork Film Festival in November.

Pure Mule: The Last Weekend

2009-08-29T10:30:00.016+01:00

PURE MULE: THE LAST WEEKEND begins screening on RTE 1 on Sunday the 6th of September. I worked on the 2 part show which was produced by Accomplice Television in Birr, Co. Offaly earlier this summer. Written & directed by Eugene O'Brien & Declan Recks, respectively, the series catches up with the characters 4 years on & finds them coming to terms with a country in the depths of a recession. Pictured are 3 posters which I designed for the show.

The Fading Light Trailer

2009-08-28T16:25:00.006+01:00

The trailer for THE FADING LIGHT, a feature film which I worked on at the beginning of the year, has just been released. Written & directed by Ivan Kavanagh for P ark Films, it centres on a dying woman who when visited by her two daughters, long repressed family secrets, that have devastated their lives, rise to the surface.

The completed film should be released towards the end of this year.

Roy Begins On CBBC

2009-08-03T11:57:00.016+01:00

The Jam Media series ROY, which I worked on as an art director last year, begins screening on Wednesday 5th August on CBBC. The 13 part series concerns the adventures of Roy, an animated child living in a live-action world, & his struggles to fit in.

The show is based upon a short film, BADLY DRAWN ROY, originally produced by Jam Media in 2006 under the Irish Film Board Frameworks scheme. Below are 2 posters which I designed for the series.

Foireann Codladh At The Galway Film Fleadh

2009-07-04T13:03:00.012+01:00

FOIREANN CODLADH, an Irish langauge short film which I designed, produced under The Irish Film Board's Oscailt scheme, screens at The 21st Galway Film Fleadh on Saturday 11th July.
Directed by Danann Breathnach & starring Tomas O'Suilleabhain as a young businessman who retires to a picturesque cottage in a sleepy village, but things are not as they seem. A darkly comic tale of one man’s fight to retain his sanity against all.
Below is a set for an estate agents office which I designed for the film.

Chez Spuds

2009-03-16T13:32:00.010Z

CHEZ SPUDS, a short film for the web, produced under RTE's Storyland scheme is released today. The film is competing against 8 other short films for viewers votes in 5 recommissioning rounds. I designed the short written by Pat McCabe & Johnny Ferguson, the film was directed by Rory Bresnihan.

Oscar Nomination For New Boy

2009-01-23T13:33:00.010Z

NEW BOY has now garnered itself an Oscar nomination for best short film 2009 to add to the over 20 international awards it has already received. The Oscar ceremony takes place on the 22nd of February.

Nimrod

2008-10-31T13:50:00.001Z

This is the cover design for volume 2 of Nimrod, The Journal of The Ernest Shackleton Autumn School. The 147 page book is available for purchase, along with volume 1, from the Athy Heritage Centre-Museum.

National College Of Ireland Commercial

2008-08-20T14:26:00.002+01:00

This is a commercial which I recently designed for The National College Of Ireland. It was directed & photograhed by P.J. Dillon & produced by Scorpio TV Commercials.

New Boy Wins An IFTA

2008-02-20T17:18:00.011Z

NEW BOY, a film which I designed in February of last year, has won the best short film award at this years IFTA ceremony held on Sunday night. The film has already picked up awards at home in the Dingle, Cork, Foyle, Galway & Kerry Film Festivals. It is currently doing the rounds on the international circuit with wins at the Tirana Film Festival, Albania & a special mention at the Berlinale Film Festival.

The offical site for the film can be accessed here.

Flann O'Brien Book Cover

2008-02-15T13:52:00.017Z

This is a comp for a book cover designed at the authors request. The book Flann O'Brien, Myles na gCopaleen & Irish cultural debate is to be published by Cork University Press in October. Six individual covers were produced for the project, one for each of O'Brien's works, reflecting a design style prevalent at the time of each books first publication.

Feelgood Organic Hampers Brochure 2008

2007-10-17T16:22:00.002+01:00

This is the design for Feelgood Organic Hampers 2008 brochure. It is a 16 page A5 stitched brochure printed on 130gsm Cyclus paper (an unbleached, uncoated, 100% post-consumer recycled paper). I again, as with previous years, completed all the photography myself using only available light. This was a time intensive process initiated by the companies ethical business stance, but was an approach that paid off with some striking final images.

Production Design Showreel 2007

2007-07-02T16:56:00.006+01:00

This is my latest showreel. It showcases my design work on a number of films. The films from which the clips are drawn from are listed at the end.

Ernest Shackleton Autumn School Poster

2007-06-28T15:52:00.001+01:00

This is the almost final design for this year's Ernest Shackleton Autumn School poster. As far as I am aware this will be the first illustrated poster that they have commissioned. I have taken inspiration from the design of travel posters from the 1920's & 30's with their limited colour palates & bold graphic representation. For me they evoke a period when any travel was a valiant undertaking & an extension of empire building.

The Men Of Endurance

2007-06-27T22:39:00.001+01:00

This is a museum exhibit, The Men Of Endurance, comprised of 29 mounted panels. Each panel contains biographical information on the crew of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Antarctica expedition.

29 woodcut style illustrations of the crew were produced for the project with a view to further exploitation of the images in other media. The background to each panel features one part of a larger anaphormic image which reveals itself when viewed at an oblique angle. The exhibit can currently be seen in The Athy Heritage-Museum Centre.

Silkscreen Posters

2007-06-27T22:20:00.002+01:00

Two examples of two colour designs for silkscreen posters. The brief for the World Vegetarian Day poster called for a design that would have maximum impact when seen from a billboard hoarding & using one colour to accent the main message.

Feelgood Organic Hampers

2007-06-27T21:30:00.001+01:00

A 12 page stitched brochure for Feelgood Organic Hampers. The brief called for a design that was a departure from the traditional hamper brochure reflecting the companies hand-crafted product as shown on the front cover.

At the request of the client the brochure was printed on 120gsm recycled Corona paper with soya based inks in keeping with the companies ecologically minded business model. The release of this brochure was backed up by a series of ads in trade publications.

Nicolas Roeg's Puffball

2007-06-27T20:05:00.003+01:00

Another film that I worked on screening at this year's Fleadh is PUFFBALL directed by Nicolas Roeg. The film had its world premiere at the Transylvania Film Festival earlier this month. A key prop in the film is a jigsaw that is worked on throughout the story by a character played by Rita Tushingham. Roeg planned to reveal the completed image at the end of the film where-by the camera pushes in on the jigsaw & through the use of CGI it springs to life. I prepared several unused concept images for the scene which are seen here for the first time.

New Boy

2007-06-27T18:14:00.006+01:00

In February of this year I designed a short film funded by The Irish Film Board called NEW BOY. It was based upon a short story by Roddy Doyle & directed by a talented young American Steph Green, who has recently signed with Ridley Scott Associates.

The film relates the story of a displaced African boy's first day of school in Ireland. The film opens in Africa with a scene designed to contrast with an urban Irish school. The challenge was to convey the heat & humidity of a Kenyan locale with a build in a disused army barrack during winter. The film premieres at The Galway Film Fleadh, screening on Saturday 14th July.