Daniel Luke · 2022
100% homemade shadow theatre. Drawn by hand, cut by hand, performed by hand.
“This video is 100% homemade shadow theatre, hand drawn by Adam O’Regan, and hand cut by Daniel Luke.”
Nothing is generated, composited or animated. Every character was drawn flat on paper, cut out, mounted on sticks and performed live against a lit screen — the entire film built at table scale and captured in camera.
Concept by Daniel Luke and Adam O’Regan. Directed, filmed and edited by Adam O’Regan.
A cast designed before a single cut was made.
A shadow has no interior. No shading, no texture, no expression beyond its edge — so every character had to be legible purely as outline.
Ears, snouts, lapels and collars were pushed until each figure read instantly at a glance, then tested at size before anything was committed to paper.
Four states, one silhouette.
A study sheet working out how much emotional range a single outline could hold — passive, sleeping, psychotic, sad — before the character was committed to paper and scalpel.
The same discipline was applied across the cast: bull, horse and pig, each in a suit, each readable at a glance.
Drawn by one hand, cut by another.
Every asset in the film is a physical piece of paper. Characters, sets and props were cut by hand by Daniel Luke, then mounted, taped and rigged for performance.
Because each cut is permanent, the design had to be resolved on paper first — there is no undo in a scalpel.
One screen, one light, one camera — the whole production, built in a room.
Even the titles are physical.
The cards were cut from paper and shot on the same rig, under the same light, as the film itself. Nothing was added in post.
Six puppeteers behind one screen. Every move a live take.
The whole build, on record.
A companion film documenting the drawing, cutting, rigging and puppeteering that produced the video.
100% homemade shadow theatre
Hand drawn by Adam O’Regan, hand cut by Daniel Luke
Director · Concept · Illustration · Cinematography · Editor
Bernadine McEnroe and John Mohan — for their time and good energy.