The Hand-Drawn Animation Machine
Magic House is an interactive animation machine designed to make traditional hand-drawn animation more accessible and playful. Created during my Master’s in Media Design at HEAD Genève in collaboration with Caran d’Ache, it has been showcased in multiple exhibitions, including:
📍 Caran d’Ache Expo – Platform 10, Lausanne 🇨🇭 (2024)
📍 Festival d’Animation de Savigny 🇨🇭 (2024)
📍 KIKK Festival – Namur, Belgium 🇧🇪 (2024)
📍 HEAD Portes Ouvertes – Geneva 🇨🇭 (2025)
🔜 Halle, Belgium – March 2025
How It Works
Magic House looks like a small, cosy house on wheels (about 60 cm tall) with glowing lights that spark curiosity. Its frosted windows make you wonder: What’s inside? How does it work? Are tiny elves creating the magic?
The process
- Draw on the floor – The space is covered with large sheets of paper. You start by drawing the first image directly on the paper.
- Capture with the Magic House – Place the house over your drawing, and it takes a picture when you press the chimney button. The image is instantly added to a projected animation on the wall.
- Continue the animation – The house projects your last drawing onto the floor as a guide. Move the house forward, trace or modify the projected image, and then capture the next frame.
- Watch your film grow – As more frames are added, the animation plays live on the wall, allowing everyone to see the story evolve in real-time.
A Collective Creation
At exhibitions, visitors collaborate on a shared film, continuing each other’s animations. Over time, the floor becomes a giant artwork filled with scattered drawings - fragments of multiple stories dancing together in a colourful composition.
Why It’s Special
Unlike digital animation, Magic House preserves the tactile joy of traditional art. It also relies on projection instead of light tables used in traditional animation, enabling unexpected textures and materials - paint, oil pastels, powders, or even found objects. The result is a hands-on stop-motion experience that blends craft, play, and storytelling.
