Burn

2025 BA Illustration Grad Show

Burn is a 400-frame paper cut animation I created as my final piece for my Illustration degree. The animation explores the theme of people pleasing and the negative effects it can have. I wanted to create a video that acts as a propaganda-inspired warning, showing that people pleasing can be harmful not only to yourself, but also to those around you. The animation is based on the phrase “don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm.” I interpreted this literally by creating a character who sets himself on fire in an attempt to help others, before being met with the harsh consequences of his actions. By exaggerating this idea, I wanted to show how behaviour that is often seen as kind or selfless can actually be damaging. I have struggled with people pleasing and found it a difficult issue to overcome. Creating Burn felt like a way to explore this experience and encourage other people pleasers to change the way they view their actions. Visually I took inspiration from 60s/70s cartoons that I grew up with such as Mr Benn and Bod, which is what drew me to this simpler form of animation. I then created a poster compiling all the hand cut paper components I made to create the animation and customised a CRT TV to display it on. I worked with composer Isabella Millicheap to compose an accompanying soundtrack.