Video, still images and character designs from the promotional animated short for Gary Miller's 'Mad Martins' project. The segued tracks 'Four Bare Walls' and 'Escape' follow the story of 19th Century arsonist Jonathan Martin's escape from an asylum and the short lived freedom he found. The film is being created in collaboration with US based creatives Director/Showrunner Stephanie Stender (Doorstop Productions) and Animator Michael Sciortino.
Stills, Backgrounds and Character Design. Made in collaboration with Michael Sciortino, Gary Miller and Stephanie Stender.
FOUR BARE WALLS
Four bare walls, I am not mad;
Four bare walls, my world.
The Lord will save me, have no doubt;
The Lord will find a way.
I’m on fire, I seethe with rage,
Against those who put me here:
I will see them burn;
I have faith; I have no fear.
In and out, in and out;
West Auckland, Gateshead, Bethlem:
From four bare walls, to four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
God grant me just swift freedom,
God grant me wings to fly;
A phoenix from the ashes,
That smoulder in my eye.
Four bare walls, teaching me,
All your rules of Hell:
You will fall, and I will rise,
From my prison cell.
In and out, in and out;
West Auckland, Gateshead, Bethlem:
From four bare walls, to four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
Four bare walls, four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
Four bare walls, to four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
You can chain me,
You can inflame me;
But you will never break me:
I will escape;
Again!
(Lyrics & Music: Gary Miller)
Four bare walls, I am not mad;
Four bare walls, my world.
The Lord will save me, have no doubt;
The Lord will find a way.
I’m on fire, I seethe with rage,
Against those who put me here:
I will see them burn;
I have faith; I have no fear.
In and out, in and out;
West Auckland, Gateshead, Bethlem:
From four bare walls, to four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
God grant me just swift freedom,
God grant me wings to fly;
A phoenix from the ashes,
That smoulder in my eye.
Four bare walls, teaching me,
All your rules of Hell:
You will fall, and I will rise,
From my prison cell.
In and out, in and out;
West Auckland, Gateshead, Bethlem:
From four bare walls, to four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
Four bare walls, four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
Four bare walls, to four bare walls;
From freedom into bedlam.
You can chain me,
You can inflame me;
But you will never break me:
I will escape;
Again!
(Lyrics & Music: Gary Miller)
ESCAPE
Again the devil thought to shut me in,
But with a sandy stone, I cut my iron chain;
With locks and bolts and bars of every kind
Fain would the devil had me all my life confined.
But by the help of God, by faith and prayer,
The devil loosed his hold, and I did break his snare.
Through the lofty garret I thrust and tore my way,
Through dust and laths and tiles into the open day.
But yet more dangers still beset me round,
Till, by God’s help, I landed on the ground.
Then, with a thankful heart, I praised the God I’d found,
And cried, “Sleep on, ye sleepers, sleep both safe and sound,
Till I escape from your enchanted ground.
These three long years now almost gone and past,
My God has saved me from your hands at last;
Therefore to Him will I give all the praise,
And thank and bless His Holy Name always.
“Having got safely away, I took into the cornfields; the voice of the nightingale seeming to reprove me. I was rejoicing that the God in whom I trusted, had brought me out of the house of bondage, and set both soul and body at liberty. I cannot describe my sensations, on again finding myself at large in the world, and in hopes of seeing my dear friends again and finding my dream fulfilled, to convince myself and others, that it was indeed the Lord’s work; and that I would be no more left in the power of mine enemies, who hunted my soul like a partridge on the mountains.”
(Lyrics & Words: Jonathan Martin / Music: Gary Miller)
Again the devil thought to shut me in,
But with a sandy stone, I cut my iron chain;
With locks and bolts and bars of every kind
Fain would the devil had me all my life confined.
But by the help of God, by faith and prayer,
The devil loosed his hold, and I did break his snare.
Through the lofty garret I thrust and tore my way,
Through dust and laths and tiles into the open day.
But yet more dangers still beset me round,
Till, by God’s help, I landed on the ground.
Then, with a thankful heart, I praised the God I’d found,
And cried, “Sleep on, ye sleepers, sleep both safe and sound,
Till I escape from your enchanted ground.
These three long years now almost gone and past,
My God has saved me from your hands at last;
Therefore to Him will I give all the praise,
And thank and bless His Holy Name always.
“Having got safely away, I took into the cornfields; the voice of the nightingale seeming to reprove me. I was rejoicing that the God in whom I trusted, had brought me out of the house of bondage, and set both soul and body at liberty. I cannot describe my sensations, on again finding myself at large in the world, and in hopes of seeing my dear friends again and finding my dream fulfilled, to convince myself and others, that it was indeed the Lord’s work; and that I would be no more left in the power of mine enemies, who hunted my soul like a partridge on the mountains.”
(Lyrics & Words: Jonathan Martin / Music: Gary Miller)
