Cinema-goers set to be wowed by Illustration students’ Christmas film mash ups

University of Northampton students will have their work beamed onto the big screen thanks to a project inspired by the classic Christmas movies being shown at Northampton Filmhouse.

The cinema allocated students on the Illustration course with a well-known Christmas movie each and asked them to pair it with another popular festive film, to create a mash-up illustration of the two films together.

Miss Piggy in Die Hard role

The films included Home Alone, The Muppet Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life and Elf, leading to captivating combinations, such as Miss Piggy intruding on iconic scenes from Die Hard and Buddy the Elf teaming up with Kevin McCallister from Home Alone.

Some of the students’ finished illustrations, created as stills and animated gifs, will be shown on-screen pre-show at Northampton Filmhouse’s Christmas screenings and will be used as part of the cinema’s social media campaigns to promote its festive programme.

Bonnie Hadman’s It’s A Wonderful Life-Elf mash up.

Georgia Haines’ take on Die Hard-Elf.

Laura McKenzie’s Elf-Home Alone cartoon strip.

Chief Executive, Jo Gordon, said: “We hope the students have enjoyed the opportunity to explore some of the classic iconography of these great Christmas movies and to see some of their work put to good use and brought to a wider audience, as the Filmhouse reopens its doors to the public.”

Senior Lecturer in Illustration, Zoe Taylor, said: “It’s been great for the students to have had a real live project to get their teeth into, on such a fun topic, and to get some insight into the operations, marketing and branding of an organisation like Northampton Filmhouse.”

Following the end of the recent lockdown, Northampton Filmhouse will be welcoming audiences back into its two screens from Friday 11 December, for the first time since March. More details about its forthcoming programme of films, which includes new releases as well as Christmas classics, and an update on the Covid-19 safety measures being put in place, can be found on the cinema’s website.

Katie Bell’s Muppets-Home Alone mash up.

Charlotte Rudge’s Muppets-Die Hard creation.

Mia McNiff’s Muppets-Home Alone creation.

Deimante Judickaite’s Die Hard-Muppets illustration.