Month: February 2020

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“Oh Willy…”

Good afternoon! Today, I am sharing with you this piece called “Oh Willy…” by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels [1].

After weeks of animating my final film in Maya, it was so refreshing to set eyes on this beautiful stop-motion piece! I was just browsing through Vimeo in search of some inspiration, and what drew me towards this was definitely its unique visuals and palette.

Things I love

  • Narrative: This is quite a unique and entertaining piece, given that it’s titled “Oh Willy”. However, the medium of animation somewhat gives the story a particular artistic filter that live action could not achieve.
  • Colour palette: This is what attracted me to click on this video! I ADORE this palette so much! This selection of nude, warm tones is really gentle on the eyes. I personally love how it’s not overcrowded with too many colours – it sets the film in a very particular space and time.
  • Textures: I personally feel that textures is a great strength in Stop-Motion that I find so difficult to achieve in CGI. The textures of the materials used is so intriguing and it truly brings out the charm in stop-motion. For example, the texture of the fluffy trees here have an interesting organic appearance. It’s mesmerising to see how artists can get creative with a certain selection of materials!
  • Set up & Focus: The creators used blur & focus really well to give a cinematic feel as well as help the audience focus on the narrative, even when there is no dialogue.
  • Music: Dramatic music sets up the scene in a way that allows us to immerse into this little world that the animators have created. It also gives the audience a sense of what emotions the creator wishes to convey. Subtle sound effects such as the fence ripping also brings this animation to life.
  • Lighting: The use of lighting here compliments the palette chosen. It is really gentle on the eyes – nothing too harsh. The use of lighting here gives a sense of reality – it is convincing that the characters are in a real place with real sunlit landscapes.

What I took away: Boiling down to the key features I took away from this piece:

  • Aesthetic: stunning visuals that blend together to create a specific space and time. Choice of palette, textures and camera shots are utilised and well thought out.
  • Camera: the choice of camera shots, lighting and set up really create a cinematic feel here. I think this is something I should plan out before executing my animation.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this artistic piece. What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

Katie

References: Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels Co-produced by Beast Animation/Vivement Lundi!/ Polaris Film Productions/ il Luster Films, 2012. Oh Willy…. [ Video ] Available at: <https://vimeo.com/45322909> [Accessed 20 February 2020].

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Frozen 2

Good afternoon,

Today, I’d love to share with you a post that I came across just before I headed to the theatres to watch the much anticipated… Frozen 2!

I absolutely loved Frozen and after reading this article on The Insider, I was really excited to see all of the new features and developments in animation seep through the screen.

Interesting developments in the years between Frozen and Frozen 2 included [1][2]:

  • Hair & Clothes : Following the production of Moana, Disney really upped their game in the animation of hair. Not only do we see multiple changes in outfits, Anna and Elsa also have a change of hair throughout the movie. This was achieved through the use of a program called Quicksilver, allowing their hair to react to fields such as water and wind. It was noticed that details on their clothes was another indicator or how far technology had developed. Throughout the movie, we can even see the sequins and seams on Elsa’s dresses.
  • Limbs: There is a scene where Elsa runs into the water in her bare feet. Here, Disney were able to capture feet moved in a natural and realistic way using various control points. The same was applied to their hands and fingers.

  • Underwater horse: this would have been very hard to achieve at such quality in the years of Frozen 1. Here, the creators were able to capture a horse made completely of water than moved seamlessly through the waters and interacted with Elsa.

My Experience

After the credits rolled, my conclusive feelings towards the movie were quite conflicting. On one hand, I was absolutely mesmerised by the effects, quality and aesthetic of the film. It was such eye candy! They made such a cohesive and beautiful film paired to catchy melodies. However, I was slightly let down by the story. I personally felt that the arc wasn’t so great – and that it wasn’t really a storyline that would have kept me gripped to the screen had I not watched it in the cinema. Nevertheless, it was an overall enjoyable movie!

Please do let me know what you think!
Best,

Katie

References:

[1] Insider. (2020). How Disney’s animation evolved from ‘Frozen’ to ‘Frozen 2’. [online] Available at: https://www.insider.com/how-disney-frozen-2-was-animated-2019-12 [Accessed 7 Feb. 2020].

[2] Disney (2019). Frozen 2. Available at: https://disney.co.uk/movies/frozen-2 [Accessed 7 Feb. 2020].