Ernie Biscuit

   

   Titular character Ernie Biscuit is a lonely French man who makes a daring leap in his later life to go to Venice, where he dreams of gondolas and perhaps love. However, as with many of Elliot’s unlucky characters, nothing quite goes to plan and Ernie ends up in Australia circa the 1960s. This beautiful and poignant addition to Adam’s filmography is sure to be screened across the globe and perhaps touch the hearts of all the lost souls out there trying to build the up the courage to make their own defining leap into the exciting unknown of the future.
   I wouldn't have thought that Ernie Biscuit would be my sort of animation, and quite frankly, it probably still isn't. But from what I have heard, Adam Elliot normally produced more emotionally heart-wrenching animations when compared to this, and this was in fact his most light-hearted one to date. It wouldn't be surprising to know this considering the monochromatic look and rather warped character designs (With all their blemishes and other facial flaws, even the more attractive ones), and that is certainly what makes this animation all the more interesting. I would be lying if I said that I didn't get caught up in its story the longer it went on. I hadn't actually realised how long it lasted until the festival staff announced that there had been one more animation to show and that we had gone way past their planned schedule.

   When compared to Mary and Max, it is notable that there is a much lower budget for this animation as compared to his previous works. I remembered there being numerous still shots with barely any movement (Save for some blinking and a subtle change in their expressions), with the narrator telling most of the story. And in fact, it is actually really effectively if not cleverly done. It could be said that the clear narration contributed to this, making the story easier to listen to and follow, but in all, this truly was an entertaining animation from Adam Elliot who has proven that some pretty amazing works can come out of a shoestring budget just so long a good story can still be told from it all.

#286

   #286 is a stop animation Israelian animation directed by Einat Rudman and Shani Zaltsman that premiered at Manchester Animation Festival under the Graduation Films in Competition 2 Category. Starting off with your typical mad scientist who is absolutely set on creating the most evil creature that humanity would have ever seen. His 286th experiment however, turns out to be the complete opposite of that, an adorable ball of fluff that wants his beloved creator to love him.

   I suppose I always had a little soft spot for these types of animations where there is no real dialogue and that the story is told through actions alone (And a few adorable grunts and squeaks). I am rather curious especially about what the mad scientist is made of (I mean, it's obvious that his clothes is made of fabric), while it is evident that his creation is made of fabric, from what I have seen of my own classmate's puppets, the mad scientist himself might have been made of silicon. I can't say for certain, seeing that I don't necessarily specialise in stop-motion (Or plan to), but, I can always appreciate how much work is put into it (Why else would I be talking about this animation, then?).
   
   There is so much detail put into the setting and props (Are those little glass tubes really made of glass? Either that or, well done when it comes to the sound effects during those scenes). It really does feel like a real little basement laboratory, with the chalkboard and notes being plastered all over the walls.

   Speaking of which, there was only one little thing that bothered me about the animation, and that is the fact that the sound design. While I did compliment it earlier, it honestly could have used a little more polished in terms of its volume as it tends to get abruptly loud at times, such as when the mad scientist suddenly starts yelling. Though, I still did enjoy the voices that were given to the scientist and of course, the creature itself (Effectively cute without being the least bit obnoxious).

   Overall, it was a very endearing little story, a simple plot that can be enjoyed by all, with appealing little characters and beautifully done setting and props. Now, after all that, I think it's time that you go ahead and watch it for yourself (Yes, yes, I know how incredibly late this little write up is... stay tune for more).

#286 from Einat Rudman on Vimeo.

Slumberless

"Slumberless" happens to be another animation that attempts to mix 3D computer and stop motion together, only to be a little more successful as compared to "Etoile". The story focuses on a sleep deprived man who also continues to grieve over the loss of a loved one, one night however he is paid a visit by a strange creature.

I always heard that puppets from Mackinnon and Saunders tend to cost an arm and a leg, and so I can't really imagine how much the budget was for this animation short. If I remembered correctly, only the creature's wings were animated in 3D (Or was it the other way round?). Either way, I suppose the mixture of techniques doesn't look as awkward in this animation due to there being lesser 3D effects used, and perhaps even the dark lighting, that can better hide any possible flaws.

The ending was a little odd, I assumed that the creature was in some way a harbinger of death (Or just some scary as frag sleep fairy...), instead of helping the human fall asleep, he pretty much just puts him to rest from what I can see, in the nicest possible way at least (I mean, who doesn't mind turning into a mist of glitter and soft lights when they die?), as a way to repay him for helping him. Though I do believe that much more time and effort would have been needed if the creator had attempted a different ending where the human had lived on (The one that I have been thinking of that is).

Despite the somewhat rushed story, it still was a pretty little animation (Not surprising really especially since he was able to get high quality puppets for it), it had a nice and compelling atmosphere to it, with an effective enough soundtrack. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Laika's Behind the Scenes of the Boxtrolls Mark Shapiro

No studio has ever gotten me to appreciate stop-motion like Laika did (Shh shh, I love you too, Aardman), while it is still a considerably new animation studio compared to so many others, for some reason Laika continues to win me over with each feature film they have been releasing over the last few years. And whilst have already caught "The Boxtrolls" back at home during the summer, I know this was going to be a real treat for me.

In the late 1990s, Will Vinton Studios sought funds for more feature-length fils and brought in outside investors such as Nike, Ink owner, Phil Knight. It was in 1998 that Knight made his initial investment and his son Travis started working at the studio as an animator. In 2002, Phil acquired the financially struggling studio to pursue feature-length productions, and during the following year, Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, joined the studio as a supervising director. It was by July 2005 where Laika became the successor to Will Vinton Studios.

Mark Shapiro had joined the studio in 2007, where he manages brand strategies, including the marketing efforts for Laika's corporate identity as well as the company's feature films. Before then, Shapiro's diverse marketing and communications career had taken him across the US, working in brand development, advertising, public relations, film production and writing for companies including Nike, Town & Country Magazine and Upper Deck.

I don't want to talk too much about this film and its behind the scenes (Honestly I would like to save it for future blog posts that I can use for other modules), so I will just try to talk about the bits that interested me the most (Which was nearly everything, ugh). 

Green and blue screens were used throughout the film, particularly for the more action based scenes, it is just exhausting wondering how many times they have to switch between real settings and blue/green screens. Even if a more action based sequence was to take place in a proper setting, blue/green props have to be used for when they are animating a character jumping off a railing (And of course they have to make it look believable).

Compositing was also used for crowd scenes to save time, and frankly, it is really well done, especially since you will have to squint real hard to notice that the characters all the way at the back aren't actually moving.

It was just so amazing getting to know the techniques that were used to create the certain effects in this film, especially when it comes to the water and fire (Because at times, they really do look real). For the water in the sewers, rotating lights were simply placed under a textured shower glass, creating the illusion of light reflecting off water. Unlike past films, the fire couldn't be done in the same way (Where a more cartoony fire was actually 3D printed in "Coraline"), and a more realistic look had to be achieved, to do so, a mini ipad fire app was specially built, that would later on be placed into the little compartment of where the fire should be (Such as behind the grill of the machine used by Snatcher), and is after that enhanced ever so slightly with CGI.

I think we all know by now how much effort is put into every single one of their stop-motion puppets (Dozens of copies are even made of each of the characters), there are actually separate departments that specialise in areas such as clothing and hair (I wouldn't be too surprised if there was a little one for applying make up too, hehe). It was also interesting to know that these folks came from different backgrounds, for the hair department, the ladies that comprised of it actually came from a jewellery making background instead (Really makes you think).

And while the costumes were made from scratch with real fabric, wires were still placed under them so that they could be properly posed during the animating process, which must have been incredibly challenging, especially when attempting to achieve the realistic movement of flowing fabric.

As I mentioned before, I continue to remain astounded by how much love Laika puts into each of their films, and another aspect that also stands out about them is how they are more than happy to show us their process in whatever way they can, be it in trailers, behind-the-scenes, and even in the films themselves. It's a wonderful way to give better insight into the world of stop motion. They might have struggled a little in the beginning with "Coraline", but they clearly have come a long way since then.