Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Studio 352
The lovely people from Studio 352 , plus me , adrien, Stuart and Fabian. Plenty of beautiful work coming from Luxembourg these days ... Thanks to you all!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Glencolmcille
This beautiful place in Donegal was the inspiration for the part of the country where Ben and Saoirse live. This week Niklas Andersen and Ciaran Duffy have been working on the layouts for a big complicated sequence at the end of the film that takes place there , I think it's going to be a lovely part of the film . Here's a photo of me sketching there , taken by Adrien Merigeau on one of our research trips a few years ago. And also the beautiful concept piece he made after the trip.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Hey just a note to say that one of our lovely production team, Anne Flore, has been updating a Facebook page for song of the sea , where you can get more regular updates about the production.
If your in fb go and seek it out!
If your in fb go and seek it out!
Monday, May 6, 2013
Recent adventures
Here are some iPhone snaps of my recent adventures ...travelling to partner studios and even visiting the president ...
The animators in Noerlum are deep in production with some really gorgeous work being produced there . Fabian , Fredirik and I presented a work in progress teaser reel and discussed the coproduction so far at the Cartoon Cine conference while we were in Viborg.
Last week, Adrien, Stuart , Fabian and myself visited Studio 352 in Luxembourg to catch up on the layout, animation and bg work presently being done there. It was good to meet the new additions to the team and to meet again with the crew who spent time with us in Kilkenny earlier in the production. I feel like it's all going really well and I'm excited to see each new scene taking shape. They have a lovely crew in the studio now , I hope to get a chance to visit them again later once they are deeper into production.
Back in Kilkenny we have been joined by another old friend from The Secret of Kells , Niklas Kragh Andersen , a great layout guy. It's a pleasure to be working with him again.
Here's a photo from a recent "fajitafriday" in Billy Byrnes pub in Kilkenny, with myself , Niklas and Andrejz Radka pictured. It was a great night with almost the entire Kilkenny crew out to see Andrejz off. Andrejz is finished his 3 month stint in Kilkenny and will continue to animate for us from Paris. Indeed another of our talented animators , Ornelie Prioule is returning to Paris to continue to work from home as well. It was great to work with them in the studio for a few months and I'm sure the whole crew will continue to be inspired by the work they send us each week.
We have over 60% of the posing completed and even more layouts done. The key bgs are finishing up this month and ink and paint is getting started in digital Graphics in Liege .
Hard to believe that , all going well, we will be almost finished by this time next year...
Oh and by the way there's a few photos from my visit to Aras an Uachtarian, where we celebrated 20 years of the Irish Film Board with President Michael D. Higgins. I'm pictured with such men of greatness as Will Collins , Nicky Phelan,Paul Young and Eamon Devalera.
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| The crew in Norlum |
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| Great danes |
Back in Kilkenny we have been joined by another old friend from The Secret of Kells , Niklas Kragh Andersen , a great layout guy. It's a pleasure to be working with him again.
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| Niklas, me and Andrejz |
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| Gilles ,Animation Supervisor for 352 and his army issue tin mug (he really is exmiltary! ) |
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| some of the 352 crew including Nic Debray and Victor Ens who visited us in kilkenny and who are animating some lovely scenes at the minute. |
Hard to believe that , all going well, we will be almost finished by this time next year...
Oh and by the way there's a few photos from my visit to Aras an Uachtarian, where we celebrated 20 years of the Irish Film Board with President Michael D. Higgins. I'm pictured with such men of greatness as Will Collins , Nicky Phelan,Paul Young and Eamon Devalera.
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| The lads in the Aras |
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| Me and the long fella. |
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| Me, Nicky Phelan (of Brown Bag fame) and Will Collins in Aras an Uachtarain |
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| a production flow chart i spotted in 352 - the work of Mssr.Thibaut Ruby no doubt |
Friday, March 29, 2013
The best crew in Star fleet
..we will have to do another one soon with everyone else....
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Saint Patricks day
Thanks to The Secret of Kells , I've had some interesting paddys days these past few years, and this year Nora is in Rome where it's screening and Paul is in Dingle , I believe it also screened in Dublin in the Ifi.
I'm delighted its still being shown around the world in connection with our national holiday.
I hope Song of the Sea is similarly adopted as a positive animated view of Ireland. It's set in much more modern and less romantised times than The Secret of Kells though but I think we are showing Ireland as It was in the 1980s and as it still is in some parts.
Some gorgeous bgs have been done of Dublin landmarks and of old Ben bulben , Donegal and even the midlands . But it's the little details of the country that I'm excited to include, the everyday sights that are so familiar to us living here that they become mundane until they are seen on postcards or in touristy promotional material.
Here's a lovely background of a pub from the film by Alice Dieudonne .It Is based on a great little pub here in Kilkenny though I've changed the name to my own surname in Irish :-)
I guess for better or worse its the pubs of Ireland where most of the paddys day celebrations take place.
But of course I hope all these details just serve to create a rich backdrop to a story that people everywhere can relate to, the characters emotions and relationships are not uniquely irish but hopefully universal...
I'm delighted its still being shown around the world in connection with our national holiday.
I hope Song of the Sea is similarly adopted as a positive animated view of Ireland. It's set in much more modern and less romantised times than The Secret of Kells though but I think we are showing Ireland as It was in the 1980s and as it still is in some parts.
Some gorgeous bgs have been done of Dublin landmarks and of old Ben bulben , Donegal and even the midlands . But it's the little details of the country that I'm excited to include, the everyday sights that are so familiar to us living here that they become mundane until they are seen on postcards or in touristy promotional material.
Here's a lovely background of a pub from the film by Alice Dieudonne .It Is based on a great little pub here in Kilkenny though I've changed the name to my own surname in Irish :-)
I guess for better or worse its the pubs of Ireland where most of the paddys day celebrations take place.
But of course I hope all these details just serve to create a rich backdrop to a story that people everywhere can relate to, the characters emotions and relationships are not uniquely irish but hopefully universal...
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Fields and Woods
Production continues to rev up, the posing is well underway and animation is started.
Layout continues with our new Ad Stuart Shankly helping to pull it all together.
Theres a good feeling amongst the team I think and we certainly have some amazing talent in the studio.
Some of the posing team have been working on the sequences in the fields and woods ... a very nostalgic section of the film for me.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood rambling thru the fields and woods nearby to where I grew up just outside Kilkenny.
I want evoke that strange 1980s mix of ancient rural life and modernity where a quiet field of cows might be overlooked by imposing pylons that had a strange electric hum.
Wildlife of course was never far away but us being noisy and boisterous kids we usually unintentionally scared away any wild animals we came across. However I do have some memories of the magic of seeing a fox, frozen still , looking at us in the middle of a field at sunset or of rabbits popping out of their warren in the edges of the disused quarry behind our house.
We are trying to incorporate some wildlife into the compositions in this sequence,which is partly inspired by the riverboat sequence in "Night of the Hunter" . We have a few scenes with wild animals watching the kids from a safe distance or just going about their business in the foreground while the children pass by unbeknownst to them.
Here are some lovely colour studies by Pedro Vergani , a very talented intern from Gobelins who spent some time with us last year while we we were boarding this sequence.
Layout continues with our new Ad Stuart Shankly helping to pull it all together.
Theres a good feeling amongst the team I think and we certainly have some amazing talent in the studio.
Some of the posing team have been working on the sequences in the fields and woods ... a very nostalgic section of the film for me.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood rambling thru the fields and woods nearby to where I grew up just outside Kilkenny.
I want evoke that strange 1980s mix of ancient rural life and modernity where a quiet field of cows might be overlooked by imposing pylons that had a strange electric hum.
Wildlife of course was never far away but us being noisy and boisterous kids we usually unintentionally scared away any wild animals we came across. However I do have some memories of the magic of seeing a fox, frozen still , looking at us in the middle of a field at sunset or of rabbits popping out of their warren in the edges of the disused quarry behind our house.
We are trying to incorporate some wildlife into the compositions in this sequence,which is partly inspired by the riverboat sequence in "Night of the Hunter" . We have a few scenes with wild animals watching the kids from a safe distance or just going about their business in the foreground while the children pass by unbeknownst to them.
Here are some lovely colour studies by Pedro Vergani , a very talented intern from Gobelins who spent some time with us last year while we we were boarding this sequence.
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