From Ans to Cannes

Such a nice surprise to be here in Cannes this year thanks to Salma Hayek inviting me down to help promote our section of her project "The Prophet" with the other directors and Roger Allers the overall director.

Westend films are working on international sales for Song of the Sea - heres the poster in their office and here are some snaps of their brochure -

Last day of comp

Benoit and damien addong some final finishing touches

Serge is ready for a shave and a holiday.

Adrien happy to be wrapping up the visual side of production after so many years.

Hard to believe the compositing is finally finished and Im on my way now to Cannes to present the chapter of The Prophet that Ross Stewart and I directed together last year. 

Farewell Digital Graphics studio!

The dg team step into the light

more sound recording

Here are some photos of Alex and Julien recording more sounds for Reel 2.
Such a  romantic a job compared to most of the film making process which is basically
sitting in a room with computers all day.

Alex went to Brittany to record and even found an old car like Grannys.

I heard Felix's first pass on Reel 1 on Monday, its really sounding great and its amazing to hear Cu barking like a really big English sheepdog instead of the library temp efx we got used to all thru production.
It really gives that a character presence in the movie that he didnt have before this step.

Foley

As sound design continues our Foley artist Julien has send some photos from his studio in Angouleme , France.

I cant wait to hear what he has come up with in Paris next week.

We are reaching the last phases of compositing on the last two reels in Liege and we had a big screen test in Paris last week where we saw some of the first reels  images on the big , big screen.
Everything is there to see on the big screen! Stuff you would never spot on a smaller computer monitor like the really subtle painted textures on the characters and the detailed linework by Adrien and his team on the Bgs.


I'm working now on designing the posters and we are starting to think about possible book publishing deals and other tie in promotional ideas with our partners...exciting times ;-)

Sounds of the Sea

Had a lovely day here on the Dingle penisula recording some sounds with our intrepid sound designer Felix Davin. Yesterday he was out and about too while I presented some work in progress clips at the Dingle Film Festival . 

Such a beautiful place - it inspired both Song of the Sea and Puffin Rock many years ago. Cant believe how long its bern since the last visit. 

I think this dip back into the peace and beauty of the westcoast will sustain and inspire us thru the long days in dark rooms doing the sound design and mixing.

Cartoon Movie

Yesterday we presented some clips and a trailer at Cartoon Movie in Lyon . We got a great response which is such a boost in these last crazy days of production.

Today Im going to present it  again in Anima in Brussels and then its off to digital graphics in Liege to help get the last big sequences on track. Then another day in Paris with Colm and Bruno on the music - phew !

Then I meet with Felix one of our sound designers and we will go to Dingle for some field recording next weekend.

Phew! 

Heres Saoirse peeking in on the Cartoon Movie participants .

Gkids picks up Song of the Sea

Great to see our news about our North American partners GKids picked up by Variety and Cartoon Brew and several other places online. 

I'm excited to start planning the release with Eric, Dave and team at Gkids over the coming months as we finish production.

A week of music and magic.

I Just wanted to share a few snaps and thoughts from the past weeks recording.

I think 99% of its there now with just maybe a few last things to do before the mix.

Next weekend Ill be in Sofia for the recording of the orchestra which is really exciting.

Im already dreaming about the next project - its a pity somehow that they take so long to get to this stage .

Watching and hearing the musicians playing is magical thing for me , I realise how special and collabrative the filmmaking process is.

After The Secret of Kells I toyed with the idea that Song of the Sea could be a comic that I could make either alone or with a small team. 

But the story was about music at its heart and I knew it had to be an animated film , the music is such an important part of the story , the tone and the atmosphere and much of the emotional impact is carried by the music.

The collabration between Bruno and Kila has been even more enmeshed this time around , I am excited to see it all mixed and edited with the visuals over the coming months.

Bruno listening to the song of the sea.

Jean Phillipe waiting to play his part.

Rossa plays Spud the Fairys part in the fairy fort sequence.

Rossa has an amazing collection of percussion and sound makers , even a set of ancient bones from

viking times that he plays.

We recorded in the beautiful setting of Pickering Forest where Kila have recorded most of their albums .. A really fascinating place full of history abd character.

My official portrait

Heres Brian from Kila who was once an assitant animator in Disney Paris doing a very flattering portrait of me in my new computer - next door an amazing cacophany of percussion is happening 

Screen Daily

WestEnd hears Song of the Sea

7 FEBRUARY, 2014 | BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

EXCLUSIVE: The Secret of Kells director’s sophomore animation gets sales company.

WestEnd Films has signed on to sell Tom Moore’s anticipated animation Song of the Sea, the director’s follow up to Oscar-nominated animation The Secret of Kells.

Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny are among the voice cast in the Cartoon Saloon-produced family-animation, due for release late this year.

Like Moore’s previous film, Song of the Seatakes inspiration from Irish folklore, centring on the legend of the Selkies, mythological creatures that are part seal, part human.

The storyline revolves around brother and sister Ben and Saoirse, who are forced to leave their coastal home to live with their grandmother following their mother’s mysterious disappearance.

Oscar-nominated composer Bruno Coulais again joined forces with Irish Band Kíla to create the score after their collaboration on 2009 feature Kells.

Previous deals done with producers include StudioCanal for the UK and Ireland, Haut et Court and Orange Cinéma Séries in France, O Brother Distribution in Benelux and Svensk Film for Sweden and Denmark.

Cartoon Saloon co-produced with The Big Farm from Belgium, Melusine Productions from Luxembourg, Norlum from Denmark and Superprod from France.

WestEnd will be showing footage at the EFM.

Westend films announcement from Berlin

Westend Films have announced that they will be handling the international sales on our film with a piece in screen international. They also released some still images from composited scenes so I thought I would share them here too-