PARANORMAN Filmmakers On Tedious Process of Stop-Motion Animation
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Thursday, 09 August 2012 16:58
- Published: Thursday, 09 August 2012 16:58
- Written by Ethan Falk
PARANORMAN’s sophisticated blend of stereoscopic 3D technology combined with hand crafted stop motion animation proves to be a tedious, yet remarkable, approach to filmmaking. Cinemovie sat down with PARANORMAN lead animator Travis Knight, and co-directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell to talk about the love and dedication involved in developing a stop motion animation film like PARANORMAN.
PARANORMAN takes you on a Goonies meets Scooby Doo adventure that is sure to awaken that inner-child in you. The animation team at Laika has created a piece of art that is simply stunning. It completely immerses you into the magical world of Blithe Hollow.The average CGI animated film takes two to three years to complete. Stop-motion takes even longer with a tedious process. The crazy production process involves the following behind-the-scene facts:
- Because each frame is being created and posed by human hands, it took an entire week of production to shoot 1-2 minutes of footage.
- There were over 1.5 million different facial expression to work with for Norman.
- There were roughly 31,600 props made for the film.
- It took 3-4 months to craft a new puppet
“When you want to reach in and touch a puppet, it feels like you actually can. It’s all about inviting the audience in, it’s less about throwing things in your face. Though we do that anyways, it’s a zombie movie."
“If something’s really difficult to do in stop-mo, it’s a reason to do it. We had character designs that were almost impossible to create as puppets, but instead of saying lets re-design them, we found a way to make it work. We tried to push every department to do what hasn’t been done before.”Despite its laborious nature, the film making trio believes that stop motion animation is truly a beautiful and effective medium to tell a story. Co-director Fell finds that it’s imperfections and flaws are something that even CGI is trying to replicate. Additionally, it has elements of nostalgia that bring you back to that childhood imagination that often lies dormant.
“A zombie puppet is literally a dead thing until an animator puts their song into it and brings it to life. That’s a magical thing about the medium.”
Knight, the lead animator, added his own take on stop-motion over CGI.
“Stop motion has its own unique kind of magic. It has a warmth, a charm, and a beauty that nothing else can replicate. You’re looking at the hands of an artist bringing something to life. Because of that, it has flaws and mistakes, but it has humanity in it. You can feel the spirit of the people who brought the thing to life. I think that just gives things done in this medium a very unique beauty and magic.”
The production stages for PARANORMAN took over 2 years. Knight remarked that embarking on a project of this magnitude is really a labor of love. It’s something you really have to be passionate about.
"It gets me emotional to sit and watch this film. It makes me think about what we went through to make this thing. When I took that last frame, I was elated and I was sad because it was over. You start to kind of see these puppets and people as family. Norman will live on and people will experience him in a different way.”
PARANORMAN will be animating a smile on your face when it hits the big screen August 17th.