Given The Time Craft Spells

6 tips for crafting a spell-binding blitheness

It's been an incredible few months for Irish animation studio Drawing Saloon (opens in new tab). In Jan, the Kilkenny-based team of creatives received an Oscar nomination for their second animated feature film, Song of the Sea (opens in new tab) – just v years subsequently The Secret of Kells (opens in new tab) won the studio its offset Oscar nomination and rave reviews effectually the earth.

Song of the Ocean is a stunning masterclass in animated storytelling. Seeped in legend, the flick tells the ballsy tale of Ben and his sister Saoirse, the terminal Sealchild, as they try to render home – taking inspiration from the ancient Celtic myth of the Selkies, who alive as seals in the body of water and humans on land.

Underneath it lies a powerful bulletin nigh climate change and global warming. During a trip to the westward of Republic of ireland some years agone, Drawing Saloon creative director Tomm Moore and his son encountered a number of dead seals on the beach. According to his landlady, local fishermen were killing them from frustration with falling fishing stocks, due to over-fishing.

"She said years ago that no fisherman would dare harm a seal equally there was a widespread believe in Selkies," Moore has said (opens in new tab). "I began to recollect about how the old stories served us well in protecting what is truly valuable and of import, and how by losing these stories we are losing a lot more than than only folklore."

Every bit the dust settles on terminal night's glittering Oscars (opens in new tab) anniversary, we caught upward with Moore, who directed Song of the Sea, to find out what it takes to brand an Oscar-nominated animated feature pic.

To notice out more, make sure yous've got your ticket to Dublin'southward Start 2015 (opens in new tab) briefing in March, where Cartoon Saloon bring together an ballsy line-upwardly of artistic speakers. In the meantime, hither are half dozen tips for making your animations stand up out from the crowd…

01. Intricacies atomic number 82 to repeat viewings

Moore describes Song of the Bounding main equally a labour of dear. The animation is incredibly intricate – so why put so much time and effort into the tiny details and pattern? Afterward all, not anybody will notice all the intricacies, right?

Wrong, says Moore: "The intricacies add to the viewing feel and lead to repeat viewings. They aid build out the globe and make it more immersive. It helps usa stand out from the crowd as every attribute of the design is made to suit the story. We try not to fall back on generic cartoon designs."

02. Don't rush the animation way

Cartoon Saloon worked closely with Adrien Merigeau, a key background artist on the Secret of Kells, to develop an blitheness fashion that would be advisable to explore the mythology around which Song of the Sea is congenital. "We adult the look over vii years, starting during production of The Secret of Kells," recalls Moore.

"The style evolved over the course of the financing, and both Adrien and I wanted an organic style that would allow input from the squad who worked on it. Many artists had an influence on the final look over the years."

03. Invest in research

"We started with watercolour concepts based on research trips to the west of Ireland. We besides researched landscape painters such as Paul Henry," says Moore, adding that inquiry was essential to help inject the magic of Celtic fokelore into the visual language of Song of the Sea.

"We wanted to integrate the Pictish carvings from the megalithic rocks around the state. Adrien actually felt these carvings reminded him of mod art like Klee and Kandinsky. Overall, the hope was to create a timeless fairytale feeling, like an old picture volume."

Cartoon Saloon composite a mixture of traditional second animation methods and new techniques to give Vocal of the Body of water a timeless appeal. Moore explains: "We decided to apply watercolours as a base for all the backgrounds to create a more mystical and misty feeling, especially for the landscapes."

"For the animation we moved from Paper to Boob tube Paint, which is a software that allows us to breathing frame by frame using tablets, eliminating the need for scanning."

"We used a hybrid of new and old techniques to create a traditional look, as I believe traditional 2D animation has a timeless appeal that can be watched even 20 years from now without seeming dated."

05. Tell the story through the details

"Design in film, for me, is everything from how the characters wait to the environments they're in, to the way a driblet of water splashes, to the shot choices, compositions and even the editing choices, such equally match cuts and rhythm," Moore reflects.

"It'southward tied at a basic level to the storytelling: it gives an added layer of data to the audience and informs how nosotros experience from scene to scene, much like music can influence the audiences mood and feelings."

06. Pattern your fashion out of budget limits

One of the most challenging aspects of Vocal of the Sea was the sea itself. "And then many versions exist and nosotros worked on it for most of the product to get it right. Information technology ended up existence something quite subtle, where nosotros moved watercolour textures subtly with some pocket-sized hand-fatigued elements added. However it took a long time to perfect," Moore admits.

"Similarly during the stormy sequences nosotros used a combination of techniques where we could built the whole sea from a big library of hand-animated waves and splashes. That way we designed our mode out of the limitations of the upkeep past finding a look that was constructive and suited the style – but that was possible within our ways."

Song of the Bounding main is currently being shown around North America (theatre list here (opens in new tab)), and will be released in Ireland in March.

Discover out firsthand how Cartoon Saloon are winning worldwide acclaim for their animated feature films, and more than, at OFFSET 2015 in Dublin, 6-8 March.

And don't forget: to gloat Offset 2015, Estimator Arts is offer a whopping 13 complimentary bug of CA (opens in new tab) with a 2-twelvemonth subscription (for a limited fourth dimension, and so be quick).

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Julia is editor-in-chief, retail at Time to come Ltd, where she works in e-commerce across a number of consumer lifestyle brands. A sometime editor of design website Creative Bloq, she's also worked on a variety of print titles, and was part of the squad that launched consumer tech website TechRadar. She'southward been writing about fine art, design and engineering for over fifteen years.

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