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INFLUENCES - Inspiration from Existing Films and Animations Whilst researching into 3D animation I came across a number of movies and animated features that undoubtedly helped me develop ideas for my project. The list of entertaining animations I found is endless but for me two 3D animations stood out. I will briefly discuss the six films of various creation methods that I drew inspiration from.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas ---------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Burton’s style of working is unquestionably distinctive. The effortless blend of exaggerated objects and the vast range of sharp texturing and beautiful model making certainly inspired the overall mood of my movie. It is easy to identify his use of shapes such as twisted black trees lit by only moonlight or an afternoon mist, or perhaps to recognize his clear admiration for exaggerated gothic architecture with proportions and dimensions that shoot out from side to side.
The Nightmare before Christmas is a fun dark and unique animation. Although the movie is not 3D it uses the same stop-motion techniques that I decided to use when making Juniper – the Last Robot. The lighting is similar to the early German expressionist movies of the late 1920’s (such as Des Kabinett das Doctor Caligari – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and is very harsh and concentrated in certain areas. The lighting I used in the scene with the electric chair and the spiral staircase used omni lights to darken corners of the room and light certain areas. This technique of partial lighting is seen in Burton’s earliest venture into stop-motion animation, a short film named Vincent that I will discuss later. Although the set of The Nightmare before Christmas is distinctive, one is not convinced that the design of, for example the towers or stone buildings are original, but that is pastiche, the suggestion that filmmakers often deliberately copy ideas from other sources, and quite often, from each other. Similar drawings can be found in Disney’s Robin Hood where the hand painted 2D sets bare great resemblance to that of Burton’s designs. ( Burton himself did work at Disney so perhaps this isn’t a coincidence). The soundtrack is written by Danny Elfman, responsible for the score to Edward Scissorhands, the Simpsons, Spiderman and Hulk. The movie is very much a musical laced with a quirky gloomy undertone. The main score featuring at the beginning of the movie was the inspiration for ‘Jed’s Theme’ that plays twice in my film. I have briefly discussed the creation of my music in the ‘composing the music’ section. Vincent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vincent is the first film by critically acclaimed director, writer, producer, artist and actor Tim Burton, produced by Rick Heinrichs, and is a humorous yet somewhat sinister stop-motion film that follows the ideas and subconscious thoughts of Vincent Malloy a young boy who’s favourite author is Edgar Allen Poe and thinks he relates with horror film actor Vincent Price (where the title of the film is taken). The story tells of a boy who has, despite the attempts of his mother, locked himself inside his own imagination. A world he has created where he does and thinks as he will, and inevitably towards the end of the film, he gives up and falls lifeless to the floor, showing no traces, or at least very little traces, of motion. This fantasy world Vncent has created from reading literature and watching horror films, over powers Vincent and it slowly begins to become his reality. The plot is carried by the narration (voiced by Vincent Price) and ends with uncertainty as we do not know what the fate is of this boy. Has he died? Is this all just a game? The film would be best described as a collection of ideas and out of this evolves its own story, whether this is a conventional story or not is unclear, but the arrangement of the story is far from conventional. It begins in one world and ends in another and is laced with visual references to the hammer horror films of previous years. The poem used in the film was written by Burton and was inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven from The Raven and Children Stories by Dr. Seuss. It is claimed by Linda Hutcheon that Vincent is a prime example of “mirroring other texts to justify their own work.” It is described as “Pastiche” which incorporates two meanings that are relevant to Vincent. First, it is “a work that closely and deliberately imitates the style of previous work,” and secondarily it is “an incongruous medley of different styles…More importantly, it denotes a relationship in which the viewer is aware of a background text that the work at hand imitates, the mimicry of another's style.”
Edward Scissorhands ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This fairytale story is about an inventor who creates his own humanoid named Edward, but dies before being able to give him hands, so Edward is left with his temporary scissor-like blades on his hands. The set design in the inventor’s tower is very Burton-esque and gothic. The entrance of the tower is lit to give an impression of an inhabitant place cold and sparse. I drew upon this scene when lighting the morgue, where a cold light peers through the tower window. This film is also a noticeable inspiration for Brian Taylor’s creation Rustboy that has very similar set design. Elfman’s score is haunting yet magical and captures the loneliness and unreasonable judgment thrown upon Edward. The atmosphere of the film is not only in the visual scenery but the music that gives life to the story. The music is uplifting at times but mostly tranquil but poignant.
Donnie Darko --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What I particularly like about this movie aside from the story was the music composed by Michael Andrews. This is the area of the film I am concerned with in this section. The compositions titled ‘Rosie Darko’ and ‘Liquid Spear Waltz’ are lethargic yet wonderfully effortless pieces of music whilst ‘Middlesex Times’ is an oddly composed piece that presents a quirky side to the film (and has also be used in a number of animations I have seen on the web, the best being Haloboy , below, by J.Opgenaffen which is a wonderful 3D animation in its own right.)
Pica Towers / Jo Jo in the Stars ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo Jo in the Stars is a 12 minute short film by writer, designer and director Marc Craste. It was developed from a previous project named Pica Towers which is a series of 3 animated 1 minute shorts. Both productions are by far the most unusual animations of the 6 listed features. The gritty ominous design is both simple and elegant and takes mostly primitive shapes and transforms them into impressive and delightful characters and objects. The lighting in these films is sharp at times yet diffused at others creating a cold tone over the films. Jo Jo in the Stars has a glorious romantic story running throughout and both sentimental and surreal ideas are presented simultaneously. It sees unlikely characters fall in love and together rebel against the world they inhabit. The film favours a very textural based look with wonderful lighting and little favouritism of realistic reflections and complicated design ideas. A remarkable piece of 3D animation and aesthetically unique. To visit Jo Jo please click here.
Rustboy --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although unfinished, Rustboy is promising to be a genuine and refreshing animation. The main character is beautifully modelled and the set design is striking. There is an amalgamation of both dirty and beautifully clean set design that compliments each other well. Created by one a man team Brain Taylor, and documented at www.rustboy.com. The animated scenes created by Taylor available on the Rustboy site and cover a wide range or 3D effects such as rain, splashing water and feathery clouds.
Other sources that have inspired many thoughts and ideas are listed below in chronological order. FILM: Beetle Juice (1988) FILM: Bicentennial Man (1999) FILM: Big Fish (2003) FILM: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) FILM: Ed Wood (1994) ANIMATED FILM: The Incredibles (2004) FILM: The Matrix (1999) POEM: The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe (1845) FILM: Requiem for a Dream (2000) ANIMATED FILM: Robots (2005) ANIMATED FILM: Street of Crocodiles (1986) ANIMATED FILM: Transformers the Movie (1986)
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