Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Garden Party ( 2017) - hilarious animation with a touch of mystery ( and dread)
The fables of La Fontaine, which reveal human behavior through the actions of animals, proved further inspiration. Garden Party, which has a more sinister human plot happening parallel to its animal tale, allowed the two worlds of animals and humans to come together (and in a humorous way).
The story has perhaps even more impact owing to the high level of photorealism in the film. Getting there began with reference.
The story has perhaps even more impact owing to the high level of photorealism in the film. Getting there began with reference.
“We set up two vivariums in our house and we spent time observing real frogs and toads,” said Caire. “We learned a lot about their animation and anatomy. It was always fun to give them worms and crickets and watch them hunt. Lots of crickets escaped and as they sang all night we felt like living inside a swamp.”
For the backgrounds and props, the team also employed a make-shift photogrammetry set-up of multiple DSLR cameras, and then used RealityCapture software to produce 3d models and textures. That provided a base level of real-world textures to match to. Maya was the principal software used for layout and animation, with ZBrush for modeling, Mari and Substance for texturing, and Houdini for effects simulations such as water. Rendering was handled in Arnold and compositing done in Nuke.
“Photoreal cg has this captivating power on the audience, and allowed us, with absence of dialogue, to get focus on the images and their details, which was very important with the complexity of our story,” he said.
“But more than that, we needed the realistic look of documentaries to tell the story in an objective way. We tried to just show the adventure of these frogs, and let the viewer make his own mind about what’s going on. It also helped to have a more serious tone that we wanted, and play with the clichés from similar films. A cartoony version of this short would have been fun to do though, but we would have to go for something lighter and more crazy.”
For the backgrounds and props, the team also employed a make-shift photogrammetry set-up of multiple DSLR cameras, and then used RealityCapture software to produce 3d models and textures. That provided a base level of real-world textures to match to. Maya was the principal software used for layout and animation, with ZBrush for modeling, Mari and Substance for texturing, and Houdini for effects simulations such as water. Rendering was handled in Arnold and compositing done in Nuke.
“Photoreal cg has this captivating power on the audience, and allowed us, with absence of dialogue, to get focus on the images and their details, which was very important with the complexity of our story,” he said.
“But more than that, we needed the realistic look of documentaries to tell the story in an objective way. We tried to just show the adventure of these frogs, and let the viewer make his own mind about what’s going on. It also helped to have a more serious tone that we wanted, and play with the clichés from similar films. A cartoony version of this short would have been fun to do though, but we would have to go for something lighter and more crazy.”
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/interviews/garden-party-filmmakers-photoreal-cg-right-creative-choice-film-155844.html