behind the scenes
2.39 : 1
Panasonic EVA1
Samyang 16mm, 24mm,
35mm, 50mm, 85mm
Tokina 11-16mm
Dieva Suns
Dog of God
Animation
2024
The Story
In a 17th century Swedish Livonian village, constant rain and drunkenness prevail. When a stolen relic sparks witchcraft accusations, an 80-year old self-proclaimed werewolf named the Dog of God arrives with a mysterious gift: The Devil's Balls. This triggers a chain of unexpected events that climaxes in a wild sexual rave party, transforming the village into a frenzy of unleashed desires.
Rotoscope Animation Technique
In this technique, live-action footage is traced over to create an animated look. The rotoscoping process involved filming the actors in live-action, then applying a stylized animation layer on top. Creating "Dog of God" required overcoming technical challenges associated with rotoscope animation. Achieving a balance between retaining the actors' performances while infusing them with animated elements demanded delicate attention to detail and artistic vision.
Collaborative Process
The production involved collaboration between directors, animator, visual effects artists, and actors. The animator worked closely with the live-action footage to achieve the desired visual effects and maintain the integrity of the performances.
Directors vision guided the creative decisions throughout the production, resulting in a film that stands out for its artistic daring and thematic richness.
Creative process involved literal adaptation, experimental animation techniques, collaborative effort, and a visionary approach to storytelling. The result is a animation film that pushes boundaries and offers a visually striking and engaging cinematic experience.
Format and camera settings
In blue screen production, the goal is to capture the subject against a uniform blue background to later replace that background with a different image during post-production. The camera settings described were aimed at optimizing the quality and clarity of the footage to facilitate a smooth keying process and achieve seamless integration of the subject into the desired virtual environment. These settings help minimize issues such as spill, artifacts or poor edge definition, resulting in a more convincing final composite.
◦ T-Stop of 4 or 5.6
Choosing a relatively narrow aperture (higher T-stop) allows for a sharper image of the subject, which is crucial for achieving a clean key. A sharper image makes it easier to differentiate between the subject and the blue screen background during the keying process.
◦ Shutter Angle (90° or 45°)
A narrow shutter angle helps in freezing the subject's motion, reducing motion blur which can complicate the keying process by causing ghosting or blurring around the edges of the subject
◦ Resolution (4K) and Aspect Ratio (16:9) Shooting in 4K resolution 4096 x 2160 with a 16:9 aspect ratio ensures high-definition footage with the necessary level of detail for precise keying and compositing. The higher resolution provides more pixels to work with, allowing for cleaner edges and better integration of the subject into the virtual environment.
Nostalgic and Retro Appeal
Some animators intentionally use lower frame rates like 12 fps to evoke a nostalgic or retro feel of classic animated films or early television cartoons. This stylistic choice can resonate with audiences seeking a throwback to traditional animation techniques. We shot this project at 24 fps, so it could simply converted from 24 fps to 12 fps by skipping every other frame in the animation sequence.
The same 180° rule applies to lighting
While shooting against an all-blue background for blue screen compositing, it's important to apply the principles of the 180-degree rule to maintain spatial continuity. The same 180° rule applies to lighting as well — since the camera's vantage point remains consistent against the blue screen, we had to switch actors' positions, adjust lights and contrast ratios to maintain continuity. This involves precise planning and execution during shooting.
Lights
We used:
9 x ARRI SkyPanel S60, ARRI T5, ARRI T2, 5KW DMX Dimmer, 2kW DMX Dimmer, Kino-Flo FreeStyle 31, 20X20 Grid Cloth 1/2 Silent, 12X12 Fold Away Frame with Crate / Snapgrid, 8X8 Fold Away Frame with Honeycrate, Floppies andPoly White/Silver reflectors.
Collaboration and Vision
Directors plan the placement of characters, objects, or visual effects within the scene. The animator contributes the creative vision for how the animated elements will interact with the live-action footage captured on the blue screen. The cinematographer is responsible for planning and executing the visual aspects of the production, including camera work, lighting, and framing. The gaffer ensures even illumination of the blue screen backdrop and the subject, taking into account lighting continuity. This process involved shared vision and collaboration.
Behind the scenes photography by Oskars Upenieks
