Projected background animation – behind the scene

Colorful seeds, tea leaves, coffee beans, and lots of interesting textiles have flooded the studio for several weeks. We carefully avoided the animation table to prevent something from spilling. We sorted the obsolete compositions into their components with an aching heart. 

This is how we prepared the background animation for the performance of the Hungarian Opera in Cluj-Napoca. With the two tales, we found ourselves in two completely different visual worlds and the animations were also made with different techniques.

The Yellow Stork

This is a Chinese story, so we designed the virtual scenery in a corresponding pictorial world. The animation was made with digital graphics combined with photo collage. I.e. the compositions were made up of reworked, redrawn versions of real textures and objects.

The graphic elements were placed in 3D environment, and the spatial effect was provided by the movement of the virtual camera and the digital light sources.

The tale featured a dance, during which the yellow stork came to life. This was created by redrawing the scene with line drawing based on the filmed ballerina’s dance. 

The legend of Fatima

This legend is a contemporary transcript of an African tale. Since here we created more than a virtual set, this project started with the traditional way of developing a storyboard. Planning out the animation by sketching various scenes and locations.  

The visual world of this tale was created with a particularly exciting and challenging new technique for us. The scenes were made up of seed mosaics and patchwork techniques, which came to life partly with stop motion and partly with computer animation.

In the first phase, a computer graphic was created for all the visual elements, thus simulating the movement. Here you can see the sun, already made out of the seeds, while the others are still digital drawings.

The elements were then created from the seeds on the animation table and photographed against a green background. To create a live effect, each image was captured in several phases, and the phases of each movement were captured with stop motion animation.

After shooting, we edited out the green area. Thus, the visual elements with the transparent background, assembled from the seeds, were put together on a computer. Next we included the movements and composed the animation to music. The projection was another challenge, as the theatrical experience was born from the harmony of the music, the tale and the projected background.

The performance was mainly for children, but it is not age-restricted. The fairytale world, the sight, can be interesting for very young children. While the eternal themes: stories about goodness and greed, as well as love, marriage, search and self-knowledge can be thought-provoking for adults as well.

The names of creators can be seen on the poster.

Teaser HERE!
Portfolio details here.

Text: Kassay Réka, Vicsi Judith