Inspiration

Let me show you some of the things I like, and show you a bit of how I'd work as an art director.

I watch a lot of movies. And when I'm not watching movies, I like to watch shows about movies. 

I'm not a movie buff by any means, but I'm trying very hard to become one! 

And it has a use too, which I hope will become clear throughout this post.

So I have this animation project, which is a Sumatran myth about the new moon.

I already know why I'm making this, and what I'm going to tell. But how will it look?

One of the most difficult things about starting a new project which isn't a commission is that everything is possible. But doing everything is impossible. So let's not do everything.

Let's start somewhere simple. Color.

If I simplify things, there would be two directions to go. Muted and desaturated colors, and bright and vibrant colors. Both can be good choices, and I can easily name examples of where each of them works great. Schindler's List looked phenomenal with next to no color, as did Saving Private Ryan with its limited color palette.

On the other side you have the Life of Pi, and superhero movies like the Avengers which make great use of color to add life to their worlds.

The point is to choose the visual direction that suits your project the best.

Sometimes you have to make hard choices and exclude some of your favorite inspiration. Some would call this 'killing your darlings', but I think that's a misnomer. Because when I have a good idea, but it would be totally inappropriate for what I'm working on right now, I write it down into my sketchbook. And whenever I am out of inspiration, I can take my sketchbook and use anything I've written down before. So I don't kill my darlings, but I will keep them for a moment where they would grow into something great. As a bonus, I will never have to say that I have no inspiration! :)

Back to my animation. It is set in a jungle (and in space), and has the potential for some surreal but wonderful imagery. 

Here's what I came up with for inspiration:

The Fall, by Tarsem Singh

Bright, colorful, and a fairytale to boot!

I also like the stylized camerawork. This will be my main visual inspiration.

Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet 

Maybe not colorful the way I want to use colors, but it has beautiful cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel.

HERO, directed by Zhang Yimou

Yet another fairytale, this one makes creative use of colors to tell it's tales.

I might not use the colors like this, but I will take a good look at what I can learn from it.

House of the Flying Daggers, also directed by Zhang Yimou

I might as well add all Zhang Yimou films...

James Cameron's Jame's Cameron's Avatar by James Cameron, directed by James Cameron

I'm not the biggest fan of the movie as a whole, but boy does it do fantastical and colorful jungles well. I probably also like it for Dylan Cole's matte paintings.

Spirited Away, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Again, I could add all Miyazaki movies for having not only wonderful visuals, but also a strong fantastical element worked into the visual design.

Fantasia/Fantasia 2000

I think that this is one of Disney studio's greatest projects, maybe with the exception of...

Destino, Disney animation studios and Salvador Dali

The above movie is the whole animation.

I could go on by naming artists, illustrators in all kinds of different media. Okay, very quickly I'll name at least Tin Tin, Daniel Dociu's art, Pascal Blanché any movie by Spike Jonze and the videogame Bioshock Infinite. Urgh, too many, so let's just stick to the examples I've shown above. Keeping focused is also very important.

But there's one more thing I'd like to share. Because this animation is going to be a lot of work, I'd like my composition in each shot to be as effective as possible, thereby reducing the amount of work I'd need to do. Lots of shots mean lots of backgrounds, and I know I'm going to be spending a day or two on each background already (I do pride myself on landscapes, you know).

So I'll add some reference for composition in motion pictures as well, to see how far a shot can be pushed.

BBC Sherlock, cinematography by Fabian Wagner

I love Fabian Wagner's work on Sherlock, but I am saddened that I can't find more of his work.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, cinematography by Roger Deakins

This movie should be watched by any cinematographer, preferably more than once.

Roger Deakins is one of the living legends, so as with the Hayao Miyazaki films, I could as well include all of Deakins' work here.

And there you have it. Well, not all of it.

I will have to look into specific references for the character and background designs. That'll mean looking at Indonesia and the visual language of a country, its landscapes and its mythology. But I will do so separately for each background and character. I've given you enough for today, I think.

See you next time, when I'll show some storyboards! :)