El Día
This short is the first short film that our studio ever created. At the time, in 2017, all of our clients were in product advertising, and this type of animation was not something that we pushed into very often. At the time, this project was a simple, quick project to celebrate the day of the dead celebration in Mexico. However, unknown to us at the time, this would become the catalyst that inspired us to dive deeper into the world of characters and short films.
We like to keep this project featured on our website for a few reasons. One is that is shows the progress that our studio has made over the course of our short history. The difference in quality of textures, lighting, is very noticeable when viewing some of our more recent films. It is a reminder how much we continue to grow as we work with new clients, collaborate with new artists, and explore new stories. The second reason is simple, it is fun. This short film captures the spirit of animation that we started with, and the spirit that we hold on to today. In our eyes, we want to use animation to spread joy, plain and simple. And the root of what this animation was aiming to achieve, we are still chasing today.
Process
Here you can see the progression that each shot takes on its way to the final edit. Starting out in the animatic stage, shots are quickly arranged to get a rough sense of composition and timing. From there, animation is done on each shot without shading or lighting - allowing the final timing to be locked in. From there, lighting, shading, and rendering leads to the final image that you see in the video.
Additional Elements
Another fun element to design was the papel picado that surrounds a multitude of Mexican festivities. Incredibly ornate, delicate, and colorful, this cut paper decorates the streets during the festival, and we wanted to make sure to dress the set with it as well. This meant designing a few options of different sizes and orientations that we could place around the piece. The designs are filled with hearts, flowers, and skulls, showing the harmony and celebration of life and death.
So how about the masks? We first designed a collection of masks with as much variation as we could manage while still maintaining their cultural significance and traditional patterns. From here, we were able to select which ones fit the theme the most and take five of them to the next step. Here you can see some of the initial mask designs before they were moved into 3D.
Selected Stills
Credits
Created by: Ambient Press
Directed by: Jake Wegesin