An Ode to Home
The second short film in our growing collection, our little love letter to the city where it all began for us. Seattle, Washington, USA. Surrounded by ocean, lakes, mountains, forests. Filled with sports, music, and culture. Seattle embodies many of the things that inspired our founder and is the place where our fascination with short films took hold.
In a city that represents so much to us, we had no shortage of places and inspiration to pull from. In the end, we landed on five scenes that were iconic and formative in our eyes. From the Seattle Center to the elegant orcas in the sound, we brought inspiration from real life into a magical world of mechanical, wooden toys.
Our aim for this film was to take recognizable places and represent them in a novel way. A comical way. In the end, we created a fun piece that captures both the animation spirit of our company, and our love for the Emerald City.
Below, each scene is separated and accompanied by a few additional close up views, the original sketch for the scene, and an unshaded render of the models.
At the Center of the City
The Seattle Center. It may be the center of most of the tourist activities in the city, but there is something magical about the old futuristic designs of the needle and monorail juxtaposed by the organic and disfigured EMP museum. Although there are a few notable omissions, we were aiming to capture the feeling of Seattle Center, rather than relying on pure accuracy.
Reigning Kings of the Sound
Orcas. How we love you. Although most of the whale activity in the PNW is located to the north of the city, there is the occasional day when these wonderful creatures make their way into the Puget Sound and grace a few lucky ferry passengers with their presence. The rafts in this scene are stamped with the words "Friday Harbor" - the place in the San Juan Islands where our director first had the experience of seeing these whales in the wild first-hand.
The Salmon Slingers
Pike Place Market is an amazing place. It first opened back in 1907 and has been running ever since. There are a lot of different places that we like to spend our time in - The Crumpet shop where our director used to pick up breakfast in the mornings, the White Horse Pub for a quiet pint, or the newsstand where there is always a fresh copy of the FT paper for the weekends. But overwhelmingly when we think of the market, we think of the fish. All through the week, you can find people throwing salmon back and forth with hundreds of people watching and taking photos. As cliché as it is, there is something undeniably fun about watching two adults throw a dead fish back and forth across a crowded market stall.
Shipping and Receiving
Ah, the port. Without a doubt, the Port of Seattle is one of our favorite things about the city. There is a bench that our director used to like to walk to in a nearby park and sit, looking over the sound, watching as all of the ships come in from the Pacific and are guided by little boats into the docks. It is quite calming to watch something as massive as a modern container ship glide peacefully over the water. More than that, there is an inherent curiosity about what all these ships could be bringing to the city - and where in the world they are coming from. Maybe that is too romantic of a view of it all - most likely it is just more stuff for Amazon.
Sky of Blue, Sea of Green
CenturyLink Field. Home to the Sounders and the Seahawks. Two very different kinds of football, but just as lively as a home for both. Our Sounders have had a spectacular history in the top flight of American soccer - winning three Open Cups, a Supporter's Shield, and two MLS cups. The atmosphere at CenturyLink Field is unlike any other stadium in the states, and we wanted to do our best to show our love for the hometown team.
The Umbrella Revolt
The last scene combines a thing that Seattle loves - protests - and a thing that its hates - umbrellas. In a city known for rain, the amount of actual rainfall by volume can be surprisingly low. And there are few things scarier than having your eye almost poked out on the way to work by a passer-by with an umbrella. So, if it is not currently in a downpour, leave the umbrellas at home, put on a rain jacket, and enjoy the wet with everyone else.
Credits
Created by: Ambient Press
Directed by: Jake Wegesin