Titina is an award-winning 2nd animated function movie that tells a death-defying story of Arctic exploration from a canine’s-eye view. Primarily based on the thrilling story of polar explorer Roald Amundson and Italian engineer Umberto Nobile, Titina recounts a stylized model of their story by following a small canine who famously accompanied the explorers on their epic journey.
The movie will probably be accessible for American audiences to stream by means of The Animation Showcase on Tuesday, June 27 and just lately performed at Annecy as a part of the pageant’s open air screenings. To have a good time the movie’s on-line launch, Toon Increase Animation interviewed Tonje Skar Reiersen, a producer behind the manufacturing. Tonje affords insights into how the story was dropped at life, together with how Toon Increase Concord’s exact vector strains had been used to create an aesthetic true to cartoons of the period.
Toon Increase: Why was it essential to take a 2nd strategy on this function movie?
Tonje: Kajsa Næss (director) is an enormous fan of traditional 2nd animation. She finds it stunning and really expressive. She needed a mode that reminded us of old-school cel animation with an aesthetic marked by skinny strains, avoiding including shadows or an excessive amount of texture. Toon Increase Concord was good for this with its exact vector strains.
It additionally fits the time interval for the story we inform, which spans from 1926 to 1978. So this movie was supposed as hand drawn 2nd from the beginning, and we caught to that from starting to finish. The Belgian studios (Souza and Lunanime) and artists did an exquisite job bringing Kajsa’s imaginative and prescient to life.
Are there any notable inspirations behind Titina’s charming visible fashion?
Tonje: Emma McCann (artwork director, manufacturing designer) is an enormous fan of artwork nouveau. For Titina, she particularly regarded on the Scottish architect and painter Charles Rennie Waterproof coat for inspiration. The linework within the movie is clearly drawn from his work.
With an airship engineer protagonist, there are some spectacular aerial vehicular scenes, are you able to share how these had been made?
Tonje: It was essential to Kajsa to maintain the manufacturing 2nd. We had a 3d mannequin of the airship that was used as reference, however we tried to keep away from utilizing it as a lot as doable. We needed a flat and hand-drawn really feel all the way in which.
A lot of the story is seen from Titina the canine’s eyes. How did you obtain the sensation of seeing the world by means of the canine’s perspective?
Tonje: There are fairly a couple of scenes that happen from Titina’s eye top, the place we’re along with her down on the ground witnessing the massive males from her perspective. However extra importantly, the angle influenced the story itself.
We created scenes and storylines that had nothing to do with the boys and their achievements, however the place we drift off with Titina and expertise her fascination with the landscapes and animals reasonably than the celebration of a planted flag.
Are you able to share just a little concerning the character design course of?
Tonje: The primary artist who was hooked up to the undertaking was the Norwegian newspaper cartoonist Siri Dokken. Kajsa loves Siri’s fashion and line work. Siri is enjoyable and irreverent, however all the time with an enormous coronary heart for the little man. She has very good volumes and shapes in her drawings and, being a girl, she likes to attract ladies of all sizes and kinds. There’s a lot persona in Siri’s characters, they don’t want to maneuver that a lot to be attention-grabbing to have a look at. Once more, Toon Increase Concord was an ideal match for her line work.
Nonetheless, Siri has by no means labored in animation earlier than, so it took a number of work to get her characters prepared for animation. Norwegian character designers Sunniva Fluge Gap and Bulgarian Marta Andreeva did an exquisite job translating Siri’s sketches to animation-ready mannequin sheets.
What was the largest problem you confronted when creating Titina, and the way was it overcome?
Tonje: The largest problem was the Covid pandemic. Instantly after we accomplished the pre-production in Norway, the entire world shut down. So, for the whole manufacturing time in Belgium – which spun over a 12 months and a half – there have been lockdown and journey restrictions.
Director Kajsa lived in Brussels throughout this time and had difficulties touring residence to see her husband and youngsters. In order that was an enormous sacrifice. It additionally made it tougher for us Norwegian producers to observe the manufacturing in Belgium and be by Kajsa’s facet. However artistically, the movie turned out stunning, and we couldn’t be happier with the work finished by Kajsa and the Belgian studios.
- Eager about experiencing Titina’s voyage for your self? The animated function movie will probably be accessible to stream on The Animation Showcase on June 27.
- Prepared to begin your subsequent animated undertaking? Artists can obtain a totally featured 21-day trial of Toon Increase Concord.
