Old School Meets New Age

It's no secret that most of our crew are huge fans of old school effects and movies, such as Harryhausen productions, or the original Star Wars saga - so the opportunity to insert old-school matte paintings into our digital stop-motion was too good to pass up - especially when I have such talented folks on the team.

With that in mind, we tested the effect on a shot that involves the first doomed flea hanging down a perilous crevice.

Here is an original frame from the shot, animated by Keenan.


Then, the director submitted a staggering masterpiece of a concept sketch to Phil, our matte painter...


Phil then expanded on the existing set, adding depth and light effects,


And here is the final shot with the flea reintroduced and a temporary sky in place. Note, this is NOT a final shot, as the sky needs changing, focal effects need to be added, and the snow is missing - but you get the idea!



Cool, eh?