2020 hasn’t been a happy year, but with a more careful look at it some positive things can be found! One of them was the possibility to participate in the VIEW Conference, directed by Maria Elena Gutierrez. It's 2020 edition happened, infact, entirely online and assembled an amazing library of presentations hosted by true specialists.
Thanks to the VIEW Conference, on Friday, December the 4th, I could watch a virtual conversation with brilliant minds behind “Over The Moon”, the latest animated feature produced by Netflix. The conversation was moderated by Ramin Zahed, Editor in Chief of Animation Magazine and involved some key roles who have worked at the movie; Production Designer, Céline Desrumaux, CG Supervisor, Clara Chan, Animation Supervisor, Sasha Kapijimpanga, and VFX Supervisor, David Smith.
I was excited just to hear their names. They are such great artists with lots of experience and I couldn’t wait to hear them.
Let’s start from the beginning. “Over the Moon” is a Chinese-American production, because Pearl Studios -- a studio located in Shanghai known for its work on “Kung-fu Panda 3” and “How To Train Your Dragon” -- and Netflix cooperated to produce it and this is a particular aspect of the movie. By involving Pearl Studio in the production the Chinese context of the movie has been closer to reality. Even the Chinese history expert, Giada Messetti, pointed out the fact that the movie presents little details making it more realistic than Mulan, which helped the movie to obtain positive reviews.
Characters' names haven’t been given in a random way either. Chang’E's legend is one of the most known and has been well represented in all its different versions. A coincidence wants that, on Friday, December the 4th, she landed on the dark side of the Moon. During the meeting with the artists the attention to details was pointed out. With different clips they presented the making of and pointing out the importance to pay attention to details. By observing Chang'E , goddess of moon and other characters’ movements we know the authors were right. An example is the scene showing Fei Fei entering the room of sadness, where Chang’E's movements and hair give us an impression of reality. The character was built from her anatomy, studying leg movements first and following adding lights, clothes and all other details. The technical level was really high and Glen Keane and John Kahrs’ direction is a deserved tribute to these artists’ work. Production Designer, Celine Desrumaux, is only 35 years old and she managed to create a complex, unique environment in the animation world.
The best character in the movie is, of course, Chang'E, a queen becoming a famous pop star, an extreme ping-pong athlete becoming very sad, after her beloved passed away. Her clothes and her proportions change multiple times during the movie, but always in a consistent way. A special mention goes to lights and colors of Lunaria, switching on and off depending on its queen’s state of mind.
In conclusion I can definitely confirm how the virtual conversation, organized by VIEW Conference, opened up my eyes about how difficult it is to work in such a movie and how important work, attention to details and dedication are. I strongly recommend watching Celine's VIEW 2020 talk and the other presentations on the on-demand section of the website to anyone who ‘s desire is to work in the animation industry or to potential spectators. This could be a very special Christmas gift.