Lindsay Berkebile<\/a>\u00a0told us. \u201cEverything in the piece was built practically\u2014we really wanted it to feel tactile and handmade, even in its weirdness.\u201d<\/p>\nWeird? Sure, in all the best ways. But also vibrant and full of unique textures of varied opacity that we know could not have been easy to pull off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rainbows were one of our favorite elements,\u201d Berkebile went on, \u201cwe bent heated acrylic into shape, lit them from below, and layered colored gels over the surface to get that vivid rainbow glow.<\/p>\n
\u201cShout out to\u00a0our Art Director, Doug Cummings, for teching this entire build and our DP Jake Hauswirth for rocking such challenging lighting design! The trees were built from textured cardboard tubes and painted, with the foliage made from a mix of graphic paper cutouts, moss, and grass textures.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Skullicorn puppet comes off as ingeniously creepy and wonderous all at once. Made using a wire armature with a foam body, the skull is a hard sculpt, \u201cdesigned and crafted by the famous ThriftCreeper. The rest of the puppet is actually layered black wrap sandwiched between paper to create a furry feather graphic kind of look.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted some chatter but not TOO much which is why the black wrap was important. We used motion control sliders and focus motors to add the slow creep of a camera move. Also, the rainbow goop the Skullicorn is devouring? That\u2019s a concoction of colored clay and Quake Gel\u2014we also used the same material for the logo design!\u201d<\/p>\n
Too cool. When we asked Berkebille if the team encountered any significant challenges, she answered, \u201cSo many! Our biggest challenge was creating something that\u00a0felt<\/em>\u00a0high-budget with a shoestring budget. We spent almost nothing on materials, so creative problem-solving was a huge part of the process.<\/p>\n\u201cFabricating and lighting the rainbows practically was a major R&D challenge\u2014we wanted them to feel magical but grounded, which is a tricky balance. And animating that goop? Brutal. It doesn\u2019t behave well with gravity, so we had to animate fast and carefully to avoid unintentional squish or slide between frames. We also shot the logo part backwards so that the [AS] stayed pristine in the end and we ensured to nail it perfectly that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sounds like the team\u2019s VFX artist, James Morr, also had a lot of cleanup with a long camera move and rigs: \u201cWe ensured to do as much mitigation in pre to avoid headaches for him though! Paul Zito, our 2D artist and I also spent a long time talking about how to transition from stopmo into 2D to make it\u2026 make sense\u2026 weird but not jarring. He really nailed it in the end!\u201d<\/p>\n
We couldn\u2019t agree more and loved hearing Berkebile\u2019s next comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, the whole shoot was a challenge\u2014but in the best way. Every part of it required a bit of ingenuity, which is what makes stop-motion so fun (and maddening!).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n