Kubo and the two strings - new Laika Animated feature

D48thRonin said:
...
That book is a very good place to start. Unfortunately we've never made it into Cinefex :( Even though Laika received a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (the "Oscars") this year for the facial animation technique.
Click to expand...

THAT is a shame. What are those guys doing, waiting for the complete demise of physical fx or trying to transition to a CGI trade paper?! I think they need a heads up ;)

Btw, Tim, are you going to be in London this week, i.e. SW Celebration? There are quite a few RPFers there this week.
 
PoopaPapaPalps said:
@D48thRonin - If I can ask you a personal question, how did you wind up working with Laika? From your PictureTrail stuff, if looks like you mostly work in 1:1 props. I assume those skills carry over into working in smaller, miniature scale but is it a different case? I see on a lot of art showcase sites a real following for doing things on small scales and it seems like it's an all together separate skill entirely to have.
Click to expand...
Actually, most of the work that I've done in the industry has been miniatures. Fabrication skills carry over rather well between models and props/costume components. In fact, the jobs that I did get doing props/costume components were because I was a model maker - they needed "hard modelers" (as opposed to the sculptors, who I am guessing were considered "soft modelers").

As for ending up at Laika, it's the old adage "It's not what you know, it's who you know" - a couple guys that I knew and worked with in LA made the move to Laika and then asked me if I would be interested.
 
DaddyfromNaboo said:
THAT is a shame. What are those guys doing, waiting for the complete demise of physical fx or trying to transition to a CGI trade paper?! I think they need a heads up ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's frustrating. They obviously seemed to be veering away from physical FX coverage quite a few years ago, but I guess it could be said that that's the way the industry was headed anyway. I was really surprised when they went from 4 issues to 6 issues per year - if anything, I would have figured they'd cease printing the magazine and just focus on their online presence.


DaddyfromNaboo said:
Btw, Tim, are you going to be in London this week, i.e. SW Celebration? There are quite a few RPFers there this week.
Click to expand...
Nope - too rich for my blood. That's a hell of a trip, and I really don't care for travelling.
 
Dessa said:
Sadly, not in the industry at all... my harddrive with all my work died right after I graduated, and it wasn't recoverable. Just trying to make ends meet now.
Click to expand...

I know how you feel, a big part of the computer animation program i was in back in 1997 was 2d and they stressed that only for cgi to take over or having to learn to draw 2d on a tablet and not paper. I'm kind of glad I didn't finish, i'm not happy with where 2d or cgi has gone in the last 20 years.
 
PLEASE someone explain the meaning of this movies title!!!

His instrument has THREE strings....

As a musician, it is bugging the crap out of me!
 
From cinemablend:

"Kubo And The Two Strings tells the story of the titular protagonist: a young boy with a two stringed instrument that has a mythical punch to its tunes."

The only thing I can think, is its because two of the strings are harmony strings?

Kind of like how a 12 string is basically a 6 strings with each string having an additional harmony string...

The hd pics on Google CLEARLY shows 3 tuners and 3 strings.....

It's driving me nuts!
 
Ken, the shamisen *does* have 3 strings. It *is* explained in the film, and as such, the answer is a bit spoilery... so you'll either have to see the film or wait until it has been released to get an explanation. Sorry ;)
 
Big Laika fan, looking forward to this movie. If anyone hasn't seen it, Kernel is selling tickets w/promo items and you can buy puppet facial replacement props
 
I love how Laika documents and shares their process. It has to be one of those things where they are so far ahead of the animation game that it isn't risky in the least.

We caught a showing last night. It's perfect alright. The animation was so perfect I started to doubt what was stop-motion and what was cg. I know the cg was hiding armature and interchangeable face lines. The work is that amazing and I have a copy on order. My nit-pick or high praise is that I don't know if I want motion in stop-motion motion to be perfect. I really loved the slightly jerky character movement in Coraline. Wonder now if Coraline's movement was a limitation or a well-designed creep-factor element?
 
Moviefreak said:
Sad to hear that. Once the industry shifted to computers my career died as well.
Click to expand...

I worked 10 years in traditional and then BAM, I was answering phones and emptying garbage cans for guys who made the transition to 3D.

Took a while, but got back on my feet in development and editing, which were previously a hobby.

hoping to check this flick out Sunday!
 
D48thRonin said:
As for ending up at Laika, it's the old adage "It's not what you know, it's who you know".
Click to expand...

Hey D48thRonin ... don't I know you from around here - wink, wink, nudge, nudge - :wacko

Are you allowed to show or tell about your bits and bobs which you did for this movie?

:$ I still have to go see it, yet I was blown away by the behind the scenes I must add.

Chaim
 
Sym-Cha said:
Hey D48thRonin ... don't I know you from around here - wink, wink, nudge, nudge - :wacko
Click to expand...

:lol Yeah, and you're that crazy guy who's super-passionate about lightsabers ;)


Sym-Cha said:
Are you allowed to show or tell about your bits and bobs which you did for this movie?

:$ I still have to go see it, yet I was blown away by the behind the scenes I must add.

Chaim
Click to expand...

Please go see it. I could tell you about some of the stuff that I did, but a couple things might be a bit spoilery, and for some others it would help to have seen the film for context. As for seeing... now that the film has opened, it will only be a matter of time until we all receive the files for our portfolio requests. Unfortunately, we're only allowed 10 items (which is a mere fraction of the work that we produce) - the items can be any combination of still images and video shots. Or we can also request an entire sequence from the film, but that would be the only thing that we would receive.

One thing that I worked on that I *can* show you right now was in one of the trailers - Beetle's "Robin Hood" split arrows trick at 1:37. The arrows were actually forced-perspective (larger at the ends closest to camera and tapering down towards the points):


Having just watched that again, you can also see a couple more things that I worked on - at 0:43 the paper lanterns floating in the river, at 0:54 the "torii"cemetery gate, and at 2:30 I made the master patterns for the jade floor/wall tiles for the "Bone Room" which is where they encounter the Odokuro (the giant skeleton).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This thread is more than 7 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

ghostryder
The Mandalorian and Grogu (feature film)
5 6 7
Replies
136
Views
6,442
Halliwax
Halliwax
janglesworthy
Star Wars Tales of The Empire D+ animated series
Replies
15
Views
693
Halliwax
Halliwax
George
(Animated) Military History project
Replies
8
Views
328
George
George
blewis17
VIDEO: The animated Transformers short you never knew you wanted
Replies
0
Views
177
blewis17
blewis17
Riceball
New B5 animated movie coming out
Replies
10
Views
685
Riceball
Riceball
Back
Top