Synesthesia is virtually done... but then again, when is done, done? Gheorghe Costinescu (my co-producer and composer) and I have been going back and forth these last few miles over the whole film. It's been difficult, and time consuming, but it's been worth the effort. This is one crazy film.
Next duty, I need to create the various masters (Archival, DVD, HD, DCP) and arrange for the Los Angeles theatrical release.
This film originated when Gheorghe sent me a music track of his 1973 experimental electronic music composition, "Dots, Lines, and Patches" and offered to commission me to do a visualization. It became a perfect platform to animate my synesthetic experiences—hence the title, "Synesthesia".
Saw this on YouTube. This is a clip from The Land Before Time directed by Don Bluth. I animated the first minute and a half of character animation in this video (all the way to the cross-disolve). Linda Miller was my directing animator at the time and her prints are all over this as well.
All the animation was done on the musical beat of a temp track. Unfortunately, James Horner's lyrical score didn't sync with the beats. I still think that James did a great job on the overall score, though.
Here's a picture of Don Bluth, myself and James Horner at the American Tail wrap party. Good memories!
I started as an assistant animator on An American Tail (uncredited) and was promoted to character animator on The Land Before Time. So in essence, the animation above is some of my first professional work as a feature animator. I animated several other scenes but this, if I remember well, was the longest uninterupted sequence of animation I got (one and a half minute). Ducky peeling the egg is my favorite of the scenes I worked on in that film. Glad to have a look at it again after all these years.
It's also interesting to note that the film was actually done at the 1:33 aspect ratio. If you saw it in a theater, the top and bottom were actually cropped out.
I thought some of you might enjoy a small peek behind the scene. Here's a pencil test (missing a few inbetween drawings) for The Saga of Rex. The eye blinks are added later at the color stage. Missing from the scene are the ground shadow, special effects and animated background elements.
Almost done with my new animated short, "Dots, Lines, and Patches". This film is a commissioned piece where I'm creating visuals for a 5-minute 1973 experimental electronic music composition by Gheorghe Costinescu. I'm very happy with the results. Here are four images from the film.
I’m now working simultaneously on two films: “The Saga of Rex” and “Dots, Lines, and Patches”. I think the main reason why I decided to undertake another animated project while in production on "The Saga of Rex", is because I feel really good about where I’m at with Rex―film and trailer.
The other project, “Dots, Lines, and Patches” is a commission. I’ll essentially be creating an animated abstract visualization of a 1973 experimental electronic music composition by composer, conductor, pianist and musicologist, Gheorghe Costinescu.
Mr. Costinescu is producing a DVD retrospective of his long and illustrious composing career and, for this event, he’s commissioning me to create a film based on one of his piece. The nature of this project is very experimental and I certainly don’t expect it to be everyone’s cup of tea, but one thing is for sure: I do love when projects like this come my way! For those who have an interest in this kind of work I do, have a look at the two videos below.
15 Questions With Michel @ Sequential Highway June 2nd, 2013
