FINAL ARTWORK

Color's evolution throughout the film

After introducing the scenarios, I come now to talk a bit about some of the final artwork process, together with David and Igor. We started the chapter with this colorscript sketch, which I did when I started working in the scenarios - with this study, it was possible for me to see if the ideas I had in terms of color were in accordance with Zé's intentions for every moment of the narrative. Although the colors ended up different in the final version of the film, this first proposal gave me a direction to develop the scenarios I presented you in the graphics chapter.

So this was our first step in order to find out the film's final artwork.

Painting & Integration 


Shot 23

I'm David Silva and I was responsible to paint the basis colors on each one of the characters. After various experiences and various paint tests, we concluded the best method would be to use animcouleur, one extension for Photoshop, allowing a quick advance in the painting surface. The only downside was that it required great accuracy in finishes, otherwise the flaws would became visible when the outline was removed.

For that we follow the following method:

    1. Identify frame by frame if the animated character's outline has leaks, and if so close them, so the later selection is easier and faster;
    2. Paint with the base color all frames (usually the character's skin tone). It has to be as perfect as possible since it provides the basis for the other colors;
    3. Paint all the other colors, making use of different layers for each color, and using masks that allow to incorporate the new layer in the base color layer (as mentioned in the previous point);
    4. View the animation and retouch whenever possible to reverse any secondary vibration;
    5. Using the same masking method, add the final shadow layer which defines the volume;
    6. Knowing the line is almost entirely removed, it's time to decide where it should end up on, again using masks that allow to hide most of it. We decided to leave it, most of the time, in the face and the hands.

Despite the good results, this method would ultimately prove itself to be extremely time consuming, because we had to paint one frame at a time for each color used. In the example above, the outline has been completely removed because it's a wide shot. In the image that follows, you can find the outline was left in the nose and mouth of the child, who appears on a close up shot.

Character's Integration

Here is Bárbara again!
This time I come to introduce you the integration work I developed in the film's final phase. After the characters have gained their flat base paint, I created the textures and volumes for each one of them, which allowed a better linkage with the scenarios' graphic design. After that, we animated the textures in a video layer in Photoshop, so these would follow the character's movements. This process, although a little time consuming, was important for the textures to look as natural as possible and not a static layer on top of the animation.

 

When we had characters close to the camera, in close up shots, I would place also some texture in their shadows. This difference (when the characters are close, they have more detail, and when they are away they lose this detail) had the purpose of increasing the sense of depth in the film. The texture was also animated according to the animation of origin, carefully animated in order to keep a low profile so it would not distract the viewer's main focus of attention, which must be centered on the character and not in the effect.

Finally I did the finishing touches on the scenery, as darken less important areas in the image, making color adjustments and blurs, if necessary, and finally would merge the characters.

After finishing this stage, I would export separately characters and scenarios, in order to finish everything in post-production.

Shot 97

This shot is a good example of our adventure looking for the final image.

Initially, we planned this shot to have the same graphic design made for all the other forest shots. Meanwhile were taken new decisions, and the biggest challenge came when it was necessary to build a larger scenario, to support the camera movement during this run.

However, with the production development, the live image clippings began to be placed in the timeline, assuming the representation of Mário's father living memory. This discovery led, initially, to the necessity to adjust the characters base colors, in order that the live image's integration with the painting would be done the best way possible.

But the adventure does not end here.
We began to feel, at this project stage, the forest where the characters found themselves needed to undergo a change. Inspired by the meaning of the red floor is in this forest, and with Zé's approval, I replaced all forest previous colors by red. This change of environment had a direct impact on the characters, which turned into high-contrast pictures. After Igor animated the scenery, adding also a few shadows, we found our shot!

Post-Production

Hi once again, I'm Igor Estêvão who, in addition to beeing an animator, took over the post-production role. This being the final stage of the project, I needed a reinforced care, and so I worked together with the art director, Bárbara, and the director, Zé. To achieve the final integration of the characters in the scenarios and to focus the viewer's attention on specific points, I would add tiny blurs or small shadings on some visual elements.

When a shot gets to post-production, it comes divided into different parts, idealized beforehand in layout and graphic design. That is, in this shot in particular, there were 11 characters, 3 cars, 3 parts of scenario, smoke and rain. I started by composing the characters and applying the appropriate masks to ensure the correct overlapping of each one of them.

After that, I added the rain and multiplied it several times and on different scales, in order to build a three-dimensional space, entirely filled. Then applied a filter, which had already been set in the initial graphical research, to enhance the colors.

Finally I placed the scenery and began its integration, developing the idea of a three-dimensional space with elements in the foreground and background, slightly blurry, emphasizing through focus Mário's father in the middle of all the strangers. Finally, I added the car's front headlight and its respective masks, so that the rain would be more visible within that area. I also integrated the smoke in the foreground's car light.

Shot 23

In this shot, the director intended the camera to move away while the foreground shot darkened, in a way the crowd would get unified in a massive silhouette, while the background shot got even more light, further highlighting this silhouette. Bárbara created several images of the same scene, progressively lighter but without losing the contrast and color depth. Based on these images, I started composing all the characters and their masks so that they would link together. Then inserted the background scenery and made the transitions between the different light suggestions, in order to find the right rhythm. With these defined times, I started to create the camera movement.

With lots of adjustments and time modifications, we finally reached the end result. It was a work of great cooperation between all, and I may say the space I found to creatively contribute to the creation of this film made this work an unparalleled experience.