Animation Analysis; Laika Studios!

Laika Studios have made themselves extremely well-known with their blockbuster smash hits "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Coraline", and "Paranorman", among a few others. With this expertly crafted, expressive and imaginative claymation, it leaves you guessing; "How do they do it?" Well, in this Blogscape Smackdown, we will explore the animation processes, along with the work and soul poured into these films, with the aid of Jason Hellerman and his blog; "How Laika Studios Animates Their Movies" from nofilmschool.com.

The writer and director of their newest movie "Missing Link", Chris Butler, gives us a premium inside look into the massive creative outlets explored, the techniques, trials, and tribulations that are championed throughout the studio's processes. From our first source; YT channel Insider, titled "How Stop-Motion Movies Are Animated At The Studio Behind 'Missing Link' ". The video delves deep into the sheer amount of love given to every frame of their movies, showcasing time-lapses behind the scenes, impressive rigging machinery, and setups, and huge, wildly elaborate scenery to drive it all home. We discover the characters are in fact puppets, with replaceable faces in order to express a range of emotions. The main character, Link, has proven himself to be extremely difficult to animate, taking a year just to plan out his rig and puppetry, due to his shape- an avocado man with no neck. The design aspect of Link was tricky, too, as it seems, since he's covered almost entirely in hair. The team decided to settle with the same style hair as the other characters, so each bit of hair is delicately handcrafted, painted and cast onto the puppet. We see that for more complicated characters and animation, they have rigs of glorious proportions, often just to support the weight of the character. As shown by the Skeleton in "Kubo," the character proportions often translate into real life, with the skeleton having to be split into two pieces, and seeing it alone in motion is breathtaking. The attention to detail these animators, designers, and riggers put into these characters, scenes and stories leave us baffled; starstruck with the immense undertaking of creativity this studio puts forth. The team ran into a few problems with a scene involving jumping across a collapsing ice bridge. Chris explains that even with the impressive rigs, the scene alone took a year to plan out and shoot. He goes on to describe how when he was writing the scene, he was quite hesitant about the concept alone, even if it was crucial to the story just in concern to the amount of work it would take to pull off. But guess what? They did it anyway. Something else they're not afraid to do is mixing CG into the workflow. The underwater scenes shot for "Missing Link" required delicate planning in what I think was Maya, and the scenes still remained as remarkable as ever, even though they had to switch mediums here and there. This display of affection for the artistic mediums Laika utilizes proves that they are here to stay, and they have a lot in store for them. Laika Studios know dedication is required for these types of things, and they're ready, willing, and able to run the gauntlet for the star-striking effects and scenes that leave impressions on us for years to come.

In a special interview with Chris Butler, we dive deeper into the creative endeavors promoted here. He taps on how the medium of Animation as a whole, specifically in filmmaking, allows for creativity to shine through and for stories to be told that a regular live-action film couldn't dare to try, mostly due to the boundaries reality often sets forth. When we are able to break those boundaries while staying tethered to the core aspects, amazing work can definitely be produced. Laika is absolutely no novice when it comes to telling these stories. Chris expresses that even though they're making stop motion movies, they have very similar setups to L-A Hollywood movies; Lights, Cameras, Sets, etc. The only difference is that the actors are miniature puppets (often ranging from 16 inches tall to 9 or lower). He says it's more or less Live-Action on a smaller scale. The acting portrayed by the puppet characters in tandem with the VA's paints this picture clearly. Had you the chance to tour Laika Studios, Chris tells us its comparable to walking through Santa's workshop; the magical experiences unlike no other-- worlds colliding and branching off in beautiful ways.
His experiences working at Laika for roughly 13 years are unlike any other; he's worked with a myriad of creative individuals with wonderful different ideas, minds, and workflows that ultimately culminate into making each film unique in its own way. He's worked with both friends and colleagues, going through the artistic motions alongside these people, growing alongside these people and learning through both the failures and successes alongside these people. The strengths of a cohesive team that knows each and every one of each other's goals and aspirations proves worthy when working in such a large scale production since the heart of it all shines as brightly as each individual that contributed, which is what makes these films magnificent. When producing "Coraline", they decided to reach out all over the world, searching for the talent they needed when brewing up "Coraline' and the designs, ideas, and story. The diversity presented in the workforce at Laika often aids the process when bringing influence into the story, since everyone is able to chip in in some way. The casting experience is often a deep-dive into the written character's personality, story, goals, and aspirations. When hearing the audition of Zach Galifianakis, Chris describes the otherworldliness, vulnerability, and insecurity he found in Zach's voice when casting for Link. He immediately tied it to the inexperience the character had when considering what the world has to offer really struck a key with Chris, therefore leading to the casting of Zach.

I want to take this paragraph to explore the most influential film of the bunch Laika has produced, and, incidentally, it was my first introduction to the studio. "Coraline" presented to ~11-year-old Ari the potential I could find in artwork, animation, and imagination. The main character is relatable, the design is grim yet charming, and the pseudo-psychological-horror aspect tied it all together like a wonderful, expertly-crafted doll with button eyes. Black, pristine, shimmering button eyes. The paradigms of the characters along with the many interpretations of the story itself led to it becoming a staple for stop-motion in the animation industry as well as a notable figure in pop culture at the time. Rewatching the film is something you might like to try if you've got the time, it's a wonderful experience every time.

Laika studios is an amazing place to be; creating elaborate, astounding scenes, characters, stories, and situations like never before. They've definitely proven worthy as the champion of stop motion animation, and they aren't leaving any time soon. Trust me when I say that we will see them again with another decade-defining story like "Coraline" sometime in the future.

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Link of Interest! (pun not intended)
This week's LoI is based in art school portfolios since we run into the topic tomorrow.  This page explores a myriad of content, giving a deep-dive into each student's portfolio, their reasoning behind the structure, and gives each piece a loving touch of expertise. Take a look; you might find some inspiration for your future works.