Creative Research - Song of the Sea

After Manchester Animation Festival, I became familiar with Cartoon Saloon and their recent release "Song of the Sea" This films has been a massive inspiration to me, for many reasons. Firstly, the storyline is great, however the main thing I have found so inspiring, is the visual side. The environmental and character design, and the animation itself are all stunning.

This film is not purely digital, watercolour textures have been composited in. I found this film so satisfying to watch, because the colours and textures were just perfect. It really helps set the scene, and makes this movie distincive and unique. This animation took years to make, which doesn't surprise me at all, because I can't fault it. This has made me want to think more about environmental design, as well as developing further with character designs. This is an animation that is very driven by it's scenery and settings, so this reinforced to me how important and effective this can be!

Another aspect of this animation that I loved, was the variety of character design. All of these characters look totally different, however it is clear that they are all from the same story. The style is very consistent, and works well with the environments too. I sometimes struggle with making more than one character from the same narrative look compatible, so I will definitely take inspiration from this animation.  I also love the fact that the character designs aren't too complex or over the top. Therefore they don't clash with their surroundings.