Animations

“The Krill is Gone”

Synopsis

Voiced by the incomparable Tom Kenny (Sponge Bob) with Jill Talley, “The Krill is Gone” brings comic awareness to the looming danger of man-made global warming on the fragile ecosystems deep within our oceans. As this ominous tale begins, our host – the Robin Leach-like Plankton Emiliania Huxleyi — introduces us to his undersea world just seconds before he is devoured by a ditzy Krill, who quickly sheds her shell in a successful maneuver to outwit a predator only to have trouble sprouting another. As the tour continues, we spot a celebrity tuna who looks and talks suspiciously like Al Gore, dodge a swarm of deadly jellyfish, and watch in horror when the dastardly source of the problem is finally revealed.

Director’s Statement

“Wow. The making of ‘The Krill is Gone’ was one of the longest and most satisfying pieces of animation that I have ever worked on. Matt Briggs has this amazing ability to charge a project with so much positive energy that it begins to develop a momentum of its own, and that was certainly the case here. Over the year and a half that we were in production on the ‘Deep Green’ animations, almost everyone at Bent who was involved in the project demonstrated a level of performance that exceeded my already high expectations. Because of the group’s commitment to creating something that was deserving of the talents and vision that Matt had already brought to the film, the project constantly evolved—becoming a richer and nuanced telling of the tale of a krill in crisis.

“From the beginning, the Krill piece was conceived as a 2D collage of animated cutouts assembled and animated in After Effects. But as the character designs began to appear from Huy Vu’s drawing board, and the CG modelers breathed life into these characters, it became clear that the spot was taking on a life of its own. Ray DiCarlo, the Executive Producer at Bent, made this clear, after taking a long and appreciative look at the work coming out of the CG lab. ‘You know we have to do this in 3D,’ he said quietly. Coming from any other EP, I might have been shocked to hear that I was being asked to take a more expensive and laborious path on our shoestring budget, but with Ray I wasn’t so much surprised as delighted. He is always about the quality. And so the project continued to morph.

“The original script that Matt and Clark Taylor had sent was great fun, if epic. I was reminded by David Daniels that we weren’t remaking ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ and with his and Chel White’s input and a constant flow of new takes and line revisions between Clark, myself, and eventually the great voice talent of Tom Kenny, we ended up with a telling that could fit within the constraints that we assigned ourselves. Certainly one of the most pleasurable afternoons of the project was experiencing Tom’s and Clark’s playful exchanges as they explored character voices and performances. I’ve sat through a lot of recording sessions but this is one that I will always remember. Great chops those two.

“Perhaps the largest challenge to the project was the creation of a vast and diverse undersea world that could be composited and adjusted to the needs of the animation created and performed in an entirely different platform. After Effects was both the compositing and editing tool for this spot, and I was often confronted with a need for unique solutions that were both fast and effective, and so I often found myself seated at the hem of the Bent compositors. Led by fellow ‘Deep Green’ director Randy Wakerlin, this group was almost always in house working on one deadline or another, so I had an almost constant access to the fruits of their collective creativity. In the end, it was Orland Nutt who had the last look at the Krill animation, bringing a depth and polish to it that one might expect from a master oil painter, if not a digital Compositor.

“In the final sequence, as the comic fish is drawn into the trawler and above water, we were confronted by the special challenge of creating an image that was at once explanatory and bit threatening–but also familiar, even iconic in its subject matter. The angularity of the Expressionists with their angry color palettes seemed a perfect contrast to the soft shapes and cool colors that had filled the undersea world. This was an important image in the animation and ultimately the film itself. I knew it. Matt knew it. Dave Manuel knew it. I finally found an opening in Dave’s schedule long enough for him to execute it. His delicate touch with direct and reflected light interwoven with a world that is at once real and caricatured allowed us to bridge the gap between these two worlds and to achieve a lasting and powerful final image. Thanks to Dave, and everyone who worked so hard on this animation.”  

– Jeffrey Bost

“Trees”

Synopsis

Voiced by the incomparable Tom Kenny (Sponge Bob) with Jill Talley, “Trees” serves as a comic warning about the devastating effects of deforestation of our rainforests. As the story unfolds, we move through a lush deep green pastoral jungle inhabited with exotic creatures. “Welcome to the oxygen factory! We breathe in the old CO₂ and breathe out the O₂. I tell you, though, a lot more CO₂ these days,” barks a tall, skinny character who calls himself the “green collar guy.” “Yeah, lotta CO₂,” confirms his leafy companion, Donny. Suddenly, a chain saw starts up, followed by the sound of another tree crashing to the ground. “The rain! Tell them about the rain!” our fallen friend gasps. Green collar guy happily demonstrates what he calls “transpiration – how the trees water each other downwind with their “breath.” As the situation spirals downward it seems clear: our long-limbed neighbors are not the only ones fated for the endangered list.

Director’s Statement

“When I first heard about ‘Deep Green’ and saw the scripts for the animated shorts, I was instantly attracted to ‘Trees.’ It had a wonderful feel to it and conveyed an appropriate sense of urgency, while still communicating crucial information about the importance of trees and forests. As a hiker, rock climber, cyclist, and all around nature lover, I crave the outdoors and like to spend a lot of time among trees. I felt like I had a vested interest in using animation to get the point across.

“The first thing I worked on was the character design. Huy Vu made these wonderful characters, based on rainforest trees where the branches and leaves created expressive faces and arms. The style was flat and graphic and felt like they were created using woodcuts, which added a nice texture to the leaves and bark. Huy and some other designers also created a lush rainforest of birds, insects, plants, flowers and monkeys to show the diversity and life that are at risk from deforestation. “These designs were imported into an animation program and I spent a good amount of time creating the controls for the characters to ensure that they moved and talked and emoted correctly for the story. The designs were a ton of fun to work with, but once they had a voice, I was in love.

“The brilliant Tom Kenny (Spongebob himself) came up to Portland for a day and recorded the voices for the trees. He was amazing to work with. He came up with 10 character voices in 10 minutes and could remember all of them if we wanted to go back and re-record a line. Tom and Clark Taylor had a great rapport, and watching them explore the characters was a highlight of the whole process.

“I began animation in earnest to make the trees come alive and showed works in progress to Matt Briggs and Clark. They were great to work with, we all seemed to respect each other’s creative visions and they let me run with some fun ideas about the story.

“For final color touches, I enlisted the help of Tarn Fox who had a background in painting. I loved the color progression he created, beginning with a lush green in the opening scene and ending with browns and oranges of a burnt out desert. The subtle shifting of color throughout the film was designed to make the viewer feel like the humidity and life were slowly being sucked out of the environment.

“In the end, seeing it projected on the big screen was such a treat. The colors and textures all popped off the screen and I think the characters really help communicate the message. I am so happy to have been a part of the Deep Green project, and look forward to seeing the film go far.”

– Randy Wakerlin