From the drawing board to the computer monitor, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero goes through 3D modeling tests with Mikros Animation
At its core, Sgt. Stubby is a story about a man and his dog, set against the backdrop of World War I. Beyond the universal themes of friendship and survival, the script speaks directly to special interest audiences – families, animal lovers, military historians and veterans – all of whom find details included specifically for them.
This multilayered story has to be reinforced by an intricately detailed on-screen universe: the dark alleys of Stubby’s life as a stray, the bright grass of the Yankee Division’s training grounds at Yale, the wooden trenches beneath the haze of the front lines, the electric Parisian nights unlike anything the Americans had ever experienced…
Yet the image itself will be flat. Physically without dimension. Light projecting pixels onto a white mesh screen.
To bring this story to life, our artists and animators have to spend countless hours developing a visual language to synthesize our three-dimensional world.
THE STUDIO
In animation, every single detail has to be created from scratch. Each facial movement, reaction, expression, and emotion has to be individually created by personal character teams.
Once our artists have depicted our characters in all their nuanced glory, it’s up to the animators to conform their 2D drawings into a functional, photorealistic physical space. Scale, proportion, texture, light reflection/refraction…these are just some of the considerations that must go into a 3D model before naturalistic movement can even be attempted.
For this intensive combination of artistry and science, Sgt. Stubby‘s production team have turned to Mikros Animation.
Recently acquired by Technicolor and with offices in Paris, London, and Montreal, Mikros has long been on the cutting edge of the digital revolution. Long known for their postproduction and visual effects work, Mikros’ animation division launched head-first into feature filmmaking in 2014 with Asterix, the Mansions of the Gods.
Just one year later, they released the first ever adaptation of the beloved children’s book The Little Prince. The film is widely recognized as the most successful French animated film in history, dating back to France’s invention of the global cinema industry over 120 years ago.
NEW DOG, OLD TRICKS
It’s important to understand that 3D (the process of animating objects that appear in a three-dimensional space) is not synonymous with stereoscopic cinema, a technique for enhancing the illusion of depth by displaying two images simultaneously and wearing special glasses to interpolate the images (what most cinema chains market as “3D glasses”).
While Sgt. Stubby won’t require the use of 3D glasses to create a fully immersive experience, it is interesting to note that many of the features we typically don’t associate with early cinema – color photography, stereoscopy, special effects, large format projection – actually date back prior to World War I…but that’s another story for another time.
THE FILM
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero is the incredible true story of a stray bull terrier mutt and the lasting bond he forged with the doughboys of the 26th “Yankee” Division at the onset of America’s entry into World War I. For his valorous actions, Stubby was the first dog promoted to the rank of Sergeant in U.S. Army history. The film has been selected as an official project of the United States World War I Centennial Commission and is the first animated feature for Fun Academy™ Motion Pictures and Labyrinth Media & Publishing, producers of motion pictures that entertain, innovate, and inspire audiences of all ages.
Starring Gérard Depardieu and Helena Bonham Carter
Music by Patrick Doyle
Animation by Mikros Image
The film is slated to theatrically debut in April 2018. For exclusive production updates, follow Stubby’s big screen adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest!
