Like this:

Recently in class we covered some of the animation of Don Bluth.  From his days with Disney, to his independent studio efforts, and finally his dealings with Fox Animation Studios, Bluth was responsible in large part for bringing a large number of now classic full length animation features to movie theaters.  Although Bluth was responsible for a number of critical and monetary successes, I chose to focus this entry on the animation techniques of a lesser know, and less successful Bluth production called Titan A.E. Unlike Bluth’s previous animated children’s features, Titan A.E. is an animated post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure film directed by Bluth, and his partner Gary Goldman and aimed at a somewhat older adolescent audience.  The title refers to the spacecraft called Titan that is central to the plot, and the “A.E.” meaning “After Earth.”  Titan A.E. was the final film made by Fox Animation Studios before its closure in 2000.

In trend-setting fashion, Titan A.E. became the first major motion picture to take part in end-to-end digital cinema. On June 6, 2000 at the SuperComm 2000 tradeshow, ten days before its official release, the movie was projected simultaneously at the tradeshow in Atlanta, as well as on screen at the Fox Theatre in Los Angeles.  It was sent to both screens from the 20th Century Fox production facilities in Los Angeles via a VPN link.

The animation technique used with Titan A.E. combined traditional hand-drawn animation, the use of physical models, along with the interplay of computer generated imagery (CGI).  Throughout the film, it was necessary to be able to integrate traditional elements with CGI in a way that was believable.  There are many scenes where the main characters wear space suits; these suits were designed with a lot of detail and could not be animated traditionally, so 3-dimensional models of these suits were built, animated via CGI, and printed on paper frame by frame.  This allowed traditional animators to draw the characters’ faces inside each space suit mask.  As a result, there is a lot of dimension in many scenes revealing a seamless integration between the characters and their environment.  The key elements of this film are the scenes that showed the title subject – the Titan.  The Titan of the film is an incredibly large space ship, over a mile in length, that has the power and technology to create a new planet.  Showing the scale of this ship was a challenge, especially since the models used in the filming ranged in size from one foot to just over three feet.  The animators used textures and lighting to make the ship look really big.  By painting very fine lines on its surface and using a multitude of light sources on each scene, the animators were able to make the Titan look like the behemoth it was supposed to be.

In 2001, Titan A.E. was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature – ultimately losing out to Toy Story 2. Even though the film was unsuccessful at the box office, it was well-received by its critics, and has since become a cult film.  The unique and expensive combination of animation styles and special effects resulted in Titan A.E. being a financial failure, costing over 75 million dollars to film and only making 37 million dollars worldwide.  But it has since become a favorite for lovers of animation and of science fiction, such as myself.  Take a look at the film trailer below and you will get an idea of the animation style and “largeness” of this animated action film.

My Weekly Comments: Comment 1 I Comment 2

Advertisement