Inspiration: Master Animators At Work - SYLVAIN CHOMET

In this excerpt from the BBC series "The Secret of Drawing" (2006) director Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville  and  L'Illusionniste ) demonstrates his approach to drawing for animation.  The work shown is an early test scene from "The Illusionist"  (released 2010) .  

The entire episode is available here: http://vimeo.com/12397782

 Drawings from "The Illusionist"

Pencil Tests from "The Illusionist"  

"L'Illusionniste" an animated film by Sylvain Chomet

Last year I made several posts about Sylvain Chomet's new animated feature , The Illlusionist  ("L'Illusionniste") .    
Time to mention it again. 


Now that the film has received an Academy Award nomination as "Best Animated Feature Film"  and is in a somewhat wider release pattern I wanted to post the release schedule from Sony Classics.   Here is where the film is currently playing or will be opening soon:

http://www.sonyclassics.com/theillusionist/dates.html

If the film is playing in your city or close-by I highly recommend you see this sumptuously animated film.  Especially if classical hand-drawn animation is something you are passionate about then you  owe it to yourself to see and support this beautiful, poignant film on the big screen.

Here is the North American Trailer -

(I suggest that you switch the video settings to HD , watch full-screen).  

 Here is some artwork from the film:

Production Drawings & Backgrounds from The Illusionist


Pencil Tests from The Illusionist

Excellent review of the film by Mark Mayerson:

"The Illusionist" a review by Mark Mayerson

Roger Ebert's review:

"The Illusionist"  reviewed by Roger Ebert

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The North American (Sony Classics) website for the film:

http://www.sonyclassics.com/theillusionist/

The French (Pathé) website for the film :

http://www.lillusionniste-lefilm.com/#/home

Sylvain Chomet at the animation table -

Sylvain Chomet interview

Sylvain Chomet, director of Belleville Rendez-Vous and now The Illusionist. Photograph: Paul Cooper

Sylvain Chomet talks about his new film "The Illusionist" -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jun/10/sylvain-chomet-belleville-rendezvous-illusionist

The biggest problem [in making the film] was finding the animators. Like the music-hall acts in the film, animators had become convinced by Hollywood that their time had passed.

"A lot of animators, basically people who can draw, got scared by these wankers from Disney saying that 2D animation is dead, that it was only going to be 3D and Pixar from now on. It is just typical shit by people in ties who don't know what they are talking about. Are they saying that Aardman is dead, too, then? I mean how stupid are these people? Saying 2D is dead is like saying that a car race is the future of the Tour de France."

"We had trouble because the fantastic animators we found had got really stressed because they thought after our film there was not going to be any 2D any more. Some were driving buses or retraining. People really had been made to believe that the end had come. The truth is that animation is always mixing things up: pen and paper, stop motion, puppets, 3D. Suddenly this bizarre competition has been created. What it is, one more time, is this American reflex to kill off the competition, to say that you can only do it one way and destroy everything else that went before. The whole society is like that. They destroy what they have to build something new. They end up with no roots to draw on, nothing to compare their work with to see if it is good or not. American culture is in real danger of starving itself to death. You just have to see what Hollywood is producing to see how narrow it is getting."

new trailer for "The Illusionist"

NEW:

Official website is up:

http://www.lillusionniste-lefilm.com

Official trailer and several additional clips, image captures from the movie, etc. Check it out.

The movie will be distributed in North America by Sony Classics.

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A new trailer (Russian) for the upcoming Sylvain Chomet ("Triplets of Belleville") animated feature "The Illusionist" .

This looks absolutely beautiful.

The Illusionist trailer:



Translation (by "Niffiwan" ) of the inter-titles on the trailer:

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In life, there are just a few things that are worth doing.

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But sometimes the world is not ready to receive
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that, which we are able to offer it.

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This story tells of the journey of one man
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which enabled him to keep his magical gift
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and to rediscover for himself
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what is worth doing for him in life.

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From the director of that masterpiece of European animation
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"The Triplets of Belleville", Sylvain Chomet.

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Based on the screenplay of the legendary Jacques Tati.

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"The Illusionist"

.

First reviews of Chomet's "The Illusionist"

Sylvain Chomet's new hand-drawn animated feature film premiered recently at the Berlinale Film Festival .

Here are a few of the early reviews :


Variety review of "The Illusionist"

Another review of "The Illusionist"

Screen Daily review of "The Illusionist".

"It took six days and an awful lot of films, but the Berlinale has finally turned up a masterpiece. Moreover, it’s a rare case of one of the fest’s most eagerly awaited titles managing to meet, and even subvert, expectations.

“The Illusionist,” French animator Sylvain Chomet long-gestating follow-up the 2003 Oscar nominee “The Triplets of Belleville,” confirms a truly singular auteur sensibility, while revealing a more disciplined artist and storyteller within. A streamlined character study, less deliriously eccentric in tone and structure than his debut feature, “The Illusionist” nonetheless boasts an emotional heft that handsomely repays its creator’s restraint."

Some clips from the film are seen in this interview with Sylvain Chomet. (watch it in Full Screen Mode) -

Sylvain Chomet's "The Illusionist"

"The Illusionist" from a script by Jacques Tati , directed by Sylvain Chomet ("The Triplettes of Belleville")

The film is near completion (post-production) . Pathe is releasing in Europe, but no word on a U.S. release yet.

Latest images of the film released by Pathe (via Victor Ens' blog)

(click on images to see them larger)





The film is about “a dying breed of stage entertainer whose thunder is being stolen by emerging rock stars. Forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theaters, garden parties and bars, he meets a young fan who changes his life forever.”