Animation Home produces animated films from the concept stage right through to delivering the final product. It aspires to deliver the message in the most original and outstanding way, while maintaining international quality levels. The studio is currently working with many brands and also conceptualizing and executing music videos.
The studio specializes in producing and directing animated films in stop motion, 3D compositing and others for different markets, using a wide range of styles and techniques. It is well known for its creativity and ground breaking originality, and includes in its portfolio a number of projects which received worldwide recognition and won a variety of international prizes as well.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com’s Sidharth Iyer over an e-mail interaction, Yuval Nathan speaks in detail on the kind of work the studio undertakes, Animation Home’s USP, the projects executed and his take on the animation and VFX industry at large.
When did the studio begin functioning? What kind of work has the studio been involved in?
We institutionalised the studio about two years ago, and we’ve been working together as a pair of directors/animators.
We started from the pure passion of creating artistic animated music videos. Creating music videos gave us freedom to invent, and push our artistic and technologic boundaries, and to construct our uniqueness in the market.
Soon we started receiving orders for commercial work based on the style presented in the videos. In these projects we have developed skills in the production of ordered projects, creating a pipeline and building capacity to provide full project from concept and script until the final stages of post production.
Though we have a background of 3D animation, motion graphics and compositing, most of the work we are receiving in the past two years is in stop motion.
We did quite a lot of pixilation work (Animated people), and some objects stop motion animation work long the way as well.
How big is the team working at Animation Home? Who are the core members and their key functionality?
We, (Merav and Yuval) are the core members of the studio, and we have a team of free lancers that join us per project. In case of big productions that we have to shoot big scale shots, we have a production team that we work with. We also work with script writers, sound designers and musicians when needed.
At the beginning of a project, we together plan its concept and style, Merav is in charge of the design and Yuval (that’s me) of the animation bits. Since we work in the same working space, our involvement in each stage is big.
What is the USP of the studio? What is the most difficult project you have executed?
The fact that once in a while we do an artistic video, even if it is for almost no money, expands the field of the techniques and materials we use in our work, and bring new and original ideas. For this reason our clients tend to share with us the early creative stages of the project and to make the technique and style, an integral part of the script and concept.
I think that the most complex project we ever did was “Lose this child” music video for Eatliz band. This project was animated in sand sculpturing on the beach at night. It took us 35 nights of shooting on the shore plus some shooting days in the studio. Trying to animate sand in the wild nature with the waves, the wind and humidity made it very challenging, but on the other hand it was a lifetime experience.
What is your take on the current animation and VFX industry globally? Are you aware of the Indian market as well?
The animation field has dramatically changed in the past 20 years, and we had to navigate ourselves through these changes.
Disney lost its monopoly over the animated feature films, and today there are many companies who make masses of features. And the technology that in the past, was kept only for the big companies, is now accessible for everybody, and there are endless companies of animation everywhere. I think that the discourse and the sharing of movies on the net, created the fast evolution of ideas that we are experiencing today.
Another dramatic change is the digital revolution in film and photography. In our own perspective, this revolution brought also the revival of the old stop motion technique and made it more controlled, and therefore, popular. In 2006 we chose to make a shift toward stop motion, and since then we combine 3D, stop motion and 2D compositing in our work.
Of course we are aware of the Indian market. We know it is a huge market, but unfortunately we haven’t yet work in this market. Given the opportunity and the right project, we will certainly explore it as an option.
What is the current project you are working on? Please share some details on the same.
At the moment we are working on few transition spots for the local music channel. All made in stop motion with different objects. And another project based on paper cut animation. We are also scripting for a historical comic feature.
Finally, what does the future hold for Animation Home?
The things that we mostly want to do is to create content (shorts, music videos or even features). We have some treatments on the way and we hope to find the funds to do them. In the meanwhile we will keep developing stylish commercials, promos etc. Stay Tuned!