‘Isle of Dogs’ Behind the Scenes ‘Making of: Animators’

Film is typically shot at 24 frames a second.  For the most realistic results, a stop motion puppet must be moved 24 times to create one second of film.  The mastery and patience involved in creating believable stop motion films is unreal.  More than that, it takes a unique vision and talented people around that vision to make that vision a reality.  With the ever-growing rise of CG movies (which are also remarkable and painstaking), it’s nice that movies still get made the same way they were doing it 100 years ago.

Wes Anderson is exploring ways to use the medium in ways you can’t in live-action with his new film Isle of Dogs.  From design to story Anderson has a vision and an experienced team behind him to bring it to life.  With a crew of more than 670 people, 70 manning the puppet department, and put together with over 130,000 still pictures, I think it’s safe to say Anderson had quite the crew behind him.

Animation producer Simon Quinn:

Wes enjoys animation for what it is.  He’s not trying to hide the fact that these are made objects.  He’s celebrating the art form.  He’s not trying to compete with CG.  He’s actually saying, ‘Okay, this is a model set.  So how can we play with that?  What sort of visual gags can we use in that?’ You end up doing things like using cotton wadding for smoke or carving soap to make candle flames.  All of these things are joyous.  They’re the things that make work exciting.

Enjoy the behind-the-scenes clip below:

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/xCBOiaJEoFw”]

Official Isle of Dogs synopsis:

ISLE OF DOGS tells the story of ATARI KOBAYASHI, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When, by Executive Decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island, Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire Prefecture.

Isle of Dogs opens March 23 and stars Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunicki Nomura, Akira Takayama, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Akira Ito, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Mari Katsuki, Fisher Stevens, Nijiro Murakami, Liev Schreiber, and Courtney B. Vance.