In Peques and Más we bring an interview with Manuel Sicilia, founder and creative director of the KANDOR Graphics studio. KANDOR Graphics is a key piece to strengthen, rejuvenate and establish the world of animation in Spain and Europe. In the dialogue we have had with him, he shows us his tremendous creative energy, his great entrepreneurial talent and his extraordinary ability to conceive projects for all audiences. Justin and The Sword of Courage It is the second feature film he directs and is the development of an original idea of his. The lost lynx It was his first feature film as a director and screenwriter. It is a beautiful film that has already been distributed in more than 70 countries. He has also been producer and artistic director of the short film The Tell-Tale Heart and producer of The Lady and Death. He is a member of the AEPA Council (Spanish Association of Animation Producers) and a regular speaker at events related to 3D animation such as Art Futura, Digital Worlds, Cartoon and university forums. We leave you with the interview:
How long have you worked to get a movie like Justin and the sword of courage
It has been about three and a half years of very intense work, especially the last year and a half that at the moment the great part of the animation, lighting, render and composition have been done. But all of KANDOR's work and previous career served to prepare the company for such an ambitious project as Justin.
What profiles of people work in a movie like Justin and the sword of courage
There are many different profiles. Most people think of animators, modelers, illuminators. But there are many other less known positions and that are also very necessary to make film. I mean, for example, the TDs (Technical Directors) that have to provide others with the necessary tools to make the film, both at the technical level of 3D, and management tools. Just having located each of the 14,000,000 files involved in the movie is a very complicated task. Using its tools, the production department must organize the workflow by tracking tasks and files. This is essential to get the most out of our time and maintain efficiency in the study.
Other less well-known profiles are, for example, the riggers who are responsible for preparing the models of the characters to be animated, the designers of characters and backgrounds, those responsible for the color, those who make fixing the models already animated to eliminate errors. In addition, at the beginning of the production, those who preview the film and in the end those who must manage the render, as well as those that make up the different layers of the image, are responsible for stereoscopy. They are many different tasks and all fundamental.
How innovation works in KANDOR Graphics
At KANDOR we are aware that only by making a large technological investment can we maintain the efficiency of the study. Our budgets being much smaller than those of large studios, we have to always find the cheapest and fastest way to do things.
In Justin we have located each of the 14,000,000 files involved in the movie
We have developed our own tools or processes for hair and vegetation simulation, generation of crowds, file and version management, systems for previewing stereoscopy at very early stages. We are currently working with the University of Jaén to create methods that optimize the rendering of the second eye in stereoscopic films.
What productions have you already done and what next projects do you have planned in KANDOR Graphics
We have made two feature films and two short films in addition to a lot of service jobs for other companies. The next project is under development, and we still can't announce it.
What is the next animation challenge
I think that today it is difficult to imagine where the animation is going in technical terms. Some time ago it was clear that one of the goals was to achieve increasing realism in lighting, textures, render. But today the technical achievements are impressive.
Perhaps one of the changes we are going to experience in the coming years is that the resolution is going to be increasing, something that we have been seeing in movies like "The Hobbit". Higher resolution and higher number of frames. But for me, what should certainly evolve are the stereoscopic projection systems, the fact that to see something in three dimensions we have to distort both the color, or place a "strange" element, such as glasses and a filter , between the screen and you, it is too high a price to watch the 3D movie. The day we can watch 3D movies without glasses and with the color unchanged, will be an important milestone for the animation industry.
I also hope that within the changes that animation experiences in the next few years some will come to us from the narrative and artistic side. That we can watch movies and stories a little different. Now the market is practically monopolized by 3D comedies for a child target. It is clear that this is the main niche of the animation, and that to maintain or create industry you have to do this type of cinema, but it would also be interesting to have another type of animation, such as 2D animation with a bit more novel aesthetics or something of animation for adults.
How can we make children learn and know how to work with animation since they were little?
First making the children see a lot of animation, which at least in my case is not difficult, in my case the difficult thing is to take them off the screen. They say that to be a good writer the first thing is to be a great reader. And second, encourage them and help them do their first works of art. Nowadays with an iphone or other smartphone and a couple of free applications, children can make small movies, either in stop motion, 2D animation, etc.
A teacher friend of mine is teaching his students to make their own shorts in class
It's great to show you very different movies, from different eras, not just Pixar and Dreamworks. From "The Jungle Book" to "Porco Rosso", movies like "Mad Monster Party" or when older things like "The Tomb of Fireflies" are older.
Another very interesting thing and this is something that a teacher friend is doing in his school is to teach them to make their own shorts. In addition to making them think about telling a story and developing their artistic skills, this also makes them familiar with technology. Not counting how well they have fun and that helps them learn to work as a team.
How is the relationship between KANDOS Graphics and the University or Training Academies In KANDOR Graphics we have a very good relationship with the University. On the one hand we have designed an animation master that we manage together with the University of Granada. In the master's degree most of the classes are taught by KANDOR staff who try to transmit the knowledge in a very practical way, with the same tools and methodology that we apply in our own productions.
In this way the people who do the master are prepared to be able to enter directly into a work environment and most importantly producing from day one. In fact, the students of this master, animated the secondary characters of the film, which appear in the background.
Our second line of collaboration, in this case with the University of Jaén, consists of a research project to optimize the rendering times of the second image in stereoscopic films: in stereoscopic films you must generate an image for each eye, which It is intended that the time needed to calculate the second eye be as small as possible. This directly affects the budget and production times. Similar research is being done in studies such as Sony Pictures.
Who are the references in current animated cinema and what is the future
Although in my view the latest Pixar movies are not up to what they used to us (a path until recently virtually infallible and almost always ascending), they remain the reference study to follow.
It is also true that lately Disney is making very interesting movies, the last three that have released seem like great movies: Bolt, Tangled and Rompe Ralph. A streak that may continue with Frozen.
Lately Pixar seems not to be guessing and Disney is making very interesting movies
Speaking of directors I always confess my weakness for Brad Bird (the director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille) and I really want him to return to where he really belongs, to the world of animation, after two real-image films.
Spanish animation is receiving great awards. Some are artistic such as the Oscar nomination of "Chico and Rita", or of our short film "The Lady and Death". Productions such as "Wrinkles" have had very good reviews even arriving in Japan (something unthinkable some time ago) by the hand of Ghibli, Miyazaki's studio.
But I think that the most important are the commercial careers of films like "Planet 51" or "Tadeo Jones" two great films that have contributed to making industry in our country. Hopefully our "Justin and the sword of value" will contribute to the growth of Spanish animation as it has been sold to more than 140 countries.
What is the future of 2D cinema
It is truly a shame that no more 2D animation is produced. I think that different projects should have different aesthetics, and 2D is as valid a means as any other to tell a story. The fact that commercial successes normally coincide with 3D projects means that one thing is associated with the other. When it shouldn't always be like that.
In Justin, we can see a 2D example with the tapestry scene. It was done in 3D animation with a 2D render that simulated the textures and behaviors of fabrics, looking for a simpler aesthetic and clearly differentiated from the rest of the film. It was a sequence made by our colleagues at POST23, who did an amazing job. There is a piece similar to that in Tadeo Jones, it is a flashback sequence that tells the legend of the lost city of Paititi. This is an impressive 2D work done by Headless.
How animation movies and video games relate
They are first cousins, increasingly share more resources, techniques and the same ambition. The latest video games reach or exceed the budgets of large animation productions, both at the production level and the campaigns that accompany them.
Between both products there are more and more points in common, starting with the fact that they use practically the same techniques and professionals. The two make intensive use of 3D, they need screenwriters, animators, illuminators, etc. But there is a charge in the creation of video games that does not exist in the world of animation, and that fascinates me, the figure of the gameplay or gameplay designer.
Leaving that aside, the video game market threatens to overcome, if it has not already done so in some cases, that of animation.
What is the future of animation cinema regarding distribution?
The truth is that the future is uncertain, I think we really don't know where the cinema is going. Everything indicates that there will be an important change, but nobody is sure where. It is clear that there are new ways of consuming cinema, more personally, but I think they should be compatible with classic channels or with other new ways that maintain or enhance the "experience" of watching a movie. This means that not only does the film itself matter, but also where, how and with whom you see it. That should not be lost and may even be enhanced, in exchange for a price increase.
I recently spoke with a journalist about the fact that the ritual of going to the cinema begins to be lost. And he remembered when people got ready to go see a movie like the one that went to the opera. This is now exaggerated, but for the way of watching cinema in a projection room to be maintained, it must add value if you compare it with watching a movie at home. It does not help that when you go to the cinema you find a worn lamp, dirty screen or a low quality sound. Sometimes you hear the movie better in your home 5.1 than in the living room.
Large studies will cut their budgets to lower the risk of their productions
Although commercially the animation cinema is in better health than the real one, I think it will still be affected by what is happening in the market. I think that large studies will cut their budgets to lower the risk of productions.
As for the series, I do see a much clearer change. Increasingly, the public decides when and where they want to see the contents, so the Internet and mobile devices are becoming more important.
How you take care of the fathers / mothers that we take the kids to the movies
Making a movie is very difficult and in the case of Justin, that it is a very risky budget it is much more. You always have to try to make your stories and characters as global as possible (although I am one of those who think that this can be achieved by making content that is original and different). In addition, you always have to try to make your story work at various levels, reaching adults but never forgetting the children that are our base audience.
In the products we make in KANDOR, we always think of adults too. There are plots and winks that are only for them, but depending on the type of product, a short is not the same as a long one, and you can make more or less concessions from the budget. You can risk more with lower budgets. Even Pixar herself, must give in to these pressures and films like UP or Wally, are not able to maintain the incredible tone with which they begin, aware of the concessions that must be made to children.
I hope that KANDOR will gradually achieve recognition that allows us to make more and more of our products. That does not mean that they should not be commercial, of course, this should always be so. I am talking about our films being able to have their identity seal at a time when it is difficult to watch a movie know which studio it belongs to.
What is the contribution of Antonio Banderas in Kandor Graphics
Antonio is a partner of our company and in Justin and The Sword of Courage He has been a producer and has played one of the characters. Antonio has been instrumental in finishing this film, we are very grateful and have tried to learn from him as much as possible during the process. It is fortunate to have someone who has experience as an Actor, Director and Producer, not many people have this triple profile. He also knows a lot about the world of animation having worked on projects as large as the different deliveries of Shrek or the spin-off of Puss in boots.
Y So far the interview with Manuel Sicilia of KANDOR Graphics. I appreciate the facilities they have given Peques and Más to conduct this generous interview in which we can learn much more about the reality of animation in Spain, the tremendous potential and capacity we have in Spain to build fantastic and enormously complex projects. It is a real pleasure to have learned more about this company and its projects through Manuel Sicilia. For my part I wish that the project does not stop growing and developing and that the successes are happening.
I take this opportunity to encourage parents who have not gone to the cinema to see her go to see a great movie and enjoy it with their kids. So we retrieved the trailer from Justin and The Sword of Courage in Spanish…
... and the trailer in English with very interesting nuances and a very attractive title: Justin and the knights of courage:
For the end, we take the opportunity to emphasize the great awards obtained by KANDOR Graphics that can be seen on their website:
- The short film The Lady and Death. He won more than 30 awards, including the Oscar nomination of the 2010 Hollywood Academy and the Goya for the best animated short 2010
- The feature film The Lost Lynx. He won more than 6 awards, highlighting the Goya award for the best animated film 2009 and shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Awards Oscar at the Hollywood Academy
- The short film The Heart Delator. He won more than 25 awards both in Spain and abroad, was among the ten finalists for an Oscar nomination for best short film.
