Indie films-games and something anything else inbetween! At IndyFilm Oneblaze we try to highlight Indy creative projects.

Wow is all I can say about “Ernest and Celestine”, this is a beautiful film. It’s simply a splendor and this is why I still enjoy 2d animation. When done properly 2d animation is simply a joy to watch and I am in awe that there are still a handful of talented artist who still love and are capable of creating beautiful work in that medium. Sadly it has faded to what it is today and there will be alot less of it going around but that is ok I can deal with that. We have the newgrounds.com generation that seems to love the bizarre animation and then they have people like myself who knows when they see talented and well crafted masterful pieces.

If you are able to watch this wonderful film please watch it in the native language which was french with subtitle, I had no interest in hearing the english language version, please don’t ask why.

The below is taken from From Gkids.com

RNEST AND CELESTINE
Animation, Aubier/Patar/Renner, France, 2012, 80 minutes
In French with English subtitles

Deep below snowy, cobblestone streets, tucked away in networks of winding subterranean tunnels, lives a civilization of hardworking mice, terrified of the bears who live above ground. Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer – and when she nearly ends up as breakfast for ursine troubadour Ernest, the two form an unlikely bond. But it isn’t long before their friendship is put on trial by their respective bear-fearing and mice-eating communities.

Fresh from standing ovations at Cannes and Toronto, Ernest & Celestine joyfully leaps across genres and influences to capture the kinetic, limitless possibilities of animated storytelling. Like a gorgeous watercolor painting brought to life, a constantly shifting pastel color palette bursts and drips across the screen, while wonderful storytelling and brilliant comic timing draw up influences as varied as Buster Keaton, Bug Bunny and the outlaw romanticism of Bonnie and Clyde. Bringing it all together is the on-screen chemistry between the two lead characters – a flowing, tender and playful rapport that will put a smile on your face and make your heart grow.

Based on the classic Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, Ernest & Celestine won France’s César Award for Best Animated Feature, and has been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 86th Academy Awards®.

The English-language voice cast features Forest Whitaker, Mackenzie Foy, Lauren Bacall, Paul Giamatti, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Jeffrey Wright.

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Project Arbez or simply Arbez for short was an animation I created several moons ago. When I state several Moons, Arbez was completed in 2002 and was briefly revisited in 2007 where I Attempted a major over all but figured it was not worth the time and devoted my time to the Born Fighters Game project. Arbez was a love hate relationship that came with many experiments ,trials and failure, it was the love of understanding animation that forced that animation and also why it was never completed as I was never satisfied. It was an experiment that half worked and half failed. In short I learnt alot from that and mind you I did that back in 2002, that was 12 years ago DAMN I am old. That was when I was super creative, now not so much. If I showed you the work load you would think what the hell. Actually I will do a video now that you asked on that very animation. Titled “Why Arbez was doomed to be a successful Failure”.

When it came to flash it was a science to me. I was always the VFX person, I studied parallax animation, I studied lighting, I learnt how to create game algorithm, it was a delight using flash which was a mixture of illustrator’s vector capabilities and Photoshop free drawing power. I was recently asked about the backgrounds created for Arbez. The background that look like Raster were created in Photoshop and anything else that looked like vector was first drawn in flash then recreated in Rhino 3d, then transferred to another 3d application then back to flash. Also a note to the wise this was a composition edit in Flash 5. As the years progressed I have earned my animation badge but as I have stated I have sadly become less creative. I am less eager to experiment in the ways that I once did but that will all change it’s time to get back to the roots of being the ninja master.

I also created a boring behind the magic video if you are bored enough to listen to me rant.

At the end of it all both Born fighters and Arbez taught me lessons about myself and pipeline process in creating a product. These are experiences I will never loose, for one I understand that yes one man can create a product from start to finish but sometimes the load for a project can tax your mind, also I learnt to work smart. I proved to myself that I was capable of creating an animation. I also realized that I am very absent minded and will become distracted and bored very easily, hence why I work on smaller projects and once I am finished with a project I never go back except to probably get elements that may work on another animation.

For all that never saw the still Work in Progress Arbez Check it out here.

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