The jungle has many hidden treasures, some need to stay hidden for excellent reasons…
Our heroes’ journey has led them deep into the undiscovered rainforest. A ruined temple, overgrown and seemingly abandoned offers what they have been looking for. Not knowing what to expect, the team has come prepared. As the peaceful site turns into a battle arena, our heroes find out they’ll get a little more than they signed up for.
Let us take you through all the steps we took to produce this cinematic trailer.
Storyboarding
During storyboarding we investigated all the different ways we could tell the storyline to get it right. We wanted to make sure there was a quick yet suspenseful build up without requiring too much time or knowledge about the characters. All we hint is that they are searching for something in the jungle. As they are circled we see they came prepared for battle. They work together to fight them off and take down what for them appears to be there leader, easy. Yet, unknowingly, these ruins in the jungle are protected by much more.
Concept to Final
We had a solid idea for the cinematic aspects of composition, lighting and color use and how to have this change throughout the film. This way we were able to emphasize the story. We had a strong focus on the concept art to make sure these choices would correctly seep through to the final stages of this production.
”Equipping our scenes with all the components expected in real-life, from atmospheric fog, muzzle flashes, flying bugs and several other effects brought it to the next level.
Tom HankinsDirector
Beyond the characters
To reach the intended cinematic quality we needed to make sure we’d hit the right mixture of stylization and photorealism for our protagonists. Similarly this was crucial for designing the right antagonist tribe and creatures to make sure they felt like the right opponent in our heroes’ adventure.
The goal was to create convincing (semi-)photoreal characters and have them interact, fight and act in a believable way. Close up shots usually spill the beans, so we had to work with high resolution texture maps and dense geometry.
Growing a jungle
When building intricate sets like these, reference material is crucial. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to travel to an exotic location in person but had to make do with advanced image search techniques. Using our acquired insights, a library of trees, plants and various vegetation was built. Our ruined arena was covered in vines and library assets were scattered throughout.
Cinematic cinematography
With the bar set by the concept art and storyboard we needed to make sure all the ideas propagated into the final shots. Early in the lighting stages we focused on setting the right mood and colors for each individual shot, to guide the viewer through the film. Combined with shots varying from slow and subtle to high-paced and exaggerated this allowed us to set the perfect tone for every scene. Through cinematic storytelling you follow the adventure up close in framing, mood, colors and lighting.
Environment and Character FX
From blood splat to breaking trees, we done did it all! The trained eye can feast on some frames, through layers and layers of elements. Highly detailed hair systems give a certain sense of expanded realism to CG characters, especially when they are simulated properly. Equipping our scenes with all the components expected in real-life, from atmospheric fog, muzzle flashes, flying bugs and several other effects brought it to the next level.
Sound is Key
Manglemoose jumped on board to help add an extra dimension to the film. As an audio collective they took care of the music, sound effects, voice recordings and final mix. This project has everything in it: epic fights, a rich exotic ambiance and terrifying creatures, all supported by a native, tribal soundtrack. It’s our goal to give each component its moment and to guide the viewer or listener through the animation. And that turned out really well. The soundtrack tells you when something is about to happen or when it’s time to catch your breath.
Audio ties a film together, we cannot tell a compelling story without it. When combined well, it will transcend imagery by itself.
Craft
Rumble in the Jungle!
PRODUCERS
Danielle de Jonge
Daniël Visscher
Written and Directed by
Tom Hankins
Roy Nieterau
Music and Sound Design by
Manglemoose
Production Design
Rocky Schouten
Vincent Bisschop
Technical Directors
Roy Nieterau
Sven Neve
Wijnand Koreman
Voice Actors
Sander de Heer
Hadass Pelter
Art Director
Tom Hankins
Pipeline Supervisor
Roy Nieterau
Storyboard
Rocky Schouten
Character Modeling
Auke van Slooten
Derk Elshof
Andre Ferwerda
Kevin Beckers
Lorenzo Bahadur
Gijs van Kooten
Surfacing & LookDev
Auke van Slooten
Derk Elshof
Kevin Beckers
Andre Ferwerda
Tom Hankins
Patrick Blankenzee
Alex van der Aa
Rigging
Carla Nish
Vitor Augusto Mariano Silva
Raissa Jabase
Jonatas Ribeiro
James do Carmo
Grooming
Sander Bultman
Vincent Yannick
Environment Modeling
Patrick Blankenzee
Gijs van Kooten
Arjan van Meerten
Derk Elshof
Kevin Beckers
Animation
Danny Vos
Björn Sjöberg
Lucia Sancho
Carolien Bakker
Max van der Plas
Paul-Erik Trouwborst
Animation Director
Roy Nieterau