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MillimeterStrange Workflow
Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Craig Erpelding
Mike Belmont (pseudonym M dot Strange) used his self-invented “Str8nime” process to create the fully animated Sundance feature, We Are the Strange. Belmont wrote, directed, co-edited, and produced the movie over three years, mixing and matching multiple animation techniques, including 2D, rotoscoping, stop-motion, and 3D, among others.
“Ninja Gaiden was the first Nintendo game with cinematics, but wouldn't it be cooler if it was 3D and darker?” Belmont says. “What if the Brothers Quay animation had more narrative? What if Japanese animation had more of an electronic edge? Str8nime is all about taking my favorite animation styles, adding my edge, and combining them into one.”
We Are the Strange was Belmont's first full-length feature; he says his techniques came from reading Internet postings and watching YouTube “how-to” videos and DVD bonus features. He built sets and a puppet-sized greenscreen in his apartment for stop-motion work, and created and composited different elements using Maxon Cinema 4D animation software, Adobe After Effects, and Apple Final Cut Pro. He put it all together on nine computers set up in his bedroom, and chose Blackmagic's DeckLink Pro capture card as the most affordable workflow for putting final touches on the imagery. The card, which he ran on a friend's dual-processor 1.8GHz Apple Power Mac G5, permitted him to display 10-bit uncompressed movies simultaneously on a CRT monitor and through a digital projector — enabling him to perform efficient and affordable color correction work.
“I knew the Blackmagic DeckLink Pro was the only output that I could trust,” Belmont says. “[With an indie budget], isn't it cool that when your stuff is projected, it looks like a $70-million movie?”
