Loving Vincent

A few weeks ago, I was at Gdansk, Poland to audition for Loving Vincent, a stop-motion full length feature film based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, being made by an Oscar winning production company, Breakthru Films. Making the movie out of real paintings is a brilliant idea and I was more than excited to have been invited. A few years ago while I was in Paris, I had visited Auvers, and specifically the room where Van Gogh had last lived and the sites that he had painted. So I could kind of relate to the story of the misunderstood genius. The movie in the making is a humongous effort and it has been rightly called 'a labor of love'. 

The audition lasted three days and required us to create multiple paintings translated into frames in Van Gogh's style. The painting posted above is the first in the series and also the first frame of my animation. It was draining to say the least. As tiring as it was, I was kicked to see the end result. With a new bout of motivation, I was hoping to get a couple of more frames done, when the time ran out. I am glad I worked through the logistical issues and made it to the audition, though I don't get to take on the next level. For me it was a great experience and I am eagerly looking forward to watching the movie! Am pretty sure it will be spectacular. To round it all up, I decided to fly to Brussels the next day and then went on to Amsterdam before I came home. And oh, I managed to visit the Van Gogh museum (among other things!) while I was there. It sure lived up to all the hype!

At my work station, starting the series of paintings.

Four paintings. Eight Frames. Less than a second of animation!