Adding to its list of awards and recognition; Malaysian animation house Tripod Entertainment’s War of the Worlds: Goliath took home the 2D animation and sound design trophies at the recently held Asia Image Apollo Awards 2013.
The Asia Image Apollo Awards 2013 were held on June 18 alongside Broadcast Asia at Marina Bay Sands. Top talent from the production and post-production industries were recognized for their technical and creative excellence.
Tripod’s Joseph Pearson and Sang Young-Hwan were awarded for 2D animation, while Raja Ahmad Shaidaley and Mike Bloemendal of Imaginex Studios were lauded for their sound design work on War of the Worlds: Goliath. Imaginex Studios is a subsidiary of Tripod.
The Malaysian sci-fi stereoscopic 3D adventure had earlier picked up the award for the Best 3D Animated Feature Film at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival, beating the more popular mainstream movies like Madagascar 3, ParaNorman and Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings.
War of the Worlds: Goliath is set in an alternate reality Manhattan, New York City in 1914 amidst a steampunk setting, where Earth is left to the mercy of ruthless Martian invaders using 80 feet tall, heat ray spewing, Tripod battle machines laying waste to the planet. The world’s only hope lies in a small resistance force, A.R.E.S.
The film is a loose sequel to H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds (1898) and is produced by Tripod Group with top animation talent from Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Los Angeles. Peter Wingfield, Adrian Paul, Tony Eusoff, Elizabeth Gracen, Jim Byrnes, Rob Middleton, Mark Sheppard, Matt Letscher and Adam Baldwin are among the sci-fi stars voicing the characters of War of the Worlds: Goliath.
Animationxpress.com’s Ishpreet Chandock got an opportunity to interact with Leon; here he talks about his reaction on winning the award, how has been the 3 year long journey been so far and what can we expect from Tripod in the future and more.
Leon is CEO and Co-Founder of the Tripod Group of companies, a media group with interests in animation and live-action production, audio post-production and 3D stereoscopic delivery, and IP development and management.
Leon also serves as Producer for the Group’s properties, including “War of the Worlds: Goliath”.
Meanwhile here are the excerpts to the conversation...
Thank you so much for speaking to us, I would like to start with congratulating you for your double whammy at the Asia Image Apollo Awards 2013. What were your initial thoughts at the announcement?
I felt quite overwhelmed – there were many strong regional contenders, especially the ones we faced from Singapore and Australia.
Can you share with us your experience at the awards?
The Apollo’s are a little different in a sense that it’s an award that is evaluated, judged and voted by industry peers – specialists from the field of production and post-production, who pretty much do the same things you do for a living, only probably more accomplished! They can scrutinize both the creative and the technical in equal parts. So the bar certainly feels higher than usual. And you know that when they give the ‘nod’, it’s real peer recognition.
Can you tell us the highlights for you from the event?
Each win was the highlight! But also glad to see other peers we know and respect win as well, like Tiny Island’s “Dream Defenders”. David Kwok’s a nice guy and he’s got a great team – that we were both pioneering stereoscopic 3D in our respective industries made us comrades-in-arms.
Joseph Pearson and Sang Young-Hwan were top-billed on the award credits for 2D animation. How big a moment was this for them?
Unfortunately they were not at the awards – Joe is currently in Los Angeles and Sang in Seoul, but they certainly were waiting for news and were excited about the win.
Joe Pearson is the director of “War of the Worlds: Goliath”, and also produced the movie with me. “War of the Worlds: Goliath” is based on the story he created, a “what if” scenario of a Martian invasion happening in an “alternative history” 1914. Together with Sang Young-Hwan, who handled the on-the-ground 2D animation with his team at Sun Min Image Pictures, Joe created a great 2D animation experience.
This moment is a huge one, because, at an artistic level, with CG animation dominating this industry, it shows that traditional cel 2D animation is very much still alive and acknowledged, and we hope this will continue in the decades to come in this increasingly-digitally animated world.
Were you expecting this?
I’d say we were hopeful about the 2D Animation win, excited about the Sound Design win, and if we won Art Direction it would’ve been an awesome bonus, because there were tough contenders in that category.
War of the Worlds: Goliath has been a long ride for you, with over three years in production. How has been your experience through this journey?
This was a long and arduous journey, peppered with many challenges, more so as it was Tripod Entertainment’s first production.
Even the veterans who joined us in the production, while they were specialists in their fields, knew that as a whole we were doing something that’s not really been attempted before in animation.
We think “War of the Worlds: Goliath” was the first 2D animated feature in the world that was natively produced in stereoscopic 3D (as opposed to “conversion”), at the time. For our team, this was their first stereoscopic 3D feature of any kind, so you can imagine challenge.
Add to the fact we chose a movie grounded in the steampunk sci-fi genre for teen/adults (we have PG and R versions, for example), as opposed to the usual family-friendly animated fare, made it all the more daunting.
Another experience I’d like to raise was the strong support of our producer partners.
Kevin Eastman, our executive producer, is also the co-creator of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and owner of “Heavy Metal” magazine was a tower of strength, guiding us and giving us a great Heavy Metal platform to promote the movie aggressively in North America. Kevin is an absolute prince.
David Abramowitz, our producer-writer, who wrote the script off Joe Pearson’s initial treatment, and then brought in the cast of the “Highlander” TV series – Adrian Paul, Adam Baldwin, Elizabeth Gracen and Jim Byrnes – to lend their voices to our Goliath characters. That brought in a new wave of support from the Highlander fans, worldwide. We can’t thank him enough.
And finally, the worldwide fans who have been with us from the start of production and followed our every move on the website and Facebook and Twitter. Some travelled from as far as Australia to join us at the movie screening at the San Diego Comic Con last year. Amazing. These flows of support really give us the extra boost of energy when we’re running on fumes.
The feature is a Malaysian production produced with teams from Korea and Los Angeles. How difficult was it to handle three different teams together for a feature film?
Certainly it was difficult – the time zones and language barriers took their toll. But ultimately everybody wanted to make something they could be proud of, and stepped up. Many times each team “took turns” going the extra mile and looking out for each other while the rest of us caught up.
At the end of the day, we bonded as a single unit – made all the more remarkable when you consider that we had Malaysian, Korean and US teams, some did not even speak the other person’s language, but united in the language of animation and storytelling.
A creative process has its shares of arguments and disputes; would you like to share some of yours from the experience during the production of the film?
I think overall we had a positive creative experience – and for this all kudos should go to Joe Pearson. The original idea was his, yet he had a collaborative mindset and the final outcome is the result of various inputs, both creative and technical.
From changes to the story, to new characters like the Malayan Bugis prince, Shah, to the designs and look and feel of the world right down to the props, to calls on color and lighting, to voice casting and direction, to music and sound effects, and right down to the creative calls using stereoscopic 3D – various experts cast their decisions when their time came, and on the whole, we made it all work together. Looking back, the creative process was a great yet humbling experience at the same time.
I think the real rewards kicked in when we saw the reaction of the audience. From the rousing reception at the San Diego Comic Con, to the awards we won at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival and the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, to accolades at both the Sitges and Brussels International Fantastic Film Festivals, and the Sci-Fi London Film Festival, and now the Asia Image Apollo Awards – we’ve seen viewers from different countries react well to the film and in a sense it makes the journey worth it – after all, we did it for the audience.
Raja Ahmad Shaidaley and Mike Bloemendal of Imaginex Studios were lauded for their sound design work on War of the Worlds: Goliath. How was your experience working with them?
Imaginex Studios is actually part of the Tripod Group, and Mike is a partner at Tripod together with Joe and me.
Also, I’ve known Mike since the mid-90s, so working with him was easy – and the fact that he’s Malaysia’s top creative audio professional made it doubly easier.
Raja Ahmad, or Boon as we like to call him, has been with Imaginex Studios for a number of years now, and rose to become our head sound designer, working with us on projects like the animated “Saladin” TV series, the “Seefood” animated feature, and the recent “Bunohan” live action film. He’s the calmest guy I’ve ever seen under pressure, and the most detailed sound designer I’ve worked with, which is why he’s our top sound guy.
So with years of experience working together, tacking Goliath was not so much about challenges but more the adventure, at least in the sound design part!
The film is a loose sequel to H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds (1898). How difficult was it to adapt the novel in to a feature film?
I wouldn’t say it’s a sequel at all, more a “what if” scenario.
We had the idea that the HG Wells novel was really just one man’s account (and it was written that way) of a real and historical global Martian invasion circa 1899. We imagined his account as effectively one of potentially millions told from perspectives all over the world experiencing the invasion. Our own story starts fifteen years later.
Ours is a whole new story, with new characters and settings, set in another part of the world, experiencing a second Martian invasion. Our world of 1914 is also very different – having survived a first Martian invasion, it’s edgier, steampunk-like, potentially proto-fascist and aggressive in technological advancement – very different from HG Wells’ Victoria era.
Even the Martians are different – augmented, stronger and resilient, having learnt their lesson of deadly microbes from the first invasion.
So the HG Wells book is really just a work to tip our hat to, and pay homage.
That said, given the deep heritage of all types of “alien invasion” stories in literature, film, radio and TV going back 100 years, there was no lack of inspiration when we conceived of “War of the Worlds: Goliath”.
The film was scheduled to release in late 2010, what led to the delay?
The film was originally conceived as a DVD movie, at a time when the DVD market was riding high. When the DVD market tanked globally just several months into pre-production, we made the decision to up our game and make it a theatrical release, and soon after, a stereoscopic 3D release. This led to short but worthwhile delays to modify production and raise funds to accomplish that.
Tell us more about the script to screen production model for the film?
After we confirmed the final treatment of the film off Joe Pearson’s initial treatment, we had an idea of what to “build” and plot out in terms of production – especially the characters, vehicles, settings and so forth, so we went into a hybrid development/pre-production phase even while the script was still being written.
Once we had the full script, we then plotted out the scenes via storyboards. We then recorded the voice actors both in Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur.
With the script, storyboards and voice dialogue ready, we could then set the timing of each scene.
The entire pack was then sent to Sang Young-Hwan and his Sun Min studio team in Seoul to execute the 2D animation and CG animation.
At all times we reviewed scenes and sent back notes to either approve, reject or amend them – often new ideas flowed in, especially with a view to assist the future phase of stereoscopic 3D execution. In time, the raw process of 2D and CG animation compositing was finalized for all 121,000 frames of animation, encompassing 1,600 scenes.
We then went into the editing suite and worked until we had a “locked” version approved by Joe.
With the edit “locked”, all the raw composited data (basically scenes in “layers”) were then sent to Kuala Lumpur to begin the stereoscopic 3D process of dimensionalising each scene using the raw data layers until we got the stereoscopic presentation we wanted for all 1,600 scenes. We also separately cleaned up the raw layers to get a 2D version of the film as well.
At the end of the production process, we had a film in two formats – standard 2D and stereoscopic 3D.
After that, we entered post-production proper. On the audio side, we laid in the final voice work, sound design/foley and music, and then completed the final mix. On the visual side, we color graded the film, added credits and so forth, striped in the finished audio mix and created the final output of the film which you see today.
A premičre was held in UK at Sci-Fi London, tell us about your experience?
Although the screening at Sci-Fi London constituted a UK premiere, it was not a wide release in the UK – that is going to happen a little later and we will announce details soon.
The film did not have major public screenings outside of the US locations (LA, San Diego Comic Con etc), the Brussels and Stiges festivals and Malaysia. Were you anxious before the British Premiere?
Since the Sci-Fi London screening was a festival screening like the ones you mentioned above, we were anxious yes, but not as anxious as if it was a major release (and I will tell you how I feel then!).
How was your experience working with Joe Pearson? How has your equation with him? How has it changed over the three years?
Joe Pearson is the director of “War of the Worlds: Goliath” and also a producer and the creator of the story – but he is also a major shareholder of Tripod Entertainment together with Mike Bloemendal and I. So, going in, we were already joined at the hip and committed to making this work.
That said, Joe and I share many aesthetic ideas about the approach for the movie, and have a shared love for sci-fi, fantasy and great story telling, from the vast vault of movies, comics, books and TV that have inspired our love of the genre, and our desire to tell stories.
We also determined from the start of production the sort of roles we would play. He was to be the driving creative force of the movie, while as the main producer I was tasked to arrange the resources, govern the production, raise funds, handle the commercialization and legal/financial activities surround the film, keep the film on-budget (with a whip!) … basically it’s like making sure the train runs on time, keeps running, and not derail!
That’s been a good fit and will likely continue on future Tripod projects.
In the film, the tripod designs and backdrops were particularly effective and that the flatter, also the traditional animation worked reasonably well alongside the higher-tech aspects. How difficult was it to use 2D and 3D at the same time?
“War of the Worlds: Goliath” likely featured one of the most complex integration of CG animation and traditional 2D animation.
The characters and backgrounds were 2D drawn, but the vehicles were CG models including four types of giant earth battle tripods, biplanes and triplanes and a giant iron-clad zeppelin – and on the Martian side we had giant mecha tripods, fighters, battle exoskeletons and even a giant Flying Wing about 1,000-feet long.
We had to put 2D characters into 3D models (sometimes inside cockpits), send them to battle, complete with camera moves and shakes, splattered with visual effects of fire, heat rays, smoke and particles, and then turn them all into stereoscopic 3D.
Looking back, I think we were a little crazy!
As for the aesthetics of integrating CG and 2D animation, some of the key approaches included moving away from the photorealistic feel of CG models, but at the same time not quite toon-shaded either. We had to find a “sweet spot” in-between. We also used painted layers that we could “wrap around” the models to give the illusion of complex detail, and done in such a way it held up to scrutiny in both the Big Screen and in Stereoscopic 3D. And finally, the last line of defense aesthetically was the color grading process during post-production, a critical tool for any movie today, whether it’s a big Hollywood blockbuster or an independent like Goliath.
As for addressing the technical challenges of integration, it was really a mix of smart shortcuts and workaround solutions that would accomplish the final look and feel, given the limitations of our independent budget. The real answer lies in the strength and skills of the compositors, and there were two groups – one in Seoul integrating the original 2D and CG animation layers, and the other group in Kuala Lumpur RE-integrating the layers for the stereoscopic 3D process.
All very painstaking – but in the end the final presentation held well on the big screen – I hope!
Did you plan to produce the film in stereoscopic 3D since the start of production? How difficult is it to produce a Stereoscopic film? What creative changes one applies compared to a normal feature film.
As mentioned above, the decision to go stereoscopic happened perhaps 1/3 into the production of the film when it was restructured from a DVD movie to a theatrical film. At first we did not consider stereoscopic, until someone from our very own backyard, Scott Inglis of BaseCamp Films based in Kuala Lumpur, convinced us that his team could do it.
He then conducted a one-minute stereoscopic 3D test off existing workfile footage, and presented it to us on-screen at a cinema hall. The results were very encouraging to us as producers, and our investors.
BaseCamp at the time was already contracted to handle our film’s original post-production – so if we were to take on a stereoscopic team, using a group from within the fold seemed the best idea.
Personally, I found the process of producing a stereoscopic 3D film very fascinating, and a true fusion of creative and technical, which appeals to me greatly.
Creatively, I see stereoscopic 3D as another weapon in the arsenal of visual storytelling, and less of a gimmick and a trend. I appreciate the sense of “immersion” one gets in the world of the story, as in the case of “Life of Pi”, but at the same time 3D can also enhance and excite the action of “Transformers 3”. Both work if the tools of 3D are used well by a master craftsman and storyteller. In that sense, I won’t say that it’s “different” from a standard 2D feature, it’s just another tool to use, and hopefully, use well.
As for the changes one applies to a stereo 3D film as opposed to a standard 2D film, I can’t speak for live-action films, but in animation one does have to “accommodate” the additional layer of the stereoscopic process – whether it is allowing for dimensionalising of 2D layers during production (as in the case of “War of the Worlds: Goliath”), or adding another virtual camera in the digital space for CG animation – and that impacts on time, budget and the additional expertise required to do this, so obviously a producer needs to take all these into consideration at the start of the project, and measure it against not just the artistic merit of adding in stereoscopic 3D, but whether it is worth it commercially.
Tell us about the accolades and awards the film has received so far?
Awards and accolades:
- “Best 3D Animated Feature” at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival 2012
- “Best Animated Feature” at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival 2013
- Official Selection:
- Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantŕstic de Catalunya 2012
- Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2013
- Sci-Fi London Film Festival 2013
- Others:
- Special screening at San Diego Comic Con 2012.
- Invitation to screen at “Avatar” director James Cameron’s Cameron-Pace Group facility in Los Angeles, September 2012.
War of the Worlds: Goliath is considered a huge revelation for Malaysian Cinema. Your thoughts?
Well it’s nice to be described as a revelation! It’s more likely just a realization and perhaps a catalyst.
A realization stemming from the fact that Malaysians are ready, and can establish ties with international partners on equal footing, to produce content for global audiences. And it’s not just Tripod, many of our industry talents can do this – it starts with courage and perhaps a really thick skin (!) and also a firm grasp of the business realities going in.
A catalyst in several ways – not just to get more Malaysians to join the fray of international productions, but also to bring Malaysia to the attention of more international producers. We’ve already seen a marked interest coming to our shores, in part due to the exposure of “War of the Worlds: Goliath” and other projects by likeminded Malaysian producers.
The 3D world is still at a nascent stage, when can we expect every film to be produced in 3D?
The initial premium for stereoscopic 3D movies is starting to drop as supply meets demand, so, apart from commercial and budget considerations, the decision to go stereoscopic is increasingly in the hands of the filmmaker as to whether he/she wants to use stereoscopic 3D or not, to help tell his/her story.
I would say that not all movies need to go stereoscopic, but for the filmmakers and producers who decide to take the stereoscopic route, the tools, techniques, skillsets and creative approaches will continue to improve, enhance and astound, and in that vein, we should expect great stereoscopic 3D content into the future.
One example is “Life of Pi”, where stereoscopic 3D was used by director Ang Lee to make the cinematic experience more immersive and intimate, as opposed to the usual approach of creating shock and spectacle.
So the stereoscopic phenomenon is here to stay, but it won’t necessarily eclipse the standard 2D way of presenting visual content. They will co-exist, and both formats are useful for different reasons.
Where do you see the animation industry today?
If you’re talking about the Malaysian/Southeast Asian animation industry today, I’d say we’ve still a long way to go but we’re getting there. Certainly we’ve the right creative talent, technical expertise and infrastructure and ecosystem support to foster a vibrant animation industry.
What we really need to do now is fine tune the art of storytelling so that our content translates worldwide in an effective and commercial way. We need to create a real bond with the audience, with characters they can emotionally invest in and care about their on-screen journey, otherwise we’re just looking at pretty moving pictures.
Another endeavour we need to focus on is developing the business and commercial skills needed to make the animation industry a viable and profitable one. Even as we train artists and animators, we should simultaneously encourage the development of world-class distributors, licensing and merchandising skillsets, deep global networks and the financial/legal frameworks that help put movies on screens worldwide, make decent money and defend intellectual property. Only then can we truly have a vibrant animation industry.
Tell us more about Tripod Entertainment? What are the other projects you’ll are working on?
Well we’re busy right now selling “War of the Worlds: Goliath” worldwide, as well as licensing opportunities, and hopefully we can make public announcements soon. That’s taking up a lot of Tripod’s time right now.
But we’re also prepping projects of our slate of titles – a mix of animation and live-action – and talking to potential co-production partners.
“War of the Worlds: Goliath” was a baptism of fire of sorts for Tripod, and armed with the experience, new-found knowledge and larger networks, we’re looking forward to bigger and better things – so stay tuned!