Jul 25, 2018

Nikita Diakle's groundbreaking CG film "Ugly" comes online

Russian-born, Germany-based filmmaker Nikita Diakle's breakthrough short film "Ugly" premiered online today.

The film, about an Indian chief who leads an ugly, abused cat on a path to spiritual enlightenment, is notable for Diakle's unconventional, "deconstructive" approach to CG animation. The film is created almost entirely through dynamic simulations created in Cinema 4D. Simulation is often used to create CG elements that require mathematical precision, such as flames and waves, or to handle large crowd scenes that are cumbersome to animate in keyframes, but it is seldom used as the primary method of animating characters in a film like Diacre's It is not.

See the full film below to see what it means:

"I think the name 'interactive animation' is most appropriate," Diacre said of the process in an interview with Cartoon Brew last year. There is an interaction between the animator and the animated object or character." There is interaction between the animator and the animated object or character. The character really has a say in the outcome, and the animator has to work with it. It is similar to a director having to work with actors on a live action film set.

There is a video that further explains how the simulation works:

As Vimeo's Ian Durkin states in his article about "Ugly," Deacour's use of dynamics parallels the theme of the film: "Deacour's style mimics the central narrative of his film and, more broadly, mimics everyday life. As human beings, we try to control our intentions and actions, but there are always external forces of chance that influence our choices.

Now, I don't usually incorporate myself into my work, but in this case I must disclose that "Ugly" is the first animated short film funded by Cartoon Brew (other major support came from the German film fund FFA and the Kickstarter campaign). Someone shared a GIF animation of Diakle's animation test, which I found so interesting that I thought I'd check out what it was about.

That led me to the film's website, and when I saw the first clip on the site (a guy riding a bike in a parking lot), I knew I had to get involved somehow. I didn't really know what Diakur was doing at the time, but I knew I had never seen a computer animation that made me laugh so much. At that point, Diakur had already finished its Kickstarter campaign, so Cartoon Brew joined the project, which was nearing completion.

The main reason I wanted to be a part of this project was that it was clear that Diakur was trying to push CG in a new direction. He uses digital technology organically to create ideas that can only be expressed through computer animation. This is a different mindset than commercial CG, where one must fight software to recreate the unorthodox effects of traditional illustration renderings and motion.

Another reason I wanted to support this work was that I thought it would be a fringe experimental project that would never get the recognition it deserved. I can't speak for Nikita, but it was a very pleasant surprise indeed to find out that I was completely wrong. The animation and film community recognized Ugly's innovative approach to computer animation and gave Diakle the recognition he deserved.

Since its premiere at the festival in June 2017, "Ugly" has won more than a dozen awards, including the Grand Prix at two prestigious animation festivals, Ottawa and Encounters, and the Best Newcomer Award at Fantoche and New Chitose. In addition, Adult Swim commissioned Diakur to create a new film, "Fest," using some of the same production techniques.

At a time when digital artists are still grappling with the possibilities of computer animation, Diacourt's work is an eye-opener to the untapped potential of the medium and a bold suggestion of where CG animation is headed.

Credits Director Nikita Diacourt Music Enrica Chandrone, Cedric Decowski, Felix Reifenberg Recording, mixing, sound design Nicolas Martigne, David Kamp/studiokamp Mastering Bernd Thurig Animation assistants Gerhard Funk, Phil Maron, Nicolas Trotignon End Titles Bastian J. Schiffer Assets and FX Ozan Korkut, Chris Leuning, Mitch Martinez, Julia Melksien, Hannes Ruff Associate Producers Amid Amidi Production Funding Liaison Carsten Mattern Produced with the help of 206 backers at kickstart.ugly-film.com, FFA, Cartoon Brew, Maxon Computer, Insydium ltd, RebusFarm and Google Zync