Dec 19, 2019

Carrots Drive Rabbits Crazy in "Afterwork" - Exclusive Online Premiere

Groupies work in the world of comic books. He is hired to chase magic carrots and jump off skyscrapers. The daily grind of work has the bunny on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

This is the premise of After Work by Luis Uson and Andres Aguilar, and Cartoon Brew is proud to present the exclusive online premiere of this short film, which has won numerous festival awards, including screenings at Annecy and Siggraph and a Quirino Award nomination. The film deftly moves between the classic Hollywood 2D animation of Groompie's cartoons and the photorealistic 3D environment in which he actually lives. See below.

"After Work," which may cite the plot of a Chuck Jones cartoon or "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," is the work of three Spanish-speaking studios. The film was produced at Aguilar's matte CG studio in Quito, Ecuador. Spanish Uson Studios and Peruvian Apus Studios were co-producers.

The project was conceived by Uson, a CG industry veteran who runs his eponymous studio in A Coruña, Spain. Having previously worked for Matt, a company with a strong track record in commercial productions, Uson brought in Aguilar and his team. This complex production was developed across continents, supported by the camaraderie common to the burgeoning Latin American industry.

Cartoon Brew spoke with Uson and co-director Aguilar about the project.

What was the inspiration for "After Work"? After Work" was born out of multiple ideas and concepts I had in mind, but there are two basic ideas. One is that the world of animation (especially the classic ones) is much nicer and more bearable than our reality, where problems, suffering, and disappointment are the norm.

The other essential idea came when the project was already in the development stage. I had always been a big fan of Wile E. Coyote, played by Chuck Jones, and watched every episode hoping he would catch that insufferable roadrunner. I realized that there is no better metaphor for an alienating, repetitive work than a cartoon that must incessantly pursue its nemesis and always fails.

The 3D sequences use backgrounds that were actually filmed. Briefly describe the pipeline for these sequences and the challenges that arose: It was important for the viewer to understand that Groompie lives in our reality, so we wanted to shoot real 1:1 scale sets to make the world as believable as possible. We wanted to make the world as believable as possible. We rented an industrial building and built the main stage apartment from the ground up; I had worked on sets for live-action films and TV shows before I started working in the CG industry, so that approach was very easy to do.

We shot over a very long weekend with a team of four: the actor playing groupie, the cinematographer, the assistant director, and myself. We shot the film twice, once with the actor (so we could decide on framing and timing) and once without the actor. Then we followed the classic VFX workflow: matchmoving, layout, animation, simulation, lighting, and compositing. [21] [22] A few months later, when the set no longer existed, we realized that we needed to add sequences to enhance the short film. It was a night sequence in which groupies chase an imaginary carrot and destroy an apartment. Since it was impossible to rebuild the apartment, we decided to recreate it in CG, hoping that since it was a night scene, the audience would not notice the trick.

Andrés Aguilar First we had to decide where to shoot. Initially, the idea was to find one location that had all the space we needed, but that was very difficult. Finally, Luis found an industrial factory, which was available at a very low cost, and we decided that it would be best to stage and film those sequences in A Coruña, Spain.

Why did Matt decide to produce After Work? And what challenges did you face with this non-commercial project? We decided to move forward with production of "After Work" immediately to alleviate frustration. In parallel, another team at the studio worked on "Mr. Blue Footed Booby" (a smaller short film completed a year earlier). The film performed well at film festivals and online festivals, and gave us a lot of experience in understanding the logic of film festivals.

Many years ago we wanted to start producing other types of projects. We felt we were stuck in the limitations of the local advertising market and wanted to prove that we could do other types of projects. We decided that the best way to gain confidence and experience was through short films.

The biggest challenge was the size and cost of short films. In that era, we were used to making 20- and 30-second projects. But making these short films was a great experience in learning how to direct larger, more complex projects.

How was production divided between Ecuador, Spain, and Peru? After working with us for a while in Quito, Luis decided to return to Spain. There, at the end of 2014, he presented me with the idea of making a short film, which I thought would be a great project for Matt. From the beginning, the project was a collaboration between Ecuador and Spain, with Luis, the author and director, giving us his notes and moving the story forward, while I, as co-director, coordinated the team to follow the director's vision.

Since there was no formal script, the production process was not typical and we began directly with 2D animatics mixed with 3D. Lewis presented many versions of how to tell the story and we discussed [how to improve]. At the same time, we proceeded to create the first assets, look and develop testing, rigging, etc.

Once filming was complete, Luis animated most of the shots in 3D, and the rest of the work was done in Ecuador. However, as the animatics were created and elaborated, the storyline grew. From both locations, we began adding other artists to help with the project, including music, sound effects, and 2D animation.

2D animation was the most challenging part for us. We started testing some shots with one 2D animator, Matt, and found that it was going to take about a year longer than planned. At the Festival Chile Mono in Chile, we met Gabriel Bonilla, who had just founded Aps Studio in Lima. We became friends and he agreed to help me complete my 2D animation on the condition that I would also work with them on future projects.

How has the animation industry in Ecuador changed since Matte was founded in 2005? Since 2000, when a new generation of artists began experimenting with CG and 3D animation, local animation production has become a constant.

Matte was founded with the dream of being able to produce quality 3D animation from Ecuador and make a living at it. During our first decade, we focused on advertising, which was our only project, but little by little society began to recognize local animation. Now, with a new impetus for new projects to emerge, the conditions are being created for Ecuador to take off and produce series and feature films.

At this year's Quirino Awards, Paul Vaca, Ecuador's animation industry ambassador, said Ecuador works particularly closely with other Andean countries that share a pre-Columbian culture. Aguilar: Yes, we are all brothers. The reality of the countries in this region is very similar. We share similar stories in our struggle to create animation. So I think we understand each other and that is why we are open to working together on more ambitious projects. For example, Matt is currently working on a feature film, El libro rojo de Dalia (The Red Book with Dalia). This is a co-production between Argentina, Peru, and Ecuador, and is slated for release in 2021.

Other collaborations between studios are increasingly taking place, including cooperation on content projects and service offerings. I think the region has a lot to offer the animation world.

Are you preparing more films like "Afterwork," or are you developing a feature film using some of the aesthetics and essential ideas of "Afterwork"? We have been working on different versions of the script and concept art for at least two years. It is a very ambitious project, dramatic and a deep character study. At the same time, it had some very cool visuals and a plot with a psycho thriller flavor.

Aguilar: While all of that is happening, I am in the middle of work on Matte's third short film.

(This interview was conducted via email and has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.)