Mars: The New Earth Voyage, is an Australian, student animation film addressing the harm we do to the world around us in a naive art style.
Creator, Samantha Hope, discusses the lengthy process and patience required to create Mars: The New Earth Voyage, being the director, writer, animator, cinematographer and editor (just to name a few credits) of the animation.
What inspired your web series?
I like to work with miniatures to focus on big world issues; especially the affect we are having on our environment and how we treat our planet: but through a naive, small and child-like way – an imaginative way.
Why did you choose web series as your format?
While the main focus is on the way we treat the environment, there are many different ways to focus on that and therefore more than one story to show; urbanisation, deforestation, pollution etc. And by focusing on one for each individual animation made the message easier to convey, as well as giving each message the focus it deserves.
What was the process like creating the visuals in Mars: The New Earth Voyage?
Very intricate, and delicate: moving the subject too much or too little for a single frame would mean restarting the entire shot, and don’t get me started on bumping the camera: all in all stop animation would inspire me to think through every single frame.
What did you choose to exclude dialogue in your animation?
Rather than outright giving the characters dialogue, I created a gibberish language in which the viewer will hear the emotion in the voice of the character and feel it as it shifts throughout the story; how the motives behind it change.
What are the challenges you came across when making your series and how did you overcome them?
By taking a photo for each and every frame I really had to break down the way I was thinking about my shots: there are many complications when creating a stop animation: making sure your movement is smooth, that the framing stays constant, that it is in focus, the lighting doesn’t change and that hopefully none of your props fall over. To over come all of these I just really had to plan ahead: every single frame – where the shot was going to start and how it was going to end.
How did you fund your series?
I was selected to part of at an exhibition up here in Cairns called “Free Rent” that helped young creatives (people aged 17-25 years) to create their works; I was one of nine artists selected.
What do you want your audience to take away from this series?
To really think about how we treat everything and everyone. Not just the planet and the environment; but our worlds as individuals…and that taking short cuts may be faster but that doesn’t mean that it will lead to a positive result.
What did you learn from making this series? What would you do differently?
I learnt that stop animation is a testing medium to work in, but if you give it enough time it can truly lead to something you never would have thought of in any other medium…and that it is really hard to do stop animation in your room on a table that takes up the width of the room…your work space can really make all the difference.