This short animation film, Darrel by Marc Briones & Alan Carabantes appear on my facebook timeline a couple days ago. The story is about a lizard name Darrel who just enjoy his typical day. Everything change until, someone, who could be “the one” join him at the quiet subway. What happen next, you should watch it now!.

For this project and the whole production, the team use open source software like Blender3D (modeling, animation, rendering, editing) and Natron (compositing). I also try to reach out to the Darrel team, asked them if they willing to do a Q&A session, and they say yes!. Below are our Q&A via email.

The Beginning of Darrel.

Q: Hello Marc and Alan, how are you?. Congrats on Darrel by the way. But, first can you guys give us a little bit about your background?.

So, Marc started in infoarchitecture and had a small webpage company where he started to make small pieces of animation for advertising. His interest on animation grew and he decided to apply a course of animation and narrative in a school located in Barcelona named Pepe School Land.

Alan himself started in videogames, and decided to specialize in animation, the part he enjoyed the most. After a couple of years learning 3D in general he join Pepe School Land where he met Marc.

Q: Where you guys get the idea of Darrel?. How it start?.

After the course was finished, both started to work in the coworking provided by Pepeschool land, where they decided to combine skills for doing something interesting. Darrel was born there, first as a simple sketch without story, and then progressively become the short film thanks to the feedback of our work mates and teachers.

The idea came from a mix of jokes that we started to invent during the afternoon coffee times. Together we built a bunch of nonsense jokes that we would structure later on so they had some sense to an audience.

Q: How long you working for this project. From the concept to the final result?.

It has taken two years of full production. Starting with the idea, first concepts and some first model versions to the final result. First half year was almost entirely focused on the ideas and the jokes we decided to tell with the story. After that, the different 3D procedure blended at the same time, the pipeline was not defined from the beginning.

Q: What is the most challenging or problem you face from this project?. And how you solve them?.

The most difficult thing was for us to be convinced with the way the different jokes combined with a structure that can be understanding for the audience. We first came up with a lot of super funny jokes that couldn’t be matched together. Giving a coherence to them was the most challenging during the process and the only way trough this was to try all the possible combinations and to test them with some friends, till we knew from their reactions that it finally working. It took between half and a full year to this point.

Q: About the storyline, specially with the twisted ending hahaha. Are you guys planning it from first or it just happen?.

That was the most exciting thing during the creation of the idea. When we managed to make jokes coherent in a traditional love story, the end came to us like his own personality. First we tried with a sweet ending but we had the revelation that it had to be this dark twist at the end to break with the traditional conventions of this genre to create personality to the story, and give him something to be remembered.

Q: That’s very hard life lesson path you choose for Darrel. Do you think he still want to take the opportunity if he face a same situation in another day?. Or he’ll be like ” nooo, I’m gonna enjoy my snack” hahaha.

We think Darrel still need to gain a confidence that he is attractive. Next time he’ll manage the situation in a different way, he’ll still try it though.

Q: Any upcoming project soon?.

Not right now, but we’re pretty sure we’ll do another personal project in the future 🙂

Q: Okay, last question guys. What advice or encourage word you can give to people who just join animation world?.

The animation world in general is tough, but the reward is huge if you have the right motivation. Through animation we’re able to express deep and powerful feelings to the audience, as it has been proved in a lot of great animation movies. So if you like to create an emotional reaction of character, or if you just love the process, it is definitively a passionate world to explore.

Q: Thank you to spare your time for this little Q & A. Have a great day!.

Thank you!! Have a great day as well!.