Production company: Melodrama Pictures
Project: Mary and Max
Director: Adam Elliot
Role: Compositor
Platform: Feature film
I had a unique opportunity to work on this stop-motion (claymation) feature film by Academy award-winning film director Adam Elliot. I worked for several months with a team of compositors on-site at the animation studio where the film was being made. The compositing team I worked with was responsible for object removal, set stabilisation, tracking, roto, paint and various other post-production requirements that inevitably come with filming stop-motion scenes. While the animators made every effort to achieve the end result in camera, some shots took several weeks to complete, and drying and cracking clay sets morphing under the heat of the lights all presented challenges that needed to be fixed in post-production.
I thoroughly enjoyed having the rare opportunity to work so closely with a very talented production team of set builders, clay modellers, cinematographers, stop motion animators (including artists from Aardman studios) and also the director Adam on a daily basis.
It was an opportunity to watch and learn the very unique skills involved with this animation technique. The film was distributed internationally to critical acclaim and nominated for (and won) multiple awards. Adam’s second feature Memoir of a Snail is due for release in 2024.
