We’d like to congratulate Ikki Films & Manuel Cam Studio for their Oscar nomination for “Negative Space.” We were really impressed by this short film. Here is their synopsis:

My dad taught me how to pack….“Negative Space” is a short animated film that depicts a father-and-son relationship through the act of packing a suitcase. Based on a 150-word prose poem by Ron Koertge, the adaptation by co-directors, Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, is a 5-min film using handmade stop-motion animation to bring visual metaphor and subtext to the original words.

When reading Ron Koertge’s text, Ru Kuwahata, connected with the characters on a deeply, personal level. As an airline pilot, Ru’s father traveled often when she was growing up and one of the most vivid images of her childhood is her father’s packing list pinned to the wall of his study. Max and Ru mined their own childhood memories of specific objects, textures and banal routines to portray the small things that make up a large part of life.

Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata are a filmmaking duo based in Baltimore, USA. Collaborating for over a decade as “Tiny Inventions”, they have directed short films, TV commercials, music videos and comics. When we spoke with them, they said the film took almost two years to make, saying of their meticulous process, “Some of the props were made at three or four different sizes and the largest props were real world scale.”

“It was a fun challenge,” they said, “to create something large enough to wear that still had the feel of a hand-crafted miniature. In order to control the scale differences, we dyed or painted all the fabric by hand and meticulously created identical patterns. We only purchased white cotton and linen as our raw material; this way we could control the exact color and texture for every scene.”

Porter and Kuwahata called Dragonframe, “The most artist friendly program on the planet.” They used the DMX features to program theatrical lighting changes, and all of their camera movements were made with ARC driving a DitoGear Omnislider. On the low-tech side, they used Dragonframe’s X-Sheet to plan out each shot with their lead animator, Sylvain Derosne. “It was a good reminder that in this day and age, traditional tools are still just as relevant.”

Here’s their cool behind the scenes video with lots of info about the directors’ inspirations and materials, plus some great timelapse of the production:

CREDITS:
Director / Writer: Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata
Producer : Nidia Santiago & Edwina Liard
Co-producer: Jean-Louis Padis
Original prose poem: Ron Koertge
Voice:Albert Birney
Set Decoration: Ru Kuwahata, Marion Lacourt, Victoria Tanto, Max Porter
Puppets: Ru Kuwahata, Satoru Yoshida, Tomas Gebcyznski, Max Porter
Animation lead: Sylvain Derosne
Additional animation: Eric Montchaud, Ru Kuwahata
Cinematography lead: Nadine Buss
Additional cinematography: Simon Gesrel, Max Porter
Production / Post-production management: Nidia Santiago, Edwina Liard
Production Assistants: Philippe Baranzini, Walid Païenda, Fred Borja, Lucile Pellerin, Maxime Lebalanc, Juluien Renrad, Willy Fair
Post-Production: Max Porter, Sami Guellai, Pierre Morin, Ru Kuwahata
Editing: Max Porter
Music & Sound Design: Bram Meindersma
*posée et enregistrée avec le soutien de la SACEM en association avec Ciclic
Voice Recording: Keviln Hill, CAS
Color Grade:Thibaut Pétillon
Sound Mix: Matthieu Langlet

—Studio Providers—
Voice recording facility:Studio Unknown
Decoration: Ciclic Animation
Puppets: Moving Puppets
Animation: Ikki Inc.,Manuel Cam Studio, Tiny Inventions
Post production: Ciclic Animation, Ikki Inc.
Color correction: Royal Post
Sound mix: Eclair
Typography: YouWorkForThem
Insurance: Gras Savoye
Bank: CIC
Accountant: Lebrun Audiovisual
Distribution: Sève Films

— Funding —
-Avec la participation du Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée – Contribution Financière
-Avec la participation d’Arte France – Unité de Programmes Cinéma
-Avec le soutien de Ciclic-Région Centre – Val de Loire, en partenariat avec le CNC -Avec le soutien de la Mairie de Paris en partenariat avec le CNC
-Avec le soutien du CNC (Nouvelles Technologies en Production)
-Avec le soutien de la SACEM en association avec Ciclic
-Avec le soutien de la Procirep et de l’Angoa
-Funding has been made possible by Puffin Foundation Ltd.
-Marcella Brenner Grants for Faculty Research Development from Maryland Institute College of Art
-La maison des scénaristes