A film by Kamil Polak - Polnisches Institut Berlin

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The lost town of Świteź PRESSBOOKLET A CELEBRATION OF THE ROMANTIC SPIRIT The animated film THE LOST TOWN OF ŚWITEŹ is based on the 19th-century epic poem by Poland’s greatest writer, Adam Mickiewicz, about a ghostly town deluged after a bloody massacre in medieval times, which now lies at the bottom of a remote lake. It is an apocalyptic tale of destruction, religious miracles and spectral visitations. The film imports oil paintings into digital 3D combined with both CG animation and visual special effects to create a mesmerizing aesthetic experience, set to a specially-commissioned full choral and orchestral score. It dramatically merges literature, painting, music and animation. STORY SYNOPSIS On a tempestuous night a coach battles through the dark forests of 19th-century Poland. The galloping horses stare at something in the darkness, the coach loses control and, after a wild ride, it smashes somewhere deep in the woods. A young traveler emerges from the wreckage, the coachman and the horses having fallen into a deep sleep. Dazed, he staggers further into the woods. From out of the darkness ominous shadows emerge at speed: all around him are warriors on dark steeds. They release a barrage of fiery arrows over his head. He runs for his very life to the edge of a lake, where suddenly all is stillness. He topples into the lake. The traveler is transported to a medieval world, where he witnesses the last days of the town of Świteź which lies at the bottom of the lake after being plundered by the ghostly warriors that the traveler saw in the forest. As the town is set on fire, the townspeople flee into their church, and pray for salvation. Their prayers are answered by a deluge, which engulfs marauders and innocents alike. But the innocents are transformed into lilies, which to this day cover the entire surface of the lake. The next day our young traveler, stunned but alive, is pulled out of the lake from amongst the lilies. 2
The lost town of Świteź PRESSBOOKLET VISUAL STYLE THE LOST TOWN OF ŚWITEŹ was created in an original combination of 3D animation and classic animation painted with oil paints. Specially-commissioned large-scale paintings were composited into a multiple-plane 3D computer generated (CG) environment using state-of-the-art digital animation and compositing techniques. This unique artistic way creates a quality in itself and an extraordinary means of expression, which is crucial in animation, where strength of content and visual form merge into a striking and meaningful fusion. Two distinct styles of paintings were used: 19th-century Slavonic paintings (such as the work of Józef Chełmoński and Aleksander Gierymski), which give the illusion of perspective and use a realistic palette, combined with the much more stylized, brightly-colored and iconic 2D paintings of the Middle Ages. The middle part of the film, which presents the story of the village called Świteź relates to the medieval style. All characters are made of flat elements referring to the classic cut-out animation. All of the works were specially created by a team of fine artists using various techniques. The finished paintings were put into the production computers and split into layers in order to achieve depth and dynamism. The compositing software then allowed the artists to seamlessly integrate the imported 2D elements with the CG elements, so that they appeared to exist in the same three-dimensional space. One of the most difficult artistic effects to create was a visual impression of an image inspired by the nineteenth century realistic painting. That is the aesthetics in which the film begins and ends. The main character of the Traveler who mystically arrives to the village and discovers its fascinating history is always presented in the nineteenth-century-style. In the beginning, the Traveler was a very 3
Page 1: The lost town of Świteź PRESSBOOK
Page 5 and 6: The lost town of Świteź PRESSBOOK

A film by Kamil Polak - Polnisches Institut Berlin

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?