production notes hotel transylvania - Visual Hollywood

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (2012)PRODUCTION NOTESof Frankenstein to be the way he delivered it. He brought the comedic sensibility andturned it a different way – it really changed how he was animated,” says Crossley.“Adam Sandler, of course, pushes the voice in really cool ways, too – we can keep thecharacter very stiff and static at times, or mad and scrambling at others, or meek andsubservient when he’s with his daughter Mavis. And CeeLo Green as Murray – with hisperformance, we can push the character to be very broad, malleable, we squashed andstretched him a lot. Murray was a great character to animate."”Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Daniel Kramer was also a key member of the team as theVisual Effects Supervisor. Kramer oversaw some 300 people, with whole departmentsdedicated to animating clothing, or hair, or effects. However, as with the other elementsof the animation, Tartakovsky’s vision for the film required a new approach. “We havehair and cloth simulations – software that lets the computer handle the motion andsimulate it in a realistic way. If you have cloth rolling off a round shoulder you naturallyget a nice round shape,” Kramer explains. “But Genndy is really into crisp fall-offs andsharp lines. He’s really driven by whatthe character silhouette looks like. Sowith our simulators, the cloth no longerfits the character he's looking for, thecrisp edges are too soft. We would goin by hand, frame by frame, to massageit.”“If you have a character zipping off the camera, going 0 to 100 in two seconds, gettingthe clothes to stay on the character is a real challenge,” he laughs.Hotel Transylvania is presented in 3D, and stereoscopic supervisor Von Williamsoversaw the 3D process. “We didn’t want this 3D to be in your face – more to make itthe next level of viewing, so you feel like you’re really there in the hotel with Drac andMavis,” he says.© 2012 Sony Pictures Animation 20