Cartoon about Sergius of Radonezh" will not yield to "Avatar"
We are talking about the cartoon “Sergius of Radonezh”. It was supposed to be released just in time for the end of 2014, precisely when the 700th anniversary of the birth of St. Sergius of Radonezh is celebrated. But the timing has shifted and the cartoon will be released in the spring of 2015 - just in time for spring break. In the meantime, RG journalists visited the studio where the project is being filmed and saw how everything was happening.
We were met right on the street by a cheerful crowd of young people - about 180 specialists are working on the “Sergius of Radonezh” project. Average age is up to 30 years. Why? Yes, because there are practically no people in the country who own new technologies (by the way, personnel shortage is the main reason why the creators of the cartoon did not meet the deadlines). In particular, with “motion capture” technology. Just like in “Avatar” - it was used there with all its might. This is when an actor is “hung” with sensors and his every movement and even emotion is transferred to his character on the screen.
After arranging a fun photo and video shoot (you can watch it in full on our website), we went for a walk through the offices and workshops of the modern studio and see exactly how a cartoon is made. The walk turned out to be like in a magical technological forest. Drawn driftwood and huts, Russian heroes and Horde soldiers, animals and birds... They draw on a computer, on paper, even with sand on glass. They are sculpted from clay, plaster and bronze. The characters are three-dimensional and tangible. At the Kinotavr festival, at the film market, the RG observer watched a fragment from the future full-length animated film, and is ready to confirm the words of the minister - this project has no equal in technology.
— We already have our own school. People with good training come - VGIK, Glazunov Academy, Surikov Institute... They study with us. And not just motion capture technology. We work with actors. We have long rehearsals. Because actors come into the character of animated characters. This is not just a person repeating some movements, but long work. In addition, picturesque textures are superimposed on people's faces. Nearby in the frame there are tree bark, soil, architecture, weapons, armor... Everything is done manually by professionals with a serious academic education. And I seriously say that this is a new word not only in Russian, but also in world animation. We showed materials in Stuttgart. Now we are invited to Singapore, to other major digital events in the world, where we are invited to present our innovations. People really like it and are looking forward to this work,” says Andrey Dobrunov, general director of the Soyuzmultfilm studio, producer of the film “Sergius of Radonezh.” Russian viewers know Dobrunov as the producer of the first big Russian cartoon “Prince Vladimir” (Andrei was “blessed” for this work by Academician Dmitry Likhachev himself), as well as as the producer of the “Masha and the Bear” project.
What is the budget for the film?
Andrey Dobrunov:
Recently producer Sergei Selyanov visited our studio. His company produces such full-length films as “Three Heroes and the Shamakhan Queen”, “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” and others. I was very impressed by Selyanov’s visit. I don't treat this person as a competitor. He watched the material from “Sergius of Radonezh” and said: “This is a great movie.” So much work has gone into this. This is the highest-budget animated film in the entire history of Russia. To date, more than $10 million has been spent on it, and more funds will be needed to complete it.
We only have 40 characters in the cartoon with names. In the crowd scene of the battle on the Kulikovo Field, there are thousands of horsemen in the frame. Horses, camels, clad in armor, bulls, large horse-drawn animals... Each is drawn separately. The number of forest inhabitants is also huge: from moose to dawn birds. All these huge shots require a colossal amount of work.
We are creating a film thanks to Sergei Chemezov (head of the Rostec state corporation - Note by S.A.
). We met him in 2010, then there was a preparatory period, and the film has been in production for two years. I would like to note that this is small compared to how much real full-length animation is made.
Who will voice Sergius of Radonezh?
Andrey Dobrunov:
It is quite possible that it will be Yevgeny Mironov. When we did the first test, it fit perfectly. Mironov immediately made a different Sergius. Much more complex than what we had in mind. He presented it in such a way that you immediately felt that the hero was going through a difficult path of evolution.
How do you show the Reverend to the viewer?
Andrey Dobrunov:
We have 4 of his ages: seven years old, 24, 44 and 66. These are milestones. Our film begins with how little he first encounters the Horde. At the age of 24 - the period when Sergius leaves Radonezh for Makovitsy. 44 years is his formation on Makovitsa: the monastery, the disciples. And 66 years - the battle on the Kulikovo Field, the gratitude of the people.
Vladyka Theognost, Archbishop of Sergiev Posad, resident of the Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, found it extremely difficult to accept the character. And when we proved and showed what it would be like, when he first saw the video, he was in amazement and accepted it all. Because everyone, especially the people of the church, are accustomed to seeing Radonezh on icons as static and nothing else. What if he “came to life” and went...
What will you shoot next? I see various images of Suvorov in your studio. Here are the booklets...
Andrey Dobrunov:
“Suvorov” is the first full-fledged project of the Soyuzmultfilm studio. We are doing it after an almost 30-year break. All this time, Soyuzmultfilm did not produce full-length animation. We are already making “Suvorov” “overlapping” with “Sergius of Radonezh”. That is, people who are freed from working on one project develop characters on another. In both cases, we have a colossal responsibility. Sergius of Radonezh is a rather serious character in himself. Although there are jokes about him in the film. And Suvorov, on the contrary, is a “sparrow”, one against all. A little genius who opposes Catherine’s favorites and all the commanders of Europe. There are more gags and humor in this film... The film begins with Hannibal. He fought with Rome and crossed the Alps with elephants. Crossing the Alps was Suvorov’s desire, which grew into his feat. This film is supposed to be an international project - a co-production with Switzerland and Italy. So for Suvorov we are now looking for support from serious people.
"City-forming" cartoon
Sergius of Radonezh will come to life on the screen in the largest Russian cartoon.
Dozens of monuments, hundreds of books, but not a single cartoon about Sergius of Radonezh? It's not fair! The gap is filled by the animation “Da-Studio”, where these days they are working on a full-length cartoon about the Orthodox saint, the founder of our city.
We visited the largest animation studio in the country, saw how the highest-budget Russian cartoon is created and talked with those who translate the Life of St. Sergius into the language of animation.
“Cinema for everyone”
“Sergius of Radonezh” is the main project of “Da-Studio”, and this is clear from the start. Immediately behind the turntable at the entrance we are greeted by stands filled with busts of characters from the film. In addition to Sergius himself, there are villagers, townspeople, invaders, and warriors...
It was possible to count at least four images of the Reverend alone - according to the number of ages at which the hero is embodied on the screen: from a teenager to a well-known canonical elder who has gone down in history.
And this is not just an exhibition. Sculptures made from sketches are digitized, manually finalized on computers, and only then brought to life in the digital world.
This practice cannot be called widespread: “Da-Studio”, although one of the most technically advanced in the country, adheres to traditional methods when creating characters. By the way, world-famous old-school cartoon studios, such as Disney or Pixar, develop their characters in exactly the same way.
“Sergius of Radonezh” is the most expensive project in the history of Russian animation. Interestingly, the film does not receive direct government funding (from the Ministry of Culture or the Government). An investor, the Rostec company, invests money in the creation.
“If financing had been carried out according to the traditional scheme of state support,” says film producer Andrei Dobrunov, “financing would have been carried out much more slowly. And it would be completely different, less money.”
He asks not to introduce him as the director of the studio - recently our interlocutor has headed Soyuzmultfilm, designed to give a new impetus to the Russian multi-industry.
The director, who greets guests in a welcoming shirt with an ornament of steering wheels, does not give the impression of an indifferent executive official. And that’s why it’s more believable that the legendary cartoon studio will again declare itself, and the cartoon will not turn out to be either another retelling of well-known stories, or a tribute to the modern fashion for the “primordial”.
“We make secular cinema, which should be of interest not only to Orthodox Christians. This is not just a film about a saint, but a film about the path of an ordinary person to a saint, which is much more interesting,” Andrei Dobrunov is convinced.
“Glasses suck”
Counters posted throughout the studio report that there are 117 days left until the premiere. The board is silent about the fact that work on the project has been going on for three years.
“A lot of time was spent developing the technology and selecting employees,” recalls assistant production designer Elizaveta Tsymbarevich, “and only now, when the skills have been honed, the most active work begins.”
Skills, methods and techniques are a special story. The creators of “Sergius of Radonezh” talk about a combination of various technologies in the project that will allow the image to “rise” above the screen. The viewer does not need to wear glasses.
“Looking with glasses sucks. Three-dimensional images were once in trend, but it’s not a fact that any film will look good in it,” location artist Roman Ovsyannikov slowly states, instilling hope in adherents of two-dimensional images.
In “Sergius of Radonezh” you will be able to see scenes unique to Russian animation. For example, a battle involving a thousand horsemen. “To create the feeling of the right extras in the frame,” explains producer Andrei Dobrunov, “we needed to develop more than twelve types of different figures with unique movements. This is the only way the viewer won’t notice the repetition.”
Two weeks for two seconds
The walls of the director's studio are dotted with tiny rectangles - frames from the future cartoon. It seems they number in the thousands. The owner of the workshop, Vladimir Gagurin, asks not to take photographs and turns on the projector. On the screen there is a short video - scenes from the future film that few have seen so far.
Epic and action, tightly packed into four minutes, lyrical pauses and the dense sound of battles do not contradict, but only complement each other. The spectacle is promising.
On the floor below, location artist Maxim Shagovikov brings the sketches to life. His tool is the Cintiq pen display. This device looks like a monitor of considerable size, while the display surface is sensitive to the slightest pressure of the marker. Stroke by stroke, the artist paints the schematic design of the ancient city - and now the black and white gates acquire their usual texture.
Behind the neighboring “synth”, his colleagues fit the Christmas tree into the overall picture of the forest - this process in studio slang is called “marrying with a backdrop”. The tree is drawn from all sides, as required by the plot.
A little further, the animators are fighting over a bull in armor. When you watch the cartoon, pay attention to this bull - it will flash on the screen for a couple of seconds, but it took two weeks to create.
“The plot is like this - you can’t spoil it”
We return to the stand where the profiles of the cartoon characters are posted. Studio employees said that all four sculptural images reflecting the formation of Sergius were cast in bronze and handed over to the vicar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archbishop Theognostus, who is keenly interested in working on the film.
The filmmakers consulted with the governor more than once. For example, when, according to the script, the creators were forced to make changes to the course of events set out in the Life. The governor did not object.
But in general, the film’s storyline does not deviate much from the Life. “You can't go wrong with a film about one of the greatest figures in Russian history. But in “Suvorov,” our next work, there is room for imagination,” Andrey Dobrunov shares his plans.
The work is expected to be completed this coming spring, and Sergiev Posad residents can expect to be among the first to see this cartoon.
Vladimir KRYUCHEV
Photos and footage: “Yes-Studio”
