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www.postmagazine.com 33 POST SEPTEMBER 2018 middle of the ocean? How's that going to look? There is no real reference for that." The artists also had to build, and then destroy, all the ships that are piled up in the location (including some actual famous boats that allegedly disap- peared in this area). "We needed a perfect structure that we could shoot from all angles but make it feel big and like it had been there for a long time," says Ford. "It took all the tricks in the book from our modeling, texturing, and look development teams, as well as our lighting teams, to make this pile of boats feel big and unique, but also comical." In addition, the animators had to construct the lost city of Atlantis with a massive casino built under the sea. "Genndy, I think, was trying to break us," says Ford with a laugh. The casino floor is an aquarium. The ceilings, walls, and floors — every surface — was reflective glass and metal. Outside, animated fish, whales, and other sea creatures swim by. Inside are all the elements found in a casino: a bar, gaming tables, slot machines. And, the location is not short on details: even the slot machines contain motion graphics. "When you pull a slot machine, it actually an- imates. And there are lots of different machines. There was a lot of artwork generated for that by our amazing matte-painting team," Ford adds. Then, monsters were inserted into this extremely complex set, which also features ancient ruins. "It was layers of complexity on top of other layers of complexity in terms of the environment builds. It's definitely the biggest environment that I've built on a movie, especially for a sequel," says Ford. The loca- tion includes a giant colosseum that rises out of the sea, which had to be built and then destroyed pur- posefully, with careful choreography, by the kraken's tentacles — and with the use of Houdini software. As Ford points out, the software works well under real-world scenarios, but the movie does not feature real-world situations and visuals. So, the art- ists had to find ways to bend the software to their needs of Tartakovsky's exaggerated animation style. In addition to these locations, the group cre- ated a detailed airplane, populated and flown by Gremlins, and filled with a real attention to detail. The cruise ship itself was a massive environment with various sections, such as a swimming pool and decks. It sports more than 5,700 portholes and other fine details. Water, Water Everywhere When Tartakovsky told the crew they were doing a Hotel Transylvania 3 on a cruise ship, the initial realization, says Ford, was they were going to have to deal with a lot of water. And they were correct in that assessment, as the environments were located on, or below, water. "Genndy's car- toony style doesn't necessarily lend itself to the physics of water," he adds, "and every location has some sort of effects or simulation component to it. For example, not only is the boat on the water, but the boat has a pool where a monster volley- ball game takes place." The effects team studied a lot of different types of water movement, as it was important for the water to look real, at least real in the Hotel Transylvania sense. This involved adding an artis- tic, manipulated layer on top of a physics-based baseline. Using Houdini, the effects artists gen- erated numerous layers of water, including a sur- face layer, particle layer, and a vapor layer, which, when combined, provides what Ford describes as a "good look, especially in the cartoon world" and a result that allows the effects animators ultimate control of each of the layers that make up the water. However, when the giant kraken interacts with the water, it pushes things to the limit, as the simu- lation software is not made to work at extremes. "If things are too big in the computer world, it starts to break and fall apart," says Hawkins. Making A Statement Unlike many animated features which contain a good deal of dialog, Hotel Transylvania 3 features a number of scenes where the performances and music drive the story. Because of this, the animation has to speak volumes and deliver on the gags. Beyond the laughs, though, is an endearing story of family and friends who look out for one another. And when the characters find them- selves in unfamiliar territory, it is their ability to rely on one another that enables them to conquer these new situations and challenges. The same can be said of the teams at Sony Pictures Animation and Imageworks that worked on this film. Much of the action takes place on or in water, so artists relied on Houdini to create multiple layers of water.