Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469382
a p r i l • m ay • j u n e 2 0 2 2 c g w 2 9 Then, the artists painted the scenes in Quill based on that painting. "I remember this moment in production, where we had originally planned to do computer-generated shadows in Unity, but in our early tests, they looked too perfect and didn't fit in with the stylized look of the rest of the short," recalls Nagpal. "So, we ultimately decided to hand-paint and animate the shadows just like everything else." Lighting and color were especially important to the art director from a storytelling perspective — the piece cycles through the passage of time as the audience follows the seasons and different stages of the main character's life. As a result, the 12-minute piece had 18 different sets, each with its own lighting design. So even though the objects are mostly the same between sets, the artists ended up repainting each object in every set, essentially painting in the lighting design of each set, object by object, to suit the different lighting scenarios. "This meticulous process really brings out the handmade, human feel that underlies the story," Oh adds. Quill was also used in the creation of the 2D theatrical short version as well — a first. As Darnell says, the filmmakers planned both a 2D and VR version from the start — the same story and idea, but executed differently, fully taking advantage of the strength of each medium. For the 2D narrative, Baobab built a pipeline from scratch to translate its entire Quill timeline to Unity, where the crew engineered their own cinematography tool kit, enabling Kelly Naka- sone and Kent Seki to do all the camera work, before re-exporting it to Premiere Pro, where shots were edited by Vanessa Rojas. Final compositing was performed by Natan Moura in Adobe Aer Effects. "The editorial itself was not too different from that used in a traditional filmmaking pipeline, and we were able to focus on pacing and timing for the right emotional arc," explains Darnell. "On the other hand, we cannot do any of those things in VR. VR is all about experience, and the audience becomes part of the story. You can look around or lean forward to observe details more closely. You can also experience climate change very realistically, almost having this illusion that you are right there under the rain or in the middle of the thunderstorm. Those are things we cannot do in the 2D narrative. So aer all, the key to being able to make both versions was under- standing the strength and characteristics of each medium." Pushing VR forward In all eight of its VR interactive narratives to date, Baobab makes each person a character in the story and enables that person to develop relationships with the other characters, thereby impacting the narrative. "Every project we've created is an experiment in making you matter," says Fan. And with each project, the filmmakers have been stepping out of the box to further step into new territory while exploring interactive VR narrative filmmaking. "I haven't seen anything in VR with the unique sensibility that Erick has brought to Namoo," Darnell opines. "And on a more nuts- and-bolts level, the ambitious goal of creating everything in Quill, which becomes something like a blend of straight-ahead stop-mo- tion animation and 'sculpting in time with 3D illustrations' has surpassed anything like it that has been done before in VR." For its efforts in this medium, Baobab has received nine Emmy Awards to date. In addition, the studio has been recognized with two Annie Awards, while more Annies could be in Baobab's future. It's worth noting that some of the properties are transcending the medium and are being adapted into films, books and streaming ep- isodes: An original series based on Baba Yaga, called The Witchverse anthology series, has been announced for Disney+. ¢ Karen Moltenbrey is the former chief editor of CGW and editor in chief of Jon Peddie Research. The team used Quill, a VR illustration and animation tool, to achieve a tactile visual style.