Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1489831
6 cgw o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 were put together in the stitch lines was perfectly imperfect," Hayns recalls. "That became the signature of what our movie was going to be…all from a little swatch of fabric." The film's story includes a wide range of sequences ranging from choreographed musical numbers to intimate emotional moments, all requiring a tremendous amount of planning. During pre-produc- tion, del Toro and Gustafson met with the animation team to out- line a set of guidelines that emphasized a meticulously-handcraed aesthetic while rejecting an overreliance on computer-generated animation. "We all agreed that we shouldn't hide the stop-motion. We didn't want to hide the fact that they were puppets," notes Han- sen. "In stop-motion nowadays, you can easily make it so fluid that it could be mistaken for any computer simulation." SEAMLESS VFX INTEGRATION With a distinctive visual style in place, it was essential for the film's visual effects to be seamlessly integrated into the overarching hand- craed vision. VFX studio Mr. X, now a part of MPC, came aboard to deliver the digital components that would bring the entire vision to- gether. It was important to decide what could be achieved practical- ly and what would be best delegated to the visual effects team. "The mantra going into the stop-motion shoot from Mark and Guillermo was, 'If we can build it, if there's a way to do this practically, we're go- The VFX team worked closely with the art department to maintain a consistent look across all practical and digital elements. The Pinocchio puppet featured 3D-printed facial plates.