Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1544997
The layout team took particular care to capture the frenetic motion of the core friend group's scenes together. " Whenever they're riding bikes, they're swaying in and out of each other's shots," Meier says. "And when they're in Mike's basement, plotting their next move, we're always orbiting around them, making the audience feel like they're part of it." This dynamic energy was a signature of the live-action show, and it was important to translate it into the animation. There was also the issue of how modern they could go with the overall look. As a franchise, Stranger Things is known for its '80s vibe, but the team didn't want the animation and art style to look dated. The shape language of the character designs that they landed on is very modern: angular and geometric. But they found ways to pull the '80s influence into the color design and lighting. They used earthy colors in the environment and background art, a nod to E.T. and Poltergeist. But whenever a monster appears on the scene, the color design shifts into a palette filled with greens, reds, and magentas (inspired by the posters from the original show). "It's like when low budget '80s horror films just blast a red light at the actors to make it feel threatening," says Chesworth, noting how this serves the period aesthetic. The dramatic shadows and high-contrast lighting heightened this effect. Blending '80s nostalgia with nods to the live-action show, all while creating their own fresh and special production, was no small achievement, but the team felt it was the key to building a new part of the franchise. And even though Robles had been working on the animated show for a few years when he watched the live-action Stranger Things finale, "I still got sad," he says. "I was like, no, I don't want it to be over!" Now, with Tales From '85 , it doesn't have to be. F E AT U R E this page: This still of Eleven holding Mulligan Creature in the air is an example of how the lighting and color palette was amplified for high-stakes scenes. 24 KEYFRAME