The Revolution of Animation with Blender

"Flow", a wordless cat parable, won the Oscar for animated feature at Sunday's 97th Academy Awards

The Animation Industry has begun it's revolution, with big Industry names like Netflix and Ubisoft Animation Studio, Khara, Inc. having an increasing shift from heavily-relied industry standard software's like Autodesk Maya and Max to the open-sourced platform Blender. With the community increasing in attention and growth, it is inevitable that the versatility of Blender will be more time and cost-efficient for studios big and small on a global scale.

Flow, a animation movie directed by Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, shows the present day transition of Industry Standards in the views of Blender. Winning the Sunday's 97th Academy Awards for the 2024 movie, the achievement sent ripples throughout the Blender communities, impressing not only artists but viewers of the movie with the beautiful scenery and captivating storyline, which astoundingly has no dialogue! When asked why the film was without any dialogue, Gints had a beautiful and well-thoughout answer to the question:

“I think you can express a lot more without words. Some of these emotions and ideas I couldn’t articulate with words but with music, sound, movement and editing, I can say a lot more. Those are my favorite kinds of films and favorite scenes and are very cinematic and transcend cultural boundaries.”

Despite being only his second film as a director, Gints' creative parable was embraced with enthusiasm, highlighting the film industry's growing openness to innovative advancements. This warm reception serves as a testament to how the landscape of filmmaking is evolving, welcoming fresh ideas and unique storytelling approaches.

The Blender community stands out as a vibrant hub of individuals who possess remarkable persistence and an unwavering belief in their creative visions. Gints is a shining example of this spirit. He embarked on the production of Flows as a solo endeavor, driven by his passion and determination. However, as the project progressed, he recognized the importance of collaboration and brought on nearly 50 talented individuals to help bring his cinematic vision to life. His journey as a filmmaker is a powerful narrative that reflects the increasing recognition and influence of Blender users in the industry.

With Blender now celebrated for its technological advancements and impressive results, its integration into the filmmaking process is set to become unparalleled. This development is particularly exhilarating for 3D artists, as it democratizes the filmmaking landscape. As long as one is committed to continuous learning and improvement, the tools and resources available today empower anyone to create compelling films. This shift not only opens doors for aspiring filmmakers but also enriches the storytelling tapestry of cinema as a whole.

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The Process and Design behind the Award-winning Indie Film

The project took 5 years to develop into a stunning masterpiece, reflecting the dedication and creative vision behind it. Gints' journey began in 2019 when he started writing the script, a foundational element of the production. He focused on crafting a compelling narrative while learning Blender, a 3D modeling and animation software, which was essential for bringing his ideas to life. Concurrently, he faced the challenge of securing funding for Dream Well Studio, requiring extensive networking and pitching to demonstrate his vision's potential to industry stakeholders.

Unlike most feature-length films that rely on detailed storyboards, Gints' opted for basic animatics, a preliminary version of the movie that combines storyboard sections with a soundtrack to guide pacing and emotions. This approach allowed him to visualize the story's flow, experiment with camera angles, and simulate the viewer's experience before final animation. By concentrating on long-shot camera movements, animatics achieved an efficiency that storyboarding couldn't due to its well-known challenges in depicting long camera angle shots. The animatics became a solid foundation for building the rest of the scenes, streamlining production and ensuring that each element was thoughtfully integrated, contributing to the film's richness and depth.

"When creating the previz or animatic, I just try to get things done as quickly as possible.

This approach helps me explore ideas efficiently. I’m not great at drawing, so previz works better for me. It’s faster, and I like to move the camera a lot. Sometimes, I roughly sketch out a building, but it’s often very basic.

I then hand these files over to a concept artist. Many environmental concept artists use Blender as well, so they can import my files. While they usually rebuild everything from scratch, my files at least provide the correct proportions. Sometimes, they paint over my models, but in other cases, they design everything directly in 3D.

When they send the files back, I ask them to leave assets in place rather than moving them to the center of the scene. That way, I can easily import everything back, and it aligns perfectly." -Making Flow - Interview with director Gints Zilbalodis

As Gint's speaks on his process during the beginning design and flow of the movie production, you can see where his head is at for how he wants the process to go. While maintaining a balance of work to each of his team members, his focus as the director is to piece the main concept and storyline of the movie as a whole, trusting his members to complete the stunning visual appealing effects that was shown in the movie itself. He also goes to explain how the structure and organization of the process had pivoted based on the animation teams brought from France and Belgium, who specified and cleaned in detail the scenes and characters.

In summary, the creation of 'Flow' demonstrates the impact of focused collaboration and strategic delegation in filmmaking. By emphasizing key components like animations, cameras, and lighting, and assigning the environment work to another artist, Gints could maintain a clear vision and direction for the project.

This strategy not only improved the film's overall quality but also highlighted each team member's unique strengths. The team's dedication and expertise underscore the innovative spirit driving creative efforts in 3D animation. Ultimately, the success of 'Flow' serves as proof of the effectiveness of unconventional methods in achieving artistic objectives, as Gints himself states-

"That said, I think a certain level of naivety is necessary when starting a project. If I had known how difficult it would be, I might never have started. But because I didn’t fully grasp the challenges ahead, I just dove in and figured things out along the way."