It’s been three days since the movie was released, and various discussions about "Frozen 2" are also quite hot. So I think peasants have a lot of questions about this movie. At this time, the best reference material is "The Art of Frozen 2". "And the official behind-the-scenes introduction video. I will organize these materials to reveal to you the thoughts of the official Disney production team for this movie. The full text is being updated.
All the contents of the set have been finished in Chinese, please refer to the comment area for details
Part0: Words from the choreographer team
0.1: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee & Peter Del Vecho
After "Frozen" was released, we began to think about what the next film should be. What new story themes, characters, and worldviews do we want to explore? However, audiences from all over the world expressed to us the shock that "Frozen" brought to them, which made us realize that we have not completely ended the story of Elsa and Anna so far. The theme of "love is stronger than fear" can continue to deepen, and we know that a sequel can be as meaningful as the previous one. The sequel can be bigger and magnificent, and the story can be more profound. Therefore, we began to think about what will happen to the characters, and we began to recall a big question: Why does Elsa have magic?
Elsa is now the queen of Arendale, and she no longer needs to hide her essence. She can be who she is. But this also brings some questions. Like "What does it mean for her to be a queen?" "If her parents were alive, how would they treat her now?" "Is there any reason why she has such a powerful ice magic?" "What about Anna? Anna is now What does it mean in Elsa's life?" In order to answer these questions, we began to conduct a lot of research and investigation, consult psychologists and trauma specialists, and conduct in-depth character assessments and personality tests. We began to understand these roles on a new level and discovered that Elsa has many "Protector" characteristics, and Anna has many "Leader" characteristics ( see Note 1 ). These findings are like giving us a road map for the sisters, telling us where they will go in the next story.
In the first part, what Elsa and Anna wanted was reunion, and in the end they did it. But this does not mean that they must live together in the same place forever. Like all of us, they also have their own path to life in pursuit of fulfillment and meaning. The pursuit of personal goals does not change their relationship with each other in essence; they are still a family. But in the second part, they learned to live their own lives while still believing that the strong bond between them will never be broken.
When we studied the characters, we realized that there are still many unresolved problems between the sisters and their parents. Like many young people, they try hard to understand the choices their parents make, and they need to forgive their parents for unidentified behaviors. Coupled with the loss of their parents, this leaves Anna and Elsa with many unanswered questions. In the sequel, a large part of their journey is to become the person they are destined to be, and to find a way to move on and find inner peace.
When we developed the "Frozen 2" project, we learned the difference between myths and fairy tales, and understanding this difference became an important turning point for us. Myths are usually about a character with supernatural power in an ordinary world, becoming a character who has to bear all the burdens of this world, and often has a tragic ending in the end. Fairy tales are about ordinary characters in a magical world, experiencing hardships and hardships in this world, and finally ushering in change and success. Myths are about grim reality. Fairy tales are about potential and possibility. Learning this makes us alive: "Frozen" is actually a parallel story of myth and fairy tales! Elsa is a typical fairy tale character, and Anna is a typical fairy tale character. Without Anna's fairy tales to reconcile, "Frozen" will become a dark mythical tragedy. When we realize this, we know that we cannot deviate from the structure of the story in "Frozen 2"-this is their journey in the story.
Elsa’s magic is the core issue in this movie, so we started to explore the possible nature of Elsa’s magic. Peoples all over the world have their own "magic", but what we want to know more is the magic of ancient Norway and the culture of Scandinavia. Scandinavia created the "Frozen" for us. The place of inspiration for the world in "Fate". We began to consult related books, study "Sakya", folklore and legends, and communicate with folklorists, anthropologists and linguists. Our research led us to Norway, Finland, and Iceland. We met various people in these places, walked through various landscapes, and felt the magic and aura of each place. We want to associate Elsa and Anna with this feeling. We briefly drew a map of the world of Frozen. Arendale is at the bottom of the map. The north is a forest area, and the boundary of this world is a vast glacier. This makes us think: what if the world was once a whole but is now divided into meetings? What if the sisters’ mother is from a forest in the north and has close ties with the local residents who have believed that "magic is part of nature" for generations? In the framework of this story, Elsa's own magic began to become reasonable. Her magic comes from ice and snow; ice and snow come from water, one of the most important basic components of life. Essentially, Elsa also belongs to nature. The story of "Frozen 2" unfolds on this basis.
Since Elsa is the only magical human in the world of "Frozen", we want to awaken the "magic sense" of nature itself in this movie. As human beings, we take it for granted, but there are so many in the world. The "magic" things are around us, like a leaf that changes color and then falls shortly afterward. We like the idea of "wake up the magic of nature" very much, especially because it reminds us of the prototype of the "Frozen" story, the description of living nature in Andersen's "Frozen Queen".
"Frozen 2" is indeed a sequel to the first; it is not a rumor. We started the whole project in anxiety, mainly because of people's huge expectations, and we can't let everyone down. But when the film began to take shape, the film became an independent entity, and we were no longer so nervous about the question of "whether it can be as good as the previous one"; we were just excited about "what is this movie". We retain the original characters and lead them into a new chapter in the story. We hope that the audience will like their story as much as we do.
——Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee & Peter Del Vecho
0.2 Chris Buck
In "Frozen 2", Elsa: Anna: KristofW began to reach adulthood, trying to find his place in the world. They are maturing and growing emotionally, and their journey is to a place outside Arendale. These changes are part of the narrative of "Frozen 2" and are reflected in the production design (art direction) of this movie. The environment, clothing, and the overall style of the movie are more mature and sophisticated, and no longer so innocent and simple.
The production team of screenwriters and art are simultaneously inspired by the natural environment of Norway, Finland and Iceland. "Walking long distances in the forests of Norway and Finland is like walking in a fairy tale. We can see from it why there are stories about the'recluse villagers'. It feels like being imposed. With magic, it’s a world that fits Anna’s characteristics. At the same time, Iceland, full of magnificent landscapes, is obviously a place where the forces of nature dominate. This is the environmental background of Elsa,” said art director Michael Giaimo, “a lot of The work of art direction is influenced by the time we spend in these places."
The production team wanted to portray a different season from the previous one, and knew from the beginning that this different season should be autumn. "Partly because of the beauty of the design, because the autumn color palette is very exciting and rich," said director Chris Buck. "But this choice is also to reflect the narrative. Spring represents rebirth, summer represents youth, but only autumn represents the season of maturity in the year, and these characters are maturing. "The change of seasons does bring some challenges to the design. Lisa Keene, co-art director, said: “Autumn means we need to define a new color palette. And there are many more types of vegetation in autumn than in winter.” Giaimo added: “The colors in autumn are so strong and vibrant that the environment will distract the audience. For the attention of the character, the performance of the character is difficult to understand. The color palette in the first part is very strong, but there are also many subtleties in it. We want to bring the beauty of this palette to new colors. In the board. We used the orange and fuchsia of fallen leaves to make the overall tone of the film warmer, especially in the vegetation and trees. At the same time, we made the first neutral color board cooler and more neutral. Sexual colors are used in the sky and deep sky. The warm-toned vegetation and cool-toned surrounding environment give "Frozen 2" a very special overall style, which is what we hope the audience will find in this movie Special feature"
Even if it is very important to create a new look for "Frozen 2", as a sequel, the world and characters still need to follow the existing design principles, retain the visual style and make people perceive the previous work. "Since we don't need to start from scratch, it makes visual development easier to some extent," said Bill Schwab, character art director, "but it also brings us challenges because we need to ensure all new characters and new scenes. They all seem to belong to the world of "Frozen". And because of the technological changes in character modeling and rendering from "Frozen" to the present, we finally rebuilt Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf. Model, and some designs have been modified"
Many of the design guidelines in "Frozen" are continued in "Frozen 2," including character design, architecture, the use of vertical lines in the natural environment, and the intricate decorative patterns in the well-defined space. "We tend to stretch and stretch all the constituent elements, rather than let them stretch horizontally or become squat. These elements are not taken for granted-we may tilt at an angle, but we Does not offset or distort the lines. The overall aesthetic style is very organized, long and elegant, just like Elsa," Keene said.
One notable change in "Frozen 2" is the physical environment. "In "Frozen", almost everything is covered with ice and snow, so you can hardly see much of the ground. But in this movie, we depicted and designed the things under the snow: leaves, trees, Rocks, various natural objects and vegetation," said environmental art director David Womersley.
The design team was inspired by artists from the Disney classic period such as Eyvind Earle and Mary Blair. Giaimo said: "Earle has such a powerful method to design a well-organized structure, and his work is so elegant. He and Mary Blair are very bold in the theory and practice of color." The team also referred to Rousseau and Artists like Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as Norwegian illustrator Gerhard Munthe, German-American painter Albert Bierstadt, and some Russian painters who are good at depicting forests in different seasons. "We design in our own way, but the inspiration brought by these artists provides us with a foundation"
The visual development team regards "Frozen 2" as a continuation of the design process, creating a new style, and at the same time bringing back the elements in the first part and adding some new things to it. Giaimo said: "We hope that the color palette and art direction will surprise the audience and fascinate them again."- Chris Buck
0.3 About the four elements
We studied the four major elements of nature: air, earth, fire, and water. These elements became the guiding graphic elements for the design of "Frozen 2" and the key inspiration for the film's narrative. The water elves are derived from ancient Norwegian mythology. Wind elves exist in Scandinavian folklore. Legend has it that the huge boulders scattered in the Scandinavian jungle were thrown by the rock trolls. The fire elves are inspired by the stories we heard about the salamanders running out of the wood when it is ignited, which makes the salamanders look like fire elves. ( Note 2 ) All the elemental creatures are derived from the folktales, myths and legends of this area. —— Chris Buck
Note 1 : According to the Type 16 personality, Elsa should belong to the ISFJ "Guardian" personality, and Anna is the ENFJ "Protagonist" personality or ENTJ "Commander" personality.
A description of the type 16 personality can be found on the following website https://www.16personalities.com/ch
Elsa's performance in the first part is very much in line with the description of this personality:
Note 2:
The prototype of the element of water is the water monster (German: Nyx, Dutch: nikker, Norwegian: nøkk, Swedish: näck, Finnish: näkki, Estonian: näkk). It is a fairy that haunts lakes and rivers in medieval European legends. A beautiful girl with long hair and naked appearance will entice a man to get close to the water and drown him. In Scandinavia, näcken, näkki and nøkk are all male water spirits. This creature usually turns into a human form. Singing and playing the violin attract humans and drown them in the water, but this does not mean that such creatures are always malicious. Many stories show that nøkker does not harm the audience. This creature is good at deforming so it has no fixed image, but the most common shape is "brook horse" (brook horse). The name used in this modern Scandinavian region is derived from the ancient Norwegian nykr, which means "river" "River horse"
The archetype of the fire element, Salamander (English: salamander, or salamander, salamander (salamander), Salamander) was the elemental spirit representing the element of fire in medieval European alchemy and local legends, and the water spirit (Undine), Earth Elf (Gnome), and Wind Elf (Sylph sylph) are tied together. The concept of this elemental spirit can be traced back to the writings of the medieval alchemist Paracels. In addition, it is worth noting that the word salamander also means salamander, and Europeans did add the mysterious attributes of salamander to salamanders and regarded the two as the same creature.
The setting of the earth element to throw stones is derived from the troll: in Northern Europe, the troll is the same as the giant, but the troll is smaller. This difference later evolved from brutal giants (similar to British trolls, sometimes called "trolls") into barbarians resembling natural deception, living in mountains and caves, defending underground treasures. It turns into stone when it meets the sun. Scandinavian folk beliefs believe that lightning will frighten trolls. This appears in many Scandinavian folk tales. It may be that the god Thor is involved in the late legends. The plot of a kind of creature fighting. Because of the "accuracy and efficiency of lightning strikes," it can sometimes explain why there are no more trolls in modern Scandinavia. In addition, in folklore, there are no trolls in Scandinavia, which is "the consequence of the constant ringing of church bells". The constant ringing of the bell caused the trolls to leave other lands, despite their attempts to resist resistance. Many traditions involve how trolls destroy churches that are being built or how to throw boulders and stones in built churches. Sometimes large local stones are described as the product of a troll throw. Furthermore, by the 20th century, the origins of certain Scandinavian landmarks, such as certain stones, were attributed to trolls, which may have turned into stones, for example, when exposed to sunlight.
Wind element prototype Ysätters-Kajsa: Ysätters-Kajsa is a wind troll, people in Närke Province, Sweden once believed; she may be the only individual of her race in Scandinavia. The Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf made Ysätters-Kajsa an immortal existence in the first part of Chapter 24 of his famous novel "Nils Riding a Goose" (1906-1907) . She wrote that in the Swedish province of Närke, a troll named Ysätters-Kajsa once lived in the past. She was named Kajsa because people used this name to call the wind troll before. Her last name, Ysätter, comes from her birthplace: Ysätter Swamp (59°08′N 15°33′E) in the parish of Asker. She seems to have lived in the parish of Asker, but she likes to tease people here in the Närke area. She is unique in the area. In Selma Lagrove's description, Ysätters-Kajsa likes gale (gale), which is why the wind element in Frozen 2 is called Gale.
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Part1: Background and scene (to be updated)
2.1 Arendale
So far, some stories have happened in the world of Frozen. In order to make the geographic setting in Frozen 2 logical, we slightly adjusted the design of the Arendale Kingdom to ensure that it is consistent with the previous work. Now Arendelle is more like an old European town with its own history. The layout of streets and houses is more reasonable. It feels like a real and always existing place. ——David Womersley, art director,enviroments
When we developed the village of Arendale, we gave each street a name, and the Market Square (pictured below) was surrounded by Klokkegate Street. The latter leads to Clock Street and Hoydegate to the hills. Kongeligplas, or Royal Square, is named because there will be a royal sculpture at this location. (The last sculpture built in the movie is here) Borgbro is the road connecting the town and the castle. Vindmolleveien is a windy street. There was a wind mill in the early setting.
From the first to the present, the technology has been innovated. We try to update the material and composition elements at the same time. Make sure that the essence of the first film-its look and feel can be preserved. For example, we use a different renderer called Disney's Hyperion Renderer ( Note 3 ). This renderer can enhance the texture of various materials and at the same time depict the precise details that we could not show before. The movie starts in Arendale, so the audience can see the castles and villages they have seen in between, but the visual effects are more abundant.
——Jack Fulmer, look development supervisor
In one version of the story, Arendale’s castle was washed away by the flood, and a new castle combining Arendale style and Northerner style was built. The foundation of the former castle became a series of small islands, connected to each other by viaducts to lead to various parts of the castle (see picture above). In another version, the flood stream was reversed, which is why we designed the hydraulic mill.
——David Womersley, art director,enviroments
Note 3: Regarding Disney's Hyperion Renderer, this new rendering tool was created specifically for Big Hero 6 and took nearly two years to complete. The official website of WDAS has a place to introduce and demonstrate the effect of this renderer https://www.disneyanimation.com/technology/innovations/hyperion
Part2: Role (to be updated)
2.1 Anna's initial look
The biggest challenge in the sequel of "Frozen" is to find a good story so that the characters can face conflicts and contradictions in a wonderful, interesting and novel way. At the same time, we also need to make the story look like a sequel to the previous game, instead of letting us invent new emotional problems out of thin air. The sequel should dig deeper into the character's emotions. "Frozen" is about the reunion of sisters and the solution of unexpected problems. "Frozen 2" happened three years later, so we think it's time for them to deal with the unresolved problems left over from their childhood.
——Marc Smith, story director
In general, the silhouette of Anna and Elsa's clothing looks more mature. We abandoned the setting of the V-shaped corset ( Note 4 ) to create a more natural waistline, while using more elegant rather than decorative decorative details. And Anna and Elsa are very active in the movie and need to be able to run and climb freely. Their travel clothing has slits for easier movement. The lower body is tights-we think these are riding pants, not gym clothes, nor pantyhose. Throughout the movie, their costumes must be consistent with the aesthetic style and background of the time in "Frozen", follow the tone of the story, conform to the character's personality, and be practical at the same time. And I hope the costumes can surprise the audience! This is no small challenge. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
The characters are older; they are maturing. They have to face very difficult problems. The action of the animation can subtly reflect this maturity in the performance of the character. The more restrained the character, the more difficult it is to animate the character. Because it's less about the character's actions, and more about showing the character's inner thoughts. ——Becky Bresse, head of animation
Anna is trying to find a place that suits her. Is she suitable for handling national events, or just for parties and banquets? Does she have her own life, with her own wishes and goals? And what about Kristoff? What happens next when they become a pair?
——Marc Smith, story director
In "Frozen 2", we took the complexity of costume making to a new level. We build character clothes like real clothes. For example, we made every piece of cloth that makes up the clothes, and then sew the pieces of cloth into clothes and put them on the character. Artists hand-stitched rosemaling (traditional decorative flower patterns) and embroidery. Whether it is the crocus pattern or the wheat ear pattern (the pattern in the picture below), they will use one curve to make the embroidery stitch by stitch, and then attach the embroidery to the garment. ( Note 5 ) All this is to make the clothes look more real. ——Alexander Alvarado, look development supervisor
Anna's travel clothing was originally designed for Elsa, but Elsa's character personality has changed, and the original clothing no longer reflects her essence. Although we liked the previous design, we made the shape and color of this outfit the basis of Anna's main outfit. The skirt and cloak became shorter. We also added a Polero jacket (a short top with an open chest). The clothing function is for travel, but Anna still has to have the characteristics of the royal family, so the clothing is finely made and rich in details. ——Jean Gillmore, visual development artist
The design for Anna at the beginning made her look too young. We wanted to keep her two braids, because the two braids are Anna’s signature feature, but in the end we chose to tie her hair into a braid, wrap it around her neck and then hang down naturally, which can make her look more mature . (The picture below is about the process of hair design)-Michael Giaimo, production designer
Anna's maturity can be observed by following her clothes in the movie. At the beginning of the movie, she wore an ivory skirt to show her young and playful personality. But her travel clothes are basically black, showing her strength and being able to realize when to be serious. Her outfit when she finally became queen combined the characteristics of Anna herself and Arendale. This costume has her iconic black, but also reminds people of Elsa's first coronation dress, as well as the green and purple belonging to Arendell. Each set of clothing more or less combines the design of curves and fan-shaped trims in the frills, sleeves, or bras. As she matures, these parts adopt less circular arcs, and more Is square. ——Griselda Gastrawinata-Lemay, visual development artist
Note 4: Regarding the setting of V-shaped bodice (V-shaped corset), in the first part, both Elsa and Anna's clothing adopts this style of top
Note 5: The production process of 3D character clothing in this film is very close to Marvelous Designer, that is, to make each piece of clothing, and then "sew it together". In the picture below, the fine-fitting clothing is made of simple "cloth pieces". Stitched up and attached to the character, the gif below demonstrates the stitching-the process of dressing
The other point is "use one curve one by one to make one stitch and one thread for embroidery". The picture below is the enlarged detail of garment embroidery. As the name suggests, three 3D "threads" are used to make the embroidery effect.
2.2 The initial shape of Elsa
Elsa is an artist, and most of the clothes she wears are made with her magic. Her dress can reflect the sensitivity of her team's art, can withstand the test of time, and can achieve a perfect balance between the characteristic that the clothing is made of ice and snow and the practicality in various situations. In this movie, Elsa's swatches are changed a little bit to coordinate the autumn swatches. But if her clothes are too dark, too warm or not jewel-toned, then she doesn't look like Elsa. Her warmest outfit was the lavender skirt she wore at the beginning. This is the fabric she wears that is closest to the real world, not her own creation, which aims to blend in with Arendelle. We made her look as light and extraordinary as possible by using a light blue close to white. Elsa has stronger highlights than the average person; she always gives people a radiant and charming feeling. This can also be reflected in her clothing, so there will always be reflective things on her clothing, such as small sequins made of ice and snow. ——Brittney Lee, visual development artist
Elsa's travel clothing (pictured above) includes jackets, skirts, pants and boots. The structured shoulders and epaulettes of the coat reveal her identity as a queen-anyone who sees her will always know that she is the one in power. The shoulder ornaments are a bit reminiscent of armor, majestic and strong. This shoulder ornament comes from the clothing in the early abandonment (pictured below). The shoulder ornaments in the waste case can bring beautiful silhouettes. We want to use this design, and finally they become the constituent elements we use when designing travel clothes. Her skirt was light and ethereal, made of silk tulle and covered with sequins made of ice and snow. This costume is the most intentional to highlight the sense of magic, so there are no seams in the bust (referring to the fullest part of the front chest), hem, and neckline. ——Brittney Lee, visual development artist
In order to facilitate travel, we must modify the overall outline of Elsa. Elsa's clothes before this were all hanging down, but in this movie she needed to trek in the forest, swim in the sea, and climb the glacier. The long hem is obviously not convincing; it drags to the ground and is extremely cumbersome, so the hem of the skirt needs to be raised. Elsa wears boots made of ice and decorated with snowflake shapes. Towards the end of the plot, she began to barefoot. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
When we are creating something that does not exist in the real world, the design team usually provides us with the closest thing that exists in the real world for reference, and then we figure out how to use technical means to construct it. Such as Elsa's ice cloak. The cloak should perform authentic movements based on the characteristics of its material, so we need to know the texture and weight of the material-in this example, ice crystals. Then we fiddled with the cloak in the computer until we let it have a believable performance. Finding that delicate balance requires a lot of testing. People usually marvel at the time we spend on a piece of clothing or a hairstyle, but it is the attention to detail that we hope to show in every frame of the movie. And to achieve something we have never seen before is very exciting! ——Steve Goldberg, visal effects supervisor
2.3 Anna's final look
Anna's costume at the end of the movie praised her new identity as the queen, but also paid tribute to the queens before her, Elsa and Iduna. Her crown molding is as simple as Iduna's, but contains more hollow structure and negative space, just like Elsa's. Her dress includes Anna's iconic black, which is reminiscent of Iduna's clothing, and includes the green that represents Arendale to echo Elsa's coronation dress. The silhouette of the skirt retains Anna's existing morphological language, but the silhouette is more streamlined. The outer part of the dress is heavier. The firm fabric emphasizes her new responsibilities as a queen, while the inner part is light and elegant, retaining Anna's naughty and playful personality. Her cloak contains her wheaten decorative pattern and the Arendale crocus logo, marking the arrival of a new era in the kingdom. ——Griselda Gastrawinata-Lemay, visual development artist
Anna's engagement ring is made of an orange diamond set on a ring made of white gold and gold with wheat and saffron decorative elements. We imagine Kristoff was deeply attracted by this diamond when the goblins dug it for him, because orange diamonds are extremely rare and the bright color of the diamond is reminiscent of Anna's thick reddish brown hair. ——Griselda Gastrawinata-Lemay, visual development artist
Anna's clothes at the end of the movie are made of a variety of materials, including wool, velvet, and silk, with a lot of embroidery techniques applied to them. Green, purple, and black are the main colors, and Arendale's wheat pattern is the main decorative pattern. Velvet, silk and embroidery have an anisotropic reflective effect-with a specific direction and movement of luster-which can form a sharp contrast with the dull wool material. The stitching of embroidery should be prominent in other materials, but more materials or colors should not be introduced to detract people's attention from other parts. We try to make the material look real, and the characteristics of each material should ultimately be coordinated with each other.
2.4 Elsa's final look
Elsa's outfit at the end of the movie highlights her ultimate transformation. The main body of the skirt is white velvet, which is consistent with her ice and snow origin. Her cloak, organza and skirt extensions reveal that she has always been this unique and magical character. The curvy upper body outline shows her new sense of self-confidence, and the decorations that can be seen everywhere on the clothes show the signs of the four major elements, symbolically showing her close connection with nature. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
We designed a snowflake logo that combines the four elements to visually reflect the connection between Elsa and nature-she is the center of these four elements derived from nature. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
We retained Elsa's morphological language but changed the design language to better reflect her experience in the movie. So instead of using snowflakes as the logo of Elsa, it is better to use the four elements, which are visually embodied in a diamond shape. The color on each rhombus indicates the elements represented by this rhombus-wind, earth, fire, water-from warm to cold jewelry tones. When Elsa discovered the connection between herself and the four elements, the elements became part of the appearance and beauty of her clothing. At the end she integrated all the elements and her snowflake logo into her costume. ——Brittney Lee, visual development artist
2.5 Kristoff&Sven
The colors and patterns of Kristoff's clothing reflect the autumn color palette, and at the same time show that he and Arendale are more closely connected. The logos of wheat and antlers are common on his clothes. He changed more costumes in this movie, and his last costumes were designed to match Anna's last costumes, so they look very good. And he dressed himself very clean! ——Griselda Gastrawinata-Lemay, visual development artist
It is autumn, and Sven's antlers still have a fluffy layer of hair, and his harness has an autumn wheat pattern that connects him with Anna and Arendale. This pattern is integrated into many of Arendale's clothing, banners and decorative elements. ——Bill Schwab, art director, characters
2.6Olaf
In the enchanted forest, Olaf wanders alone and encounters the elemental elves. We can see from the results that this is the behavior of which elves—such as earth elves throwing boulders and flames jumping between trees—but we don’t see the elves themselves. The elves were observing Olaf and didn't attack him, but there were still some stressful moments in this situation, and they were extremely weird. Olaf was confused-he didn't know if he should be afraid-but he shrugged and convinced himself that all this would make sense when he grew up. ——Dan Abraham, story artist
2.7 Arendales
Since Elsa became queen and opened the city gates, people from all over the world have come to visit Arendale. Many of them settled here, and the roles from all over the world made Arendelle more diverse. ——Peter Del Vecho, producer
Because "Frozen 2" takes place in the fall, we have updated the characters and scenes of Arendale to reflect the changes of the seasons. The servants and soldiers in the castle, buildings and flags, and all related people and things are carefully arranged to make the whole kingdom look just right.
Part3: air
(Strictly follow the chapter structure in the set)
For characters that represent elements, such as wind elves, water elves, fire elves, and earth elves, there is a vague dividing line: is it a character or a part of the natural environment? We must draw inspiration from their respective environments to convey that they are composed of corresponding elements—air, water, fire, and earth—but we should also create characters that can perform emotionally. Animation, special effects, visual development, design, modeling, binding-these departments cooperate very closely on these roles. ——Sean Jenkins, head of environments
3.1 Enchanted Forest
As the characters' journey progresses, the various locations in the magic forest look different. It must have an emotional situation, and the environment itself is almost a role. ——David Womersley, art director environments
In CG, it is difficult to make an organic environment look attractive enough. A forest may look like a bowl of salad-good composition but lack of design organization. The designed side-view tree may look good as a 2D design, but when the camera surrounds the tree of a 3D object, how to retain its original modeling language? We have used a cautious layout for the branches and canopy of each tree, so that when the individual trees form a group, they can bring rhythm and order to the organic natural environment of the forest, while avoiding the seeming organization of chaos. This is not architecture, but it is also structural; it is not designed for the audience to pay attention to, but the audience can feel it. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
The enchanted forest is shrouded in mist. It's like a magic portal that a character must pass through to enter the forest. When the characters passed through the fog, there was a spark effect like static electricity. This is indeed a mist of water vapor, but it is subtly colorful, with the iconic tones of every element mapped in it, from purple to ultramarine. ——Lisa Keene, co-production designer
The challenge in special effects is to create a mist that is both ethereal and solid. It should look natural but have unnatural performance to suggest to the audience that it is not a normal fog and not just water vapor. It is not a sinking fog, but moving upwards, rising from the surrounding environment, and it is a huge and heavy barrier that envelops most of the story. Another challenge is to preserve the clear details of the fog, with a clear outline of the entity, but moving like a fluid. Because it is not a mist that disperses as soon as it blows, its obvious characteristics indicate that it is an impenetrable barrier. ——Jesse Erickson, effects animation lead
The art director team first referred to several kinds of trees growing in this area in reality, and then reshaped their shapes to conform to the contours of Eyvind Earle's interlaced style. After being integrated, these trees form a more stable-looking forest; a specific layering method is adopted for the trees, so although the design of the forest is inspired by nature, the forest is very stylized. ——Sean Jenkins, head of environments
We asked a Norwegian botanist some questions about plant species and growing environment, so as to choose specific trees and vegetation to describe. These are like part of the puzzle. We designed some samples for these kinds of plants, stacked them together and organized them into groups, and selected groups that are eye-catching and good enough from all angles. Make a copy afterwards, rotate to make each tree look different, and finally stack a vast forest. ——Lisa Keene, co-production designer
The forest is more than just trees. There are all kinds of vegetation on the ground, especially in autumn: soil, tree roots, rocks, pebbles, fallen leaves, all kinds of different vegetation. We must choose what to include and figure out how to organize these elements in a credible and natural way. What we saw and heard during the research trip gave us great inspiration, especially when climbing in Finland and Norway. We observed the vegetation on the ground and recreated many of them, including crowberry, bilberry, cloudberry, pitahaya-these things you can only observe when you go to a specific place. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
3.2 Mattias
Mattias is a warm, brave character. He is very pragmatic but also an optimist, so he can understand Anna quickly. It was he who told Anna that when things got tricky, he could only cheer up and do what he thought was right. His words inspired Anna in her darkest hour. ——Peter Del Vecho, producer
Mattias is wearing a military uniform, the appearance of which is based on the uniform of the Arendale Guard. Colors, materials, and patterns always closely associate him with Arendale, but in order to emphasize his importance and make him unique, his coat is shorter, and he has epaulettes and cloaks. He has been in the magic forest for a long time, but he is still earnestly fulfilling his leadership duties and meticulously maintaining his uniform.
——Griselda Gastrawinata-Lemay, visual development artist
3.3 Hulk
We hinted in the first part that Anna and Elsa's parents sank in the southern waters, so they were shocked when they found the ship in the enchanted forest. The prototype of this royal ship is a ship built from 1830s to 1840s. In the first part, this ship has a few shots. Now this one needs to enter the ship, so we designed the deck and interior details. The beautiful light through the stained glass windows brings a very operatic atmosphere to the scene. The trees surrounding the ship deepen this feeling and look more depressing, deepening the sense of distortion and desolation. ——David Womersley, art director, environments
3.4 Agnarr & Iduna (King & Queen)
King Agnarr and Queen Iduna are the parents of Anna and Elsa, and Runeard is their grandfather. We tried to find the physical characteristics that showed their relevance, such as Anna's freckles and reddish-brown hair, the color of Elsa's eyes and part of her bone structure. ——Bill Schwab, art director, characters
Anna and Elsa's mother, Queen Iduna, had to endure many emotional traumas, but she is a dedicated mother who puts family first. She didn't say much in the first part; however, she was always looking for ways to help her daughters, and the same was true for the people in her hometown, trying to repair their broken land. Elsa and Anna might not have been able to complete their journey without what their mother had done for them before. ——Jennifer Lee, director and screenwriter
Iduna's shawl provides a visual clue that reveals her past and Elsa&Anna's future. The pattern is in the Northland style, which has been passed down from generation to generation in the family. The above pattern shows that the four elements will eventually lead Elsa to discover her destiny. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
Agnarr has a conspicuous nose, although not particularly large, it occupies a longer proportion of his face. In the first part, his hairstyle is longer and younger. ——Bill Schwab, art director, characters
Everyone grows up with different trends, but some things are universal: the torso stretches, the posture changes, the nose and eyes grow with life. But the nature of the character is unchanged. This is not the only special case, just like the shape of the eyes and the structure of the bones. We studied the designs of King Agnarr and Queen Iduna in the first movie, and then discussed the features that should be retained to make them look like King Agnarr and Queen Iduna in this movie, who are 25 years younger. ——Bill Schwab, art director, characters
Iduna is a child who is accompanied by nature. She and the wind element can get along happily and casually. She is outgoing and naughty, just like Anna. She enjoys the magical world just like Elsa. She has many common characteristics of Anna and Elsa. Girl Iduna is the person Anna and Elsa might become if they grow up happily together. This is the core and true nature of Iduna, without the constraints of red tape. ——Hyun Min Lee, visual development artist
The physical simulation team focused on making the clothing more fit, with the appearance and movement more like real cloth. This allows the design of the material to be supported by the motion effect of this material, both of which serve the goal of the final animation effect. ——Gregory Smith, head of characters
3.5 Wind element
When we first designed the wind element, we thought it should form a distinctive face from time to time, but we gave up this setting. It should not be personified; it is nature, it is wind. We can only "see" it through the reaction it exerts on other things, like fluttering hair or ribbons, or the maple leaves blown through the forest by it. ——Michael Giaimo, production designer
The element of wind has brought me a big challenge in my career. The production team wanted to make it more natural and not to be personified, so it cannot have a face, but it still needs to convey emotions. The wind itself is not visible, but you can see the impact of the wind on the surrounding environment and objects. While keeping this principle in mind, we did several tests and used things like leaves and branches to create shapes and movements to express feelings. We had naughty exercises with Olaf or Sven, and quieter movements circling around Elsa, blowing her hair and clothes to communicate with her. ——Mark Henn, animator
When trying to use CG to achieve the effect of wind, we got inspiration from the phenomenon of dusty wind, which is very gratifying because dusty wind can form and disappear and then reappear somewhere. We seemed very clumsy at first, but when we started to test different ideas, we found that less is more-we experimented with how many particles in the air can be displayed, whether these particles are leaves or fireweed. The cilia are still pollen and can still be transformed into wind. We did a pre-production test and discovered a lot of things that we didn't expect, and we learned a lot from it before we officially made the effects in the movie. ——Steve Goldberg, Visual effects supervisor.
The element of wind is a character that cannot be really seen, so it must communicate and express emotions by interacting with the surrounding environment. We used branches, leaves, berries, and husks. We first used dandelions, but later discovered that there were no dandelions in Scandinavia, so we changed to fire grass, which has a distinctive color and fluffy fluff. ——Sean Jenkins, head of environments
In many movies, the workflow of the animation and technology department is usually like this: an animator makes an animation of a character, says, throws her cloak; the animation director draws a sample to show us in order to achieve the actual desired effect What adjustments need to be made; then it is the matter of the technical department; the progress of the two departments may be different. But when dealing with the wind element, this invisible role, we need the technical department to show us where the wind element is blowing in the surrounding environment so that we can make its impact on other characters. We have to help each other so that we can make every small snippet can be perfectly synchronized when the contract is posted. This is an extremely close team work.
——Tony Smeed, head of animation
Update log
First update: 11.25
The second update: 11.26 20:12, complete the elemental wizard science, 20:48 Arendale's part of the introduction
The third update: 11.27 16:30, complete the introduction of Arendale, start the role of Anna&Elsa part 18:54 comments 3, 4 completed
Fourth update: 11.28 21:37, complete Anna's initial clothing introduction, note 5 is complete
Fifth update: 11.29 16:22, complete the introduction of Elsa's initial costume
The sixth update: 12.1 21:22, complete the introduction of Anna&Elsa's later costumes
Seventh update: 12.3 22:09, complete the introduction of Kristoff, Sven, Olaf and Arendale residents
The eighth update (recently painting, pigeons for a long time): 12.12 15:28, complete the introduction of the magic forest:
Ninth update: 12.15 22:20, complete the introduction of Mattias, complete the introduction of the Hulk, and start the introduction of the king & queen
Tenth update: 1.3 16:52, complete the introduction of King & Queen
The eleventh update: 1.3 20:06 Complete the introduction of wind elements, Part3 ends
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