The Film We Introduced More Than a Year Ago Finally Opens Today
“In truth, we can only speak through our work.”
— Vincent van Gogh
Even though digital cameras are everywhere, many directors still like to shoot on film. And even with CGI, many animators still draw by hand.
The animated film Loving Vincent takes things a step further: this 80-minute feature is made entirely from oil paintings, each one painted by hand, in Van Gogh’s own style. It is the world’s first fully hand-painted feature-length animated film. Here is the latest trailer, released last week, so you can get a feel for it:
Watch the latest Loving Vincent trailer
Plans for Loving Vincent began in 2011. It was created by director Dorota Kobiela and producer-director Hugh Welchman.
Dorota Kobiela
A talented director with formal art training—she graduated top of her class from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Some people are prettier, smarter, and more hardworking than you: in 2011 alone, she worked on three completed films.
Hugh Welchman
Founder of the production company BreakThru Films. He produced Peter and the Wolf, winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 80th Oscars in 2008, and worked on the visual effects for La Vie en Rose.
In 2012, they made a concept trailer to explain the idea that started it all:
Watch the 2012 concept trailer
The film draws on the 860 oil paintings, 1,026 drawings, and 800 letters Van Gogh made during the final eight years of his life, along with 20 people depicted in his paintings, to show his last days. People around the world want to understand Van Gogh’s life. Why would someone who loved the world choose to die by suicide? His life is still surrounded by controversy.
So how many paintings does a film like this require?
They planned to animate at 12 frames per second, which means painting 12 still images for every second of film.
“Tick… tock…” That is 12 paintings right there. (And yes, the picture above is an animated GIF.)
So for an 80-minute film, they painted a total of 56,800 oil paintings! (Some frames are still images, of course.)
The workload was too large for just a handful of people. They put out a call for painters, tested 200 applicants, and selected 60 artists. Each would receive 180 hours of training in Van Gogh’s style, and every painter who passed would get a studio of their own.
Each studio came with an easel, paints, lighting, and a computer screen.
At the end of February 2014, the team launched a month-long Kickstarter campaign with a £40,000 target. Pledges ranged from £1 to £5,000, and rewards scaled from computer wallpapers, fridge magnets, mugs, T-shirts, and paintings to the ultimate £5,000 package: a Loving Vincent DVD, an oil painting, and a 20-second oil-painted animated film starring the backer. (That last reward alone would take ten weeks and 240 paintings to make!)
To everyone’s surprise, they reached their goal in just 11 days—enough to fund training for 40 painters. By the end, they had raised £53,292.
The project got underway with 120 of Van Gogh’s best-known works as settings. The painters came from all over, young and old.
The voice cast includes Saoirse Ronan, nominated for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Actress for Brooklyn; Aidan Turner (Kíli in The Hobbit); Douglas Booth (And Then There Were None); Helen McCrory (whose husband is Damian Lewis, star of Homeland); Chris O’Dowd (Simon in The Boat That Rocked); and Jerome Flynn (Bronn, Tyrion’s mercenary friend in Game of Thrones).
After more than a year in production, Loving Vincent had entered post-production, though no release date had been set. To learn more about how it was made, visit the official website or Facebook page. (They were still recruiting painters for post-production!)
And of course, we should listen to “Vincent” one more time. Good night, and sweet dreams!