In August 2010, I was contacted to do an animation test for a feature film from France called Le Jour des Corneilles. The film was to be done in a purely old school, traditional animation technique: on paper. Being that I had done a bunch of my own films like Asthma Tech and Floor Kids on paper, I had my own makeshift line tester still kicking around my studio. As with most people, I had more recently transitioned to working on a cintiq and animating in various software programs, but having that extra bit of practice on paper kept me fresh when this opportunity came about. This is the animation test that I did to get on board the project:

http://jonjonphenomenon.com/2012/jour-des-corneilles-animation-test/

Fortunately, my test was accepted by the director, Jean-Christophe Dessaint, and I got the gig. I soon found myself on a crew with a bunch of the animators from Triplets de Belleville, some ex-Disney veterans, and a supervisor from the Illusionist. Needless to say I learned a lot from every single one of them, especially my animation supervisor Nicolas Debray.

The film is based on a Quebecois novel by the same title, written by Jean-François Beauchemin, and he stated at a recent screening that the inspiration for the novel was the film A Beautiful Mind. It was a co-production between France, Canada, Belgium and Luxembourg, with some of the assistant work being done in South Korea as well.

The film played this year in the market at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, it was official selection in Annecy 2012 where it was said to have garnered a standing ovation, and recently premiered in Montreal at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema.

You can check out the rough shots that I animated on my website at the link below:

http://jonjonphenomenon.com/2012/rough-shots-from-le-jour-des-corneilles/

The Official Movie Poster:

 

Official Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Le-jour-des-corneilles/426507077392451