"Potapych" is the stirring story of a bear who
likes Vodka, and the man who befriends him. Based on a true
story of a bear and a man who set alight the party atmosphere
in Russia until the bottles ran dry.
Perhaps a friendship like this one was never meant to last.
The movie looks like a moving painting, and is a lot of
fun to watch. Darren Price and his cohorts have created
a lovely story of friendship and companionship, with a cautionary
edge on the subject of Too Much Fun. But it also sounds
just the right tone of sadness to remind us we're watching
a Russian story, after all.
By
all means, take your friends to parties. Just don't let
parties take your friends. Be good. Drink milk. And think
of Russia.
I
first read about Potapych, the bear who loved vodka, in
a magazine called 'The Fortean Times'. This magazine is
usually reserved for conspiracy theories, UFO sightings,
and more bizarre creatures than a drunk bear. I think I
just lucked onto an issue that had a whole array of weird
animal stories.
There
was something very special about Potapychs' tale. It had
a very emotive angle to it all which I liked. The article
made the most of the fact that he and Misha were the best
of friends, sharing everything, and looking out for each
other. This was all very sweet, but in reality, a drunk
man and a bear living in a derelict house together is likely
to be a little bit grim.
CLICK TO VISIT THE POTAPYCH WEBSITE
From
there, we got the grant, and it all happened very quickly.
I had friends that I worked with at Nexus who were kind
enough to help. Michael Greenwood, one of our main animators,
worked for 3 months, animating scenes, rigging characters,
modeling squirrels, and splashing milk about. Then, there
were some animators working out of the studio - Yuval
Nathan in Israel, Saul Freed in Cornwall! It was all a
bit chaotic, but wonderful at the same time. Getting fantastic
animation in your inbox is always a pleasure.
There
is no greater moment in a production than when hearing
the sound for the first time...well, when it's right anyway.
Scott Collins, the sound designer got it right to our
delight, and had this to say about creating the sound...
'Potapych is the most Schizophrenic movie soundtrack
I have ever worked on, with tone changes and mood changes
every few seconds. The challenge was to take what is ostensibly
a sad story and make it fun'.
"There
was something very special about Potapychs' tale.
It had a very emotive angle to it all which I liked."
- Darren Price
I
also spent a good deal of time on the look of the film.
Putting cel shading together with hand painted backgrounds
was the general idea. Each frame had to look like an illustration.
I wanted the original loose paintings to make it into the
pic...which is hopefully what we achieved.
To
wrap up, I just wanted to say that making this movie was
a fantastic experience. The main challenge for me, as
a director, was to achieve all I wanted to do with the
film within the allocated three minutes. There was a lot
of information, and different emotions that I wanted to
get across. We were continually re-editing the animatics
and storyboards, tweaking the timing and events until
the very end. If there wasn't a deadline, I would have
kept tweaking it, but I am very happy with the finished
piece. Thanks to all the team, and please visit Potapych
the bear if you are ever in Moscow."
