On the international scene
Like their character, an endearing spider who dreams of flying to the moon, the team spared no challenge to achieve this impressive result, which won over both the Esma Graduation Show 2022 jury and international festivals.
Marie Bordessoule, Chloé Lauzu, Adriana Bouissié, Vincent Levrero, Nadine De Boer, Solenne Moreau and Elisa Drique have pulled off a real tour de force with this film.
Selected for a number of prestigious festivals, swing to the moon received a triumphant welcome at SIGGRAPH 2023, where it was awarded the trophy for best student project.
The film went on to win a total of 27 awards! These included the prestigious GENIE Awards for Best Student Film at the PIDS.
Since then, it has also broken all records for views on the ESMA Movies YouTube channel, with over 3 million views in 1 year.
How did this film come about, and what were the challenges involved in producing it?
Find out here.
An environment on the scale of its characters
What immediately strikes you about Swing Me to the Moon is the richness of the natural environment in which Temi, the little spider with dreams of the great outdoors, lives. The forest is verdant, populated by fireflies, dandelions and flowers, and we are lulled by this rich, gentle environment.
The lighting used by the film’s team, which recalls the aesthetics of Pixar studios as much as those of major European 3D productions, brings a great deal of warmth to this universe, and creates (along with the textures, which are also very finely crafted) a feeling of comfort, a real cocoon in which you want to snuggle up.
A unique character who pushed the team to excel
To create Temi, the team (some of whose members are arachnophobes themselves) first looked at what made a spider recognisable, before removing one by one all the ‘terrifying’ aspects of these creatures, such as the abdomen and multiple eyes.
“On the contrary”, explains Elisa Drique (co-director, surfacing, modelling, lighting & grooming) speaking on behalf of her team, “we’ve accentuated the things that make her cute, like her big, expressive eyes and her fluffy fur.
The challenge was to keep this ‘spidery’ feel while avoiding creating discomfort for members of the group.
Our main reference was Pixar’s short film “Piper”, the little bird that discovers the beach and its waves. We all agreed that we wanted to reproduce this ‘cute’ and ‘discovering the world’ aspect, and that’s what guided us for Temi”.
Technical mastery at the service of high-level creation
To bring this project to fruition, the swing to the moon team applied the lessons they had learnt in 3D animation and special effects.
Using the skills developed on Maya, Houdini and Blender, the members in charge of animation and rigging were able to bring Temi and the other creatures she encounters to life.
It is also through these tools, combined with the Adobe suite, that the world in which the little spider evolves has acquired all its depth.
ZBrush has also been an essential tool for sculpting 3D characters, as well as natural and man-made scenery.
This technical and artistic mastery can be seen in the way the spider’s hairs are managed, as well as in the design of the plants in the film, particularly the clovers Temi discovers when she lands on the forest floor.
These are insignificant elements of the decor, but they leave a lasting impression thanks to their finesse and impressive realism.
The scene in which the fireflies take to the sky is an excellent illustration of the complexity of this work, and the level of mastery achieved by the swing to the moon teams.
“For this sequence, we had a shot that had already appeared in the trailer,” explains Elisa Drique, “so we had to think about crowd issues quite early on.
Originally, we thought we’d use Houdini for the crowd of fireflies, but in the end, Blender was easier to set up and quicker to render the images.
Swing to the moon At the heart of creation
Another problem that arose was that of simulating Temi’s hair, because the fact that he was being pulled forward by the firefly made the simulation complicated, as the hair was being pulled completely backwards. In the end, we simulated Temi’s hair in place, with just a slight wind on it, removing any translation from its movement.
In terms of stages, the animators started by animating the main firefly and Temi (mainly animation cycles), then the couple were forced onto a motion path for the pretty flight direction, then came the hair simulation on Houdini (only the guides were simulated, then these guides were reinjected into XGen where the main bellboy was), then the surrounding crowd had to be made and finally the lighting, rendering (Maya and Renderman) and compositing (Nuke).”
Here’s an exclusive anecdote: the sound of the fireflies comes from a member of the band shaking her socks in front of the recording microphone. Proof if it were needed that, over and above technical excellence, it takes a good dose of ingenuity to achieve this high-level result!
Between high standards and technical constraints
For Solenne Moreau (co-director, animation, storyboard & layout), this long-term effort to cope with the technical constraints and to push the artistic quality to the maximum is also one of the reasons for the film’s success.
“Despite the time that has passed, I still look at the film with a critical eye, seeing the imperfections and what could have been improved. But with each viewing I’m able to place myself more and more as a spectator and appreciate the final work. I’m particularly fond of the weightless sequence at the end. I love the music (composed by Dorian Lehmann), and it’s particularly beautiful in these scenes.
Finally, the fact that we gave our all to bring our little spider to the end of his dream, I think that comes across in the film. Maybe that’s what touches people.
A close-knit team to achieve excellence
An essential skill if you are to thrive in the 3D animation industry, these students’ ability to work as part of a team was put to the test during the production of swing to the moon.
For Elisa Drique, it was the main ingredient that brought the project to fruition. The same is true of Vincent Levrero (co-director, lighting, compositing, modelling, FX & surfacing), for whom the group’s understanding and cohesion are probably among the miraculous ingredients that enabled the film to see the light of day and reach so many people. “We had a shared vision for the project and that enabled us to make good progress without encountering any insurmountable problems.
I think that, through this training, the school prepares well for the world of work in this sense, as well as for group work.”
Unanimous public and professional feedback
Praised by the jury, Swing to the Moon also attracted a huge audience during its festival run.
Presented at SIGGRAPH, the film was also shown in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Tokyo at internationally renowned events. In every case, audiences have given this spider a warm welcome, much appreciated by young and old alike.
“We’ve received feedback from people in many countries around the world,” adds the team, “whether it’s from festivals, by email or in YouTube comments, parents saying that their child wants to see the film again and again, … We’ve even received messages from pupils in one class via an email from their teacher, it was lovely!”
But what’s particularly important for Adriana Bouissié (co-director, rigging & animation) is that the film was made “for us first and foremost. We wanted to be proud of our work and proud of Temi, and we trusted each other.
It’s an essential ingredient in any collaboration in the animation industry, and one that the team at swing to the moon are now applying to their own careers.
Discover the film Swing To The Moon, available in its entirety on the ESMA Movies YouTube channel:
