Legends of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'

Legends of Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole' was a film I recently watched and was captivated how realistic the owls looked and moved, yet they conveyed their emotions so well and so seamlessly it didn't seem out of place. As you watch it you realise how the feathers on the owls move like it would in real life, the feathers are affected by the wind in the real life way.  

They gathered real life reference by visiting an owl sanctuary in the UK as they were able to observe their movements and interactions with one another which is a major part of the film. Art director Grant Freckelton explained that they wanted to show so much emotion with their characters, but as the owls would constantly move their heads in real life it would become very distracting if that did exactly this within the film. To get around this they had to find a happy medium.

The environment design I found was really visually stunning and beautiful, the light and colours were really well thought out and placed. The overall atmosphere is emphasied by the lighting and depth of each scene, there are points within the film that just let you take it all in and admire the beauty of it all. There are scenes within the film that are in slow-motion and this really allows you to see each movement of the owl such as the fight scenes. Obviously there would be no real world reference of owls fighting in the way they wanted it, so to get a better idea they had stunt actors come in and preform fights in which the animators could record and then work from. They still needed it to be in the style of the owl so there were things that they could and couldn't do. The video shows this, along with per-visulisation, animation blocking, feathers added on top and some walk cycles. Any sort of making-of video gives you a real insight to the industry and how they went about creating their films. It also gives you an idea of where they get their inspiration from and how much of it always comes from real life sources.