Star Wars: Visions Volume 2
Trevor Hogg speaks with the artists behind the nine animated shorts created for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2
Many will argue of the post-George Lucas age that animated anthology series Star Wars:Visions,streaming on Disney+, has been the best in capturing his innovative spirit and telling stories that expand the universe populated by Jedi, Sith, droids and Wookiees. Going beyond the boundaries of Japan, Star Wars:VisionsVolume2 providesa platform to showcase the artistic and narrative talent of studios situated in South Africa, France, the UK, Ireland, India, Spain, Chile and South Korea that make use of techniques ranging from stop-motion to 2D and 3D animation.
Starting things off is the painterly episode Sith from Madrid-based El Guiri Studios. “The graphic and pictorial approach of the short film makes perfect sense,” believes Carlos Salgado, the art director. “Lola uses the Force to create her own art, and her own world; that is the way we seek to represent it, where the abstract and the most realistic could co-exist. It’s where we visually represent the fight between the light and darkness.”
Certain iconic visual elements from the Star Warsfranchise were incorporated. “I had a bucket list of things I´ve always wanted to design with our team,” states Rodrigo Blaas, the director, and founder of El Guiri Studios. “Lightsabers with a Spanish medieval aesthetic, a circular speeder bike, our own version of an X-Wing called Ala Roja, a Sith Master and his slayer droids, and of course a Star Warsdroid that could have a magnetic personality. I knew the animators would have a lot of fun working with all of these elements.”
Motion played a major role in giving Lola’s faithful droid E2 an endearing personality. “One of the things that we wanted to avoid with E2 was it not moving or feeling reminiscent of a spider, and it being able to feel like a being that’s closer to her pet,” remarks Salgado. “The eye is also an important part of the droid’s expressiveness, and it helped considerably to achieve that.”
Meanwhile, channeling Irish folklore is Kilkenny-located studio Cartoon Saloon for Screecher’s Reach. “The Banshee of the myth is to be a visual representation of pure darkn
