The Other Home (2021) | Art Director / VFX Animator
Animated VFX
Elena Escalante (Director) and I discussed creating animated visual effects to overlay onto the film in post. This idea stemmed from my love of Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s ‘Hausu’ (1977).
These VFX would have primarily been used within the Witch’s home in order to create a magic, otherworldly feel.
When I first read the script, a lot of concepts came to mind. The story plays with the idea of childhood innocence & imagination while tackling themes such as neglect and isolation. Neil is a child trapped in a home with his mourning mother after the death of his late father. He escapes reality through the fairytale books that he reads in his room. One day he leaves the house in hopes of finding a new home, with he discovers in the depths of the woods. Inside this home is a woman who looks identical to his own mother. Not long after his arrival, he finds that this woman is, in fact, a witch and unveils her true motives.
I take a lot of inspiration from artists new and old, as you can see in my initial art direction mood-board (shown to right)
‘The Other Home’- Notebook
Chocolate Bar’s
When Neil enters the wood, he is seen eating a chocolate bar. As the film is set in the 1980s, we had to create chocolate bars that would reflect this era. For the first bar, I used Chocolat Bonnat as a reference as the packaging is very traditional looking, and for the second, Fry’s Five Centres was used as a reference.
“The Other Home is a coming-of-age tale rooted only partly in reality. When 11-year-old Neil turns to make-believe to cope with his mother’s depression, strange things begin to happen. Dogs bark warnings, shadows lurk, and trees usher him through a forest, where fairy tale replaces reality. Along the way, Neil meets a Witch who looks exactly like his mother. When they sit down for tea, it soon becomes apparent the Witch wants more from Neil than just his company…”
Initial Concept Art & Mood-boarding
Set Dressking Sketches
Sketches used to assist Director, Production Designer and Cinematographer.
