Director Fabrice Le Nezet and friends at London studio Optical Arts rework codes from noir fiction in their new short film The Cliff, an artful rendering of a dog’s dream-like return from the dead.

Fabrice Le Nezet: “The film is a reinterpretation of the ancient myth of the Black Dog – an exploration of a collection of sensory fragments, using a non-linear narrative.

“As the dog walks through the film, it rediscovers and remembers all the sensations, places, textures, movements and sounds from the past.

“Different visual techniques such as cinematic framing, scientific cross-sectioning, architectural exploded view illustration as well as character POV have been combined here to create a hybrid narrative form with a focus on visual emotions and memories.

 

“The animation was created in 3D but the look of the film was created entirely at the compositing stage superposing multiple passes of lighting, textures, noise, and grain.”

 

“Taking inspiration from traditional printing processes, we experimented to develop a sensitive and organic look. The animation was created in 3D but the look of the film was created entirely at the compositing stage superposing multiple passes of lighting, textures, noise, and grain.

“This illustrative approach helped us design the scenes to create a foggy and enigmatic world in a style that suits the dark and nightmarish mood of the story.

“As a tribute to the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, the villa in the film was inspired by the Vandamm House in North by Northwest (1959) which was itself inspired by Fallingwater, the masterpiece designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

“Working with Milan-based composer Nicollo Chotowski, we designed a soundtrack intended to give weight and physicality to the memories addressed in the film. Constantly balancing between music and sound design without ever settling, the idea was to compose an experimental track that would link the frames, enhance the visuals and support the narrative tension of the film.”
 
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Production: Optical Arts
Director/AD: Fabrice Le Nezet
2D/3D Supervisor: Fabrice Le Nezet
3D artist: Nicolas Damour, Izaak Pardey

Sound Design: Niccolò Chotkowski