In Rogier Wieland Studio’s Cubed Series, a white paper cube hosts scenes that appear as moving “cut-outs” with uncanny originality. The scenes occur on the outside of the cube and play out as compelling vignettes. As the scenes progress, the cube itself eventually dissolves in an MC Escher-like design, as in the repeating pattern of origami birds with The Duck Hunter.
“The idea was to tell a short story where a paper cuboid was the canvas,” Erika Edgecombe, Creative Producer of the Rogier Wieland Studio, told us. “Where it was only possible to be shown in this medium.
“To create this,” she said of The Duck Hunter, “we filmed a figure with a wooden gun on a green screen. For the first duck that the hunter is stalking we made a 3D animation of a duck. After processing the files we then laser cut a new box for every frame. To make sure that the box was in the correct position we had a second camera stationed directly above the cuboid so that we could check the position.”
When we asked about the transition to the dramatic Escher-like ending of the piece, Edgecombe told us, “When it came to the ending of the film we knew that we had to take a different approach. We started by shooting the ending with just the boxes as they got lower and lower until it had completely disappeared. Then we created tiny paper birds which we stop motion animated flying at different angles and speeds against a green screen.
“By compositing and multiplying the birds we created a swarm of them in a 3D environment that had been made to fit the paper box as it disappeared. This way the birds positions and shadows would fit correctly. We then keyed out the green screen and combined it with the original footage.”
Next up for the team was a wood series they had a lot of fun with: “Creating abstract animations while using a solid material is an interesting challenge and forces us to focus wholly on the movement. Those can be seen on the studio’s Instagram now.