Image from the Zoopasta animated clip by Shade

To help wake up the listeners of the radio Star FM morning programme Zoopasta, the animation studio Shade has created a video in which the hosts of the programme, together with various characters who live around an old cuckoo clock, start the day in a surreal dream world. Although the clip was created digitally, the unusual characters resemble movable wooden dolls.

Stories Editorial April 18, 2023

The story of the Zoopasta animated clip takes place in a house, where an unusual person who likes to collect all kinds of little things lives. When the morning comes, the hosts of the radio programme wake up various colourful characters, including Milda of the Freedom Monument of Latvia. Papa Ch, the director of the video, wanted to create an eclectic environment with things preserved over a long period of time. To embody that, the author of the visual concept, Harrijs Grundmanis, sought inspiration from his childhood town of Varakļāni and its manor, where Count Michael von der Borch lived in the 18th century.

«The colourful presentation of the clip symbolises dreams and the parallel dimension with all kinds of images and situations that we could see in our sleep. The end result is a surreal video, which is both fascinating and a little scary at the same time,» says Nauris Ašenkampfs, the artistic director of the project. He reveals that the clip took two months to make and the many details required great care. «Everything is made in 3D technique, a world of wooden figures was created, where almost every detail is handmade — although in the digital environment.» The video also shows three different artworks — two paintings and one image in a pocket watch — created by artificial intelligence.

 

Production — Shade,  director — Papa Chi, project manager — Katrīna Dedze–Stabulniece, art director — Nauris Ašenkampfs, concept art — Harijs Grundmanis, 3D modeling — Jānis Spēlmanis and Artūrs Lācis, texture artist — Simona Roga, sound — Artūrs Šēnfelds.