Running with the Wolves

One of the standout innovations of the movie is the use of VR, CG and frame-by-frame animation to visualize the world through the POV of the wolfwalkers. Created in collaboration with Dublin-based animator Eimhin McNamara (The Bird and the Whale), the system involved building the environments in VR and CG, and then printing those pages, and rendering them in charcoal and pencil.

“We reverse engineered the process so that every single page has a totally rendered background,” says director Ross Stewart. “We used dynamic camera moves, natural media, mixed with previz that was done with 3D software to create this ‘wolfvision,’ so audiences can see how the world looks from the point of view of the wolves as they run and roam the natural world. We achieved this by using computer technology that we’d never used before. We were able to make the regular world look monochromatic, while their senses were glowing and phosphorescent.” Adds Tomm Moore, “It feels like a rollercoaster ride. When we showed it to the audience, it made people in the cinema really perk up!”