Bumblebee

Mixed media animation about a bumblebee collecting pollen from a Japanese Quince’s blooming flower on an ordinary sunny spring morning.  

During my years in Prague, the amazing teachers of the Animation Atelier at UMPRUM introduced me to Czech puppet and stop-motion animation which inspires my work ever since. The magical and detailed craftwork of Jiří Trnka always reminds me of how even the simplest moments of life can be fascinating.

I made this video within the framework of a three-day university workshop. My goal was to make a mixed media animation. In other words, to use as many techniques as possible within the short timeframe of the workshop. Besides that, my intention was to make it realistic and visually pleasing at the same time. Just as if it were an explanatory animated section from a wildlife documentary for kids.

About the working process

The image sequence for the background was shot in a park, then I took a real branch and I replaced one flower, the one which opens up with a plasticine flower. I took this whole branch and shot the stop-motion sequence in front of green screen. Finally, I animated the bumblebee in the traditional way by hand.

Special thanks to Gergő Gilicze, who gave the voice of the bumblebee.