Spain-based animation studio Digital Mind takes us back 2000 years ago
to the legendary city of Carthago Nova
When the government of Murcia contacted Spain-based animation studio Digital Mind with a view to creating a historical documentary about one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire, they didn’t know just how well Digital Mind could use LightWave 3D to bring History to life. We spoke to José Maria Molina, animation director and founder of Digital Mind about how he and his small team have managed to create 80 minutes of animation in less than two years.
Tell us a little about the story.
The story is divided in two parts that take place at two different times.In the first part, a noble family competes against the rich one to obtain a public contract, a water fountain, into the Roman forum. In the second part, ten years later, this family is on the verge of ruin, and tries to recover their money through the trade with Roma of a unique and innovative product in the city. In this movie, we will see one of the most important cities of the ancient Roman Empire, Carthago Nova, in its splendour and decay.
How did you get the job?
This project is promoted by the Government of Murcia, through "Fundación Integra". They commissioned Digital Mind with the idea of creating a historical documentary about the ancient Carthago Nova (Carthage), but with the excellent results obtained in 3D technology, we decided all together to convert it into a Historical Film. They knew us before due to some prizes we won in the International Festival Animadrid and Sicarm
What did you win the prizes for at Animadrid and Sicarm?
In Sicarm we presented a 10-minute film relating the sinking of a passenger ship ("Sirius") - this was the first work I did in DIGITAL MIND. For Animadrid I researched a short film with Ivan Sanchez in 2005 about the Hiroshima atomic bomb. "Hiroshima" won the award for best Spanish short film and a lot of nominations. Of course, both were made in LightWave 3D.
How long have you been working on Carthago Nova?
The real production time has been one year and eight months. In this amount of time we produced more than 80 minutes of animation. Now, we are finishing the last render, and the idea is to finish the complete production in less than two years.
How many people are working on the animation?
The 3D production team consists of four people. Two persons are working on the animation, lighting, rendering and everything related to characters. The other two are dedicated to objects, textures and building scenes. The 3D team consists of: Jose Maria Molina Vieites (me), Ivan Sanchez Alvarez, Jose Maria Martinez Carrion, Pedro Abad Lopez. We were supported by scripts programmed by Lucas Roca Nieto.
Due to the small number of people in the production team, we had a lot of coordination during the working period. One of the main problems we have encountered was the necessity of creating the city of Carthagonova as it was 2,000 years ago, because the archaeological experts are working on it right now, discovering new things about the city structure and some of its main buildings, forcing us to change the models continuously.
