READERSVOICE.COM: When did the idea for Memoria come about and what inspired it?

ELISABET YR ATLADOTTIR: It’s difficult to pinpoint when the idea for Memoria came about, but I suppose it was around the time we were tasked, in school, with making a story that we would like to see in a film, a possibility for the Bachelor year. I’ve always been inspired and absolutely fascinated with horror games and horror films, and especially those with a more psychological twist. Just horror with blood and screaming has never really interested me further than it being a form of entertainment, but those horror films and games that use the psychological and real life problems and twist them around the characters is really what sticks with me.
My biggest inspirations were the Silent Hill game series (1-3), which are some of my favorite games. The Silent Hill series use the characters and creatures to reflect something within the main character, which I’ve always found fascinating.

RV: Are computers and programs getting faster at creating 3d animations, and how long did it take and how many computers were needed to create and render Memoria?

EYA: Computers and programs are indeed getting faster, but faster making animations is debatable. With better technology come more complex and detailed standards, and living up to those always adds more and more time. So I don’t think they’ve become faster. Just more refined and detailed.
For the rendering and creation of Memoria we used primarily 8 computers (the members of my group were 8 people, and we used those computers). The rendering process itself took some weeks, as there’s always more than one pass at rendering. Sometimes changes need to be made within the 3D scenes themselves that then have to be rendered again. But most of the final look came through in the compositing process, as the rendering itself was only a base to be put together, then refined in compositing. The whole film took the better part of a year to make.

RV: After drawing character designs and storyboarding, what steps take place in the actual animation on computers?

EYA: The animation process was around three months out of roughly 9-10 months of production.
The first parts of animating is giving the animators the environment, props and characters that they need. The characters must be finished when the animators start working on them, as changes can nullify a whole lot of work in one short stroke. The environments must be blocked out, and the props need to be ready when the animators begin animating those shots, and voice acting should be put in place.
While the animators make their animations it’s possible to refine environments and even start making test renders to see how everything is being puzzled together. The animators began by roughly blocking out poses and positions and after that refining would take place, where any detailed movement or facial expressions would be animated. It’s a complex time as this is the time where the entire acting comes together.

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– copyright Simon Sandall