Template:BookThe Art of Frozen is an art book written by Charles Solomon. It features concept sketches and paintings, storyboards, and finished art alongside behind-the-scenes commentary from the animators, production artists, and writers.
Book Description
- In Walt Disney Animation Studios upcoming film, Frozen, the fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff—to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. The Art of Frozen features concept art from the making of the film—including character studies and sculpts, color scripts, storyboards, and more—alongside interviews with the film's artists about the making of this comedy-adventure.
Contents
The book contains four chapters:
- Coronation
- Wilderness
- Ice palace
- Return to Arendelle
It contains a preface from the executive producer, John Lasseter, and a foreword from the directors, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck. It also includes an introduction about the transition from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, The Snow Queen, to Frozen; this is expanded upon in the prologue, which describes how the film ultimately became a story about two sisters. Descriptions of the different characters and insight on their development are interspersed throughout the chapters.
Chapter 1: Coronation
The village featured in Frozen drew heavily upon the designs of the Norwegian village of Balestrand, particularly the asymmetrical placement of buildings.
Early in the production of the film, it was decided that Arendelle was to be based on Scandinavia. Chris Buck and John Lasseter both approached their good friend from CalArts, Michael Giamio, to take up the role of art director for the film and oversee the creation of a world with a "level of complexity and attention to detail from costume to character" that had never been done in a computer-generated film. Along with assistant art director, Lisa Keene, production designer David Womersley, and some other artists, Giamio visited California's Danish village of Solvang, where they learned that there were many Scandinavian cultures, each with their own specific traditions. Eventually, the film shifted its focus particularly on Norwegian architecture and culture.
Realizing that a search engine could only yield so many results, a group of artists went to Norway to do visual research for the film. The artists visited the Norwegian village of Balestrand, which would provide the primary inspiration for the structure of the village featured in the film, the chapel where Elsa was coronated, and various other architectural styles for the kingdom as a whole. The village is specifically based on the Norwegian "Dragonstil" style of architecture, a late nineteenth century blend of Victorian aesthetics with rustic Norwegian designs. The castle, on the other hand, drew inspiration from twelfth century Norwegian stave churches, featuring both a similar roof line and detailing.
The artists of Frozen utilized the Norwegian pattern style of rosemaling, which features intricate floral designs. Rosemaling is featured on both sets and character costumes.
Artists were particularly struck by the immense presence of rich patterning, textures, and shapes featured in Norway. One such source of patterning was rosemaling, Norwegian for "decorative painting". It is an intricate ornamentation style that arose from Eastern Norway in the mid-eighteenth century and was widely used by Disney artists to decorate both the costumes and sets. There was somewhat of a challenge in integrating such a level of detail into the film in a manner that did not overwhelm the viewers, and the artists worked tirelessly to ensure all the colors and patterns harmonized to produce a look that was "fresh and lively, but not too dense."
Anna
Anna]] is one of those characters that doesn't give up.We all need someone like her in our lives,someone Who's willing to stand beside you and make sacrifices for you,'Explains head of story paul Briggs.Her sister was born with a condition that's shaped a world Where Anna doesn't belong."Each of the lead characters presented special characters changes and opportunities for the artist.Anna is the emotional heart of the story.The challenge compared to </nowiki>Tangled,Where there the heroine had something supernatural to offer. She's a princess,and that really blue skirt says royalty,as does the magenta cape.But in Computer graphic,it helps anchor the saturation,so it doesn't float into the atmosphere,you can make cheats easily in a drawing.
Elsa
Elsa has matured into a beauty whose distant mien heightens her loveliness.Since she has a little girl,Elsa has been groomed for the day she would assume the throne.In contrast to the open,straightforward Anna,Elsa begins as a repressed character,forced to conceal who she really is.Elsa is interesting because she could be perceived as the villain,but she not,"Briggs continues.Elsa's afraid,and she needs someone help her,stand beside her.This story with two protagonist.The fun Elsa,acting wise,is you have a character that's been hiding things from her sister and the people in the Kingdom,"say head of animation Lino Disalvo."There's so much fun in the kingdom,as an animator,I'm not sure what else you could ask for."
Hans
Usually,the hero or heroine of a film undergoes a transformation:Aladdion goes from street rat to price;Cinderella begins as a de facto servant and ends up a pricecess.In Frozen,Hans goes from courtly charmer to power hungry villain.When he appears during the coronation sequence,Hans embodies courtly charm.His polished looks and manners immediately win Anna's attention."Hans is this handsomedashing character:You want the audience to fall in love with him and the relationship he could have with Anna.The biggest chanllenge designing Hans was make sure we covered all aspects of his personality while never fully tipping our hand to the audience.So Hans always want to with Anna together.
Costume design
The elaborate costumes on Elsa and Anna were enormous challenges on this film in order to sustain its appeal.We had dressed that trekked through deep snow,clothing that survived a chase and capes that endured a winter storm.All in the spirit main character and keeping the believability of how their costumes would react in the various circumstance.Hans costume design was inspired by the traditional Norwaigan short waisted male Bunad jacket.