Swing into another dimension: the making of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

Abstract

This production session will explore the art and innovation behind the creation of the Academy Award®-winning "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." The filmmaking team behind the first-ever animated Spider-Man feature film took significant risks to develop an all-new visual style inspired by the graphic look of comic books. The hand of the artist is visible in every frame, including misalignments and bleeding colors, imperfections rarely seen in CG animation. The entire look of the film was driven by artists' intentions, in which design and style was more important than accuracy or realism. The presentation will delve into the new technology developed and the changes to both the pipeline and workflow required to accommodate working in this new visual style. Every department at Sony Pictures Imageworks was asked to reconsider what it means to make an animated feature in the spirit of this revolutionary comic book style and to bring something new to the look of the film. Various new techniques were developed including the rigging and animating of facial line work, 2D hand-drawn effects and stylized rendering.