Cyramza

STORYTELLING STYLE

Yves is a director known for simple, yet powerful storytelling. His work is often inspired by fables and folklore, which imbues his films with a moral depth that strikes a sweet, sensitive, emotionally-charged chord among viewers. In this film, the moral is woven in metaphor. It's a whimsical, poetic story about the importance of sequencing and the value & valor of the 'little guys.' The macro is nothing without the micro; when one gear is off, the whole system shuts down. Conversely, when individuals—seemingly small, insignificant characters on their own—come together to work as one, the amalgamation of their efforts & talents is telling.

"The idea was to create a poetic metaphor to illustrate the very complex topic and importance of Sequencing in gastric cancer. The main thread of the story was how a small interference can unsynchronise an entire universe, and vice versa how step by step changes can have a huge effect on the big picture."

-Yves Geleyn

ANIMATION STYLE

The mix of CG and 2D animation gives the film a unique quality that solidifies this universe as one that is well and truly its own. It's simultaneously fantastical, yet grounded in believability. The CG helps fuel the world-building with larger-than-life detail. And the 2D characters who manage it offer a hand-drawn quality and nostalgic eloquence. Combining traditional cel animation with CG effects ensured the universe that was ultimately created felt entirely original.  

"For me, technique is always here to serve the story. CGI was used to create a cinematic feeling to help our world feel as expansive as possible, and 2D animation helped create an illustrative painterly look for the characters, a technique that helped make our characters feel organic and even somewhat fragile. With the benefit of real lighting from the CG, rich matte paintings and painted textures throughout, we were able to marry these techniques together in an elegant way to create a rich & unique world."

-Yves Geleyn

INTENTIONAL DESIGN

In this film, Yves chooses a Solar System as the setting because of its parallels with the human body—both are beautiful, interconnected systems that we rely on, but that we don't fully understand. He then includes an orrery—a mechanical model of the Solar System—so that the viewer can see exactly how the system works. From here, there's a wide-sweeping tapestry of characters, each with carefully considered shapes and textures and design-oriented origin stories: there are the giant ethereal creatures inspired by the aureola boreales who spin the globes; the fiery sun keepers in the mould of tiny sparks of fire that form the sun when all together; the pointy-headed star keepers in the shape of stars who are responsible for lighting the path before the moon-carrier.

All of these development decisions circle back on themselves, creating a feedback loop and a final product that feels not just full-bodied and complete—but that possesses a gentle, thoughtful, intelligent tone that's synonymous with the sequencing message.

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