There's a Battlefords connection to a popular animated feature film currently making its rounds at the cinemas.
Escape from Planet Earth is a Canadian-made entry in the popular genre of CGI-animated features, produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and distributed by the Weinstein Company.
One of those on the production was Dave Blais, a senior animator on the project who grew up in Battleford.
When speaking to the Regional Optimist Wednesday he said he knew early on that animation interested him.
"I sort of always knew because I was always drawing," said Blais.
Blais attended St. Vital School and later John Paul II Collegiate, and said of those school days that he "used to skateboard and draw all the time, get by in school."
Even during the hours after school, "as a hobby on the computer at home, I used to animate. I sort of just always knew I'd go into that."
After high school, Blais looked into educational opportunities and was able to do an online diploma in CGI animation through Animation Mentor, which specializes in 3D animation and VFX. After completing that, Blais put a portfolio together that he sent out to animation companies.
One of those went out to Rainmaker Entertainment, who hired Blais to work on Escape from Planet Earth.
Blais moved to Vancouver and worked on the film for two years - his first major project in animation.
"It's a very big team process. My role, I guess, as the animator was to take these ideas and make these characters act out a performance - maybe a joke or a dramatic scene."
The animation, CGI-based, is all done on computers, and the finished product was in 3D. That differs from the old days when animators used to draw by hand - but isn't too much different, Blais says.
"Animation is basically the same as 2D where you draw every picture, it's just all on the computers. Essentially you're making every individual image - 24 of those per second - to get your performance."
It's an intensive process requiring many animators and intensive work.
"It takes a lot of man hours to produce the footage," said Blais.
He said almost 30 animators were working on this particular film, which he described as quite small compared to other major pictures. The production he is working on now employs about 100 animators, Blais said.
That movie is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs II, produced by Sony Pictures, which is due out in wide release later this year.
Vancouver has been a major hub of work in the animation field, right up there with Los Angeles and other locales.
"In North America or even internationally it's one of the main centers," Blais said. "There's tons of studios - it's not too hard to find work."
CGI has produced some big hits from animation studios such as at Disney Pixar and Dreamworks Animation. Even so, Blais noted some studios are in a state of flux. He pointed as an example to the studio that recently won the Best Visual Effects Oscar for Life of Pi, Rhythm and Hues Studios, which has declared bankruptcy.
"The role CGI plays in movies is a little underappreciated," said Blais.
The movie Escape from Planet Earth is a major production with some major Hollywood talent involved as some of the voices. Those lending their vocals to the characters include Rob Corddry, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Ricky Gervais and William Shatner.
Cal Brunker directed the movie, which he co-wrote with Bob Barlen. It is based on a story by Tony Leech and Cory Edwards. According to the IMDB.com website, the plot revolves around astronaut Scorch Supernova who "finds himself caught in a trap when he responds to an SOS from a notoriously dangerous alien planet."
The final release was pushed back due to litigation involving the distributor - yet another example of the flux that studios often face. However, the finished product is finding an audience.
Since its release on Feb. 15, Escape from Planet Earth has made $35 million, which Blais describes as a "home run" for the small studio, which spent around $40 million on the production.
Escape from Planet Earth continues to earn money in theatres and is due to be screened in North Battleford at the Capitol starting Friday. It has also been running at the Galaxy in Saskatoon, which has been showing the full 3D version of the movie.
Blais had a chance to see the finished product alongside an audience full of kids, which he found gratifying.
"It was fun to see where they were laughing and all that," said Blais. "That's when it's really fun, when your shot comes up and people laugh - it's like being a standup comedian in a certain sense."
