Strange Alloy

Independent Filmmaker Imagines A World After Humankind in this Vivid Animated Short

Following our coverage of indie filmmaker and conceptual artist Loïc Bramoullé‘s last film, it is clear that his work has progressed to new heights, with detailed, vivid animation becoming his signature. Loïc’s latest work, entitled Strange Alloy is a short film set after the fall of humankind, following a curious character who’s goal is to study the Earth’s history. Inspired by his recent trip to Myanmar, the film blends photography and animation. “It was really nice to finally create a project mixing the pictures I take while traveling, and the virtual worlds I like to create.” he remarks.

Strange Alloy’s universe is not post apocalyptic in fact, humanity is just a part of a great dance of life in the universe, and we will eventually fade, as any other living thing.

For Bramoullé, the attention to detail in his art adds a new dimension. “I’ve always enjoyed creating worlds and trying to tell a story by doing so.” He reveals. And it’s clear, such a high level of detail can only be achieved when working with a strong team, as he adds that “the temptation of launching a film project was always there for me, but my friends motivated me to do it and helped with the production.”

We spoke with the artist behind the creations to find out more about Strange Alloy.

The Plus: We interviewed you a while back about your last film, which followed a space cat named Hob. How would you say you have progressed since then?
Loïc Bramoullé: When I began working on Hob, I was at the very start of my concept artist career, my vision of realistic imagery wasn’t mature at all, and I was just starting to design more cartoony characters and environments. The first film gave me a very good opportunity to develop many different skills.

TP: What made you decide to create Strange Alloy?
LB: I visited Myanmar, and each time I travel I have this urge to capture reality and transform it. I felt this was the time to build a real project.

TP: Strange Alloy seems to be set in a post-apocalyptic world, what made you decide to set your story during this time?
LB: When I was working on the story and the speech, I was passionately studying the side of the cold war we don’t learn at school. All those grim stories made me feel that we are ultimately governed by our primitive survival instincts, and these patterns can be found in our global geostrategic movements.

In this film I just imagined that humanity had faded out at a particular time and for particular reasons, and that another species that made it further, has launched an archaeology mission on earth.

TP: Talk us through the creative process for the film, and how long did it take to create? 

LB: As the film was a lot less ambitions than Space Cat Hob, we only needed a small team, with a core production time of two and half months. I already had the animated storyboard and the character finished when we started the production, so I could focus on designing the pipeline. I was supervising the animation at the same time, so like hob I had to juggle between roles, but everybody did an amazing job so we didn’t have any problems during the production.

TP: What is your favourite topic to make films about?
LB: Cats! No, maybe the future. I like trying to imagine how it will be and integrating as many realistic constraints as possible while trying to build something stylized and entertaining. And ultimately, I try to create very different and amazing worlds to our boring one.

TP: Why do you choose to use animal-like characters in your films rather than humans?
LB: I think it’s easier to play with a fantastic creature, as nobody has any expectations about what it is supposed to look and act like. It’s stranger, less evocative and although there is more work to do on the design of all of it’s features, it’s more open to creativity.

The Making-of: