Interviews Movies

Animating Magic: An Interview with Hotel Transylvania 3’s VFX Supervisor Mike Ford

Remember when you were younger and life was full of new adventures? Remember the days of just enjoying your family, having fun playing games and the promise of a new day? As we get older, those days of pure bliss are quickly replaced by the mundane tasks of everyday life. The daily routines of parenthood, the never-ending cycle of office life and the blandness of marriage. Soon you’ll find yourself stuck. This is where we meet the infamous family of Hotel Transylvania. Stuck in the daily struggle of life, they are in desperate need of family time, rest and relaxation. What better way to recharge those batteries than during a family summer vacation (via your local Gremlins Airline) to the Bermuda Triangle and an exotic land full of surprises.

One of the most enjoyable elements of Summer Vacation is the animation. Similar to the previous installments, Tartakovsky describes it as “push” style of animation that’s filled with exaggerated vision, with sight gags and funny cartoonish expressions. The characters are filled with an array of emotions that can go to the extreme but also can become very humanistic looking. It’s apparent that in Summer Vacation, the animators really pushed themselves to create a more vibrant and emotional film that one shouldn’t miss.

Helping to bring everyone to life is Michael Ford, the VFX Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks, currently supervising Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation 3 for Sony Pictures Animation.

Ford and his team has created an adventure unlike any other filled with comedy, love, mystery and of course family.

The Koalition spoke to Ford about what fans can expect from the latest installment, the process of animating a film of this scope and how Hotel Transylvania 3 is ahead of the animation curve.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation releases on July 13th.

Check out our interview below.