‘Undone’ Featurette: Go Behind The Scenes Of The Mind-Bending Rotoscope Animation Process
By Ethan Anderton/Sept. 6, 2019 3:30 pm EST
Undone is a psychological drama following Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel) as a young, depressed woman (Rosa Salazar of Alita: Battle Angel) whose life is irreversibly and wildly changed after a car accident gives her a newfound ability to shift through time. If that sounds trippy, just wait until you watch the Undone featurette that shows off the impressive rotoscope animation process that brings the show to life.
Undone Featurette
For those who don’t know, rotoscope animation is created by tracing and painting over live-action footage that was shot with a real camera. This method has been used with films like A Scanner Darkly, but with Undone, it’s being used with a variety of other tools to create a visually stunning, mind-bending experience.
The unique look of the animation can be credited to Hisko Hulsing (Montage of Heck) and Amsterdam-based animation studio Submarine. The rotoscope animation specifically is being handled by the same crew that made A Scanner Darkly by way of the Austin-based Minnow Mountain and co-producer Craig Staggs.
The Undone featurette shows how performances for the series are shot in a minimalist space without fully realized set. Instead, the sets are created as digital 3D paintings that are combined with footage of the actors. This allows for seamless and easy manipulation of the environments for some of the more surreal and otherworldly sequences that might otherwise cost significantly more to create if the movie was your average live-action project.
Undone also stars Bob Odenkirk, Angelique Cabral, Constance Marie, Siddarth Dhananjay and Daveed Diggs with John Corbett, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Nicholas Gonzalez, Sheila Vand and Tyler Posey appearing as guest stars.
