"All About Area 51": A daring exploration in 3D stop motion

Aliens, a camper van and an unlikely quest

In All About Area 51, viewers are plunged into the funny, offbeat world of Gustave, a passionate conspiracy theorist on a quest to prove the existence of extraterrestrials. In his camper van, he crosses a scorching desert and ventures into the notorious Area 51. The journey takes him on a series of incredible adventures, including a missile in his bonnet, an immersion in the picturesque life of a nearby village, a wild party and, finally, a breathless chase with real aliens. His obsession leads him to a confrontation with the US Army, confronting the legend of the Roswell alien.

With tongue-in-cheek humour and an aesthetic inspired by 80s TV series, this short film skilfully blends satire, mystery and comedy.

A tribute to stop motion revisited in 3D

The uniqueness ofAll About Area 51 lies in its deceptive visual rendering. Students in their final year of CG Animation VFX at ESMA have taken up an ambitious challenge: to recreate in 3D the artisanal aspect of stop motion. Their aim? To confuse viewers by making them believe that the film was animated by hand, using dolls and models.

Realism in imperfection

To achieve this effect, the team incorporated the imperfections characteristic of traditional stop motion. The characters and sets, designed as if they had emerged from the workshop of an amateur model-maker, have traces of glue, visible nylon threads and irregular textures, reminiscent of modelling clay soiled by manual labour.

This stylistic choice is also in keeping with the film’s comic genre. Stop motion adds a cartoonish, colourful touch, reinforcing the humorous tone while offering an innovative technical approach.

Sophisticated technical choices for a unique look

Controlled animation and voluntary constraints

The students pushed the illusion to the limit by adopting stop motion techniques:

• Varied frame rates, such as 12 frames per second,to simulate the choppy movements of the hand-animated characters.
• Adjusted focal lengths to accentuate the sense of small scale, typical of miniature models and sets.
• Studio lighting, designed for deliberately artificial atmospheres, accentuating the idea of a constructed, unnatural world.

A retro 80s aesthetic

The world of the film, rooted in the 80s, allowed the team to play with strong visual references. The colour schemes, costumes and props plunge viewers into a nostalgic era, while offering a rich visual and narrative experience.

A talented and visionary team

The All About Area 51!project would not have been possible without the commitment and creativity of Camille Masset, Jérémie Lebuffe, Romain Kérinec, Marie Toussaint, Louis Grimm, Emeline Le Fèvre, Léa Tomasi and Marie Fugier. Their artistic daring and technical mastery are a testament to their great maturity.

They have mastered a complex cinematographic language, playing with the codes of animation and pushing back the limits of 3D rendering. This short film illustrates both their talent and their ability to innovate, while remaining in the tradition of the great animated films.

An acclaimed achievement

With All About Area 51! these ESMA students demonstrate that combining humour, technique and creativity can result in a daring and memorable work. This film, which is both a tribute to stop motion and a feat of 3D animation, reflects the richness of ESMA’s teaching and the passion of the talents trained here.

Bravo to the whole team for this artistic and technical adventure that questions, amuses and amazes!

Watch All About Area 51 on our Youtube channel:

ESMA Movies – YouTube