***This article originally appeared in the November ’22 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 324)***
A young boy learns to face life’s darkest moments in Uri Lotan’s Black Slide, a memorable short that has received a lot of acclaim worldwide, including an Annecy Cristal nomination, a Cinekid honor, a British Animation Award and the top prize at Anima in Brussels. As Lotan tells us, the short was inspired by a sad chapter in the young director’s own life.
“Black Slide was inspired by a formative moment from my childhood, the passing of my mother,” he says. “It was an experience that shaped me and has been ingrained in my consciousness ever since. There was something unique to how it happened and It felt like it was time to get it out of my head and onto the screen.”
Lotan began thinking of the short four years ago when he was living in Vancouver. It was only after returning to Israel in 2017 when he teamed up with producer Amit Gicelter. “We initially focused on the script and art style, before moving onto storyboarding and editing,” he recalls. “We went into full CG production towards the end of 2019, which lasted around 14 months.”
The production predominantly involved creating 3D CG assets and animation in Maya. “The animation is inspired by a mix of stop-motion animation and children’s book illustrations,” says Lotan. “The tactile, palpable aesthetic of stop motion, juxtaposed with the naive, childlike charm of children’s book illustrations creates a striking contrast. The visual style feels mature and childish simultaneously, as if seeing the world from the perspective of a child who has a more adult understanding of life — much like our protagonist, Eviah, whose loss forces him to confront his fears and undergo an emotional transformation.”
According to the director, around 30 artists from all over the world worked on the project. “This diversity helped to shape the film and to add texture and a certain uniqueness,” he says. “For example, our supervising animator, Charles Larrieu, is French, and yet he had an unbelievable grasp of Israeli behavior and cultural mannerisms that really helped to shape our animation style.”
A Cathartic Cartoon
When asked about his animation heroes, Lotan mentions his good friend, animator Eran Hilleli. “He creates thought-provoking, emotionally engaging, visual films that are so beautiful and poetic. It’s a pleasure to know such a modest and unbelievably prolific artist who is so original,” he notes. “I also love Alan Holly’s work, his films are mesmerizing and transformative. His short film Coda was a huge inspiration for me, and really opened up the possibilities of what an animated short film could look like.”
As Black Slide makes its way around the world through various animation festivals, the Tel Aviv-based director says he has been very pleased with its impact. “Sometimes I hear viewers describe what the film is about in a way that’s much clearer and more impactful than how I’ve explained it through four years of production,” he admits. “That’s always extremely pleasing — and a little ironic, too. The most touching reactions are from viewers who have a personal connection to the story, particularly those who have lost a loved one, too. I could feel how much this film meant to them, the emotion they get from reliving their experience through Eviah’s is powerful and cathartic.”
A graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design who has directed episodes of Go! Go! Cory Carson! and worked on the movie The Nut Job, Lotan was introduced to CG animation by his older cousin. “He showed me 3ds Max at the age of 15,” he notes. “He took five long boxes, put them next to a big bulky box and smoothed it all out. It looked like a really horribly shaped human hand. I was blown away but not quite hooked yet! Then, a couple of years later, I really got into Pixar films. They were full of heart, spectacle and humor, and I loved that balance. I think that was when I knew I wanted to make animated films myself.”
As he looks back at the experience, Lotan says he is particularly pleased with how the vocal performances of Eviah and his friend Tsuf turned out. “Finding the right voice actors was a huge challenge,” he explains. “You’d be surprised with how many 50-year-old women auditioned for the role of a 12- year-old boy. Finding children who aren’t professional actors and yet can still deliver an appealing and credible performance was really tough, but once we found Ivri Shai and Rom Shemesh it was clear that they were our leads. These voice performances gave a really natural and believable base for our animators to build on. They took it to the next level, with micro-expressions, gestures and little details that make these two Israeli boys kids we all remember from our childhood.”
See more of Uri Lotan’s work at urilotan.com.
