In the film “Coraline”, how many different facial expressions were created thanks to 3D printing?
The lead character Coraline alone had over 207,000 possible facial expressions. We didn’t print 207,000 different faces; we achieved this level of expressions by splitting the face into two parts, the upper brow and the lower mouth. The brow and mouth sections could then be replaced individually. How does this compare to other stop motion films in the past? As a comparison, Jack Skellington, the lead character in TheNightmare Before Christmas, had about 800 different facial expressions. Did the 3D printer save time in the film making process? Yes and No. Keep in mind, even though we could easily print a replacement face, each one still had to be sanded and hand painted. Over 12,000 faces were hand painted. On the other hand, before the advent of 3D printing, all facial expressions had to be hand sculpted. If we tried to do that on Coraline, it would have taken 6 sculptors over 4 years to complete. What 3D printers are the most effective on an animation project like “Coraline” and why?
