The YDA blog is back after its summer vacation. And what better way to kick of the new term than with a thoroughly awesome and talented filmmaker? Motion design student, Mareike Ottrand, caught our eye with a film that combines Genesis with retro 8-bit gaming in a way we never thought possible. As well as creating awesome animations, Mareike is also working on several interactive projects which we thought was pretty cool too.
Sum up Supernatural Creator 2 for us…History of creation reloaded! It’s a short idea about how genesis could have happened if good ol’ Mr. God hadn’t been so tolerant with the very curious human species. 7 days – 7 levels! It starts with the creation of light, the firmament, the earth and the sea. On first impression, it seems that that story is very similar to the holy bible, except that God makes the stars & asterisks with a spaceship. But by the end it’s another story altogether…
And what about you?
I was born in Lemgo, Germany where I studied media production with focus on design. After graduating from my BA I decided to continue studying ‘Motion Design’ at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. Currently I’m living in London and working as an Illustrator and Motion Designer while continuing with my diploma. I love working with my hands and my heart, and I try to give projects a personal touch and a unique feeling.
How did the idea for Supernatural Creator 2 come about? What inspired the retro gaming approach?
The idea of Supernatural Creator 2 came during a 4-day workshop at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy. It was a workshop supervised by Prof. Heike Sperling and Prof. Matthias Raue. The aim was to connect the departments Film Music and Motion Design.
I worked with my workshop partner Daniel Brenner on an idea. Our starting point was: 1. Let’s do something we always wanted to do. 2. Let’s mix things that don’t fit. And at least: 3. Let’s tell a story.
We started brainstorming ideas and experimented with mixing different topics and ended up with the ‘the biblical story of creation’ and the audio and visual appearance of an 8-bit video game.
A still from Mareike’s interactive game project, Inner World
I see that you’ve also been involved in interactive projects and games – what sort of interactive projects have you worked on, what sort of work do you do on them?
Yes, since I met my partner in crime Sebastian Mittag I’m very into interactive stuff. Now we are working on an iPhone game, called “Cannoneer” and our diploma-project “The Inner World”. The later one will be a classic click and point adventure with a lot of lovely creatures, humorous riddles and a good background story. We now have a team of about 15 people. My role is Art Director and Character Designer of this game.
What inspires you?
Almost everything can be inspiring. A word, a movement. a photography, a movie, a stone, the structure of a carpet. It’s important to use the inspiration and put it into a new idea. The inspiration for a poster should never come from a poster as well.
Are you still at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy, why did you study Motion Design?
I am still a student and will graduate in March. You need such a place to get in touch with talented and interesting people. That is the most important thing, to have inspiring people around, who you can work with every day. Motion Design allows you to use your general design skills and expand them with motion, animation, music and sound. The Film Academy is the perfect, because in all these fields you will find talents and expertise among the students working around you.
Which of your motion or interactive projects are you proudest of and why?
Of course I´m proud of Supernatural Creator 2 in terms of Vimeo views! But I think my personal most important project will be my diploma, which was a big challenge, because it is my first big project and as a “head of” it’s very demanding to manage many people in the art department.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
I´d like to achieve creative freedom in the things I do for a living. Ideally I’d move to the countryside, have a beautiful house and a husband, plenty of children and a cat. Or a dog. To be honest, I’m not sure what I prefer. Maybe both. Or maybe just a goldfish. And I gonna do all those amazing things artists usually do.
Check out more of Mareike’s work at http://www.ottrand.com/
