The Malta-produced animated short film Qrempuċu, based on the main character in Trevor Żahra’s 1985 book Qrempuċu f’Belt il-Ġobon, was released last Wednesday and is being screened alongside Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur. Paula Fleri-Soler speaks to brothers Mark and Nicholas Caruana, its creators, to find out more.
The brains behind the animated short Qrempuċu, Mark, 27, and Nicholas Caruana, 25, hail from Marsascala. Nicholas studied Art and Design and, from an early age, he started to develop an interest in computer animation, going on to work as a 3D artist while also participating in various Gnomon Workshop and Digital Tutor competitions.
Mark went into a completely different field and studied Economics. However, Mark was also interested in music and movie-making from a very young age. “Somehow, I always viewed my artistic side as something I could only express as a hobby,” he says. “Then, one day, when the opportunity arose for us to actually make a movie, I decided I should take the plunge and give it a go.”
That movie was Qrempuċu. Nicholas recalls he was once discussing ideas with a friend, who mentioned a children’s story written by acclaimed Maltese writer Trevor Żahra and how it had the potential to be developed into a motion picture because of its great story and interesting characters.
“I was intrigued,” says Nicholas. “And I immediately started doing tests and research to see if this was even feasible, creating some concept designs and the actual CG characters.
Mark adds that, at the time, he hardly knew anything about it. “I remember I used to return home from work and sit next to Nicholas, to see what he was doing, out of curiosity. It dawned on us that this was something that could actually take form. This was in 2011 and we decided we were going to take this seriously. A year later we started to work on the animated film.”
The plan was always to turn Qrempuċu f’Belt il-Ġobon into a full-length, 3D movie. In 2013 the brothers proposed this with the Malta Film Commission, who showed plenty of interest and support from the outset. “Ultimately, we decided we should start with a short film, as a sort of introduction to the character of Qrempuċu,” says Mark. “This served as a stepping stone to the release of the actual full length-feature that is currently in the production stage, and that will require a few more years to be completed.”
The demands of a project of this magnitude meant the Caruanas had to work full time on it
The brothers secured funding from the 2013 Malta Film Fund and were good to go, before launching into as brief as possible a description of the process.
“First, we adapted the book and developed a script. Then, the concept designs were created, in order to be able to create the characters and their environments. Storyboards were then sketched, shot by shot, turning the script into something visual. The actual characters and environments were created, down to the last detail.
“And then there was the rigging, where each character is given a structure or skeleton with joints, which allows it to move. Then, finally, the cameras could start rolling. We brought in human actors to act out almost every single movement that takes place in the film. That movement was then captured and transferred to the CG characters. This was followed by voice recordings, sound effects, visual effects, rendering, editing, composing and recording the soundtrack.”
Clearly, the demands of a project of this magnitude meant the Caruanas had to work full time on it. “If we were to spend less time on it, then it would only have taken us a couple more decades to complete,” says Mark.
And what does the author of the source book think of this? The brothers are very happy to report that Żahra has always been very supportive of the venture, although the boys recall that the author later admitted that he accepted the proposal a tad half-heartedly when they first approached him.
Żahra changed his mind, however, when he saw their first sketches, and could not believe his eyes when he saw the first few complete shots, so impressed was he by their work.
Having Qrempuċu screened alongside what is potentially one of the biggest films of the Christmas season, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, is quite a coup. “It was KRS Releasings’ idea,” says Mark. “We got in touch with them and presented the short. When they saw it, we could tell they really liked it. KRS proved to be completely supportive of these two, crazy Maltese producers and it was their idea that the short film should be screened with The Good Dinosaur.
Qrempuċu is currently in cinemas, while Qrempuċu f’Belt il-Ġobon will be reprinted by Merlin Publishers in January, in conjunction with its 30th anniversary and the film’s release. The reprint will include illustrations from the full-length feature.