As is now abundantly evident, both the production and the inspiration behind Lumon is Listening is notably old-school – akin to the show’s own midcentury, retro aesthetic influence – something which was purposeful from the project’s get-go. “The goal from the beginning was to do the entire production as authentically as possible,” using in-camera techniques, styles and movements that were commonplace in the 60s and 70s. “What I didn’t anticipate was that our amazing VFX artists would see the wires and immediately think they were supposed to be erased,” Michael says, surprised to see the first shot back from VFX with all the wires and rigs removed. “I had to call and say ‘put ‘em back!’” he adds. “Afterwards, I was careful to include a note about what we wanted to keep and what to remove.”
In keeping with the retro quality of the production, aesthetically and practically, Michael recalls the theory behind the puppet’s dirty fingers, which are seen getting dirtier as the film goes on. “Ben mentioned how the puppets in the classic Rankin/Bass films often had dirty fingers,” he explains, “which was caused by the animators of the time working quickly and not always cleaning the puppets between shots,” accumulating more and more grime the more they were animated. “Ben asked if we could add this detail, which I love,” Michael tenderly notes, “because it’s a shout-out to those incredible animators of yesteryear whose hard work inspired so many young people to pursue animation,” he ends, “myself included.”
Leave a Reply