Happy New year! by Animator Leonardo Sala

Animator and illustrator Leonardo Sala creates innovative animations and web games.

Having graduated from IED in Milan with a degree in illustration, Leonardo's art has evolved over the years, covering 3D animation, interactive projects and now composing tunes in Acid Pro. Leo takes complete creative control over any aspect of a project and reveals to us his technique

Interview with Leonard Sala

Iain: How did you create this animation and what software did you use?

Leonardo: The animation was created with Blender on an Ubuntu desktop pc. The idea was to create a New Year card for self-promotion. I didn't have much time to develop anything complicated, so I designed some simple but effective 2D characters to animate them with the bone system in Blender. Then I asked my friend Fabrizio Enea to perform the sound effects only with his voice. The result is a 2.5D like animation, very cute I think.

Happy New Year Animation Film

Iain: Where do you get your inspiration for animated characters?

Leonardo: Ah, I don't really know! I think that growing up watching the Pink Panther, Mr. Magoo, the cartoons from Eastern Europe and Bruno Bozzetto had some influence to my style. I just like to design very simple but expressive characters.

Iain: Do you draw storyboards before you create special effects?

Leonardo: Yes, the storyboard is a must. Usually I draw the storyboard straight in Flash. This way I can immediately test the timing of the flow of the action.

Iain: Do you have any projects that you are developing at the moment?

Leonardo: I have a lot of plots and ideas in my drawer, but everyday work and life leaves me little time to develop any personal projects, but I'm planning to release a new episode of my Mannequin series (storyboard ready).

Iain: What is it that you would like to do in the future?

Leonardo: I'm a multi-discipline-media guy, so I really like to develop any project that lets my creativity fly; be it an animation, illustration or interactive project. On the animation side, I would like to further develop some other animations with the same characters you've seen in Happy New Year, in Mikrobitus and in the Mannequin.

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