Ice Nine Studios, a student developed production studio, has started work on their first project, a 3D animation called Allice.
Allice, according to Collin Belt ‘15 and Matt Grim ’16, is similar to Pixar’s Wall-E. In an apocalyptic ice age where nothing can unfreeze the planet, a robot, Allice, has been sent to do the impossible: thaw the ice. Allice, who Belt described as a “determined robot,” like anyone on a mission, faces her share of challenges and obstacles while attempting to melt the ice nine. After a while, however, she meets a ‘child-like’ robot named Delta and then, Belt says, “She sort of learns how to develop her own purpose after meeting this friend she didn’t know she wanted.”
The inspiration for the name of the studio came from Allice because this is the studio’s first production. Ice Nine Studios team is made up of Houghton students Hosanna Gifford ’16, Grim, and Belt. Each student places a different role on the team, making the project a collaboration each of their different talents and skills.
The idea for a studio started with Grim, who designs both the sound and music for Allice. He first had the idea of creating a studio with friends to produce portfolio pieces for future job experience. This thought became a reality when both Belt and Grim decided to form Ice Nine Studios. Grim said, “It was originally conceived as a way for us to work together and create great art, and it just kind of escalated from there.”
The film however, which is being used for Professor Madison Murphy’s class, Media Arts: Advanced Projects, started long before the class with a significant amount of pre-production from the team. Part of this pre-production included forming the team that now makes up the studio. After decided to form a studio, Belt, who does the animation of the production, and Grim contacted Gifford about writing the script for Allice. According to Gifford, the production has been based on collaborative, with everyone contributing equally to the film, “Honestly, I don’t feel very much as far as writing just because we work together.” This, Murphy said, will work in their favor, “They have the kind of relationship that if they want to go to work at a distance on projects together, that could happen.”
According to Gifford the process can be difficult at times because they’re all still learning and said, “It’s definitely a labor of love because we don’t know what’s going on all the time. So it’s a matter of trying to do the best we can with what we know, and figuring out what to do with what we don’t know.” Murphy, however, has been assisting the team with the production process starting last semester by providing critiques and assisting the team where she can, “Really my role has been giving them framework, insight, and lots and lots of critique, like ‘yes this is working, no this isn’t working, and have you thought about this? This is going to be a problem for you later on.’”
Murphy, while providing lots of critique, is also extremely optimistic about the future of Ice Nine Studios, “I think they’re going to be hugely successful if they keep up at this pace.” Murphy said she sees Allice going far beyond just being a project for the class and is also helping the team prepare for that as well, “As I watch them go through the steps I can notice ‘oh that might be a problem for you later on, why don’t you start thinking about it now’”? One of the largest preparations for the final production of the film, which Murphy says won’t take place until about April or March, will be rendering. Rendering is the process of building output files from computer animations, or the process of taking something from a computer and putting it on a screen. In this process there are many things that can go wrong causing for delays in deadlines and many other problems. To prepare for the rendering the team has been doing rendering tests to prevent such problems from arising.
According to Grim, the reaction to Allice has been positivity and support, so much so that they want Ice Nine Studios to carry on after they leave Houghton, “With all the press that Allice has been getting and the great response from everybody in general, the way things are going we’re looking into the possibility of making Ice Nine Studios an actual, ligament arts studio after we graduate.”
Murphy is looking forward to seeing what comes of Ice Nine Studios and it’s team saying, “They’re all exceptional people, and I’m excited.”