Making Of,Meet the Team

A Trip to the Dunes

17 February, 2015 |  10 Comments | Gallery | by Andy

Hey there!

Last sunday I decided to take our crew on a little field trip to the sand dunes of the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park, a beautiful area on the coast west of Amsterdam. We needed to gather some references for the island at the beginning of the movie, as well as textures for the environment. So me, Antonis, Lukas, and Manu took the train from Amsterdam to Santpoort-Noord, where we then went on a 2-hour trip through the national park towards the beach. We even tied a network cable from the Blender Institute to a branch and filmed some reference for the shots where Franck is dragging a branch through the long grass (you might be familiar with this if you’ve been following the weekly meetings).

Here are some of the photos we took and the branch reference video:

 


10 Responses

  1. Mr Bleu says:

    Oh nice trip.
    QUESTION : where are gonna gofor reference for the pink luxuriant forest?

    • Charlie Ringström says:

      Haha, good question!

    • Elysia Brenner says:

      LOL, good question indeed! Luckily Sarah has the colorful jungles of Costa Rica in her head…where they can blend with extra color madness. :-P

    • charlesprogrammr says:

      I’d like to suggest using an infrared modified camera, I’ve seen some strange pink tree photos from cameras so modified.

  2. S J Bennett says:

    Beautiful countryside here. The “Sintel” shot with Antonis looks like something out of a Tarkovsky long take.

  3. erick says:

    Antony is the type of person that want to get the job done as fast as possible ;)
    I believe this was kind fun experience :)

  4. BMF says:

    I live in Florida, USA where everything is green year round with palm trees, orchids, and tropical plants in my yard. It’s warm sunny days even in winter. And enjoying eating crab boil shrimp on the deck of my favorite café overlooking the Gulf of Mexico with a glass of Pinot Grigio all year.

    While Zuid-Kennemerland looks like a beautiful scene, the fact that everyone is dressed in cold weather gear reminds me to avoid the park this time of year.

    I used to live in North Dakota where the winters were severe (often below zero with a constant 40-50 MPH wind), the blowing ice crystals would sand blast your exposed skin, the wind chill factor was way below zero, and even during the several days of summer the grasshopper infestation would require me to use my windshield wipers to see the road. Also during the several days of summer, the mosquitos would eat you alive. I hated North Dakota, but the people who grew up in that environment were unfamiliar with the more comfortable places to live. Yes, Florida has mosquitos, but nothing like North Dakota and Alaska. Go figure.

    Thanks for the beautiful pictures. I’ve visited the Netherlands many times on business. I love your food, people, culture (except the politics and I don’t like my politics either), traditions, and I will never forget the courage of your people during World War II. Many allied airmen made their way back to safety with the help of the Dutch people and the Dutch people did their best to support the war effort in whatever ways the could. Thanks for all of that. Those of us here in the US that remember our history will never forget those who supported us in WW II. The Dutch were among the best.

    By the way, I know Holland is region of the Netherlands along the Atlantic coast, but I grew up in the USA where the Netherlands were called Holland. When I see or hear “Holland” it produces many beautiful images in my mind. Not so much with “Netherlands.” I’d be interested in what the Dutch think about the difference between Holland and the Netherlands. I’ve read where some feel that referring to the Netherlands as Holland is disrespectful. But to me it is like referring to the United States as America (i.e., Amerigo Vespucci in the 1450’s). The historical connotation is distinctly different, but the modern acceptance isn’t. I’m 70 years old now, and I still prefer Holland, but I also don’t want to be disrespectful to the Dutch when I’m visiting.

    Just curious.

    BMF

    • Elysia Brenner says:

      Hey BMF, thanks for sharing your insights and experiences! Indeed, the US is a giant country with vast climate differences within it. The Netherlands is much smaller, but there are still historic separations.

      Holland is technically just the two provinces Noord-Holland (home to Amsterdam) and Zuid-Holland (where you’ll find Rotterdam and The Hague). A couple other provinces, like Utrecht, might be lumped into “Holland” without objection, but many people in the south (Limburg, Noord-Brabant, etc., which sometimes have more in common with Belgium than Holland) or north (especially Friesland, which even has its own language) feel strongly about the differences between their cultures and “Holland” and so might resent being lumped together with the most internationally famous areas. So, a better analogy would be that many people here think all Americans are “Yankees” (a term with a Dutch origin, btw!), but someone actually from the southern US might not like being classified that way. Hope that helps clarify!

      • scruffybearx says:

        …And by the way….Let’s not forget…New York was once called New Amsterdam and Brooklyn …Brueklyn (sp?) by the Dutch Colonials who settled there first!

  5. Karlis says:

    Nice to see you guys enjoying nature at last. :)

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