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Hornet’s Emmanuelle & Julien Release ‘My Dear Gnome’ Short

Humorous tale strikes a balance between realistic but still-cartoonish CG animation featuring detailed set design and ambient lighting, and a saturated, springtime palette.

Produced through Hornet and Fieldtrip partners ChezEddy, the satirical short film My Dear Gnome brings a fresh take to sophisticated yet simple comedy, and encompases all the charm and wit of productions that director duo Emmanuelle & Julien are known for.

The camera opens to a picturesque French garden where the two heros - a mischievous lawn deer and an optimistic garden gnome - are settling down for a game of checkers.

“We created an entire universe for this film. Even the flamingo (Eugene) in the background has a story,” commented Emmanuelle. “Ultimately, we decided to keep it very simple with minimal animation and just tell the funny story of two friends who are trying to play a board game together.”

The humorous tale strikes the right balance of realistic but still cartoonish CG, with a slightly mature point of view that remains elegant enough for an older audience. Detailed set design, ambient lighting and a saturated, springtime palette add to the playful nature throughout the film and augment the spirit of the characters.

“We had a great time working on this project,” commented Julien, ”and creatively planning the camera movement, timing and set design was important for the comedic delivery. That, along with Emmanuelle’s incredible character design, made this a really successful experience for us.”

Don’t be alarmed if you’re looking for more front yard tomfoolery - the duo have talked about creating a series that explores the adventures of all the characters in the garden.

Source: Hornet

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.