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OGDEN: What inspired you to create a full-length feature film?

Marc Adler: Jason and I have always dreamt about making a feature film. We first met about ten years ago at Fathom Studio's parent company, Macquarium, which began as a broadcast post-production facility with the hopes of one day developing original content for the silver screen. Then, when the Internet was adopted by the masses, we were excited by its capabilities and explored opportunities in cyberspace, eventually growing Macquarium into one of the largest interactive agencies in the country.

However, we didn't want to let go of our movie aspirations, so we created Fathom Studios as the entertainment division of Macquarium – developing animation for the Internet, television, and video. Once the technology made it possible to independently fund and produce our own feature, that was all the inspiration we needed.

OGDEN: What do you feel is the heart of the story, and what inspired it?

Jason Maurer: At its heart, Delgo is a romance and coming of age story. It's really about young people figuring out who they are, who they want to be and what they want their world to become. The story's inspiration came from so many places. We had several writers on the project and each of them brought their own ideas to the characters and story. Ultimately, we wanted to create an engaging story and tell it in a fun way through humor and adventure, while carrying an important message of cultural unity. We felt CGI animation was the best medium to accomplish this.

OGDEN: What influences do you feel affected the look of the film and the design of the characters?

Jason Maurer: Movies like The Dark Crystal and Neverending Story had a major impact on me when I was young. I loved the idea of creating something completely original; designing an entirely new world and the civilizations that go with it. Mark Jackson, one of our art directors, was able to work with us to see that vision through.

OGDEN: How do you go about designing the look of the film and the characters?

Jason Maurer: It's been an interesting process. In the beginning, we started with reference. We did a lot of research looking at different species, environments, and cultures. We visited zoos, aquariums, and natural history museums to study different textures of plants and animals.

Most designs were from Mark Jackson's interpretation of the script. We had a lot to communicate about these two peoples and we wanted our visuals to help tell that story. Since the Nohrin are an aristocratic people who have wings and live in castles in the sky, Mark gave them long, lean bodies and light pastel-colored costumes that were very ornate in design. We'd initially played around with feathered wings for the Nohrin, but one day Mark tried something with translucent dragonfly-like wings. We loved the beautiful effect this created in lighting, so we immediately fashioned all of their wings that way.

For the Lockni people, they share a deep and magical connection to the land, so he designed them to have to have slightly rougher features. Their clothes are earth-tones with simple patterns, made from leather and other natural fabrics. Their homes are small tribal villages in contrast to the Nohrin's sweeping castles.

We also wanted to explore a different sort of color pallete than what is seen in a lot of animated films. We wanted every shot to be rich and colorful, very vibrant and dramatic, and have a fresh look of stylized realism so we looked at paintings from artists like Maxfield Parrish and Richard Dean for inspiration.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A SEQUENCE OF IMAGES SHOWING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ROOM FROM DESIGN THROUGH FINAL PRODUCTION.

OGDEN: How much do you depend on storyboards?

Jason Maurer: For original drafts of the script, our storyboard artist boarded every shot in the film. We used this in early animatics to test the pacing and story-telling and relied on them for the early shaping of shots and layout. Of course, changes always occur in the script. Sometimes despite all the planning, the action just isn't working, or a scene requires rewrites, or actors ad-lib great (but unplanned) dialogue. All of this can change the timing and sequencing of shots.

When those things happen, it isn't always pratical to reboard the entire scenes. So, depending on the situation, we may just scribble rough thumbnails of a shot, then just make the changes directly in Maya where we do layout and blocking.

OGDEN: What are the benefits of producing a film like this outside the traditional Hollywood studio system? What are the drawbacks?

Marc Adler: We’ve found the biggest benefit to being independent is having the autonomy and control over the project to fully realize our vision. Most of the drawbacks come from things beyond our control.

Casting was one of these challenges. Not being a major studio, we needed to get through the agents, managers, and lawyers and really grab the desired actors' attention. We did this by creating a mock trailer, which is what you see on the Delgo.com site, animating selected shots from the film to voice talent from here in Atlanta. We sent the trailer, along with a visual treatment, a one sheet and other collateral to help the actors visualize this new world brought to life. It worked! Before long, they read the script and came on board.

OGDEN: Why did you pick Atlanta as a base of operations?

Jason Maurer: Our parent company, Macquarium Intelligent Communications, is here and we are able to leverage their vast resources to create a better product. Atlanta's also a terrific city with a lot of creative talent, great weather, and a large technology infrastructure. We’re fortunate that we can produce our movie here; we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

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