'Azur and Asmar: The Princes Quest' is out on DVD from 28 July!
This DVD is special because it in the extras you'll find Film Street activity sheets and a First Light Movies film made by children from Durham, called 'The Princess and the Pendant'!
'Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest' was made by a French animator and filmmaker called Michel Ocelot and the animation is so beautiful that every frame is a work of art!
As well as telling you what you need to know about the film, we have also found out how Michel makes his films so you can learn to make amazing animation too!
Once upon a time there were two children brought up by the same woman. Azur, a blond blue-eyed son of a nobleman and Asmar, the dark skinned and dark-eyed child of the nanny. Asmar's mother tells them lots of enchanting stories, as they grow up, but their favourite is about a Djinn fairy waiting to be set free from her prison by a good and heroic prince.
One dark day Azur’s father cruelly separates the two boys, he sends Azur to school in the city and banishes Asmar and his mother from his home. When Azur is an adult, he travels to a land far away and tracks down Asmar and his mother. Finally reunited, Azur and Asmar both decide to try and rescue the Djinn fairy from their favourite story......
Who is the Djinn fairy?
Will Azur or Asmar find her first?
You'll have to watch 'Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest' to find out!
Michel Ocelot's films are full of vivid colours and they look like they sparkle! The backgrounds are so intricate; each leaf on each tree is drawn in detail.
Tip: Michel gets his ideas for how his films will look from art books and the internet.
Michel makes the surfaces glow and sparkle by using different shades of each colour, he also thinks carefully about how he is going to draw different parts of the frames. For example costumes are flat and plain, hands and faces are detailed and jewels are drawn so that they look real!
Tip: Use different styles of drawing for different parts of your animation.
Michel draws a storyboard for every single frame of his animations so he can decide how he will position the characters. For example if he is showing somebody sword fighting he will draw him in profile (from the side) so that the audience we be able to see right away what the character is doing. When sword fighters are shown from the front their arms and swords disappear.
Tip: Storyboard your animations and think carefully about how you can position your characters so that the audience can see what they are doing.
Michel Ocelot has also made some films using paper cut-out characters, which are as beautiful and as detailed as his drawn work.
Here are some of his drawings of the charcters from his film 'Princes and Princesses'. You could use these to give you some ideas for your own cut out characters. You could use split pins to join the body parts together so you can move your characters when you animate them.
Prince template
Princess template
Prince and Princess template
Jewels and decorations
Keywords: Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest, animation, Michel Ocelot, Djinn fairy, creating animated characters, silhouette animation, story board
