MILA Teaser Trailer - A Beautiful Punch To The Gut

Hey check out this powerful teaser trailer for Cinzia Angelini’s Mila. It’s is beautiful punch to the gut that tells the story of the children who suffered as a result of World War II. Angelini brings the story of her grandmother and mother to the spotlight by embedding them in a little girl, Mila.

Angelini is an accomplished animator and visual effects artist who worked on such films as “Prince of Egypt”, “Eldorado”, “Spirit” and “Sinbad” (Dreamworks), “Spider-man 2” (“Best Visual Effects” Oscar Winner, 2004) and “Open Season” (Sony Imageworks), “Meet the Robinsons” and “Bolt” (Walt Disney Animation Studios).    

“MILA” is a CG animated short that presents the most tragic collateral damage of War – civilians, as its theme. Though often overlooked and rarely mentioned by the media, civilians are the first to be hit, and the last to be remembered.

Inspired by true stories that my mother and grandmother told me growing up, “Mila” is about a little girl caught in the middle of War.

Whether they experienced such tragedy first hand, grew up hearing the stories from relatives, elders or friends (as I did), or simply turned on the news – the story draws in both young, and adult viewers. The tragedy of War unfortunately did not end with the children of World War II. Even today, children continue to suffer from the ravages of conflict in many places around the world. It is their current plight that moves me.

What I envision as the look of this short is best described as “painterly rendering.” After extensive research, it is clear that the look of CG can be pushed in a new direction. It’s possible to create CG painterly characters, in a painterly environment, with matching effects and lighting. While this involves a great amount of R&D, the promising result can be seen in the teaser. Non Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) offers exciting, new opportunities in expression. I believe that an animated short on the unspoken casualties of War is a great opportunity to send a strong, meaningful, and artistic message.

In the field of animation for the last eighteen years, Cinzia Angelini worked as an animator in productions involving traditional as well as computer animation. She worked on feature films such as “Balto” (Amblimation), “Prince of Egypt”, “Eldorado”, “Spirit” and “Sinbad” (Dreamworks), “Spider-man 2” (“Best Visual Effects” Oscar Winner, 2004) and “Open Season” (Sony Imageworks), “Meet the Robinsons” and “Bolt” (Walt Disney Animation Studios). Cinzia recently worked for Duncan Studio on the “How to Train your Dragon” DVD Special. She is also working on two animated shorts, “Mila” and “Rhinos”, and illustrating Children’s books.

Cinzia lives in L.A. with her husband William, their daughter Sofia and their most recent arrival, Jacques.

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