“Brendan and the secret of Kells” on Asifa Italia website
Published December 13, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a CommentE’ finalmente online il trailer del film d’animazione “Brendan and the secret of Kells”, lungometraggio 2d coprodotto da Cartoon Saloon (Irlanda), Les Armateurs (Francia) e ViviFilm (Belgio), che vedra’ la luce per la prima volta nelle sale cinematografiche a Parigi, l’11 febbraio 2009.
Per il momento il trailer e’ disponibile in francese, distribuito da Gebeka, mentre il trailer originale in inglese distribuito da Disney/Buena Vista sara’ online nei prossimi giorni.

IX secolo. Brendan, un ragazzo di dodici anni, cresce circondato da monaci nell’abbazia fortificata di Kells, sotto la tutela di suo zio, Abbott Cellach, un uomo severo e autoritario che lo educa con grande rigore, confidando nel fatto che un giorno potra’ seguire i suoi stessi passi.
Ma ben presto la monotona vita del giovane Brendan viene sconvolta dall’arrivo di Brother Aidan, un anziano maestro illuminato che gli mostra la bellezza dell’arte e stimola la sua creativita’ attraverso le pagine dello straordinario, ma non ancora completo, Libro di Kells.
La minaccia di una terribile invasione vichinga e’ imminente, tuttavia Brendan e’ determinato a inseguire la strada dei suoi sogni: completare le ultime pagine del Libro prima che sia troppo tardi. Per farlo dovra’ intraprendere un rischioso viaggio e, accompagnato dalla misteriosa fatina Aisling e dal gatto Pangur Ban, scoprira’ per la prima volta il mondo al di fuori delle mura dell’abbazia, e le sue piu’ profonde paure.
Kells e’ un piccolo centro abitato che sorge nella contea di Kilkenny, in Irlanda. Ed e’ proprio qui che tutto ha inizio, 10 anni fa, presso lo studio Cartoon Saloon, dall’entusiasmo del regista Tomm Moore e il suo team di giovani talenti, ai quali col tempo si sono affiancati artisti provenienti da tutto il mondo.
Il film e’ forse uno degli ultimi lungometraggi realizzati in animazione tradizionale con carta e matita. La ricerca stilistica, particolarmente influenzata dall’arte medievale, ha dato luogo ad uno scenario visivamente suggestivo e ricco di dettagli, a cui si integra un character design decisamente grafico e dal gusto fortemente illustrativo.
Anche il team di animazione, del quale abbiamo avuto l’onore di far parte, ha avuto lo stimolante compito di mantenere questa coerenza stilistica. E’ stato adottato un approccio “pose-to-pose”, che favorisse l’appeal del singolo disegno, conservando pero’ la forza emotiva dei personaggi.
Particolarmente interessante e’ stato per noi curare anche le “sequenze speciali” del film (sogni, flashback, racconti), realizzate in Flash e graficamente differenti l’una dall’altra.
In un periodo in cui l’animazione sembrerebbe orientarsi definitivamente verso il 3d, “Brendan and the secret of Kells” rappresenta una preziosa eccezione che ci auguriamo possa raggiungere presto le sale cinematografiche italiane.



copyright Cartoon Saloon/Les Armatures/Vivifilm
Brendan and the Secret of Kells – french trailer
Published December 4, 2008 animation , brendan and the secret of kells Leave a CommentTags: 2d, animation, brendan and the secret of kells, feature film
And finally, here it is!
This is the french theatrical trailer, distribuited by Gebeka. The original english version by Disney/Buena Vista Ireland will come in a few days.
Hope you’ll enjoy it.
Another character shot from the pirates show. It’s been so much fun working on that!
Our little tiger is very sick.
It is based on the chapter “From the Apennines to the Andes” of the novel Cuore, by the italian writer Edmondo De Amicis, and it’s part of the project World Masterpiece Theatre, a number of TV series based on classics of literature from around the world, produced by Nippon Animation over the course of 30 years. It includes “Heidi“, “Anne of Green Gables“, “The adventures of Tom Sawyer” and many other jewels of japanese animation.
With a bit of surprise I figured out that really few people out of Europe know about it. Fortunately this show was very popular in Italy when I was young and for what I can remember it kept me entertained for many hours of my childhood.
Recently I had the chance of watching it all again after many years, and I was completely stunned.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tv show with such an intensity of storytelling, richness of atmosphere, backgrounds, emotional intimacy of the characters and music. The soundtrack is performed by a quite impressive orchestra and includes more than 120 beautiful and all different tracks. Hayao Miyazaki also worked on this series, he was responsible of layouts and continuity and to me he had done a great work on that, as you really feel like you “know” the town, with its narrow streets, the squares, the harbour, and you would be able to actually walk from a place to another if you happened to be there.
The story initially takes place in Genoa, Italy. Marco is a young boy who lives with his father Pietro and a cute little monkey called Amedio, while his mother left for Argentina to find work. Letters from her arrive regularly until one day they suddenly stop. So, worried for what might have happened to her, Marco decides to embark upon a long journey to Argentina in the hope of finding his mother.
The animation is surprisingly good too, great posing, right emotional timing.. and it’s “just” a tv show! What would I give to see on tv something like that these days.
So during the weekend I decided to take some time and rewatch a few sequences, observing and sketching. I really enjoyed that.
Here are some drawings I made on Flash.




p.s. The dvds were pretty hard to find, but for those interested I got a good edition with english subtitles here
Today I got to enjoy a whole day free from work! The 24th of June here is San Giovanni’s day, the patron saint of Turin and as per every year all the town celebrated with shows in the main squares, historical re-enactments, small markets selling delicious typical products, athletic events and of course, fireworks on the Po river. So nice to take it easy on a weekday.
Brendan at the Annecy festival
Published June 9, 2008 animation , brendan and the secret of kells 6 Comments
So, one of the most popular animation festivals in the world has just started! I can’t be there this year cause I am very busy with work, but I am so excited as there will be the first public behind-the-scenes presentation of “Brendan and the Secret of Kells”. The art director Ross Stewart and the director Tomm Moore will lead a conference and present early character design and visual development, showing how they evolved to the present version in the final film. Some sections of the movie will also be screened and Tomm just let me know that they will be showing a whole sequence Alf and I animated, so if you happen to be there, you can see it on Thursday at 14.00 – Petite Salle, Bonlieu.
I just found this thing called Flipbook. It’s a little app on the Benetton (!?!) website that lets you make small straight-ahead animations with one brush tool and one onion skin view.
Brendan and the Secret of Kells
Published January 14, 2008 animation , brendan and the secret of kells 45 CommentsThe tiny couple on Cold Hard Flash!
Published January 10, 2008 animation , flash , music video 11 CommentsHere’s the link to the post: http://www.coldhardflash.com/2008/01/irish-couple-work-for-brennans-love.html
Last scene on Brendan
Published December 13, 2007 animation , brendan and the secret of kells 17 Comments(if you can’t see the image correctly just try to reload the page)
A few days ago Alf and I packed and sent our last sequence on Brendan. It’s been a very busy month, but all went good and we happily celebrate with a relaxing weekend in Paris, enjoying good museums, a little shopping and walking around with old friends.
Still have to clean up the paper mess in the studio though..
Skunk Fu – Storyboard to screen comparison
Published November 15, 2007 animation , skunk fu , storyboard 7 CommentsA few sequences from an episode I boarded for the tv show “Skunk Fu” at Cartoon Saloon.
It’s all done with Flash.
I’m finally settled in my new apartment in Turin! Yay!!
Italy is lovely these days, gorgeous autumn colours and a fantastic weather exactly as I expected. Winter is coming though, the air is getting cooler and the chestnut men have already taken their strategic spots in the city centre ![]()
Alfredo and I started animating on the feature again, working from home is very comfortable and I totally love the studio room we organized.. it’s so cosy and there’s all the equipment and supplies we need – italian coffee machine included, of course!
Quiz: …who remembers who’s the happy fella on the top?
So just a quick post for friends to say that I’m still alive and happy and so so busy ![]()
I came back just a couple of weeks ago from my trip to the States (which was awesome!!) and then had to sort out immediately my moving to Italy.. I flew there to sign contracts and whatnot, back to Ireland to pack everything and start my new freelance job, too….Crazy days!! ![]()
It’s almost all done, the car is ready to go and I hope our cute evil hamster Filippo will enjoy the roadtrip. We are leaving tomorrow morning!
It’s a very strange feeling to leave after these years, but I am so excited about the chance of spending a few months in my hometown. I’ve been missing the sunshine so much lately and the idea of staying close to my family and friends again after so much time makes me feel warm and smiley ![]()
The broadband in the new apartment should be ready by the end of next week, so I hope I’ll be able to post some drawings very soon!
The picture on the top was taken while I was in San Francisco, it’s been on my desktop during these messy weeks as a reminder to stay relaxed..!
Have a lovely weekend and.. talk to you later
Some still frames from one of the flash sequences in “Brendan and the Secret of Kells”.
I animated those scenes with Alfredo a few months ago, just after we finished working on our endless 2d-traditional sequence ![]()
It was a lot of fun, especially playing with the shapes of the vikings, which were made of ink so basically all frame by frame animation.
Just brush strokes for the crows in the background as well, while the scared monks are made with symbols.
Concept design by Adrien Merigeau
Check it out!
We started with a few days in the stunning Rome, then in Brindisi, Alfredo’s home in the south. Brindisi is a very cute and ancient town in the region of Puglia; its natural harbour has a particular shape that reminds the branches of a deer.. really spectacular.

Bottom: Brindisi, the harbour
Then I’ve been visiting my family in Bergamo, at the foothills of the Alps, for a couple of weeks – oh, lotsssss of mamma’s yummy food! – The upper city is a hilltop medieval town, surrounded by 17th century enormous defensive walls, very charming. It’s connected to the lower city by the funicular, which offers a lovely view.
Above: the funicular in Bergamo
We went all together to the coast in the centre of Italy enjoying the sunshine, good books and the sound of the sea. On the way back to Bergamo we stopped in a lovely town, which is actually one of the smallest European microstates, San Marino. It’s a country in the Apennine Mountains, completely surrounded by Italy. It has got a very irregular terrain and its highest point, the Monte Titano, is situated at 749 metres above sea level. On its three peaks are located the three towers of San Marino, which are depicted on the national flag. That day I visited also the national torture museum….really scary and disturbing, but a lot interesting from the history point of view.


Top: San Marino, Monte Titano – rooftops
Bottom: the National Ttorture Museum
After that, Alfredo and my dear friends Jesse and Adrien from Cartoon Saloon joined me in Bergamo and from that point, the roadtrip to Ireland started!!!!!!
We had a few stops in some very gorgeous places. First of all, my hometown Turin – I’ve been missing it soooo much, I just love it. The weather was so pleasantly warm even in the night and we had delicious gelato and soft, really tasty pizza like I haven’t eaten in ages.
Top: old picture of Turin, Via Pietro Micca
Bottom: a couple of stdy sketches from different point of views
The next day we were relaxing by the quiet Avigliana Lake “Lago Piccolo”, on the south side of the Val di Susa, and later in the evening we’ve been walking to get to the nearby massive Sacra di San Michele, a religious complex founded between 983 and 987 by Benedictine monks, situated on the top of Mount Pirichiano at more than 1000 mt. It’s one of the greatest architectonic buildings in Europe among those dating back to the Romanesque period. It’s huge and very high, and it’s incredible to see how the basement, the staircase and the counterforts are literary blended with the sinuous mountain itself. The view from the top terrace is really jaw-dropping, I’ve been there a few times in my life and every time it’s just an incredible experience.
Top: ducks in the Lago Piccolo, Avigliana
Bottom: Sacra di San Michele
That was the last stop in Italy. After that, la France! Really beautiful landscapes across the Alps. Adrien took us to a very cute village, Perouges, a medieval walled town near Lyon. Very pictoresque houses, small cobblestoned lanes, an old well, a fortress church and stores with stalls and evocative signs. Just lovely!

Top: Perouges and…the fig tree.
That said, it’s been a fantastic holiday!

Oh my, it has been a while! I’ve been working with Alfredo on the flash sequences of the film, which I have to say are a lot of fun to animate.
Some of them are very different from each others, in terms of graphic style and animation timing.. my favourite one is probably the ‘white chalk on a blackboard’ sequence. It’s basically frame by frame animation and childish drawings that come from Brendan’s hand. I think it came up pretty cute and I can’t wait to see the final texture effect that the oversea studio is adding to it.
Two more weeks of work and I’ll see myself saying goodbye to the Cartoon Saloon studio and Kilkenny after all this time.. it feels so weird! But after that, a long well deserved holiday in my sunny Italy!!!
The sketch on the top is an early study for a little story I’m developing for the Cartoon Saloon Anthology. The book should come out in Autumn, I’m very curious to see what everyone here is sneakily working on!!
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
A modelsheet page from “Marla” And eventually Easter brought bits of sunshine, a gentle and refreshing spring feeling in the air and lighter clothes.. it feels really better!
Even though changes between seasons always make me feel kind of nostalgic.. and today is also a little weird because I was animating my very last scene from Brendan and the Secret of Kells.
I just can’t believe it is actually going to an end after all these months..
I’ve been working mostly on Aisling, the little fairy. She’s a very funny and bizarre character to animate, I thing I’m going to miss her ![]()
The film is looking very nice and particular and the background design is just lovely. I really can’t wait to see how it’ll look on the big screen!
So I had to say goodbye to my messy lightbox, at least during the working time. From next week I’ll start animating with Alfredo the flash sequence of the film!
It will be about four minutes of ‘traditional animation on wacom’, as I use to call it.. I am actually very excited about this, even if to me the warmth of pencil and paper is irreplaceable, sometimes it feels so free doing the same thing on flash, and the immediate feedback thing is just amazing
Have a nice weekend everybody and take care,
Ale
So here’s some pictures I took last week in Torino, my home town.
I’ve taken a break to recharge my batteries and it was really worth it.. it had been a fantastic time, as usual. Sunny days, awesome food, hanging up with old friends again and having long pleasant walks in the city centre.. Eating gelato… I missed all that so much!
Every time I come back to Italy I wish I could stay there for good, it’s just so beautiful..
But work calls and so on, and now I’m back to Ireland and back to my coat!
other pictures at this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/pandaleina/Torino
Rainy, rainy, rainy days here in Kilkenny…
But this post is not to curse the irish weather (well, not this time..)!
It is to introduce you to a very talented artist who is also one of the nicest persons I’ve ever known. His name is Mike Nguyen and he just got his own website called “Rainplace”. Yay!
Here is the link: www.rainplace.net
Above: illustration by Mike Nguyen
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And here is the link of “My Little World”, the feature film he’s directing at July Films. http://www.julyfilms.com/
Have a look, you’ll find amazing things
Enjoy the rest of the week, and me..I’ll hopefully come back soon..
ciao-ciao
Ahh laziness.
I wanted to stop by the studio today, but it looks so cold outside..!
Another image from “Marla“, my graduation film. I remember I had a rough animation test of that walk scene, somewhere….:(
Ahh messiness.
Well, I’m finally back from my holidays in Italy…it was really a great time, very quiet and relaxing as I wished..my mother is a fantastic sicilian chef and every single meal was a joy for the senses
The weather was pleasantly warm, especially in Rome, where I spent the first of the year..that city is just amazing, so full of beauty and history..
And now back to reality, with a terrible cold caused by the temperature difference! Yay!
So, since I’m not getting out of bed, I decided to upload “Marla” on the blog. I haven’t watch it for ages and it looks sooo old to me…well, it was actually 2004 when the short was completed and the three little girls graduated…:) But I still love the style and the atmosphere we created, it brings me a lot of memories.
Here is the Link:

Ale

..ah well, I didn’t know how to call this post, that’s only what we cooked today for dinner
I’ve just made some few seconds sketches from Peter Pan to analize a scene and I realized that I should do it more often because it’s so enjoyable…and studying frame by frame those old school animations is always amazing.. sometimes depressing but still amazing…
so, other 8 days of work and I’ll be packing my suitcase for Italy! these holidays will be so short but I can’t wait to see my family and have breakfast with my favourite biscuits.

..When I was young I really Loved a japanese tv series called Memole (“Memoru” is the japanese title). It was one of the cutest things in the world, soft watercolour backgrounds and hundreds of tiny precious bouncin’ pixies…!
I’ve just found this super-old drawing I made in the school years during some boring lessons, I was probably seventeen..:)
I wish I could post something newer..it’s been a long time since the last one! I’m trying to work on a couple of illustrations in the free time, the animation on Brendan is getting very busy, more sleepless night and so on, but it’s all good
Hope to write here soon again, take care
Ale
A new blog and a new chapter
Published September 20, 2006 about me , animation , illustration 8 CommentsI finally posted some images on the blog of “Marla”, the short film I made with my two friends Alice and Simona two years ago…ahh memories. Anyway, I’ll add pictures little by little. here is the link:
http://calzette-rosa.blogspot.com
hope you’ll enjoy it


Background painting by Donato Sansone (top) and Simona Ciraolo (bottom)
And…speaking of memories, here is the lovely card the Skunk crew have made for me and Alf. We got a ‘goodbye party’ for our last day on the show..from next monday our desks will be downstairs, in the room where we’ll be animating again with pencil and lightbox on the feature film “Brendan and the Secret of Kells”, another fantastic project here in Cartoon Saloon.. So lots of different feelings, excitement, melancholy..we really had a great time on Skunk Fu, especially for the very nice people we worked with. We’ll miss you guys!
A couple of Skunk Fu animations
Published September 20, 2006 animation , flash , skunk fu 7 Comments

This post is just an excuse to say thank you to all the great people in Cartoon Saloon.
Yesterday they sneakly organized a lovely birthday party for me, I was so surpised and happy to see ALL of them in the Skunk Fu room!
Lots of people, food, vino, a cake with candles and Totoro, of course…Sweet!
So thanks everybody, thank you with aaaall my heart. :”)


..’Marla’ is the short film I’ve been working on with my friends Alice Lia and Simona Ciraolo, both great artists.
It is all about a pretty and bizarre girl, appeared in a weird situation, who walks in a town that stimulates her crazy imagination. She likes vintage fashion and all the cute and useless, girly objects. And she always gets what she wants, whatever comes her way..
I promised to create a blog just for her, to post all the artwork we’ve made..and little by little I’ll keep my promise.
Inspiration sketch (top) by Alice Lia, Background painting by Donato Sansone
Hope to post the link soon..
Good night
Here is the videoclip I’ve made with Alfredo some time ago, trying to find some free hours in the evening… actually very few. The video was commissioned by the irish singer Wayne Brennan and had to look like a “kid’s drawing”, very very simple in animation and graphic style, keeping the feeling “happy and cute”.
Hope you’ll enjoy it.
Hi there, I’m finally back from my nice and relaxing holidays in Italy (sigh..)
Actually after two weeks of sunshine, great food, seaside and 36 degrees it was a little bit hard to come back to a cold and rainy Kilkenny…but anyway, here I am and now I can post some stuff again!
I just want to share with you this link, it’s the blog of “Skunk Fu”.
http://skunkfu.blogspot.com/
I’m working on this show as animator and storyboard artist, it’s a very funny and interesting project. Lots of awesome artwork and lovely and talented people.
Check it out
My name is Alessandra Sorrentino and I’m a traditional animator. At present I’m working as storyboard artist at Cartoon Saloon, a really nice animation studio in Kilkenny, Ireland.
Hope you’ll enjoy this page
Ale























































Some other Skunk Fu storyboard panels.




































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