Art Director / Visual Development Artist
Back in 2021, I was brought up to start working as the art director on The Polar Bear Prince. A story based on the norwegian folk tale of Valemon, a prince who gets cursed by a witch queen and turned into a polar bear. This is until he meets our main character, Liv, and the strenght of their love breaks him out of his curse.
My mission was finding the visual style for the project, as well as guiding the crew throughout the production with all the tools in my belt, to implement that visual style on the whole film.
The movie is directed by Mikkel B. Sandemose, and screenplay by Maja Lunde.
Release : 2024.
All the images belong to Maipo Film and Vivi Film.
All images shown under password protection with the agreement of Maipo Film and Vivi Film.
Production Design
Rough Color Script
As production started, I did a first pass of the color script, creating one color key per sequence, so we could have rough overview of the light and color of the whole film and use it as a storytelling tool. Some of these keys would change with the process, but it was a great starting point.
Liv's Cabin
Liv and her family live in a small cabin based on the norwegian rural architecture post XVIII century. Built on a base of stone, walls of tarred wood, grass on the roof and stone chimeny. It is a small place for a family of four, they are not wealthy, but it's warm enough and cozy. Liv sleeps on top of a three bunk bed, and this sort of Mezannine like space is her private world, that she fills with paintings, pine fruits, seeds, and other treasures she finds in the forest.
Liv's Valley
One of the first sets that we started to develop was Liv's Valley. It is based on the fjords and valleys of the Norwegian landscape. Liv and her family live in a cabin on a hill, and work in a Farm on the lower part of the valley around a small river. This part of our universe is full of color, lush vegetation and funny moments.
Here's a selection of Concept and BG Paintings, color scripts, and style guide images from the sequences that happen on this set:
Liv's Tree & Surroundings
Near Liv's Cabin, there's a giant oak tree, which serves as headquarters for her adventures in the forest. Around it's roots there is a lot of space for her to play with her animal friends. About half way up she has built a lab with plants and mushrooms and paintings, and all the way to the top she has one of the best views of the whole valley.
The Viewpoint
During multiple sequences of the story, Liv climbs up the mountain of the valley to meet with a misterious polar bear she met in the forest. Their meeting place is a viewpoint, where she can see that the world is bigger than her valley and that her happiness might be elsewhere.
Into the Wild
Following her curiosity and her needs to see the world, Liv leaves the valley travelling with the polar bear, and that's where they start knowing each other. All throughout these sequences we see a lot of different sets, contrasting atmospheres, full of beautiful landscapes, funny bonding moments as well as scary ones. All of them based on some of the breathtaking scenery of Norway
Valemon's Ice Cave
This was another one of the film's main sets. The place where Valemon lives is a giant ice cave inside a glacier, a sort of frozen "Cave of Wonders".
Dry Liv's Valley and Eira's Castle
After losing Valemon to Eira, the witch queen, Liv goes back to her valley, only to find it dry and decaying. Her family struggling to find food and people emigrating the place. This is where she understands that the Witch's magic is drying out the nature all around the country and that she must go and save Valemon.
Liv will follow Valemon into Eira's country, the center of all the corrupted magic, and there she will free him after a final showdown with the witch.
Eira's presence is shown on the film with the dryness, the desaturated greens and yellows, the dark skies, and grounds, and finally, her purple magic. The trees on her country are like a burnt forest full of inpenetrable vines.
Character Line up Colors
Poster Matte Paintings
