Few years ago, I saw this animated short Batman of Shanghai of Wolf Smoke Studio and I was completely blown away by the animation quality. I thought I should see if it is still as mesmerizing as before, and turns out it is!!!
One of the greatest things I love about this short is the authenticity of character is reflected not only through character design but how each individual character moves and how their fighting style differ from each other. The graceful flow and spontaneity of Catwoman, the brute strength, recklessness of Bane and controlled, calculated moves of Batman, all these things have been given great attention. I like to call these : character movement signatures, how character moves is crucial for their identity in the world they exist in.
Another thing that is remarkable about Batman of Shanghai is how beautifully the different weights have been animated in fighting scenes, the intensity and dramatized tension of sequences benefit so much because of the weight the characters exert in motions.
The art direction of this short is unique, appealing and for a moment it makes wonder, how freaking amazing it would if entire Batman Universe existed for 2 hour movie or a series like this?
I hope this beautifully animated short film will inspire you this week to work on your own stuff.
This article was originally written for Kenny Roy Blog
Mahesh
