Drac’s pack is back for an all-new monster comedy adventure in Sony Pictures Animation's Hotel Transylvania 2! Everything seems to be changing for the better at Hotel Transylvania... Dracula’s rigid monster-only hotel policy has finally relaxed, opening up its doors to human guests.
Karl Herbst – Hotel Transylvania –VFX Superviser
CBM: The first film had such a emphasis on physical comedy. Are there any new jokes that you are excited about?
Karl: There are a lot of moments again where there is a lot of physical humor in the movie. My favorites are Drac’s side takes were it is his snooty responses to certain moments in the movie. It’s really great although not really physical comedy in a sense. The presence of the characters at the end of the movie during the battle sequence shows off the really pushed animation style and it takes it to a new level that we didn’t see in the first film.
CBM: In the trailer it shows Dracula is throwing a baby over the tower. Is this film about Dracula being a Grandpa, if so can you give any insight on what we will be seeing in the second film?
Karl: The main premise of the movie is that Johnny and Mavis get married and have a child named Dennis. Dracula is trying to figure out if Dennis is going to be a vampire or not. His concern is that he is going to be human. Along the way Mavis is torn on the idea whether or not she should raise Dennis in Transylvania or not. That is the hinging point of the story. Drac hopes that he becomes a vampire before she decides they need to move away from the hotel.
CBM: Another great image from the trailer is it looks like a Monster Camp. Can you tell us a bit about it?
Karl: Monster Camp has been there since Dracula was a child it. It’s a place where he went to learn about being a vampire. A summer camp for vampires and of course everything that happens at night. It’s hidden away and of course has been there for hundreds of years. The camp must be hidden so no one can find it. It’s in a deep canyon with huge granite cliffs around it. It’s a very interesting mix of a Gothic theme mixed with a summer camp in the woods on a lake. Dracula gets there and finds out that it’s not what he remembers. He wants to take Dennis there to learn how to be a vampire.
CBM: Are there any new monsters you’re excited about introducing?
Karl: Vlad and Dennis are probably the most exciting characters Vlad being a monster. Vlad was definitely a different take of a monster for us to do in this film. Once again his push style of animation, we tend to not texture map the faces a lot or add a lot of detail to them as they’re getting stretched around you really see that stretching when there is a lot of detail in the faces. We tend to stay away from it but to make a character feel old we really needed to get in all the wrinkles, liver spots, and things like that so he is a pretty exciting character. We were able to get that heavy level of texturing to work with that push style so he is a really exciting character for that reason for us. I mean he is voiced by Mel Brooks so he is a great character!
CBM: What can you say about Mel Brook’s Character?
Karl: Mel Plays Vlad and Vlad is Drac’s Dad and the 2 of them don’t get along. They don’t see each other very much. Mavis invites Vlad back to the hotel because she wants Dennis to meet her Grandfather before she decides to move away to California. He is an interesting character because he is an old school vampire, as soon as we heard Mel’s voice with our character it really came together. He is a fun character to see the performances of.
CBM: Tell us about your job and exactly what a VFX Supervisor does?
Karl: A Video Effects supervisor for an animated movie is responsible for the total look of the Picture. I work with a Production team to see what kind of artwork we are generating, how many characters we’re trying to create, what kind of environment we are trying to create, and then behind me I build a team of technical people and artistic people that can execute that work. I teamed up with a Animation Supervisor Alan Hawkins. Alan becomes responsible for the performances of these characters working with the animators. We then do cloth simulation, hair simulation, and any sort of effects we need like dust smoke, things breaking apart, and lighting. This all falls under my supervision all the way until the final Picture that goes out into theaters.
CBM: How do you get started on a project like Hotel Transylvania?
Karl: We generally get started by getting a script and reading it. Figuring out where we think we’re going and start to look at artwork that’s how we kind of get started So many things are happening with Sony Animation Pictures to get a project stared, lots of script writing, and storyboarding. For us on our side it’s starting to figure out how many assets we need to create, how many characters, environments, props, and then figuring how to build those in a way that is efficient and useful for the shots we have in the movie. This film actually went very quickly because we started with a lot of things we knew from the first film. We did need to revamp this one because of the time between this film and the last one was enough that our software had changed. We had to rebuild everything quickly from the first film and then start the new characters and environments. I started on this film in Jan 2014. I was actually the first one on this film. We do these movies under 2 years once they get into the production cycle, however you can spend anywhere from 6 months to multiple years prior to that in development and story.
CBM: How exciting is it to see your creations come to life on the big screen?
Karl: It’s super exciting and totally scary at the same moment! I normally have a two year period after a film were I can’t watch a movie without seeing things I wish we could have done better. I am always super excited to see peoples’ response to what we did and hope they don’t see all our mistakes. There is always things you can do better with these projects and I have a hard time of letting go for at least a year or 2. I can then finally look at it for what it is.
CBM: So out of everything you’ve created what is your favorite?
Karl: Because it’s fresh and happening now I would have to say Dennis. He is a lot of fun and a big struggle to get right. Curly hair on a kid is a tough thing for us to do, to keep it consistent throughout. He is a really great, fun, and cute character, he kind of reminds me of my own kid!
CBM: Is there anything else you want people to know?
Karl: I hope that people enjoy this Film, we had a lot of fun making it. I think it is one of our prettier animated features we’ve made. I’m really proud of the light work we did and that the performances really get showcased. I think we made a great movie and hope audiences enjoy it!