What began as a project to revamp an existing installation, this animation project was a real technical challenge—but also a lot of fun! We hope it will entertain the many visitors to Villa Manin.
How can we recount a pivotal moment in history without limiting ourselves to traditional storytelling?
The goal was to give a voice to the key figures of the period surrounding the Treaty of Campoformio (1797), an event that marked the end of the Republic of Venice. The figures in the paintings displayed in the Villa’s Scuderie come to life and recount, in their own words, their experiences at Villa Manin: Ludovico Manin, the last Doge of the Venetian Republic; Napoleon Bonaparte; Maria Amalia of Saxony; and a young sharecropper’s daughter, a witness to daily life at the Villa.
Through a skillful blend of live-action performances, AI-driven animation, and traditional animation, we have transformed static images into narrative elements. Each voice offers a different perspective—political, aristocratic, military, and popular—providing a multi-layered account of the events that preceded and followed the arrival of French troops.
Making of
The facial animations were created based on performances by actors who brought the characters in the paintings to life with their voices and expressions. The video recordings were superimposed onto the paintings using tools that leverage the now ubiquitous AI—but that’s not all!
Small background animations and other effects were created using traditional animation techniques, seamlessly integrated into a single work that blends theatrical performance and animation.
The actors' performances help preserve the expressiveness (and humanity!) in the faces of the paintings, while AI has allowed us to streamline more mechanical aspects, such as lip-syncing.
All other visible animations were created manually by our team, with the aim of making the image more vivid and immersive, while remaining faithful to the original work.
In this short and entertaining behind-the-scenes video, you can appreciate the work that went into the adaptation: from the AI’s precision in animating facial features to the trait that, more than any other, defines human beings… imperfection!
Have fun!