How the Artists behind "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" Created the Film so Visually Appealing

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a movie that taken a vast amount of risks as it took the animators a year until they were finally happy with the art style. This movie stands out as the most visually appealing films in 2018.

When the production team was deciding how they wanted the movie to look, it took a year until they were finally happy with the art style. Sony hired 177 Animators in the making of this movie which is twice the amount any other film would have. The artists decided to make the film not too realistic but it feels like a realistic cartoon. This features an art style that co-exists with characters in the style of Noir, Anime, and a Cartoony style.

Kirby Krackle
Photo Courtesy of Sony

In scenes having to do with energy in the film, the artists used an artistic choice called the Kirby Krackle or Kirby Dots. It is typically used in smoke and explosions, too.

Pop Frame used

Photo Courtesy of Sony

In many scenes during the film, the animators inserted Pop Frames or hand-drawn shots that replaced some of the 3D shots to give it that comic book feel.

Color Blobs in the background

Photo Courtesy of Sony

Color Blobs were used to replace the idea of animating vehicles and people that were too off in the background.

To create a depth of field, the colors align on the subject. Lights often used the Half-tone technique which used dots in gradients. The shadows also had their own style. The shadows were done by using criss-crossed lines called Hatching. In the film, Miles Morales is animated differently than any other character. He is animated "on Twos." It means that a pose will fall on two frames instead of one. The goal is to make the poses more pronounced.

Out of all the techniques used such as the Kirby Krackle, Pop Frames, Color Blobs, Half-Toning, and Hatching, Sony has undoubtedly took the audience by surprise. The artists took a lot of risk by making this film stand out from any movie with it's innovative art style that payed off tremendously well in the end.