Emerging technologies
The innovative visual dynamics of Spider-Man: Parallel Universe amazed me when I first saw it. Unlike previous 3D animation, which pursued natural fluidity, Spider-Man: Parallel Universe is closer to the comic book experience, making 3D animation 2D, rather than only 2D.
It is reported that it mixes the different comic styles of the various parallel universes, keeps the dialog boxes, frames, and subtitles, and particularly emphasizes the hand-drawn graffiti part, which deliberately creates a “childish feeling”. In combination with the split-screen effect, these elements are enough to make people watch. Next, let’s briefly analyze the highlights of the film.
The recreation of comic book techniques
We can see many techniques and effects common to American comics in the movie. For instance, BOOM when exploding, AHHHH when jumping, THWIP when spitting those hand-drawn onomatopoeias; dialog box describing the protagonist’s heart activity when running ahead, before engaging in combat; speed line, cues for recognizing danger, etc. All these constantly let us relive the feeling of reading comics. The following are the applications of these expressions in the film.
These expressions impart to the images of the film a tension that can only be found in graphic comics, which is related to their properties that have changed over the years (the history of comics follows the different paths of different cultures, and there is a lot of cross-fertilization, mainly from the perspective of American comic techniques). Let’s look at an example of a dialog box in comics.
Cartoons featuring political satire became popular in the 18th century, with many dialogues. Cartoonists of this period were already very familiar with dialog boxes, some of which looked like simplified scrolls, some of which were thick in front and thin in back, similar to balloon bubbles, and in general, the form was very similar to the dialog boxes of modern cartoons. Furthermore, these dialog boxes could already carry more text and contribute to the atmosphere of a picture.
A major role of dialogues in comics developed at the start of the 20th century, and they also influenced onomatopoeia, emotion symbols, and other comic techniques, which were used not only for transmission of information, but also for conveying feelings, driving plots, and creating atmospheres.
Let’s talk about our film now. These techniques and elements in graphic comics are what make the static comics sound, and through these techniques Spider-Man: Parallel Universe enriches the viewer’s other senses on a visual level compared to a typical 3D movie. Even without sound, we can “hear” what is happening through our eyes in the previous motion picture.
Laying out the lines
Sony Pictures Studios wanted the film to have a two-dimensional drawn feel, so the film’s lines were key to the production.If it had been drawn by hand, you would have gotten it with all its beautiful flaws, such as line thickness, line weight, line color, and all the other flaws that are just right.
The filming of the lines for this film was done as a 3D stereoscopic image, so Sony could not use the two-dimensional production method of drawing the lines frame by frame, as this would disrupt the stereoscopic image; the lines needed to be three-dimensional geometry that could move as the subject moved.Dimian（Visual supervisor） explained that there are three types of these lines.
The first type is built into the model, these lines are just part of the structure, they do not show emotion nor do they need to move, for example the lines inside the ear.
Additionally, lines are added from a drawing perspective, such as drawing on the nose where it meets the cheek and on the lower side.
Formal lines are those which do not convey emotion but are important for shaping the feel of the hand and will make it appear that you have chosen your way carefully.
The last type of line is perhaps the most important; these are lines that convey emotion, such as facial expressions.
No more motion blur
In addition to the comic frames and lines, one feature distinguishes the film from the usual 3D animated films – the lack of motion blur.
Generally speaking, this has a direct impact on the number of camera movements and camera style, as the absence of motion blur can cause strobe in the final shot.