Behind the scenes of ‘Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood’.
In this latest episode of VFX Futures, Ian Failes from befores & afters talks to Tommy Pallotta, Head of Animation and Producer on Richard Linklater’s Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, about the evolution of the rotoscoped animation techniques on this and a number of previous projects.
This new Netflix film follows the life of a young boy in 1969 Houston, around the time of the first moon-landing. To make the project, Linklater staged live-action scenes on a sound stage, with a team then using rotoscoping and 2D animation to bring the film to life.
Here’s how a typical scene came together.

Storyboard.

Richard Linklater directs Milo Coy during the live action shoot.

Milo Coy as Stan in the scene.

Another shot from the sequence.
Listen in at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or below. And check out Netflix’s making of video here as well.
Become a befores & afters Patreon for bonus VFX content