The opening of the film is dedicated to setting the stage of the world of Mune, establishing how the universe is upheld by the unity and balance of the guardians of Night and Day with this shot that depicts the Sun and Moon being walked across the globe.
The first guardian of the moon brings a moon from the world of dreams into their universe, establishing the balance to be between day and night.
Sohone harpoons the Sun after reclaiming it from Necross--mimicking the act of the first guardian who caught the sun from far away and dragged it to their world to bring life to their planet.
Temple of the Sun that Sohone protects and guides across the globe to bring Day. It is made of large, blocky shapes and takes up plenty of space on the screen, bold and powerful like the sun it drags with it on heavy chains. It is flush with plantlife and takes heavy steps, mimicking our large, powerful Guardian of the Sun.
Temple of the Moon under Mune's protection, it is slender, animalistic and ominous. It carries a floaty moon on delicate strings across the globe.
On the day of a new guardian being chosen the sun and moon stand beside one another.
Mune and Sohone are polar opposites in both character design and personality, further driving a wedge between the worlds of night and day. They are complimentary colors (blue/orange) with different body types, Mune the reluctant hero and Sohone arrogant and eager to take charge of his destiny.
Sohone and Glim travel alone together (Glim is the female love interest made of wax, a representation of dawn/dusk who will melt in day and freeze at night) only to be encountered by Mune, who after being banished by his people is determined to fix his mistake. He is reluctantly accepted by Sohone into their party because he obviously was the one that screwed everything up in the first place, albeit not of his own will.
I really like Sohones design. He's a great opposing/accompanying force to our obvious hero's journey protagonist (Mune) that WANTS to save the day.
Necross, the antagonist, is often shrouded in black, and surrounded with lava, reminiscent of depictions of demons and Hell. He is an ex-guardian that lives in the underworld after becoming corrupted and attempting to steal the sun for himself. He intends to destroy the sun now after not getting his way before, so no one can feel its light, and the world will die.
The true antagonist of the story. Corrupters are snakelike creatures that whisper into the ears of their victim, taking advantage of either insecurity or greed to corrupt even the most confident of people.
Proving the power of the corrupters, Sohone spends the entire film boasting of his strength and arrogance only to succumb to an onslaught of corrupters sent after him by Necross. He is only saved when the old guardian of the moon that failed to step forward and defeat Necross the first time sacrifices himself to defeat the Corrupters for him.
Sohone with the intended Guardian of the Moon, Leeyoon, further exemplifying the difference in design and presence between Night and Day creatures.
The world of day is vibrant, rocky, and flush with green plantlife. Dominated by neon blue skies, saturated orange rockfaces and bright green wildlife a majority of its inhabitants are people of rock that can withstand the powerful sun.
The world of night is dominated by deep blues and greens, often depicted as more forested and close to the ground. It's mostly absent of the strong orange hues that are present in the world of day, but still retains warm colors in its fluorescent wildlife. It's a quiet, dreamy atmosphere mostly dominated by slim mammalian and swamp-like creatures.
When Necross is saved from the corrupter in his body and finally able to rest, the underworld transforms from darkness and lava to a flush landscape.
Mune: Guardian of the Moon is a movie of unity and trust. It displays a world in two parts, the lively, arrogant day, and subdued, naive and humble night through our protagonists Mune and Sohone, and shares the value of trust and understanding with its audience to achieve a perfect balance with the world.
The people of day are vibrant, proud and blocky, depicted with bright, natural colors of green and orange and brown, often designed after inanimate objects such as rocks and gems. Sohone, a man of jasper, is one of the larger characters in the film, the brawns of the group and a character who not only wants to save the day, but believes himself the only one capable of doing it.
The people of night, on the other hand, are subdued, deeply respectful and spindly, often depicted in a world of deep, dark cool tones and inspired by living creatures, such as animals and plants. Mune is a small, lanky, deer-like creature, who holds no faith in his capabilities and plays the role of the reluctant hero in the story.
When Sohone lacks trust in Mune’s capabilities, the unity of light and day is broken, and the world they’re supposed to protect collapses before their eyes. Taking full advantage of its concept of the incredibly different but necessary balance of night and day, Mune and his counterpart Sohone are forced to embark on a journey to save their world from an antagonist who takes advantage of their recklessness and distrust in one another to steal and destroy the things they were put in place to protect. It isn’t until they learn to work together and trust one another that they’re capable of restoring the life of their universe, and save the sun and moon from Necross.
The film is centered on teamwork; asking help from others who may be able to do things you can’t, and in turn aiding others where they may fall short. Through mutual trust, Sohone and Mune find unity working together, and maintain the balance between light and dark in their world. It is a movie about not just accepting differences, but recognizing these differences are essential to our lives.
Mune, the reluctant new Guardian of the Moon, has to save his world alongside his counterpart Sohone, the Guardian of the Sun, after a spiteful ex-guardian steals the Sun during the chaos of his first day.
WORDS:
1. Balance
2. Unity
3. Trust
4. Light
5. Dark
Exploring Style, Potential Transitions and Composition for future storyboarding via frame by frame animation.
I wanted a title sequence that was very fluid and smoothly transitioned from scene to scene, that captured the essence of the film while not giving away the plot. I put a lot of emphasis on the harmony between day and night, natural elements, and keeping the typography connected to the scenes they inhabit in subtle, interesting ways. I wanted to avoid jumpcutting as much as possible when the film is centered around everything working as one, but I also worked to give the scenes heavy contrast to keep in regard the stark differences between the protagonists, hold visual interest, and avoid confusing the audience.
Credits Selection:
Directed by Alexandre Heboyan and Benoît Philippon
Written by Jérôme Fansten
Voiced by Rob Lowe, Nicole Provost, Joshua J. Ballard, Jeff Dunham, Patton Oswalt