Manuel's Dance of Death
An animated short film bringing Niklaus Manuel’s Dance of Death to life through motion capture.Project Info
Client
Simon Tschachtli
Year
2016
Summary
Manuel’s Dance of Death is an animated short film created for the exhibition Mercenary, Iconoclast, Dancer of Death – Niklaus Manuel and the Reformation Period at the Bernisches Historisches Museum.
The film is based on Niklaus Manuel’s Dance of Death, a mural cycle of 24 scenes depicting Death dancing with figures from across society, including an emperor, a queen, an abbot, a soldier, a beggar, a cook, and a mother with her child.
Choreographer Nina Stadler and dancer Fhunyue Gao created an expressive performance inspired by the original imagery. Artanim captured the dance through motion capture and contributed to the animation of the film.
Credits
Client
Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern
Project
Mercenary, Iconoclast, Dancer of Death – Niklaus Manuel and the Reformation Period (October 13, 2016 – April 17, 2017)
Concept, 3D modeling and secondary animation
Simon Tschachtli
Choreography
Nina Stadler
Dancer
Fhunyue Gao
Motion capture and animation
Artanim
Music
Salvatore Sciarrino, Annalena Fröhlich