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At the recent International Artificial Intelligence and Creative Conference (IAICC), we had the privilege of meeting Léo Silly-Pélissier, the animation director of the celebrated, dialogue-free animated adventure film Flow. Léo joined Fox Renderfarm, a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, for an exclusive interview, sharing his animation journey and the unique creative and technical philosophies behind crafting a world where characters communicate purely through movement and emotion. From the early days of flipbooks to leading the animation on an internationally acclaimed film, Léo offers a glimpse into the mind of an artist dedicated to authenticity, creative freedom, and the universal language of visual storytelling.Fox Renderfarm: Hi Léo, we’re honored to have you here. Could you briefly introduce yourself?Léo: I was the animation director of the film Flow. It was my first experience as an animation director, and it was me with a small team on a small project. So we had some budget and time constraints, but we had a lot of freedom for creativity. I could express my sensibility in this movie.Image © Léo Silly-PélissierI’m so happy to have been presented to Director Gints. He is a great guy, I love him. And I’m so happy to be there with Konstantins and Mārtiņš. Those guys are my close friends now.Fox RenderFarm: Is this your first time visiting China? How has your trip been so far, and is there anything that left a strong impression on you?Léo: Yes, before this, I visited Xi’an two years ago to participate in the Silk Road International Film Festival (SRIFF). It was my first trip with “Flow” and my first time in China, and my experience was wonderful. I met so many great people, and I love being there.Image © Silk Road International Film Festival (SRIFF)I was lucky to have the time to see some great places like the Terracotta Warriors and the Ancient City Wall. Now I’m back in China for the IACCC conference and vendor conference too. It’s again an amazing experience, and I love being with you guys. It’s wonderful.Fox Renderfarm: Can you share a bit about your background and how you entered the world of animation?Léo: My passion for animation started in childhood. I was drawn to 2D animation from the very beginning. Around the age of ten, I was making flipbooks, and I never stopped drawing. I went on to study art in school.But for me, it was never just about drawing—it was about movement. Back then, I didn’t even realize that “movement” could be a real job or a path in life. Once I discovered that, I began learning 3D, partly inspired by the auto industry at the time. And now here we are, navigating another technological shift with AI.That’s why events like these conferences and festivals are so valuable. They bring us together to discuss how to handle these new tools—how to harness their potential without compromising our creativity or our roles as artists. It’s an exciting time.I came across Blender about ten years ago. From the moment I started using it, I fell in love with the software—its intuitiveness, its accessibility. I’ve continued working with it ever since. In fact, I think that’s one reason I ended up on Flow: Gints started the project in Blender, and he needed people who knew the software well. So, in a way, I was in the right place at the right time.Image © FlowFox Renderfarm: What shaped Flow’s character-driven style?Léo: The initial guidance really came from Gints, who had already crafted the war emblems himself. By the time I joined the project, the entire film was there in rough form—the full storyboard, complete with the movements and intentions. That foundation made it feel natural for me to visualize how the movement could evolve and where I could enhance it.My first focus was on defining the animation style. As I mentioned during my talk, we originally aimed for realism, but time and budget constraints led us to find a middle ground between efficiency and authenticity. That’s how we arrived at what we called a "naturalistic style"—it allowed us to create believable movement while working efficiently, and occasionally taking creative liberties.I did extensive research into the mechanics—studying how things move in reality. I gathered all that reference and developed a kind of “rule set” to guide the team: what they could and couldn’t do with the characters.Fox Renderfarm: What drove you to tell the story without words?Léo: There are films without dialogue, and so most of the emotion comes from expression or body language. It happens to everybody with their pets sometimes. The pet has some direction or posing, and it makes you think that they want to say or express something, like anger, or that they want food or a cushion. And everybody loves that.That’s the feeling I tried to channel into the animation—translating those unspoken cues into movement, so the characters’ intentions could reach the audience directly.And it’s been amazing to see that resonate. We noticed on Xiaohongshu—a popular social platform in China—so many people sharing that their cats or dogs actually watched the film along with them… which was incredible to see.Before the movie was released, I watched the full edit (the last edit at that time). It was not finished at all, but my cat stepped up by himself on the top of my couch and watched the movie almost entirely. I was like, WOW. I sent a message to Gints, and I said, “You need to remember, it’s the first film for a pet!” Image © The TimesFox Renderfarm: How did you tell the story clearly through visuals and movement alone?Léo: With the expression and the behavior of the character. Gints had already created the staging and decided what would happen in the movie, so I just enhanced what he wanted to express by adding this naturalistic animation. Sometimes I suggest ideas to make the character's actions more concise to the audience.For example, at the end, when the mole saved their friends on the boat, the cats took the rope to give it to the limber. At first, he did that with his paw like a human being, and I suggested that he could do the same with his mouth because it could be more cat-like, while still serving the same narrative purpose. It's always a blend, a careful balance between authenticity and storytelling clarity.Image © FlowOf course, Flow isn’t a realistic film—it lives in the realm of fantasy, with breathtaking moments like the bird ascending into the sky. We had to make our characters live in this fantasy moment, but within the limits of their body. So we had to determine what could and couldn’t be. I shared all the discussions with my team, also to get it as accurate as possible.Fox Renderfarm: Which tools or pipeline steps were most crucial in making Flow work?Léo: I think one of Blender's greatest features is the ability to copy and paste between scenes, which is extremely helpful for managing long shots—especially those over a thousand frames, some even up to six thousand frames, equivalent to about five minutes. Assigning such lengthy shots to a single animator is quite challenging.We had to split the shot into two ways. One option was to split the character, so the animator could focus on a long shot with just one character, making it easier to maintain control over the animation. The other option was to break the shot into smaller sub-shots. While splitting is straightforward, merging them back together can be tricky. However, with Blender's copy-paste tool, this isn’t an issue at all. You simply copy the character's collection and paste it into your scene, and the character arrives complete with all its animation and constraints intact. This makes it very easy to manage scenes and ensure smooth integration, resulting in a seamless final shot.Fox Renderfarm: What technical planning enabled Flow’s long, uninterrupted camera shots?Léo: As animators, we adhered to Gints’ staging to keep characters properly framed, and the storytelling focused. But we had to work with great care, knowing Gints could still alter the camera after animation was completed. One of the most critical — and toughest — instructions I gave the team was: don’t break the rig.Often in animation, if a shot looks clean from the intended camera angle, you might take shortcuts that only work from that one view. But if you turn the camera to the side, and suddenly the character looks destroyed, we couldn’t allow that on Flow — not only because the camera is constantly moving, but also because Gints might revise the framing later.That’s why from day one, I made it clear to the team: every pose must be clean from every angle. This discipline gave Gints the freedom to adjust the camera and refine the composition without compromising the integrity of the animation.Image © FlowFox Renderfarm: Are you familiar with Fox Renderfarm?Léo: No, I never tried it, but I want to. It was great to see the Fox Renderfarm team and learn about cloud rendering. In the future, I do plan to try.Fox Renderfarm: Some advice to the young artists?Léo: What stands out to me about Flow is its spirit. It’s a free, expressive kind of story — one that feels universal, with no dialogue, inviting viewers to interpret it in their own way. There was also a sense of creative freedom in how we made it: a young team, many of them junior animators, learning and growing together.My advice for young people is: keep going. Keep doing what you want and what you like, and don’t try to copy what you've already seen. Flow is an indie film, while something like Pixar represents that big-industry polish that can feel almost unreachable — and for me, a bit intimidating. But seeing independent projects like ours express creativity and intelligence in their own way… that gives me hope.

The wait is over. Visionary filmmaker James Cameron invites the world to return to the breathtaking bioluminescent world of Pandora with the release of the official trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash. This first glimpse promises an emotionally charged and visually stunning new chapter, arriving exclusively in theaters on December 19.A Legendary Director’s ReturnWith Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron once again pushes the boundaries of cinematic technology and storytelling. Cameron, who directed, co-wrote, and produced this installment, reunites audiences with the characters who started a global phenomenon. The trailer hints at a deeper, more intense exploration of Pandora’s wonders and threats, solidifying this film as the must-see theatrical event of the holiday season.The Heroes of Pandora: Familiar Faces and New BondsThe trailer reacquaints us with the iconic characters we’ve followed since the beginning:Jake Sully (Sam Worthington): The former Marine, now fully embodied as the leader of the Na’vi, faces his greatest challenge yet to protect his family and home.Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña): The fierce Na’vi warrior’s resolve is tested as new dangers emerge, threatening everything she holds sacred.Central to the story remains the Sully family, whose bonds are the emotional core of the saga. The trailer suggests their unity will be paramount in the coming conflict.An All-Star Ensemble CastAvatar: Fire and Ash boasts an incredible cast, blending returning legends with powerful new performers:Returning Icons: Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang return, their characters’ journeys taking unexpected turns. Kate Winslet reprises her role as the free-diving Metkayina leader Ronal.The Next Generation: The young cast, including Britain Dalton (Lo’ak), Trinity Bliss (Tuk), Jack Champion (Spider), and Bailey Bass (Tsireya), steps further into the spotlight, shaping the future of Pandora.New & Returning Forces: The film welcomes Oona Chaplin and sees the return of Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, adding new layers to the rich tapestry of Na’vi clans.A team of storytelling titans forges the epic narrative. The screenplay is by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, from a story by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno. This collaboration ensures a plot rich with the signature blend of heart-pounding action, profound themes of connection and ecology, and intricate character development that defines the Avatar universe.The trailer underscores a vital message: this film is crafted for the big screen. From the awe-inspiring vistas of new Pandoran ecosystems to the intricately detailed motion-capture performances, Avatar: Fire and Ash is designed to be experienced only in theaters. The immersive 3D, groundbreaking visual effects, and thunderous soundscape will transport audiences directly into the heart of the action on December 19.This season, power your holiday projects and step into the new year with boosted rendering capabilities from Fox Renderfarm, a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry.Special Holiday Offer: Get 100% CPU Render Coupons OR 50% GPU Render Coupons on every recharge above $100! There are 30 days left until the sale ends!Let your creativity shine. We provide a reliable, powerful cloud rendering solution so you can focus on what you do best: creating magic.👉 Learn more and unwrap the deal here: https://bit.ly/4pw6LcFFrom all of us at Fox Renderfarm, we wish you a festive season filled with joy, inspiration, and unparalleled creativity.

Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures have unveiled the first trailer for their next animated adventure, "Hoppers," a film that promises to take the studio's signature heart, humor, and breathtaking animation to a scale we've never seen before—literally. And it has already sparked its first adorable mystery: a beaver in a miniature crown.A Secret Society Under Our FeetThe trailer opens not on sprawling landscapes or city skylines, but on a single, dewy blade of grass. As the camera plunges, a bustling, ingeniously crafted world is revealed, built from forgotten human objects: a village in a discarded gardening pot, bridges made of clothespins, and lanterns fashioned from bottle caps. This is the world of the Hoppers, a community of tiny, ingenious creatures who have thrived in secret, living by a simple, strict rule: Never be seen by the "Giants" (humans).Our guide into this miniature universe is Pip (voiced by newcomer Milo Rivera), a curious and impulsive young Hopper who dreams of exploration beyond the safe confines of the garden. His cautious older sister, Hazel (voiced by Rachel Zegler), is his constant, worried shadow, more intent on memorizing the "Rules of Staying Hidden" than breaking them.The Adventure That Changes EverythingThe tranquil order of the Hopper colony is upended when a mysterious, glittering artifact from the human world—a simple yet wondrous soda tab—falls into their territory. When the colony's stern, rule-abiding leader, Elder Burdock (voiced by Sterling K. Brown), declares it a dangerous threat to be disposed of, Pip and Hazel find themselves on opposite sides of a growing debate. Their disagreement sparks an accidental journey that catapults them into the terrifying and awe-inspiring "Giant Zone"—a human house.The trailer thrills with sequences of both peril and wonder: Pip and Hazel dodging a colossal vacuum cleaner, using a stack of books as a mountainous climbing wall, and forging an unlikely alliance with a philosophical, retired toy robot (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key).A Regal, Rodent-Sized MysteryBut the moment that has set the internet abuzz comes in a single, blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot: a smooth-talking, confidently smiling beaver (voice yet to be revealed), perched in a tiny rowboat… wearing a perfectly fitted, jeweled little crown. The question on every fan's mind is now official: But HOW did he get a little crown?? Is he the self-appointed king of a stream? Did he win it in a showdown with a dollhouse? The mystery of the crowned beaver is now one of the film's most charming and intriguing puzzles.Visual Splendor and Emotional DepthTrue to Pixar form, "Hoppers" is visually stunning. The texture of a carpet becomes a vast forest, a sunbeam through a window is a cathedral of light, and a puddle on the kitchen floor is an inland sea. The scale allows animators to play with perspective in ways that feel both fresh and inherently cinematic.But at its core, the film asks classic, resonant Pixar questions: What does it mean to be brave? Is safety more important than understanding? Can two worlds, operating on vastly different scales, ever learn to coexist?Directed by veteran Pixar storyteller Jane Park (co-director of Luca), "Hoppers" looks to be a joyous, poignant, and adventurous celebration of seeing the world—and our place in it—from a brand new angle.The adventure begins in theaters on March 6, 2026. Bring Your Own Miniature Worlds to LifeFeeling inspired to build your own intricate worlds? Just as Pixar’s animators craft unseen universes, creators everywhere are bringing their own visions to life. This season, power your holiday projects and step into the new year with boosted rendering capabilities from Fox Renderfarm, a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry.Special Holiday Offer: Get 100% CPU Render Coupons OR 50% GPU Render Coupons on every recharge above $100! There are 30 days left until the sale ends!Let your creativity shine. We provide a reliable, powerful cloud rendering solution so you can focus on what you do best: creating magic.👉 Learn more and unwrap the deal here: https://bit.ly/4pw6LcFFrom all of us at Fox Renderfarm, we wish you a festive season filled with joy, inspiration, and unparalleled creativity.