Matteo – Hello, we are the team behind the film The Left-Handed Snail, and we’re going to introduce you to the making-of of our film. The story follows a snail with a genetic anomaly that makes it left-handed. This means that all of its organs, including its reproductive organ, are located on its left side. Normally, in snails, they are on the right. And for snails to reproduce, they need a partner that is also right-handed, broadly speaking. So our left-handed snail goes on a quest for love in an adventure told at a snail’s scale. There was actually a scientific study that attempted to demonstrate just how rare left-handed snails are. In the species we focused on, the common garden snail, there is approximately one left-handed snail for every 30,000 individuals.

Gabryël – The film’s characters are mainly snails. There are also a few small insects and other animals. We follow Jérémy. It took some thought to give him his own identity because we see several snails throughout the film, and Jérémy needed to stand out from the rest. So both through animation and visual design, he has elements that make him distinct.

Louis – We give him expressions through his tentacles. If he lowers his head, it can convey one emotion. If he raises his body, it can express another.

Gabryël – Since we were leaning toward a mockumentary style, we wanted everything to feel as realistic as possible. We liked the idea of bringing viewers into an environment they see every day, but at a scale they have never experienced before.

Matteo – We drew a lot of inspiration from previous MoPA student films, especially Garden Party, which was at the heart of our references. It had this garden setting with a camera placed at the scale of the characters, who were frogs.

Louis – One of the major technical challenges of the film was designing the ground surfaces, which appear at a macro scale for our snail. We had to model every object and every tiny grain of soil. Then, procedurally, we generated multiple patterns and different types of ground that could be reused throughout the film. This allowed us to automate a large part of the scene-building process.

Gabryël – The snail itself was quite a challenge because it naturally has an appearance that can be a little unappealing, yet we needed to represent it faithfully on screen while still making it pleasant to watch, since audiences would follow it for five or six minutes. Its slimy, sticky, slightly translucent appearance, constantly changing depending on the angle of the light, was a real challenge. It took us time to find the right balance that would work throughout the entire film.

Matteo – Regarding the rig, the challenge was creating a soft-bodied creature using rigid elements. Bones can very quickly give a mechanical appearance, making bends and deformations visible. The goal is to soften all of that. Part of it comes from weight painting, determining how each bone influences the 3D geometry. But there are also many small tricks involved. The snail’s rig was one of the biggest technical challenges of the film. We also developed an automated wave motion on its underside. Since snails move using muscles located beneath their bodies, I implemented a system that allows animators, with just a few clicks, to generate a continuous wave across its belly to simulate locomotion.

Gabryël – Throughout the year, several industry professionals come to the school to help us with different aspects of production. They bring additional perspectives and expertise. In a way, they play a role similar to that of a lead artist in a studio, providing highly relevant feedback that helps us stay consistent with the story we want to tell, what we want to show, and ensures we keep moving in the right direction.

Matteo – Looking ahead, what we hope for this film is a successful festival run and, ideally, to become a source of inspiration just as Garden Party was for us. We would love future students to think, “If we want to create something in this style, we can draw inspiration from The Left-Handed Snail.” I think it would be a real source of pride if the film remained a reference for realism and the mockumentary genre.

Louis – My education at MoPA brought me a great deal. First of all, it helped me develop my teamwork skills because throughout the program, from the foundation year to the fifth year, we complete group projects every year. I also learned how to organize myself more effectively and work efficiently within a VFX and 3D animation pipeline.

Matteo – I found a school where there was far more listening and support than I had experienced before. Communication and collaboration were truly central, whether with fellow students, instructors, or the people supervising us. There was a constant exchange of ideas, which I believe is essential and incredibly valuable.

Louis – The advice I would give to a future MoPA student is to dedicate a lot of time to personal projects and to stay curious, especially about new technologies and software that are constantly evolving around us. This helps build a stronger technical foundation for the future, and it is something that recruiters are actively looking for.