To Love a Ladybug (2020)

Directed by Mikael Trench

A dying cockroach in the alleyways of Paris reminisces of the time he fell in love with a ladybug and what that relationship means to him in his final moments.

To Love a Ladybug is the result of the blood, sweat, and tears of a small team of individuals that want to see this lovely medium thrive. Over the course of a year, we pushed through obstacle after obstacle to put this film together, from a jumbled development phase to completing its post production process during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Through it all, we crafted a heartfelt story of self love and acceptance full of quirky characters, a vibrant handmade aesthetic, and beautiful music.

I’m thrilled to finally be releasing the film to the public after its nearly two year festival run, where it racked up 16 official selections and three award wins from around the globe. Keep scrolling to see the film, as well as a look into its making.

 
 
MOODBOARD The film is meant to take place in two different worlds, starting off in a more realistic alleyway and transitioning to a fantastical setup for the dance scene. Originally, we took inspiration from German Expressionism for the fantasy scene
STYLE FRAME 1 The film's first style frame, showcasing our hero, Horatio the cockroach, alone in an alleyway as he slowly passes away. Originally the idea, entitled A Bug's Death (meant to be a riff on the Pixar movie title), was to have Horatio flas
STYLE FRAME 2 Before moving into pre-production, we created two other style frames, this time being a mock set up with a clay figure of the main character, now on a windowsill by a radio, which would play a song that reminds him of his ladybug escapa
STLYE FRAME 3 A second style mock up style frame, showcasing Horatio and the ladybug, Aubrey, in the fantasy dance scene. We did a few set ups of these to decide on how it would be lit and what the general interior of the ballroom would look like.
AUBREY UNUSED CHARACTER DESIGN The original character design for Aubrey the ladybug, which got heavily altered in the final film. After creating a prototype puppet of the design, we had a difficult time translating the design to a 3D puppet, so one o
HORATIO ORIGINAL CHARACTER DESIGN The design for Horatio the cockroach didn't change drastically, although his fantasy version got beefed up a bit more in the final film.
REALISTIC HORATIO (FORM) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, and black wrap
REALISTIC HORATIO (FINAL) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, and black wrap
FANTASY HORATIO (FORM) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, wooden beads, and black wrap
FANTASY HORATIO (FINAL) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, wooden beads, and black wrap
REALISTIC AUBREY (FORM) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, and black wrap
REALISTIC AUBREY (FINAL) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, and black wrap
FANTASY AUBREY (FORM) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, wooden beads, and black wrap
FANTASY AUBREY (FINAL) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, wooden beads, and black wrap
MANTIS (FORM) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, wooden beads, and black wrap
MANTIS (FINAL) Made using foam, latex skin, wire armature, wooden beads, and black wrap
TEST CUTOUT PUPPETS Made using paper and rivets
FINAL CUTOUT PUPPETS Made using blackboard and rivets
ANIMATION PT. 1
ANIMATION PT. 2
ANIMATION PT. 3
ANIMATION PT.4
ANIMATION PT. 5
SET BUILDING PT. 1
SET BUILDING PT. 2
FINAL FILM FRAME PT. 1
FINAL FILM FRAME PT. 2
FINAL FILM FRAME PT. 3
FINAL FILM FRAME PT. 4
FINAL FILM FRAME PT. 5