Opera

Client: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

"Opera" centres on a chimpanzee, Luna, singing an operatic aria from L'elisir d'amore - an impassioned love song to Earth and all the species that shaped our planet's history. Aiming inspire not just museum visits, but environmental stewardship, the film creates an emotional connection between humans and nature by encouraging viewers to reconsider humanity's place within Earth's vast timeline.

The vision for "Opera" required a high degree of production skill. The film compressed 3 billion years of natural history into 3 minutes using carefully chosen Utah landscapes with an analog shooting approach despite heavy post-production needs. To create the chimpanzee, the VFX team crafted everything by hand - from muscle movements to nostril hairs. The choreographer's precise performance provided authentic reference for animators. The operatic score was specifically selected and adapted to enhance emotional impact. Every element - direction, cinematography, music, editing, and visual effects - demanded exceptional craft.