Can you talk us through the creative process of creating the Life in the Desert animation?
I am constantly amazed at the amount of work everyone invests in getting Life in the Desert completed to perfection. After the script is written by Salam*, it is revised by three different people from three different angles: Ibtisam revises it with a director’s eye, Rawda looks at the psychological impact on children, and Hoda reviews the spiritual teaching throughout the series from a theological standpoint. These three revisions usually lead to rewriting major parts of the script. Yet Salam, the scriptwriter, is so patient and does whatever it takes to incorporate feedback so the work can be the highest quality.
What happens after the script has been finalised?
That’s when we start the process of modelling, rendering, lighting, animation, dynamics, compositing, editing, and voice design. It takes a long time as we have to re-work elements a number of times to make sure quality of the 3D animation is excellent.
There are 26 episodes (2 seasons) of Life in the Desert, how long does it take to make each episode?
In normal working conditions, it takes two and a half to three months to complete an episode. As the number of animators on staff tends to fluctuate, our animators have been expanding their areas of speciality and learning each other’s roles so that they can help out if colleagues are absent.
And how many actors do you use?
Ah yes, in Season 2 we actually used 12 different professional voice actors. And when we dub the season into different Arabic dialects so that it’s more widely accessible, we would use another 12 actors.
Do you have any testimonies from your team members about working on the Life in the Desert series?
My colleague, Kareem, shared that he was personally touched by the heroine’s encounter with Jesus. It was eye opening for him to realise that his relationship with God is easily affected by his relationship with others. He’s noticed that when he has a quarrel or is struggling with unforgiveness, he finds it difficult to enjoy his relationship with God to the full. As a result, he’s learnt to put more effort into building good relationships with others and letting go of the grudges he holds in his heart.
Another team member, Noor, shared that she has always been impressed by the wonderful relationship between the heroine and her father. He is always good to her, even when she is angry or sad. The father is such an attractive model of God’s unconditional love.
Do you have any prayer requests you want to share?
Team members have experienced a number of health issues and tricky life circumstances over the past few years, so we would love prayer for health and spiritual protection.
