Thomas Traum create still and moving images using fresh, explorative and explosive digital approaches. We chatted to founder Thomas Eberwein about discovering the previously unseen.
Tell us about a bit Thomas Traum and how it all got started
Thomas Traum was my digital artist name when I worked full-time at Hi-RES! When I went solo and started up my own company I kept the name as it fits the work I do and sounds cool. I use it now as an umbrella name for the studio.
What new technology has got you excited?
A lot, but it’s very specific to certain technical areas such as using game engines for animation. Related to more general currents of new technology; I started a side project using AI to categorise reference and research images. It’s a lot of fun!
Tell us more about your KENZO in-store films, what is it like bringing prints to life?
We have done five seasons of print pattern films for KENZO now and they’ve been great. Mostly, we try to translate the patterns into a 3D world so that the animations become an experience. This experience then links back and embodies the collection.
When they’re worn on the body, the patterns become three dimensional which we try to recreate in our animations. It’s about finding environments the patterns can exist within.
What are your strongest skills?
Ideas, art direction and technology.
What’s the creative process once you’ve received a brief?
Pretty straightforward in approach but challenging in practice! We normally have a precise idea of what we looking to create but we need to do a lot of research and development to get there.
What’s the best unfinished project you’ve got under your belt?
An abstract, decadent, booty-shaking stripper video in 3D which we started but never finished.
We love your HUNTER campaign film. What was the brief and was it fun to work on?
It was a lot of fun and we are very proud of it. The brief was pretty much the final product: Create a fun adventure in a hyper-real version of the Scottish Highlands. If HUNTER weren’t such an amazingly forward-thinking client there is no way we could have done it. It was perfect in that respect.
It was also one of those projects where you put everything you have into it and you think it’s all going to fall apart or that you’ll have a heart attack. But then, once finished you’re immensely proud and months later you can still look back and be happy with the result. That’s the ultimate test of any project I guess!
