How one shot is made
Twenty-four photographs a second, gathered into motion. From a character born in the hands, to the set it stands on, to the moment it comes alive in front of the camera — the four stages of how Studio Yona makes a film.
We sculpt the characters by hand
Starting from design drawings, we build the armature — the jointed skeleton — add the body, and set costume and hair strand by strand. One puppet holds sculpture, craft and sewing at once.
We build the world
A tundra of snow, a window in a small room, a dune in the desert. We fix the scale to the camera angle and build sets so that real material texture reads through the lens.
We move it one frame at a time
The animator moves the puppet a fraction and takes one picture — and that picture becomes 1/24 of a second on screen. Lighting, camera rigs and motion control hold that repetition steady. One minute of film takes 1,440 photographs.
Digital gives it wings
Rig removal, compositing, 2D effects, color grading, sound design. Digital craft pushes past the limits — without touching the warmth of what was shot by hand.
Curious how we work?
Commissions, collaborations and workshop enquiries welcome.