The Art

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The Animations

Watch the Animations

About the Art & Animations

A Q&A with Rich Shapero

Q: Brazilian paleoartist Júlia d’Oliveira created digital paintings of characters that figure prominently in the story: late Cretaceous creatures of the Interior Sea.

RS: Júlia is a biologist and is up to the minute on paleontological research, so her creatures are accurately and painstakingly rendered. I was drawn, as well, to the artistic aspects of her work, her capture of movement, her use of light and color to dramatic effect. She was an ideal creative collaborator for Xiphactinus.

Q: She also contributed illustrations for the Xiphactinus contemporaries referenced in the book, featured in the “Creatures Guide.”

RS: I realized early on that most readers wouldn’t be familiar with them, so I thought we might help out by providing illustrations, descriptions and pronunciations for easy reference.

Q: SiLee Animations and Impromptu brought Júlia’s full-frame paintings to life.

RS: By animating the paintings, I hoped readers would feel a little of the magic of being in the sea, swimming alongside these ancient beasts, in the midst of their drama of survival.

Art and Animation Credits

Animations created from digital paintings by Júlia d’Oliveira
Produced by Jan Lindsay-Smith and Josh Turner
Sound design and editing by Josh Turner

Part 1
Painting: Elasmosaurus Gang
Audio: Kevin MacLeod, “Darkest Child”
Animation: SiLee Films and Impromptu

Part 2
Painting: Xiphactinus Fossil
Audio: Kevin MacLeod, “Professor and the Plant”
Animation: SiLee Films with Aishwarya Tadwalkar (Xiphactinus model adaptation)
Xiphactinus model by Julian Johnson-Mortimer licensed under CC BY 4.0

Part 3
Painting: A Drifting Crinoid Colony
Audio: Kevin MacLeod, “Darkest Child”
Animation: SiLee Films and Impromptu

Part 4
Painting: Sea Turtles
Audio: Kevin MacLeod, “Professor and the Plant”
Animation: SiLee Films

Part 5
Painting: Pteranodon
Audio: Kevin MacLeod, “Darkest Child”
Animation: SiLee Films

Part 6
Painting: Tylosaurus
Audio: Lucas King, “Dark Piano for Dark Thoughts”
Animation: SiLee Films with Julian Johnson-Mortimer (Xiphactinus model, CC license)
and Aishwarya Tadwalkar (model adaptation); Blue and Indoraptor Studio (Tylosaurus model, CC license)
and Velma Nasah (model adaptation)
Xiphactinus model by Julian Johnson-Mortimer licensed under CC BY 4.0

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Xiphactinus combines novel, visual art, and animations to create a provocative story for the eyes, ears, and imagination.

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