Waking Life to open in cinemas this week

A radical new fusion of animation and live action opens in cinemas this week. Waking Life, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, was filmed and edited live before each frame was graphically painted over by more than 30 artists, using computer animator Bob Sabiston’s ‘interpolated rotoscoping’ software.

The dazzling, almost psychedelic result reflects the storyline, in which the hero travels through what appears to be a disorienting dream-world. The painting process took nine months, with each minute of live action said to have required 250 hours of animation.

The film, directed by Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused), premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.