Blinkink stages a celestial spectacle for Dior

Fashion house Dior has unveiled this gorgeous, classic-cinema-inspired short film for Lunar New Year, lovingly realised through richly imaginative stop-motion by BLINKINK directors Nina Gantz and Renee Zhan.  

Titled A Ride To The Moon, the story unfolds within an ornate, 18th century French theatre and draws visual inspiration from Georges Méliès’ silent film Voyage dans la Lune. It centres around a plucky little horse - modelled after the Dior horse charm and assembled from sewing materials - who longs to travel to see his best friend, the moon.  

True to Blinkink’s devotion to hand-made, traditional craft, the production embraces old-school theatre mechanics, such as deliberately visible strings, trapdoors and painted 2D sets.  

Directors Nina Gantz and Renee Zhan add, “The starting point was about celebrating traditional stage craft, inspired by the Marie Antoinette theatre at Versailles. Hand-painted sets, manual mechanisms, and those beautifully theatrical illusions. We embraced the Baroque spirit in everything: visually, technically, and musically. 
 
It was a real joy to receive a brief to create something so artistically rich and steeped in craft tradition. We worked closely and collaboratively with the Dior team to create this intricate world. Stop-motion was key for all of us because it has an intentional charm; it’s not meant to be too smooth. Everything was filmed in camera, using old theatrical solutions, like creating movement by shifting the sets rather than moving the puppet itself."