Vincent van Gogh had been a school boy, a student, a teacher, a preacher, a junior clerk, and a bookseller, all before the age of 27, when he decided that he wanted to be an artist—something he was ultimately known for. "Loving Vincent" tries to bring the paintings of the Netherlands artist to life; it tells his story through 62,450 frames of hand painted work of oil painters from all over Europe in Vincent van Gogh's style. Throughout the making of “Loving Vincent” 1,345 oil paintings were thrown away.

Behind every frame, a story

According to the film's official production website, "Loving Vincent" has been in the making for over 6 years.

Piotr Dominiak, one of the 125 European artists involved in painting the 65,000 frames used in the making, said in a video, "You think about Vincent's paintings, and you think animated Vincent's paintings. It's like... getting goose bumps, I guess."

Another oil painter, Sara Campos, said that she was shocked, "What's this? What kind of project it can be, you know, because this is really strange that somebody wants a painter for work."

The crew bringing paintings to life

These oil paintings weren't all that went into the animated Feature Film. "Loving Vincent" comes from writer and director Dorota Kobiela, who was a graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland. She worked alongside co-writer, co-director, and producer, Hugh Welchman from BreakThru Films for this project with two other producers, Sean Bobbit and Ivan Mctaggart of Trademark Films.

For the film's unique process, the team created a special work station. After the paintings were done, they were laid out together with the storyboard and computer generated animatic as the basis for the shooting, involving real actors.

The brilliant cast of 'Loving Vincent'

The cast includes Douglas Booth, who previously starred as Boy George in "Worried About the Boy" (2010), a film by the BBC Two, Robert Gulaczyk as Vincent van Gogh, and Eleanor Thomlinson as Adeline Ravoux, the daughter of the owner of the inn Van Gogh was staying in during his last days alive.

The role of Doctor Paul Gachet, the French physician who treated Van Gogh prior to his suicide, went to Jerome Flynn, an actor and a best-selling pop singer in the UK.

The doctor's daughter Marguerite Gachet, who has been the subject of Van Gogh's paintings, is played by Saoirse Ronan, an Academy Award nominee for best supporting actress in 2005.

According to the film's official site, Robert Gulaczyk was barely speaking any word of English when he auditioned. He's a Polish theater actor who so happened to look like Vincent van Gogh. "Loving Vincent" also stars Aidan Turner, John Sessions, Chris O'dowd, and Joe Stuckey as the Idiot Boy.
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