Enter The World Of Disney’s Pixar
Where every movie is an adventure worth taking
“When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.” Said a pioneer of the American animation industry that we all love, Walt Disney.
I’ve always had a soft spot for animated movies simply because the people who are involved in the animation process poured their heart and soul to develop a movie come to life. From scratch, all the way to the end.
As my imaginations roam around the quiet street where I live, I started to wonder how my life would turn out if I were an animated film. I stumbled upon a documentary series “Inside Pixar”. If you’re wondering, Pixar Animation Studios is a subsidiary company of Walt Disney Studios owned by The Walt Disney Company.
“Inside Pixar” was where behind the scenes of creating and designing a film that not many people talk about. From scriptwriting to creating thousands of background characters to create a believable world.
I have chosen my top 4 favourite episodes that make every film speak for both Disney and Pixar.
Writing Something Real
Kemp Powers, the Co-writer and the Co-producer of the comedy-drama 2020 film, Soul. In this episode, Kemp Powers discussed his personal experiences that led him to write a pivotal scene in the movie.
“Being a professional writer means you have to write, even when you don’t want to.”
Soul is a story of a Black man whose life purpose was to be a musician. Like Powers, the movie’s lead is a person of colour, who originates from New York, and someone who adores jazz music.
When Powers began writing for the movie, the protagonist was developed fully but there was something oddly missing. Powers said that the character didn’t feel real yet. It was the first movie featuring a person of colour to be the lead character, Powers knew that he needed to make the feels of the movie authentically African American.
The protagonist was given the name ‘Joe’. Powers wanted him to be recognised as a Black character. In a scene where Joe managed to score a big break for himself by performing at a well-known gig centre, Joe knew he had to make an impression upon his debut.
When Joe was getting ready for his big night, he had to choose a suit — matching his personality and display professionalism. As he was playing for the first time, Joe knew he needed to look smart in order to be a permanent pianist.
As Powers was watching the film, he realises that Joe needed a haircut. At the beginning of the character production of Joe, his hair was an absolute mess. Powers mentioned that Joe should be concerned about getting his hair fixed before debuting.
A Black-owner barbershop was missing the piece in the puzzle. Powers raised, “The Black barbershop is a kind of like the town centre of the community. You can go to your average Black barbershop and there will be a Black doctor, or a lawyer waiting to get his hair cut after an actor or a garbage man. When we’re in the shop, we’re all the same.”
Before proceeding into adding a new scene, Powers asked the team, “Why do we need this?” It is to tackle the uncertainty of the new characters and bring a whole new life to the film.
Ever since adding new characters and a new set, everyone was locked in on the idea. The film was set to be a success and it was! Powers said that writing Soul was never a piece of cake, it is the only way to put himself out there and communicating the storyline through a medium like this where people from his community can relate to.
The Art of The Pivot
Deanna Marsigliese, a Character Art Director at Pixar Animation Studios discusses her approach when designing new characters in upcoming projects and how she stays inspired.
“If I am approaching a design issue and it’s not getting solved, I have to pivot. I have to be agile. I have to come at it in a different way.”
Marsigliese has pretty much the world in her hands. Designing characters in a movie can be a challenge and still looking for inspirations. Because a blank page, a confusing note, or the challenge of doing something different gets her stuck at times.
Using her hands and creative skills to developing something out from the pages is how Marsigliese gain inspirations. Putting herself out there, and generally just be messy.
It’s important for her to be crafty with paper and ink as it’s an invitation to new material to have a say in her art. Experimenting with her clothes has welcomed inspirations around her, taking away some of her control.
Just like Powers, Marsigliese was involved too, Soul, in designing the counsellor characters.
A story artist had pitched the idea that the counsellor characters are shape-shifters made out of single lines. It has since then caught Marsigliese’s attention, “Wow. This would be cool as wire sculptures.” Without hesitation, the production designer was on board with her idea.
Marsigliese was given an opportunity to work beyond the office walls and was sent to Italy on a movie project that she was involved in. Being part Italian and working with a director who was also from Italy, she’d want to contribute to the film in an authentic way.
Roaming around the streets with her camera and sketchbooks, she’d challenge herself to notice every small detail. Visiting her family back at home has made her realise that unexpected layers of inspiration came about when she notices the small nuances of the gestures made by people.
Working on designing a character is part of the job, so is designing and creating a fashion piece of a character. Marsigliese has taken the viewers through how she came about when designing fashion pieces for characters.
Marsigliese loves vintage clothing items and even feels comfortable in them, which makes them staple pieces in her wardrobe. She discusses that whenever she is designing fashion pieces for characters, Marsigliese studies the clothes’ texture to be used on the character.
How would she know if the texture suits well with the character? It is when the fashion pieces she’s chosen for a specific character, where the story-telling element aligns with the textures of the fashion pieces as well!
Taking inspiration from her closet, she ensures that each and every piece of clothing pieces she owns corresponded with superhero power.
Colour, Light, and Emotion
Have you ever wondered why do we need lights in our everyday lives? We need them to see, feel, and create memories. In a film set, lighting plays a huge part. It sharpens the scene’s emotions.
“If there were no light, you wouldn’t see anything.”
Here, a Lead Lighting Director, Art Director, and Lighting Artist uncovers the secrets of how Pixar does its magic of lights when it comes to editing a film.
Lighting helps us see, but it’s also to establish a time of day and define a mood for a specific scene. Whether it’s scary, happy, or even sad. This triggers the emotions of the audience because we, respond differently to darkness and light around us. We react when we see certain kinds of lighting. Scary isn’t it?
Picture this: It’s a sunny day when a couple goes out for a picnic under the trees. Light is filtering through the leaves and the shadows reflect on them.
Have you felt this before? It feels authentic, right? Even if it’s late at night, only having a mobile phone as a source of light, running out of battery.
I’ve learnt a little about lights that have commonly been used in a film set. Creating a difference in the scene involves a lot of different lights. Lighting plays a major role in enhancing a scene’s emotions, character’s features, and many more. These four are actually all used in different scenes!
Interrogation Light: it gives off a bright and harsh kind of feel to a character. Just like the name, when a scene in particular set in an interrogation room, it’s where it all begins.
Key Light: it functions as the main light source on a character in a scene. Simply put, all the attention is solely for that one character.
Rim Light: lightens up the character’s place in the scene, separating them from the background. A stand-out from the crowd.
Bounce Card: it isn’t a light, per se, but it’s equally important. It’s essentially bouncing light from other light sources back in the scene to ensure that the character doesn’t diminish in the darkness.
Did you know? Designing light around characters and their story points actually starts with colour!
We tend to think of colours attached to an object, but it’s actually light bouncing off them and giving us the perceived colour. A few given examples: yellow, banana. Green, trees. Red, apple.
When editing a film, designing colours for the project plays an important part because it defines the way a certain scene feels or how the audiences perceive it and even understanding it emotionally.
Lighting experts have total control of their own little world when it comes to editing a film. How fun!
No Small Roles
Every film has its own unique set of background characters. Imagine a film with just the protagonist going on in their everyday lives on their own, without anyone. Would you watch it?
I wonder what my life would look like in a movie set with background characters. Walking down the streets, with headphones on and people are around. It might not be a big deal, but in Pixar, it is.
It’s intimidating being the only character living so the roles of extras in films are extremely important. This gives a specific scene a totally different emotional impact.
Creating crowds that fits the story-telling in a film usually features characters that are different from one another. Similar to real life, we don’t often see people that looks the same.
A scene from ‘Cars 3’ features over 60,000 cars as background characters. A crowd shot for multiple seconds is huge! It’s the biggest crowd shot that Pixar has ever made so far.
The intention set by Animators was for the audience to feel an experience that is relatable to the film. Whether it’s happy, sad, or even scary ones.
Creating extras comes with a lot of work. Have you ever wondered how designing over thousands of background characters work?
From a single character model, animators can create as many as 50 different varieties. Not only just making a crowd, but that also includes how these characters would move. Making extras takes a very long time to create. Usually, animators take around one to two minutes of animations per film.
The pros use an animation library that has about 1,500 different performances that can be used for thousands of characters. This can simply bring them to life. And also… preventing animators from going insane. I can’t imagine working on a project making the extras move one by one.
Maybe background characters don’t seem as important to some, as the film’s heroes, but their job is pretty much critical. Crowds make these movies feel alive and remembered.
To Pixar, there aren’t any small parts for every character. They each count to make a film remarkable. Maybe being an extra isn’t so bad after all.
And, cut!
The amount of work that goes into a 90-minute film is a whole lot of work, a tremendous effort made by Disney’s Pixar. It has given me such an impact because the work behind the scenes is crazy!
Now when I watch Disney Pixar films, all that runs through my mind is: “Wow, such amazing work and detail.” I see things differently now, because of what goes on during the production process. I am more grateful because the efforts made by the people involved are top-notch.
Now there’s a few bits and pieces we know about what goes on in the process of making, creating, and designing a film. Mad respect to everyone who gave their absolute best to memorable movies for the audiences to enjoy for a lifetime.
What’s your favourite Disney Pixar movie? Mine would have to be Ratatouille! Remembering a scene where Ratatouille was plated beautifully in the kitchen. This made me think about the process of making it digitally. Such as how the lighting made the food look appetising!
The background characters had their significant roles to play in Ratatouille too, and I loved every single part of it. Such a classic and a throwback movie, the nostalgic feels are coming back!
I learned a lot from this experience. From how the lighting affects the mood and ambience, to the birthing of new and unique characters for a movie.
I am now able to better relate to the designers and writers. How they are stuck and in need of some inspiration. It is the same for me as well. Finding inspirations don’t just have to be on screen, but exploring the world one way or another.
How do you find your inspiration? I hope that you can find yours.
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