It's going to seem pretty contradictory that I'm dedicating this blog to knocking down animation, but hear me out. John Lasseter, director of the Toy Story trilogy (and soon to be quadrilogy), once said:
"If you're sitting in your minivan, playing your computer animated films for your children in the back seat, is it the animation that's entertaining you as you drive and listen? No, it's the storytelling. That's why we put so much importance on story. No amount of great animation will save a bad story."
What I want to talk about in this post is that no matter how good your animation is, it's NOTHING without a great story behind it. I think that's why some of these YouTube channels are so popular.
For instance, Joe, the YouTube channel that created Dog of Wisdom and this gem of a fan film for Monster's Inc, receives millions of views. Let me say that again...THIS video got 1.2 MILLION views.
Another channel that has received such success is my new favorite channel (which may or may not be NSFW), GradeAUnderA. This guy animates like THIS...and I keep coming back for more. I don't watch this guy rant for the animation, though at times it can be quite comedic, I watch for his points and jokes.
So I guess what you should take away from this post is, sure, you can be the best animator in the world, but if your design or story are lackluster, no one will want to watch your stuff.
I am taking a moment to appreciate 3D animated hair and fur.
Take Sully’s fur from Monsters Inc., for example. Just from
looking at it, we are able to imagine what it feels like. We have a good idea
of what Sully would feel like if we were able to pat him. The fact that we can
compare a real textural feeling to something animated by a cold, hard computer
is pretty amazing.
Hair is pretty cool too. Merida’s hair from Brave is
probably the most beautiful hair in the entire animated world, as far as I’m
concerned. It’s wild and big and out of control and probably took so much
memory to create. But every curl behaves like we would expect hair to behave. It
moves so naturally in relation to Merida and adds character to her character.
It must’ve taken a lot of work to control every curl in order to make her hair
look uncontrollable.
Another set of good hair is Rapunzel from Tangled. What’s
really amazing about that animation is the sheer amount of hair that had to be
considered. The hair at least 10 times longer than Rapunzel herself and it’s
used as a prop throughout the movie—it’s a lasso, it’s a rope, it’s a ladder… In
animating this hair, utility had to be taken into consideration all the while
keeping things silky, shiny, and smooth.
This video showing a variety of hair related goofs with
Rapunzel’s hair gives a little bit of insight into the physics of good hair.
Created by Pixar Animation Studios and published by Walt Disney Pictures in 2001, Monsters, Inc. is a hit comedy film by director Pete Docter. Showcasing a fully-animated, monster-populated world in 3D, Monsters, Inc. takes place in a world where electricity is generated by the screams of children. The title sequence at the start of the film reflects the colorful, yet "scary" state of the monster world, including the doors to the human world which are ever-prominent throughout the movie.
The whole title sequence is showcased in 2D, with simple colors and what looks like paper cut-outs of the doors and creatures littering the screen. The background is pitch black, but it adds to the childlike views on screen, as everything appears to have been deliberately animated in that manner.
For 2001, especially, this is adorable. The music reflects the state of mind that the audience probably had when viewing this title sequence for the first time, and it definitely draws on Pixar's "cute but serious" style of storytelling and animation.
Since we are moving into our next project, I wanted to make this week's blog post about another title sequence. Particularly, I wanted to pick a title sequence that had simpler shapes, but great animations. The title sequence I am choosing to recreate is from Monster's Inc-- which I talked about before on this blog. It is very creative, using shapes to form pictures to help create an idea for the audience of what the film is going to be about. (Here's a reminder of what the title sequence looks like).
This sequence, as I mentioned, takes different colored shapes and animates them in accordance to the music. It is very childlike, simple, and eye-catching. Another title sequence that I am using for inspiration for our project is a "fake" title sequence from The Great Gatsby. This isn't the real sequence they used in the movie. But similar to Monster's Inc., they match up the animation to jazzy music. The shapes are simple but they play with animations. There is a great deal of scaling, rotating, and changing the position of the graphics to create an easy-to-watch yet entertaining piece.
The Monster's Inc. title sequence is one of my favorites of all time. Most people agree. It has been talked about by bloggers and reviewers everywhere.
The upbeat jazz music and rhythm inspire the movement of the graphics. It is also a title sequence that embodies what the film is going to be about. The monster's hiding behind the doors as the opening credits were rolling really made the sequence playful but also relevant to the plot of the film. It also went full force with taking parts of the sequence and playing around with them so they become the next part of the sequence. To better explain what I'm trying to say, the random shapes in the beginning become a door, the door opens and we find a children's closet and then a monster. Later in the sequence, a monster's hand takes a piece of chalk and writes out the word "Presents" and then the chalk turns into a door. See what I mean? The designer was playful and turned certain things into other relevant things. It was one of the first Pixar films with a true title sequence.
Susan Bradley is the designer of the title sequence. So here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
In 2010, a sequel (or rather a 'sequel prequel' as Billy Crystal puts it) to Pixar's smash hit Monsters Inc. was announced to hit theaters in November 2012. The film is entitled Monster University and divulges into Mike & Sulley's glory days at college where they went from rivals to the unstoppable duo that we know and love. Billy Crystal and John Goodman have eargerly agreed to reprise their roles as Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (Sulley). Steve Buscemi will also be returning as Randall Boggs (though I'm not entirely sure how his role will be worked into the movie) and new voices to join the cast include Dave Foley (Flick in A Bug's Life), Julia Sweeney, Joel Murray, and Peter Sohn (Emile in Ratatouille). However, in order to avoid competition with the release of yet another movie of the Twlight Saga, the release date was pushed back to June 2013.
Not much was released about the film other than it's wildly appropriate logo (below) until August of this year, when director, Dan Scanlon and animator, Ricky Nierva hosted a panel at the Disney Expo that revealed more images of how exactly creators were going to make a giant eyeball and a furry monster look 18 years old.
According to creators, Mike is "slightly smaller, has less freckles and wrinkles" while also supporting a retainer that he will apparently be loosing quite a bit throughout the movie.
Sulley is thinner and scruiffer, his hair resembles somewhat of a mullet and his brow doesn't seem as defined.
I personally think a prequel is a great idea for a movie that already has a large fan base because I am not a big fan of sequels and how much pressure they have to live up to (though if anyone can pull them off, Pixar can). In a prequel, as long as the story is developed properly, you can almost do anything with these characters because the audience is familiar with who they become, they know and love the "end product," now all creators have to do is have a good time getting them there. This journey can be really anything, because everyone (including our favorite monsters) goes through personality change after personality change to get to where they are at any given point in their lives. College especially is a great time to focus on because literally anything can happen. It also seems that the animators have been having fun de-aging the characters, so I look forward to seeing what else lies ahead (or behind) for Mike & Sulley. For more information on the the prequel, click here.
Below, director Dan Scanlon discusses the possibilities of a monster college, Pixar's animation process, and the research that went into making college buildings both believable and monstery:
