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https://blackgirlnerds.com/onward-storytelling-pixars-first-magic-centered-film/
BGN was fortunate enough to visit Pixar Studios in Emeryville, California, where we got an inside look at the upcoming animated film, Onward.
It is Pixar’s first magic-centered film, and they are beyond proud of it. During our time with Pixar talent, we got to chat with a few of the people responsible for the film, including director Dan Scanlon, producer Kori Rae, head of story Kelsey Mann, and story lead Madeline Sharafian. They gave us a glimpse behind the curtain of what it takes to make an animated film — from script to storyboard.
-
Dan Scanlon (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) -
Kori Rae (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) -
Kelsey Mann (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) -
Madeline Sharafian (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
Disney and Pixar’s Onward introduces us to two elf brothers who embark on an epic quest to discover if there is still magic left in the world. The film is filled with elves, sprites, satyrs, cyclops, centaurs, gnomes, and trolls, among other creatures from mythology, folklore, fables, and fantasy fiction. “It’s a modern suburban fantasy film — a new genre for Pixar,” said producer Kori Rae. “The story is inspired by my own relationship with my brother and our connection with our dad who passed away when I was about a year old,” says director Scanlon. “He’s always been a mystery to us. A family member sent us a tape recording of him saying just two words: ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye.’ Two words. But to my brother and me — it was magic.”
“That was the jumping-off point,” continues Scanlon. “We’ve all lost someone, and if we could spend one more day with them — what an exciting opportunity that would be. We knew that if we wanted to tell that story that we’d have to set the movie in a world where you could have that incredible opportunity.”
Cue the talented team responsible for
storyboarding and pitching to Scanlon, trying to capture his vision. The hard
part was coming up with a story that is compelling and good. It was amazing to
see just how much goes into bringing a Pixar film to the big screen.
Mann’s job, in a nutshell, is to assist the
storyboard artists. He and the team assist the director, writer, and producer
in telling a compelling and moving story through visuals. They basically draw
the movie from start to end. Sharafian does all the same stuff as a normal
storyboard artist, all the drawings and everything, but also helps Mann if he
gets too busy. She checks the artist’s work and helps edit, and she was also
part of the script-writing process for this film.
Mann was on the team from day one, which is a little different. Scanlon and Mann both worked on Monsters University, which was also directed Scanlon. Rae was the producer on both films as well. After Monsters University, Scanlon had the opportunity to do his own film that was an original. They spend so much time on these films to not just make them good, but great. On day one, it was Scanlon coming up with the type of movie he wanted to make.
-
An Onward story review, as seen on December 14, 2018 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) -
Onward story team members work in the “fishbowl,” a common work space for everyone to be together while working, as seen on November 8, 2016 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
Two locations that helped the team organize
their thoughts and direction were the “Fishbowl” and the “Story Room.” The Fishbowl
is full of artists drawing scenes and characters from Onward. The Story Room is where the script was developed.
It’s no easy feat getting through those first
drafts of script. The words go through multiple people before landing on the
final pages. Scanlon and Jason Headley, another writer on the film, would make
a pass through the storyboards.
“If we felt really good about the cards and
the sequence, they [Scanlon and Headley] would go off and write it,” says Mann.
“They would go back and forth until they were happy with it.”
From their hands, the pages would go to a
small group who read it, marked it up, and gave their own thoughts. There would
be criticism like, “Oh, I’m not sure about this,” or “I think we should cut
this line.” They would go page by page with this process. Sometimes Scanlon agreed
and sometimes he didn’t.
“Sometimes we would not do exactly what the
idea was, but we do something that would still address it in a different way,”
says Mann.
At some point, Sharafian and her team would be given the script and sometimes people would read it at their desk or go anywhere on the gorgeous campus and try to get into the scene, try to read it and try to absorb it and think about it visually.
“We’re transferring it from the written word to a visual medium,” says Sharafian.
The talent is astounding. Quick sketches,
thoughts on story, write-ups for character development: it’s all part of the
magic of making an animation film. Sometimes, Scanlon acts out what he wants to
see on the screen, making the artist’s job much easier. Sharafian explains that
there are so many things going through your head as you are off drawing.
“You’re boarding and you’re thinking about cinematography, writing, acting,
character, staging, editing, humor, composition, and above all, deadline,” she
says.
Making an animated film looks like fun but is
very hard sometimes. One of the upsides is collaboration. Looking at the
collaboration in the room, you see Scanlon with the writers and PAs.
“We don’t have a set. We just have our offices,”
says Mann. “So it’s hard to feel like you’re actually making a movie sometimes
if you’re off in your office. So, it was fun to walk in here because then you
can just feel like, ‘Oh my God, we’re doing something together.’”
When you put all the pieces of the pie together, Onward ended up with 97,759 storyboards, which is a lot of drawing. After they’ve done all the drawings for their section, it’s time to pitch.
“You get the entire story team in the
Fishbowl. We try and get edit in there, art in there. Anyone who is seen as
going to be directly impacted. Dan and Kori are there, too,” says Sharafian.
The scene they shared that embodies this process is titled, “Trust Bridge.” Sharafian
pulled up the art, and we got to see a board-by-board reenactment of the scene.
She did all the different voices as well.
All I can say is kudos to those pursuing this
career. It takes so much and such a long time to get these films off the
ground. We are all thoroughly impressed.
We are looking forward to this film. Onward releases in theaters on March 6,
2020.
The post ‘Onward’ Storytelling: Pixar’s First Magic-Centered Film appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
BGN was fortunate enough to visit Pixar Studios in Emeryville, California, where we got an inside look at the upcoming animated film, Onward.
It is Pixar’s first magic-centered film, and they are beyond proud of it. During our time with Pixar talent, we got to chat with a few of the people responsible for the film, including director Dan Scanlon, producer Kori Rae, head of story Kelsey Mann, and story lead Madeline Sharafian. They gave us a glimpse behind the curtain of what it takes to make an animated film — from script to storyboard.
Dan Scanlon (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) Kori Rae (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) Kelsey Mann (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) Madeline Sharafian (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
Disney and Pixar’s Onward introduces us to two elf brothers who embark on an epic quest to discover if there is still magic left in the world. The film is filled with elves, sprites, satyrs, cyclops, centaurs, gnomes, and trolls, among other creatures from mythology, folklore, fables, and fantasy fiction. “It’s a modern suburban fantasy film — a new genre for Pixar,” said producer Kori Rae. “The story is inspired by my own relationship with my brother and our connection with our dad who passed away when I was about a year old,” says director Scanlon. “He’s always been a mystery to us. A family member sent us a tape recording of him saying just two words: ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye.’ Two words. But to my brother and me — it was magic.”
“That was the jumping-off point,” continues Scanlon. “We’ve all lost someone, and if we could spend one more day with them — what an exciting opportunity that would be. We knew that if we wanted to tell that story that we’d have to set the movie in a world where you could have that incredible opportunity.”
Cue the talented team responsible for storyboarding and pitching to Scanlon, trying to capture his vision. The hard part was coming up with a story that is compelling and good. It was amazing to see just how much goes into bringing a Pixar film to the big screen.
Mann’s job, in a nutshell, is to assist the storyboard artists. He and the team assist the director, writer, and producer in telling a compelling and moving story through visuals. They basically draw the movie from start to end. Sharafian does all the same stuff as a normal storyboard artist, all the drawings and everything, but also helps Mann if he gets too busy. She checks the artist’s work and helps edit, and she was also part of the script-writing process for this film.
Mann was on the team from day one, which is a little different. Scanlon and Mann both worked on Monsters University, which was also directed Scanlon. Rae was the producer on both films as well. After Monsters University, Scanlon had the opportunity to do his own film that was an original. They spend so much time on these films to not just make them good, but great. On day one, it was Scanlon coming up with the type of movie he wanted to make.
An Onward story review, as seen on December 14, 2018 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) Onward story team members work in the “fishbowl,” a common work space for everyone to be together while working, as seen on November 8, 2016 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
Two locations that helped the team organize their thoughts and direction were the “Fishbowl” and the “Story Room.” The Fishbowl is full of artists drawing scenes and characters from Onward. The Story Room is where the script was developed.
It’s no easy feat getting through those first drafts of script. The words go through multiple people before landing on the final pages. Scanlon and Jason Headley, another writer on the film, would make a pass through the storyboards.
“If we felt really good about the cards and the sequence, they [Scanlon and Headley] would go off and write it,” says Mann. “They would go back and forth until they were happy with it.”
From their hands, the pages would go to a small group who read it, marked it up, and gave their own thoughts. There would be criticism like, “Oh, I’m not sure about this,” or “I think we should cut this line.” They would go page by page with this process. Sometimes Scanlon agreed and sometimes he didn’t.
“Sometimes we would not do exactly what the idea was, but we do something that would still address it in a different way,” says Mann.
At some point, Sharafian and her team would be given the script and sometimes people would read it at their desk or go anywhere on the gorgeous campus and try to get into the scene, try to read it and try to absorb it and think about it visually.
“We’re transferring it from the written word to a visual medium,” says Sharafian.
The talent is astounding. Quick sketches, thoughts on story, write-ups for character development: it’s all part of the magic of making an animation film. Sometimes, Scanlon acts out what he wants to see on the screen, making the artist’s job much easier. Sharafian explains that there are so many things going through your head as you are off drawing. “You’re boarding and you’re thinking about cinematography, writing, acting, character, staging, editing, humor, composition, and above all, deadline,” she says.
Making an animated film looks like fun but is very hard sometimes. One of the upsides is collaboration. Looking at the collaboration in the room, you see Scanlon with the writers and PAs.
“We don’t have a set. We just have our offices,” says Mann. “So it’s hard to feel like you’re actually making a movie sometimes if you’re off in your office. So, it was fun to walk in here because then you can just feel like, ‘Oh my God, we’re doing something together.’”
When you put all the pieces of the pie together, Onward ended up with 97,759 storyboards, which is a lot of drawing. After they’ve done all the drawings for their section, it’s time to pitch.
“You get the entire story team in the Fishbowl. We try and get edit in there, art in there. Anyone who is seen as going to be directly impacted. Dan and Kori are there, too,” says Sharafian. The scene they shared that embodies this process is titled, “Trust Bridge.” Sharafian pulled up the art, and we got to see a board-by-board reenactment of the scene. She did all the different voices as well.
All I can say is kudos to those pursuing this career. It takes so much and such a long time to get these films off the ground. We are all thoroughly impressed.
We are looking forward to this film. Onward releases in theaters on March 6, 2020.
The post ‘Onward’ Storytelling: Pixar’s First Magic-Centered Film appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
It’s been a long #FightForWynonna to get here, Earpers, but it’s finally happening. Production has started on season four of SyFy’s supernatural western, Wynonna Earp, and we could not be happier about it.
And we’re back!! #EarpNow pic.twitter.com/MOGFoABX6f
— Wynonna Earp (@WynonnaEarp) January 13, 2020
After a huge cliffhanger in the fall of 2018 that saw Peacemaker gone, the Earp sisters separated with Waverly possibly in the Garden of Eden, and Doc (who is still a freaking vampire?!) tagging along with her, we were all very eager to see where it went … but last year things went wrong. The money to make season four, which had been ordered by SyFy (along with a season five!) from IDW Entertainment wasn’t there and the future of the show was thrown into jeopardy.
Are you ready, Earpers? 🤠 #EarpNow @emtothea pic.twitter.com/3XD5Y9gVVq
— Wynonna Earp (@WynonnaEarp) January 13, 2020
But the devoted fans of the show wouldn’t take that. They ovaried up, petitioned, tweeted and even got billboards in Times Square to rally around their show. It worked, and all that love is finally paying off as the cast and crew have assembled in Calgary to shoot the new season. The season will include, among other things, star Melanie Scrofano’s directorial debut. It’s all got us excited and a little bit misty-eyed.
Who’s ready for season 4?! #EarpNow pic.twitter.com/jRhDqwZGGf
— Wynonna Earp (@WynonnaEarp) January 13, 2020
So what’s in store for the town of Purgatory and the Earps in the new season? Well, episode one is titled “On The Road Again” and we know that the cast we know and love are all back, along with Nicole’s red hair and some new cast members, including Supernatural’s Ty Olson!
Here we go. Let’s get them back. #WynonnaEarp #EarpNow #Episode401 pic.twitter.com/NYb3qylcQu
— Emily Andras (@emtothea) January 14, 2020
IS 99.9% OF THE FANDOM DEAD? #WynonnaEarp #EarpNow pic.twitter.com/VQuoDLxLvl
— DOCSTACHE (@HollidaysStache) January 14, 2020
Hi #Earpers, my name is Andrew Phung and I can’t wait to meet you in season 4 of #WynonnaEarp! Real talk, I can hardly hide my excitement about joining this show, this family, and this fight. #EarpNow pic.twitter.com/fsntaQi9Pc
— Andrew Phung (@andrewphung) January 14, 2020
Hi Twitter, I’m currently filming in Calgary and I’M SO EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE that I’ll be joining the cast of @WynonnaEarp, as new chick, “Rachel” this upcoming season!!! 😱 EXCITEMENTTT!!! #CrazyTimes #EarpNow #WynonnaEarp
— martina ortiz-luis (@itzmartinaol) January 14, 2020
Super excited to start filming this week on the set of #WynonnaEarp! #EarpNow”
— Ty Olsson (@TyOlsson) January 13, 2020
We are so excited to see this show getting the band back together, and we’ll keep you updated with every Earpin’ thing we hear. The new season should start to air sometime in the summer, but until then all three excellent seasons are on Netflix right now.
(Image: Syfy)
Here are a few other things we saw this January day.
- Uncut Gems is heading to Netflix outside the US in a few weeks, and in the US pretty soon too. (via Comicbook.com)
- This conversation with The Magicians’ producers will get you excited for season five’s debut tomorrow. (via EW)
- Is Cats just Midsomar with more fur? (via Decider)
- Once you see it:
Pete Buttigieg looks like a young version of the Smoking Man from The X-Files pic.twitter.com/Gy5Sr9hs3g
— Justin T. (@condiricenbeans) January 13, 2020
- GOOD!
The WNBA will pay players a full salary while on maternity leave (they currently get 50%). New moms will also get nursing areas and child care stipends.
The changes are part of a landmark deal that ups average salaries to 6-figures ($130K) for the 1st time. pic.twitter.com/5B7mxiz5nH
— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 14, 2020
- The Paley fest line up keeps getting better and now it includes THe Mandalorian and Picard. (via THR)
- BABY YODA IS COMING TO BUILD-A-BEAR!!! (via Business Insider)
How about you, Mary Suevians? If you saw something, say something!
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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
Imagine the confusion I felt when I awoke to a chorus of “what are you going to do now, liberals?” on Twitter and discovered that it was somehow connected to … Vince Vaughn. Apparently, the star of Wedding Crashers shook hands with Donald Trump, and that was somehow a “libs just got owned” moment to people who like the president? How? Has the left shown a lot of interest in Vince Vaughn that I just completely blocked out of my memory?
Truly, can someone explain to me why we suddenly need to care? I always watched Swingers for Jon Favreau anyway. The “outrage,” it seems, is imaginary. From what I can see, it’s just random people yelling and saying “What, are they going to take The Break-Up off TV forever now because he was POLITE?” and of course not! They should take it off the air because it’s a bad movie.
It all started with … politeness, I guess.
I’m very sorry to have to share this video with you. All of it, every part of it. pic.twitter.com/ELMbDHZbZq
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 14, 2020
I think part of the problem of Twitter outrage is that it all stems from one person, then breaks into a mess of people wondering how something even started or why we’re supposed to be mad about it in the first place. Vince Vaughn is a Libertarian. In fact, Vaughn has always been a bit of a mess. He once said that schools should have more guns in them to prevent school shootings.
My point being that literally no one is surprised. No one, not even my dead grandparents. They’re probably in the afterlife like, “Yeah, makes sense.” Or better yet, no one is really upset. It’s this anger that Trump supporters think we have. They think we see someone shake hands with the president and suddenly get our pitchforks ready. Not … the case?
And it was made even CLEARER when I went to look for tweets about the situation and found that most of them were just people either asking where the outrage was, showing they were not surprised, or trying to “own some libs” over our hero … Vince Vaughn?
If you listened to the right (never do this), the lefts two biggest icons are Vince Vaughn and Hunter Biden.
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 14, 2020
Hey Trump haters….are your lives so miserable that when you see him talk to Vince Vaughan you bash him? Grow up #getoverithealready is
— Tim Hengen (@HengenTim) January 14, 2020
#VinceVaughan and @POTUS are welcome to come eat and have drinks at my place any time!! #YoureInvited https://t.co/kDDKNwsJwa
— Basil’s Sports Bar & Grill (@BasilsSportsBar) January 14, 2020
Honest question..can someone produce one real person who’s “outraged” at #VinceVaughan? If you have time…thanks..
— jim iuorio (@jimiuorio) January 14, 2020
A lot of liberals just found out Vince Vaughan is a republican. Ruining their hopes and wishes for a Wedding Crashers sequel.
— Lance Corporal Schofield (@AC_or_Windows) January 14, 2020
Cue the Left boycotting Vince Vaughan movies because he had a civil conversation with President Trump https://t.co/T7BJTRAuvF
— Dustin Donley (@LegacyClothier) January 14, 2020
everyone I know in super-progressive Brooklyn is so upset by what happened with Vince Vaughn at the college football game (right?) that they can’t or won’t speak about it. it’s eerie. everyone is in such shock it’s like they deleted even the most basic awareness of it.
— Johnny McNulty (@JohnnyMcNulty) January 14, 2020
Anyone who now hates Vince Vaughan for shaking hands with the President of our country is like the driver of this car.. selfish with an extreme lack of self awareness. 🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/ftG570GbBJ
— Jeremy (@JeremyRTR) January 14, 2020
Ppl having a meltdown because Vince Vaughan shook Donald Trumps hand 😂😂😂 grow up you absolute moorons! He may or may not agree with Trump’s politics but either way hes being polite and respectful perhaps you should try it sometime instead of having a hissy fit over everything
— lee harwood (@lharwood) January 14, 2020
Congratulations liberals, you’ve caught an American actor respectfully shaking hands with the president of the United States. Good for you Vince Vaughan, your fan base has just grown exponentially. https://t.co/EzQtrujjNb
— Mike (@MichaelAaron91) January 14, 2020
Here is Vince Vaughan having a conversation with the President and now he is being persecuted for it! Speaking civilly to someone whose politics or philosophy you may disagree with shows maturity, not idiocy! Something that portion of our ill minded society just can’t grasp. https://t.co/qujnVLyklw
— Richard Mather (@richemath) January 14, 2020
So at the end of the day … does anyone really care, or do Trump fans think that we’re all crying over Vince Vaughn? Because … we’re truly perfectly fine. I’ll still watch whatever movies I like and go about my day.
(image: 20th Century Fox)
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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
The Grindhouse Airs 1.13.20
We're black at it again, AFROnerdists! Listen to a new Sunday Grindhouse podcast this afternoon at 6pm (eastern) sharp. Your con(per)sistent podcasters will be discussing the following topics: noted director, Scott Derrickson is exiting from the highly anticipated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness due to oft hackneyed "creative differences" tagline (but it might be real this time); comedienne/talk show host (The Real), Loni Love caused a stir last week due to controversial comments about black men; NBC premiered a new series based on the Denzel Washington/Angelina Jolie '99 crime thriller, The Bone Collector, entitled Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for The Bone Collector; Spiderman appears in a DC comic...sorta; Warner Bros is outsourcing decisions to greenlight new movies to A.I. (uh oh); we spoke about #BAFTASSoWhite but prepare yourselves for the #OscarsSOWhite reprise; If Harry and Meghan were channeling the classic Amazing Spiderman #50 comic book, it should be called The Royals: No More; Hawkeye is NOT going to Marvel Disney? Lastly, so FOX's New Mutants film is a part of the mcu? Call LIVE at 646-915-9620.