Asked the question - what are your favorite things to see characters do that you don’t get to do in real life?
Got some great answers from followers on Twitter. It makes me wonder what this story would be…
Someone drops literally everything to follow their dream, maybe pursuing flight. Everyone says don’t do it, but the character listens to their heart and takes the risks and pushes through to get in that manned flight program, or builds an rocketpack in a barn, or catches a dragon. Drives very fast through panes of glass to get to amazing places, where they trust someone they shouldn’t have and have to solve the problem with high explosives… only to realize that despite the massive train station destruction, the bad guy is still around. Anyway some stuff happens in here but when our hero triumphs, and is offered the world, they thank the grateful citizens but decline the offer, get back into their plane/dragon/rocketpack, and take off to do what they loved enough to set them off on the journey in the first place.
There’s some muddy pieces in there, but no rewriting, and that’s basically how I assemble a story… except most of the time, the individual idea posts are from my own self. It’s interesting to try it out this way.
I really admire your distinctive voice as an illustrator and visual communicator. I am a student and would love to work as a storyboard artist, or generally in preproduction art and I was wondering what is expected from an artist at Pixar? Do you have to adapt your style, in order to fit the established appearance of a specific project? Thank you, I would be grateful for any input you could give. Mary Anne Del Buono
Anonymous
To work in story, you do need to be versatile — every director has a different sensibility and your job is to give them what’s best for their story. However… I’ve never heard of anybody getting picked for a project because of their versatility. You get gigs based on your strengths, and versatility is what keeps you useful.
Draw all you possibly can and your strengths will emerge. Don’t draw like other people, draw like you. Develop your tastes, what you like in a drawing and what you don’t like in a drawing, apply that to your work. That’s the best advice I can give you!
Pitch art for a live-action short we’re prepping to shoot in August…
“The most creative had acquired a facility for getting themselves into a particular mood… which allowed their natural creativity to function… an ability to play.”
This entire talk is fantastic. Check it out.
I know the feeling of “if I could just get a chance, I could prove myself” - but this is how it works: you prove yourself to get the chance.
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This seems to have connected with people on Twitter, so I’m sticking it here for posterity. It often feels unjust that people discount you before you even have a chance to prove yourself… so don’t wait for them to give you a chance. Prove it. That’ll get their attention, guaranteed.
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Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers are movies that are on my top ten list, but surprisingly few people have seen them. Even though they precede Star Wars by a couple of years, they all share the same flavor of scuffed-up adventure, with a nice helping of just plain fun.
Seriously. They’re the best rendition of 3 Musketeers there ever has been, even though the industry gives it a whack every ten years or so. They got it right in the 70s…
Another great thing about this movie is that the actors treat their swords like actual weapons. A weapon isn’t just something to threaten others with - it’s something to be cautious of when it’s pointed at you. As fights wear on, the actors get tired, which you don’t get to see very often.
These are really, really basic. A lot of the stuff we story people talk about can be fascinating but useless to the absolute beginner. These two rules definitely improved my work when I was starting out, and if you don’t already know them, they will improve your work too.
I want to shoot this. Rent out a theatre, cut the lights, LEDs & papier-mache planets…
