Hello!
I am working on a project involving a list I think everyone will have a little fun with. I am writing up a Animation Direction Hall of Shame. Ever had some words of art direction from your supervisor or direction that just didn't make sense or simply made you laugh, even though you knew what they meant?
How about make it less animation-y?
We have all had these experiences - so if you have something to add to the list - give it up!
It will be eventually published for all to see...have fun!
Angie
thank you for your pearls of wisdom, Graphiteman!
"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/
I'm reminded of another CHuck Jones anecdote, this one I heard off a rare video in which CJ was talking to a bunch of NFB animators in the 70s. I actually transcribed it becasue it was so fitting to many of my experiences; the expectations that first drafts are naturally wrong...which I don't necessarily believe and the idea that it is the approvers job to find things wrong, which I don't necessarily believe also:
"In Disney's in the latter days* [*near Walt's departing? This is from the mid 70s, remember.] they got to the point where they believed no one could do anything right the first time...no matter what it was. The top animators got to the point where they made a scene, take that and put it in a drawer, animate it again... and the second time it wasn't very good so they have a test made of it and run it and the guy would criticise it and they'd redo it and they'd redo it again. They'd make it four times and they'd pull out the original one, flip it and the guy would say,'Great! Now we've got it!'. That really happened."
How many times have we seen a great piece of work, no matter what business, screwed and overworked to death due to the expectation that it cannot be right first time? I know I've seen it over and over.
"I know you all came from this glorious babysitting vacation called high school where all you had to do was show up to get an A in your art class. THIS will be different. I hope you appreciate that I didn't assign any required reading. There is nothing in any book on 2D design that I've ever felt matched up to what I myself can teach you without one."
-- (Name withheld), Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Not entirely sure what high school he went to, but it sure sounds lax =P
geezes wade..
It would defintely be an interesting experience to work with you!
lol
P.
Do studio business partners count? because I heard a really corker on Friday...
"I have had your kind of people working for me before, I've had graphic designers and photographers working for me, you know... I get really well with you, artistic types"
How nice is that?
"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/
ive had a director back up his reasoning behind creative changes by saying 'even *******(the accountant) thinks it should look this way'
www.EvilAsSin.com
for more movies and downloads
the fastest polygon in the west!
YEEEEEHHHHAAAAA!
Jeez. I hope I don't get elected as part of this "elite" club ;)
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
"Jeez. I hope I don't get elected as part of this "elite" club ;) "
-Wade
hehe just kidding
Directors have given me little trouble.
Producers have made some blunders though, but not all.
The best one I can recall is one from a HarveyToons producer..........."ducks don't have teeth" while I was working on Baby Huey.
Yeeeesh!
I think getting a producer or director that knows their stuff is a god-send. The show I'm working on right now ( Class of the Titans) has two.....make that three very good eggs in those departments. We are lucky to have them.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
That is very ouch, baby. ;)
Anyways. I am with Ken. For the most part it is not the director who is the idiot, but rather, the producer. That is teh way it has always been with me when I worked under directors.
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
I agree but sometimes it can be the director too. A director from France once commented on a layout design, " this does more to destroy than create". I'm pretty sure it wasn't a language issue as he was fluently bilingual.
The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself. My Blog: Strange Thoughts
"This does more to destroy than create"
What an excellent bumper sticker.
Not that I have anything against the French AT ALL, but French directors (stereotyping a bit) are VERY difficult. I understand where you are coming from, Rob. I had completely forgotten about all the problems I had with French directors.
I remember one who thought I was a Chilean animation supervisor, working in Chile. He had a scene that was strobing because my animators animated it on 2's, regardless of it being a pan. It was not indicated in the sheet direction that it should have been animated on 1's (even though it should be common knowledge, but hey, that is the PURPOSE of sheet direction), and so it was not. The director came back with the revision that "IT SHOULD BE ON ONES! IT IS STROBING!", to which I replied "I cannot ask the poor animator who is paid by footage to fix this, as it was not indicated by your sheet director, and thus, not the animator's fault". His irate response was, "Who are you to tell me what should or should not be indicated in the sheets?! In 14 years in this industry, I have NEVER heard of anything so stupid!". I politely informed him who I was and my experience as a Canadian director, also with 14 years of experience, and that was the end of that, and he accepted the scene and fixed it with his animators in France, as it was his fault.
Not to say ALL French directors are goofy in this way, but every one I have ever dealt with was... Hopefully, I will work with a cool one one day.
Robert A... I believe I know you. Are you in Ottawa?
Teehee
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
You are correct sir. You do know me! We've worked together in the past. I mentioned the director was French only because he was from France..... The comment would be pretty silly comming from anyone I guess!
Here's one for ya! A Producer commenting on the colour of some bird seed that a bird is eating in a kids cartoon. " you can't have purple bird seed. It will encourage kids to eat it". I guess that's why I'm addicted to bird seed...
The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself. My Blog: Strange Thoughts
I have my own theory:
When a good character designer (for instance) gets a character brief and invents a character based on this brief, he is working from his 'Right' brain and interprets the information into a drawing. This is usually the best!
After the 'comittee' is through calling revisions the designer is dealt a list of details to 'fix' and is then in a mode where he is trying to please someone else based on specific directives that don't come naturally to him. If he wants his character design approved (and be paid for it).........he better figure out what exactly the client wants (no matter how anal the request) and for this task, he employs the analytical side of his brain IE: 'Left brain'
As a result, the final work is neither here or there.This is probably why Dali could'nt work with Disney and why famous French comic book artists are unable to do 'animation' storyboards. Because these people are ORIGINALS!
When we see a commercial feature production we obviously appreciate the collaborative talent and work that goes into it's realization and.......we might actually like it but......when we see the occassional independent short film at festivals that is so 'original' and unexpected it tends to throw us into a whole different sense of 'WOW'. That is the difference between slick 'formula' work and true originality. Does anyone here still remember Bruno Bozzeto's "Allegro Non Troppo"?...........WOW!
That was one guys idea!
I hope I haven't bored anyone here :D
I knew it was you! How the hell are ya?! You are still eating the purple seeds?!?!?
Actually I have another story for you. This one involves the commercial industry. We were making a commercial that featured a strawberry character. The client actually sat down and COUNTED each individual seed drawn on each individual drawing and came back to us saying "the number of seeds drawn on the strawberry is inconsistent from drawing to drawing", and asked us to remedy the problem. We said "yeah, sure, we'll fix it", and finished the commercial without touching it. We delivered the commercial and it was approved and raved about!
The commercial industry is HORRIBLE for stupidity in clients (which could be considered the producers).
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
Ha. I remember that story. Didn't your director retort that ducks don't wear bibs and diapers either? :))
Same here. Not directors but producers...in fairness to producers too, not usually first hand but something I hear about. Had some first hand diffuculties with so-called producers (more like managers) in gaming. Usually becasue these people came from a business or tech background and could be visually retarded.
I was working on a kid's game many years ago being developed for Disney. I made a mickey sprite walk cycle and I had put a slight bounce on mickey's ears. While the immediate producer loved it, another producer reportedly said, "His ears bounce! They shouldn't bounce. Look, My ears don't bounce when I walk!"
Just because they're rigid on the hat doesn't mean they're rigid on the mouse, damnit!
How about clients?
"Could you make it all... less animated?"
"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/
I was once at a lecture with Chuck Jones. He said he once tried commercials. The character was snapping its fingers and the client (agency[?] product rep[?]) told him the character was using the wrong fingers.
But imagine knowing the credentials of this man and telling him how a finger snaps?
That was one reason he got out of commercials.
CJ was obviously not used to being told what to do and waiting for others approval after years at WB. Hence his short stay at Disney in the 50s.
There is the trick (I've only heard about) in dealing with a visual illiterate's approval and that is to include a delibrate glaring mistake that even your mother would notice like a misshot drawing in a sequence. An easy fix for you and they've sewn their critical oats.