AWN Oscar Travelogue

Exclusive Oscar Day Pics

oscartour — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:48:06 +0000

Oscar winner Kunio Kato poses with Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway.

For Kunio Kato, the Oscars were a whirlwind experience. Here are some exclusive pics from his big night.

On the red carpet, Kunio (l-r), Robot president Shuji Abe, and La Maison writer Kenya Hirata.

Kunio and Abe-san arrive at the Vanity Fair party.

Animation's new Oscar winners Kunio Kato and WALL-E's Andrew Stanton.

Oscar winners Ed Catmull and Kunio pose for a pic with Hirata.

Presto director Doug Sweetland toasts Kunio.

Kunio gets close with Jennifer Aniston.

Kunio with Monty Python legend John Cleese.

Kunio shakes hands with Oscar winner Sean Penn.

Kunio with Ben Stiller.

Oscar tour host Ron Diamond celebrates with Kunio.

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Animated Shorts Celebration At DreamWorks

oscartour — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:07:47 +0000

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Me on the left with This Way Up director Alan Smith.

written by Rick Farmiloe

I was lucky enough to be included in part of the Oscar Showcase tour this year. Every year the nominees for animated short films are given a tour and luncheon at some of the animation studios here in the Los Angeles area. The organizer of these celebrations, Ron Diamond, invited me to join them at DreamWorks on the last day of the tour. Ron and I are on the Executive Committee of the Short Films/Animation Branch of the Academy, and see scores of animated shorts every year. There is always a wide range of styles and ideas presented in various mediums. It’s always interesting to see which ones will make the final cut for the Oscar nominations. This year the field was exceptionally strong, with every film being quite unique and different from the rest. Meeting the filmmakers and hearing about their thought process and methods of getting it on the screen was extremely interesting and inspiring.

Everyone gathered outside the Campanile Building where the theater is located. There would be a screening for the DreamWorks staff, then a question and answer period with the filmmakers afterwards. It was fun to meet the filmmakers beforehand and mingle around a bit. The director of PRESTO, Doug Sweetland, could not attend this day, unfortunately. This was the last of the tour stops, so they were very friendly with each other by this point. There seemed to be a common bond, regardless of language or background. They were joined together by a love and passion for filmmaking and animation. There was absolutely no competitive vibe among them. They were just all together as filmmakers, celebrating the animated art form. Jeffrey Katzenberg showed, and greeted everyone very warmly, making everyone associated with this tour feel extremely welcome. Jeffrey is one of animation’s biggest fans and supporters.

Jeffrey Katzenberg gives an introduction to the screening.

He introduced the filmmakers to the audience before the showing. The films were shown to a very appreciative and enthusiastic audience. The theater was absolutely packed, with several people standing. Questions were then asked of the filmmakers as to what their inspiration were in making their particular films. Why the style it was made in? How long did it take, etc? The one common thread that ran through the answers was that the filmmakers wanted to keep things simple and direct. They felt the film could only communicate well if it was kept simple. When you only have a few minutes to tell a story, it’s important to not have too many distractions to confuse the audience, thus keeping them involved.

It was also interesting that there was almost NO dialogue in any of the films. This was also a means to keep things simple and communicate to variety of audiences worldwide. There was no language barrier problem because of this choice.

Kunio Kato explains the making of his Oscar-winning film.

The director of LA MAISON EN PETIS CUBES, Kunio Kato said that his inspiration for his film about a man who relives his past through building layers onto his house, was simply the idea of houses building additions on top of their structure. The plot of the man revisiting points in his life came later. Kunio is a painter, who feels through animation he can express his art more fully and communicate his ideas better.

The directors of OKTAPADI (about two octopi in love) felt it was best to keep the idea very simple and have the two get separated and try to reunite. They wanted no dialogue to keep it visual, and short to keep it to the point. They also felt they wanted to keep one step ahead of the audience to keep it unpredictable.

The two directors of THIS WAY UP, Smith and Foulkes, felt they also needed to keep the plot simple and dialogue free. The simple plot of the mishaps that befall them as they try to deliver a corpse in a coffin worked very well and kept audiences interested in what would happen next.

The director of LAVATORY LOVESTORY, Konstantin Bronzit, took a full year to do the storyboards, and two years to make the film, which was hand drawn and very charming. He also stated his preference for having no dialogue to keep things simple, citing Charlie Chaplin as an inspiration.

The question of 2D or 3D came up as well. The two filmmakers who did their films in 2D, Konstantin Bronzit and Kunio Kato were adamant that hand drawn animation is the ONLY way they would ever work. They felt it expressed best the feeling they were trying to get across to an audience, and it made it more personal for them.

It was interesting to find out that some of the filmmakers were going on to other feature length projects, while others were staying in the shorts field.

A luncheon was served afterwards, with some DreamWorks staff attending, where more stories were shared between filmmakers and other attendees. One common thread that tied everyone together was a real love for animation and an excitement at what lies ahead for them as individuals in their careers, and the art form in general. You really got the feeling that these people where in this for the long haul continuing to explore and create great work.

The This Way Up filmmakers get ready for Monsters vs. Aliens in 3-D.

There was then a tour of DreamWorks, where we were treated to a screening of some sequences of the upcoming release, MONSERS VS ALIENS in 3-D. The sequences looked amazing, and the 3-D was some of the best I’ve ever seen. We saw some new technology in a hand held 3D virtual camera that can move around an environment with already created animation, giving the director the chance to change camera angles on the spot. I can’t remember exactly what it’s called, but it was really impressive. We then were shown some test animation by Kristof Serrand for a new feature called HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.

The day was winding down, but everyone still had a lot of enthusiasm for everything they were seeing. The Oscars were only two days away, so you could really feel the excitement among the filmmakers. It’s important to note that they just seemed to really enjoy being part of the whole Oscar celebration and not too concerned about winning awards. They were happy to be a part of something pretty wonderful, and just sharing this special time with one another, being supportive and complimentary of each other’s outstanding work. It was pretty inspiring to realize that this art form of the animated short film is very alive and well. Regardless of the medium that is used to tell the story, or the country it comes from, or budget or time, there are still a lot of great stories to be told. It’s nice to know there are such enthusiastic filmmakers out there who feel the animated short film is a vital tool to inform and entertain. Let’s just hope they all get the support and accolades they deserve. From what I observed, the animated short film has a very bright future!

Rick Farmiloe
Animator and Executive Board Member of the Short Films/Animation Branch AMPAS

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Oscar Showcase Tour 09 Pixar Gallery Part 2

oscartour — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:43:59 +0000

The Oscar tour poses for a shot in front of the giant Luxo Jr. statue outside Pixar.

Time to take a quick trip back in time for some great additional pics from the Pixar visit in the Bay Area last week.

A group shot with Ed Catmull.

Konstantin Bronzit's Lavatory Lovestory screens at Pixar.

Presto producer Richard Hollander and journalist Barbara Robertson.

Oscar tour alums Andrew Jimenez and Ralph Eggleston.

Presto supervising animator Andrew Gordon shows the nominees some of his current work.

Andrew serves up some hospitality, single malt Scotch and Bourbon in his exclsuive Lucky 7 Lounge.

La Maison director Kunio Kato, Gobelins' Eric Riewer and Lavatory Lovestory director Konstantin Bronzit inside the Lucky 7 lounge.

Oktapodi directors Quentin Marmier, Olivier Delabarre, and Francois-Xavier Chanioux with Robot's Taki Tsuyoshi in the Lucky 7 lounge.

Finally, the Love Lounge!

Oktapodi directors FX and Emud Mokhberi relax in the Love Lounge.

FX and tour master Ron Diamond sit for a pic in the Love Lounge, where the walls are covered with the signatures of the visitors.

One last group shot before leaving Pixar.

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Oscar Showcase Tour 09 LucasFilm Gallery

oscartour — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:42:53 +0000

From France to Skywalker Ranch - four of the six Oktapodi directors - Olivier, Francois, Emud and Quentin.

On Friday the 13th, the Oscar tour made stops throughout the Lucas empire, including Skywalker Ranch, Big Rock, and ILM. Here some the great pics from the adventures.

La Maison's Kunio Kato and Robot Communications' Taki Tsuyoshi in the Ranch library.

Presto director Doug Sweetland kneels for a pic inside the library.

Presto composer Scot Stafford

Emud with the much debated Maxfield Parrish, is it an original or not?

The famous library stairs pics - 09 edition.

Oktapodi's Olivier Delabarre

More beautiful pic locations at the Skywalker Ranch.

Inside the Tech Building's lush Stag Theater.

Filmmakers from around the globe bonded forever.

Inside the Big Rock theater.

Ron Diamond poses with ILM's Kate Shaw.

Kunio excited!

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Oscar Tour San Francisco Leg Rewind

oscartour — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:36:27 +0000

Ron introduces the boys to PDI's Eric Darnell and Gail Curry.

written by Barbara Robertson

The two and a half day fast forward is behind us, now. The nominees are on their way to Los Angeles for part two of Ron Diamond’s Oscar Tour, although for the second half, I don’t think he’ll be driving the giant white van (generously donated by PDI/DreamWorks), which he, amazingly, managed to squeeze into the only parking place in San Francisco’s Mission District that was big enough and still within walking distance to the ASIFA dinner. Finding a parking place for a Smart Car in San Francisco is hard, but somehow, the reality matched Ron’s optimism that it would all work out.

Now, for a rewind and some impressions from within the bubble.

Emud, Taki, Olivier and Kunio sip on some drinks in the PDI lunchroom.

At PDI/DreamWorks, in the conference wall room, watching the nominees wave at their image on the wall to check lag time while we waited for the system at the other end to come on screen.

During the Q&A, people at PDI, as had people at Pixar before them, asked Kunio why the title of his film is in French and he answered, as before, that the translation into English didn’t capture the meaning, so a French friend suggested a French title. And, once again during the Q&A session, Konstantin’s humor stole the show.

Question: How long did it take you to make the film?

Emud (“Oktapodi”): Between six and seven months.

Kunio (“La Maison en Petits Cubes”): One year. Four months of that for planning.

Konstantin (“Lavatory Lovestory”): Story, one year. Drawing two years. (pause) I’m slow thinking.

Question: What was the inspiration for your film?

Kunio: No special inspiration but I had the visual of a house on top of a house and drew a picture of that key image. I gave that to a scenario writer who made each floor a different stage of life.

Emud: Olivier saw a picture of Octopi in a book by Peter Seve and we thought why not? It would be interesting.

Konstantin: I go to the toilet more often than most people. I just looked at the woman’s eyes who worked there and found the story immediately.

Arriving at Skywalker Ranch at midnight. We each got a folder printed with our names on the front, a map, and a key to our room. We were all very tired, but as soon as we opened the doors to our rooms, we were so amazed that we had to share the experience, running from room to room to see what each one looked like inside. A grand piano in the George Gershwin room. A grand rock fireplace in the John Houston room.

Oktapodi's Emud Mokhberi, Gobelins' Eric Riewer, La Maison's Kunio Kato, Oktapodi's Quentin Marmier, Oktapodi's Olivier Delabarre, Oktapodi's Francois-Xavier Chanioux, Robot Communications' Taki Tsuyoshi, Lavatory Lovestory's Konstantin Bronzit, Presto composer Scot Stafford, Presto's Doug Sweetland, and tour host Ron Diamond.

In the morning, Doug Sweetland from Pixar (“Presto”) and Scot Stafford, who wrote the original music for “Presto,” joined us. The chance to get out, stretch our legs, and walk a little between the buildings in the beautiful open space at Skywalker Ranch, rather than being locked into seats in the van or in a theater or at a dinner table, or on a tour, gave the nominees a chance to relax and move more easily from one group to another. It was fun to see the “Oktapodi” team re-bond with each other after each going his separate way for the last year or so, but also to begin to see some interaction between all the nominees.

Another group shot in front of the Technical Building.

As we walked from the parking lot at the “Technical Building,” past the vineyards, past the lake, Konstantin said to the group, “I will buy it. For filming. I will invite you.”

Quentin laughed, “You can call it Konstantin Farm.”

Inside the building, Glenn Kiser, the head of Skywalker Sound, which has received five Oscar nominations this year,” took us all into the scoring stage, demonstrating how the various panels in the walls and ceilings slide to change echo and decay for recording sessions. Kiser says that the studio is used 60% of the time for classical recording, but a library of 150,000 sound files makes it also a resource for lower-budget films including three that were at Sundance this year.

Inside the Big Rock theater.

At Big Rock, the animators working on the Clone Wars TV series saw a screening in yet another amazing theater. They asked about Kunio’s French title and also what inspired the filmmakers, but not surprisingly for crews working in television, they also asked how much each film cost.

Emud: We were students. We each had a machine and we had four render computers. It’s a mystery how much it cost.

Doug: I consider it a privilege that I don’t know how much it cost.

Kunio: About $50,000.

Konstantin: About $20,000. I had some government funding.

Question: Many of these films are about love. What is it about love?

Kunio: The main reason life is going on is to find love.

Konstantin: Love is all we need. But sometimes, we need toilets, too.

Boba Fett and Darth Vader joins the tour for a snapshot in the ILM lobby.

At ILM, the lunchtime screening in the studio’s huge theater played to a packed house. Once Ron had introduced all the nominees and they were standing on stage, before anyone raised a hand to ask the first question, Konstantin said, “Please, someone, ask Kunio why his title is in French.”

The humble George Lucas and the happy Ron Diamond.

Ron had told everyone that there was a chance they could meet with George Lucas for a few minutes, and sure enough, our host, Kate Shaw, led us to the seventh floor where Lucas has his office. Ron introduced Lucas to each of the directors, and Lucas greeted each nominee in turn, shaking his hand and congratulating him. I think that after spending the night at Skywalker Ranch’s fabulous guest suites, seeing the magnificent library in the main house with its stained glass cupola, and then the multi-building campus in San Francisco, they were unprepared to meet the master of this empire wearing bluejeans and a blue sweater. After the meeting, Francois – who everyone calls FX – said of George Lucas, with some astonishment, “He’s so humble.”

During the afternoon, I was sitting next to Kunio and Taki on the sky bridge that connects the main LucasFilm building and most of ILM’s facility in the park-like campus of the Presidio in San Francisco. By then, we had visited Pixar, PDI/DreamWorks, Lucas’s animation facility at Big Rock ranch in Marin County, and had met with George Lucas in his office at the Presidio. I asked him what he had learned from the visiting all these remarkable facilities and he answered, though Taki, “The work environment is really important.”

Following the screening, lunch, the meeting with George Lucas, and a tour of ILM, we had some down time before the ASIFA screening. It was pouring rain, which drowned any thoughts of walking around San Francisco. Instead, we moved to a nearby wine bar.

I asked Konstantin and Kunio, who were sitting together at the bar, whether they might ever work together on a film. Konstantin said, “But we’re already talking about it.” And, Kunio nodded. “I’m talking about it in Russian,” Konstantin said. “And Kunio is talking about it in Japanese.”

FX, sitting nearby, began teasing Konstantin about his name and they talked more seriously about how to get financing for films.

Then, back to the van and off to Dolby Labs for the ASIFA screening. Because the nominees had all seen all the films several times already, most of them stayed outside during the screening. When it was time to go in, we couldn’t find Kunio and FX. Finally, someone said, “Oh, they’re in the bathroom. Kunio is doing a painting for FX, and he needed water.”

Konstatin entertains the crowd at the ASIFA-San Francisco screening.

At ASIFA, too, the first question from the audience was about what inspired the filmmakers and, as Konstantin said, they knew the answers by heart. By the time they meet the press in Los Angeles as they near Oscar time, these nominees will be well-prepared for that question.

The ASIFA audience, though, asked some new questions and in answering, the nominees discovered some insights.

Question: What was the most interesting thing you learned?

Emud: I had done one-director, one-film. I wanted to go to Gobelins to work with a team. I had to learn how to explain and how to trust what other people do.

Scot: Music can’t really be funny. The funniest thing is to take everything literally.

Kunio: This was the longest film with the largest number of people I’ve worked on. The challenging thing was to share what I’m thinking with my staff. To work in this way, I needed leadership and to keep the team motivated. That was the biggest thing I learned.

Konstantin: There was nothing interesting in the process. Just suffering. Every step trying to get closer and closer and nothing. Many people think you just sketch, sketch, sketch, and then it’s ho ho ho. No, it’s not that way.

Doug: I had been an animator, but, like Emud, to work on the story, I had to question all the time. I’d fight for things I thought were awesome and they’d bomb. And I’d fight against things I thought would bomb and they’d turn out to be awesome.

Question (paraphrasing): Why did you pick the theme you picked?

Emud: We were in school and had between six and seven months to make a short film. It’s easier if it’s comedy. Our group knew we wanted to push technology, and make a fast, cartoony, rhythmic film. They story came out of the brainstorming process. We banged our heads together 120 hours a week. After the fatigue wore off and we all wanted to go off and do something on our own. But now, I want to make another film with these guys.

Kunio: Taki answers for Kunio to much laughter… He always wanted to make a comedy film.

Taki then gives Kunio’s more serious answer: He didn’t pick comedy or drama. The main object was to depict a man’s life in a quiet and uneventful way, so it had to be a serious, quiet drama.

Konstantin: Every time, the story depends on an idea, on finding the only way to realize an idea. I realized all I need is love. But, also, I need toilet. So, I combined Love. Toilet.

Doug: I tried to make a three-minute film, but it’s five minutes, to make it as quick as possible. So, it borrows from classic cartoons, but it has a classic Hollywood reconciliation ending.

Question: What was your inspiration for becoming an animator?

Konstantin: Mickey Mouse

Doug: I just learned that Ron produced the Tourneys of Animation in the late 80’s and I saw that in middle school. Also, Luxo Jr. When I saw universities listed at the end of the films, I realized I could study animation. I had an insatiable appetite.

Kunio: Originally, I wanted to be a painter, not an animator. I took a class in animation and wanted to move my drawings.

Quentin: All the great 2D films.

FX: I was always drawing. I saw a documentary of people drawing lions for “Lion King,” and that inspired me.

Emud: I went from computer science to computer graphics to moving CG parts to animation.

Question (paraphrased): What did you think of the reaction of audiences to your film?

Doug: I went through such a struggle to get this film made. I learned that I’m not funny. I pitched 10 stories in seven months and they bombed every time. Only the last one clicked. So that fact that people embrace this film so well is overwhelming.

Konstantin: When I first try to put comedy in action I learned it’s impossible to calculate how to do it. I suffer. I asked my teacher why I suffer every time I make a film and why I suffer when I show the films. He said, “You are clever minded and understand your mistakes and it looks for you like you are showing your mistakes and you think everyone sees your mistakes.” I thanked him. But I still suffer.

Kunio: I couldn’t help seeing my mistakes in the finished film. So I’m very grateful that the audience appreciates.

Emud: With multiple directors, I learned that if Olivier and Quentin both think something is funny, maybe it is. Our final animation is pretty much like our story reel. We had Chris Wedge come in and look at our story reel and he reacted well to it. The reaction of audiences has exceeded all our expectations. It’s hard to put into perspective when we killed ourselves making it.

When Ron introduced the nominees to the ASIFA group, he said, “Rarely does any other group [of Oscar nominees] come together like this to celebrate their work. We don’t have enough reason in our lives to celebrate and the fact that our community comes together to celebrate these Oscar nominees is really terrific. We had people packed into the theater at Pixar and standing in the aisles and also at ILM. We met with Ed Catmull, Tom McGrath, Eric Darnell, and George Lucas. The nominees met for the first time only on Wednesday and now we’ve become a small community. I think this is really important.”

And, it is.
END

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San Fran Whirlwind - PDI, Skywalker Ranch, ILM, ASIFA, George Lucas

oscartour — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:32:49 +0000

The filmmakers meet the George Lucas.

written by Barbara Robertson

It’s been a busy an exciting three days, but such a wonderful time. Some highlights and pictures. I’ll sketch in details tomorrow.

The tour checks in at PDI.

Thursday: A champagne reception, a screening, and a tour at PDI, plus a live demo of the studio’s amazing video wall during which Eric at PDI made a dinner appointment with John from DreamWorks in Glendale who would be flying to San Francisco on Friday.

Thursday night: Skywalker Ranch

The filmmakers prepare for the awesomeness of Skywalker Ranch.

Outside Skywalker Sound.

Classic Pic in the Ranch Library.

Westward ho for Robot Communications' Taki Tsuyoshi and Presto director Doug Sweetland.

Friday morning: We had boxes of cereal and breakfast bars in our rooms, coffee and milk in the refrigerator, but most of us walked to the “The Inn” for breakfast. Then, we screamed through Skywalker Sound, hurried up the road past vultures sunning their long wings, to the main house where George Lucas has his office and film library, scurried back down the road on a glorious sunny morning, jumped in the big white van, drove to nearby Big Rock where the group animating the television series work, held the first of three screenings and Q&A’s today, and then zigzagged back on Lucas Valley Road to the freeway to make an 11:30 date at ILM in San Francisco.

Outside Big Rock.

Oktapodi's Olivier Delabarre (m) chats with tour master Ron Diamond (l) and his fellow director Francois-Xavier Chanioux about the experience.

Before the Big Rock screening with Ron (l-r), Olivier, and Oktapodi's Quentin Marmier.

Our gracious host Kate Shaw led us all to George Lucas’s office. Amazingly, George Lucas gave the Oscar nominees more than a half hour of his time – more about that later. After, the screening in ILM’s grand theater, which was totally packed, the Q&A, lunch in a private dining room off the main dining room with some of the ILM artists, and a break before the next screening – with ASIFA at Dolby labs.

The directors have loosened up now. They’ve become much more comfortable onstage, more of the Oktapodi directors are now answering questions, and they’ve become friends as you’ll see in the pictures. More words tomorrow.

The arrival at ILM.

The great Kate Shaw (r) gets the filmmakers ready for their tour of ILM.

Oktapodi's Francois-Xavier Chanioux relaxes in the Lucasfilm lobby.

Tired yet?

La Maison's Kunio Kato (l-r), Taki and Lavatory Lovestory's Konstantin Bronzit take in some downtime.

Oktapodi directors Olivier, Quentin and Emud Mokhberi discuss life after ILM.

Can't miss another group shot opportunity.

The ILM wonders begin.

Konstantin takes a pic of the Jurassic Park T-Rex.

Olivier checks out the Judge Doom prop from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

George Lucas poses with nominee Kunio Kato.

George Lucas meets with the filmmakers.

Perfect ending - the wine bar.

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Oscar Showcase Tour 09 Pixar Gallery

oscartour — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:23:57 +0000

Oktapodi's Emud Mokhberi, Robot Communications' Taki Tsuyoshi, Ron Diamond, Ed Catmull, Lavatory Lovestory's Konstantin Bronzit, Oktapodi's Olivier Delabarre, Oktapodi's Quentin Marmier, Gobelins' Eric Riewer, Oktapodi's Francois-Xavier Chanioux, and La Maison's Kunio Kato.

Every year Pixar host the Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short. It’s always an exciting chance for the filmmakers to interact with the artists at the studio. Follow their day in pictures.

Oktapodi's Quentin Marmier.

Oktapodi's Emud Mokhberi.

The tour loads the van for the trip to Pixar from the Sofitel Hotel.

Posing for one more group shot outside the hotel before heading to Pixar.

Presto director Doug Sweetland address his fellow Pixar artists.

Pixar employees pack the theater to watch the nominated shorts.

The filmmakers begin their special tour of Pixar studios.

Pixar's Andrew Gordon gets ready to take a pic of the nominees in the Lucky 7 Lounge.

Emud takes a pic as a memento of his time at Lucky 7.

The filmmakers get a chance to talk with Pixar artist, such as Tony Apodoca (r), over lunch.

Oktapodi's Olivier and Francois enjoy their lunch at Pixar.

Ron chats with Pixar artist and Oscar tour alum Andrew Jimenez after lunch.

Relaxing and chatting after lunch at Pixar.

The pensive Kunio Kato.

Pixar's Paul Topolos checks out Quentin's portfolio.

Konstantin likes to hang with incredible people.

Quentin leans on Dash.

The nominees check out things at the Pixar Studio Store.

Konstantin buys some souvenirs at the Pixar store.

Posing for a last minute pic under the giant Luxo Jr.

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Finding Inspiration at Pixar… and the Toilet

oscartour — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:22:54 +0000

Day 2 kicks off at Pixar.

written by Barbara Robertson

Long day, but a good day for the Oscar nominees. We started at Pixar where, first thing, right after taking pictures of each other in front of the giant Luxo lamp outside the front door and the monsters inside the Pixar’s enormous lobby / café / foosball court, they met Pete Docter, director of Pixar’s next feature, UP, matte painter Paul Topolos, and the Presto visual effects supervisor Tony Apodaca. Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios walked into the lobby to introduce himself and welcome everyone. And then we were swept into Pixar’s huge theater. Doug Sweetland, director of Pixar’s nominated short Presto introduced Ron and Ron introduced all the nominees in our travelling band.

The lights dimmed a little. Everyone in the audience went “oooooh.” The lights went out, the ceiling became a starfield, and everyone said “aaaaaah.” The Pixar person sitting next to me explained, “It’s a tradition.” And the red curtain lifted.

Ron Diamond introduces the nominees at the Pixar Theater.

This was the first time many in the audience had seen the films and the reception was wonderful. After, all the nominees gathered on stage for questions and answers. They were all dressed in blue jeans and black sweater/shirt/T-shirt except for Konstantin who wore white pants with his black shirt and Kunio who had grey slacks and a black shirt. They looked like a team and after almost a day together are beginning to develop some camaraderie despite the language differences – the feeling that they’re in this amazing adventure together, not that they’re competitors. Now, back to the Pixar theater and the questions from the audience.

Q: Where did your inspiration come from?

A:
Konstantin (“Lavatory – Lovestory”): From the toilet, of course. And, from the lonely woman.

Kunio (“La Maison en Petits Cubes”): I saw a key visual in my head of many houses on top of each other. I showed that to our scriptwriter.

Emud (“Oktaodi): From drawings of Octopi and also pictures of Greece.

Q – to Kunio: Do you ever do comedy?

A: I love comedy as well, but for this film about a lonely old man, which does have a bit of humor, I wanted to describe it simply and straightforwardly.

Q: What were your technical challenges?

A:
Konstantin: You saw the film. There were no technical difficulties at all. I was drawing.

Kunio: The most technically challenging was texturing the hand drawings. There were many, many drawings. The coloring was done by computer. The challenge was to put the color into the drawings.

Emud: The octopi were most challenging– how to design, model, rig. But there were many challenges.

Q: Was it difficult to get agreement among the six directors of “Oktapodi?”

Emud: Yes. We talked it out until we all agreed. Everyone had a say. Then we went by the majority. Everyone was mature about it.

Eric added that Gobelins has determined that no one student should be responsible for the films. All the work on every part of the process should be a team effort all along. The school hopes the students come to a harmonious agreement because that’s what they will have to do in the real world.

Question to Kunio: Why the French title?

Kunio: Of course the original name is in Japanese. When we entered the film in International festivals, we needed a universal title. In English the title translated to something like houses of wood blocks and that didn’t feel right. A French friend said the film has a French feeling so it might be good to have a French name.

Q: What was the favorite aspect of the film?

A:
Konstantin: The story. Totally.

Kunio: To see and create a film with different people as the director. Before, I worked with two or three people, but for this film I had to communicate, talk, embody the story. It was a challenge.

Emud: It’s hard to pick one thing. Maybe the octopi on the clothesline. Maybe it was the story phase when we were all together pretty much the entire time. When we moved into production we split up.

As we left the theater, Konstantin turned to me and said, “That was too thrilling!”

And then, on to lunch. Pixar laid a lavish spread for us with salmon, ravioli, broccoli rabe, fruit, salad, and cookies. As I was waiting my turn, I heard someone from Pixar say, “I think we will always remember: What was your inspiration? The toilet.”

The filmmakers get a chance to visit Pixar's secret Lucky 7 room.

So… after lunch, we toured Pixar, saw the RenderFarm, and walked through the animation area, but the one thing everyone wanted to see was Andrew Gordon’s office because they’d heard the stories and sure enough, Andrew tipped back Shakespeare’s head on a shelf near the built-in bookcase in his office. The bookcase rotated, and his secret Lucky 7 room appeared behind the wall. We drank a toast to everyone’s good fortune and went in search of the legendary Love Lounge next.

All told, we were at Pixar for four or five hours. The nominees met with people from Pixar who dropped by the lunch area, they shopped in the Pixar store, they began to get to know each other a little more now that they had all seen each other’s films. They moved from table to table in the lunch room sharing stories, asking questions.

Next stop. PDI. Stay tuned.
Tomorrow is another big day, so I’m going to fall into my bed in the George Gershwin room in the bunk house at Skywalker Ranch. Although…. calling it a room is an understatement. It’s a suite with a full kitchen, couch, easy chairs and best of all, a Bosendorfer grand piano next to the dining room table. I promised Eric, who is in the John Houston room directly below, that I would not play any tunes until morning. G’night.

END

My humble accommodations at Skywalker Ranch.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Disney Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:25:15 +0000

On Feb. 20th, the day belonged to Disney on the Oscar Showcase tour. Here is the photographic evidence.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Academy Screening Photo Gallery

oscartour — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:08:45 +0000

On the evening of Feb. 19th, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences hosted a screening of the animated and live-action shorts. Check out the pictures from the star-studded event.

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