AWN Oscar Travelogue

Exclusive Video: ILM Dinner Conversation

oscartour — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:53:24 +0000

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At the ILM dinner, animation supervisor Hal Hickel, who was nominated for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, talks with Madame Tutli-Putli director Chris Lavis about motion-capture and the importance of eyes in animation.

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Exclusive Video: I Met the Walrus Interview

oscartour — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:46:40 +0000

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At the ILM Q&A, director Josh Raskin explains where I Met the Walrus’ interview with John Lennon originated from.

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Exclusive Video: Puppet Scale

oscartour — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:41:16 +0000

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At the ILM Q&A, Madame Tutli-Putli director Maciek Szczerbowski and Peter and the Wolf director Suzie Templeton talk about the scale of their film’s puppets.

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Exclusive Video: On the ILM Tour

oscartour — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:40:02 +0000

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ILM artist Mark Siegel talks with I Met the Walrus director Josh Raskin about John Lennon.

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Oscar Showcase 08 ILM Photo Gallery

oscartour — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:11:56 +0000

Here’s the first photo gallery from the 2008 Oscar Showcase tour. Witness the nominees posing for pics with the many wonders on display inside the doors of the premiere visual effects studio.

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ILM’s Valentine’s Gift — A Night at Skywalker Ranch

oscartour — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:51:31 +0000

At the beginning of our long ride to Skywalker Ranch, Marcy learned that the Oscar nominated shorts were written up in an extensive article in The New York Times. The piece was in conjunction with Magnolia’s theatrical release of the Oscar shorts in theaters. Josh said that Magnolia have been awesome, stating that they were willing to take the legal liability if rights issues were not worked out with the Lennon estate. In the future, Josh and James hope to turn their film into a book that goes into more detail about how Jerry Levitan made the Lennon recordings. Their idea is to make intricate handmade books that feature a DVD of the film. Hugh shared the advertising he had printed for the feature film he produced called Free Jimmy, which has been making the festival circuit and chronicles the adventures of a circus elephant that has heroin sown into its stomach. With Skywalker Ranch on everyone’s mind, the conversation turned to the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars, which it was just announced will be coming to theaters as a feature first before arriving on Cartoon Network in the fall. Chris coined the phrase inter-quel to describe it. Along the way, Hugh had us introduce ourselves for a video diary he is doing for Channel 5 in the U.K., which airs on Friday. So if you’re in England, set your TiVos, we want copies.

As we drove up to Skywalker Ranch, the excitement was clearly growing in the packed van. After watching the Skywalker Sound reel and some animation clips in the impressive Stag Theatre, we met with Randy Thom, who is nominated for his sound work on Ratatouille. He said that Brad Bird likes to experiment with sound before animation is even begun and one sound issue they needed to work out was how much would they use the rats’ real rat voices. As the final film shows, they decided that lesser is better. The voices were actually created by speeding up the actors’ voices. Randy said that for most productions 25-35% of the sound is recorded new and that the rest is taken from their vast library and manipulated to create something unique for the particular project.

Next we ventured over to the massive recording stage, where everything from orchestras to bands like Rancid have recorded. Panels on the walls and mathematically calibrated wood buffers allow the sound artists to manipulate the recording space to their liking. Currently Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are mixing at the facility and security is tight. So when we headed to the Foley stage, we were not able to see the artists at work, but were able to look around at the vast collection of objects used to create film soundtracks.

After we all settled into our fabulous rooms (Ron’s features its own kitchen and breakfast nook), we all piled back into the van and headed to diner. Chris said he had checked out this blog and was surprised with the detail. Hopefully that doesn’t put a chilling effect on what people say. This is a rare event and I feel it warrants thorough coverage, because so rarely do animators get such a chance to be in the spotlight. Josh said at dinner that it’s hard to keep a realistic perspective that not every film he makes will lead to flying all over the world “getting high fives for your film.” Talk about getting high fives, James later said that Leonard Cohen loved their film.

A great deal of the dinner conversation centered on film. Josh and I discussed the visual effects nominees and our love for Spider-Man 2, as the best comic book adaptation. Maciek described a Guy Madden short called Sissy Boy Slap Party that I need to see ASAP. Additionally, he believes David Lynch’s Inland Empire is a masterpiece that should make all filmmakers reconsider where film should be going in the future.

Maciek also proudly proclaimed that he does not have a cell phone or a credit card. Josh responded by asking whether he was on Facebook. It’s that find of report that fills the interactions between the Madame Tutli-Putli and I Met the Walrus filmmakers, built from the experience of traveling around on the Animation Show of Shows tour earlier in the year.

Suzie mentioned that Rosto and she will be teaching an animation workshop together. Before becoming an animator, Suzie ran a co-op café in South Hampton. Hugh said after graduating from school he had jobs selling fish and hardwood flooring. For Peter and the Wolf, Hugh explained that they tried to work 14-hour days, but it was too tiring for the animators, so they went back to 12-hour shifts on a 24-hour cycle.

Though all the filmmakers (except for Sam who has Lucie along) have been away from their loved ones on Valentine’s Day, this is probably a Hallmark holiday dinner that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

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Grabbing a Late Bite to Eat with the ILM Artists

oscartour — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:15:21 +0000

After the ILM Q&A, the studio hosted a dinner for the nominees, where we sat with animation supervisor Hal Hickel, who is nominated for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Chris was impressed with the seamless work that Hal was involved with on Iron Man combining practical effects with CG. As for CG, Maciek feels he couldn’t work in CG, because he needs more hands on, tactile interaction with his art. He likes work environments were artists are talking and working out issues, not hidden behind iPods for five hours of straight work. In turn, Sam feels freed by the ability to create elaborate worlds with more control inside the computer. It just goes to show how the artistic experience differs from one person to the next.

During dinner, Sam and Lucy commented that Madame Tutli-Putli reminded them of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie, which is funny, because I felt the same way when I firest saw the film. Sam said that Jeunet’s longtime collaborator Marc Caro was one of his heroes, and Maciek added that he always felt that Caro brought a darkness to the work he did with Jeunet, which is an element in film that he feels has been lacking of late. Sam also revealed that the title of his film Even Pigeons Go to Heaven is a French joke that doesn’t translate into English directly. After he explained it to us, Chris found the best literal translation - Even Suckers Go to Heaven. But we all still agree that the title they have is much better than the exact translation.

After we finished eating, we piled back into the van and headed off to the hotel. If day one was tiring wait until tomorrow when we have screenings at Pixar and EA, closing with a night at Skywalker Ranch.

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The Tour Begins at ILM

oscartour — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:08:13 +0000

With everyone attending the San Fran leg of the tour together, ILM’s Danielle O’Hare greeted us in the lobby and treated the filmmakers to a tour. Having taken the tour last year with our gracious host Kate Shaw, this year we learned some of the same history with a sprinkling of some new facts. For instance, on the wall is ILM’s last matte painting from Die Hard 2. At the time of its creation Jim Henson had just passed away, so as a tribute, the artists painted Kermit faces on the side of the trucks featured in the wide shot of the snowy tarmac at the close of the film. Hugh inquired what has happened to the traditional matte painters and Danielle said that many have transitioned over to CG, while James joked that the others having transitioned over into driving cabs.

All were impressed with the gorgeous view from the cafeteria, where one can see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts and the CalTrains Building all from the same room, which is a rare feat in San Francisco. In the hall, we met sculptor and visual effects artist Mark Siegel, whose credits date back to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. As we were speaking with him, we were actually standing in front of one of his creations, Slimmer from Ghostbusters. After meeting the nominees, Siegel changed his plans for the evening and made it to the screening.

Filled with ILM employees and members of ASIFA-San Fran, the filmmakers took questions from the crowd. The first question was one that Chris has had to field since the first screening of Madame Tutli-Putli — how did you create the human eyes on the puppets? Chris explained that they approached the film as any stop-motion film and that Jason Walker hand added the eyes afterward. It’s a question so often asked that Josh volunteered to handle it for Chris if need be. However, Josh had his own questions to take, explaining to the audience how his film came about and that his influences were Terry Gilliam and the drawings of John Lennon.

Suzie was asked about collaborating with the Polish studio Se-Ma-For. She said that they made the film exactly the way she imagined it. Despite the language barrier, she said the animators understood her on a creative level almost instinctively. When asked about having an alternative ending where the duck survives being eaten by the wolf, Suzie felt that her more realistic treatment of the Prokofiev’s work didn’t leave room for the more fantastic elements of ducks living inside wolves’ stomachs. She was also asked how she handled working with a team of 200 animators, responding that it was a big challenge to work on a project of this scale, but it still felt personal because the animators communicated with her in an unspoken creative language.

Sam was asked about the puppet-like movements of his CG characters, stating that his original intention was to do squash and stretch, but when that became too difficult, he went with a more deliberate style, which may be the reason that some people think the film is stop-motion at first. He added that the budget was 40,000 Euros, the film took two years to make and that he was not paid for the production. As for the budgets of the other films, Peter and the Wolf cost $2 million, with 5 years invested from start to finish, 13 months of that actually being production. Madame Tutli-Putli, which was produced by the NFB, took four years to make at a cost of CA$600,000. Josh told the crowd that I Met the Walrus had a budget of CA$26,000 and took 1 1/2 years to complete.

After mingling with the receptive crowd, Kate rounded us all together to head out for a late dinner.

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Introductions (or Adventures with Phil Tippett)

oscartour — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:07:07 +0000

The tour has begun. And what a way to begin – a screening at ILM. As Ron Diamond, host of the tour and publisher of AWN, and I pulled up to Sofitel hotel, I Met the Walrus director Josh Raskin, Walrus illustrator James Braithwaite and Madame Tutli-Putli director Maciek Szczerbowski were standing outside. Having toured with the Animation Show of Shows, all three enthusiastically greeted Ron, like a reunion of old friends. As we made our way into the hotel to check-in, we were greeted by Oscar tour veteran Marcy Page, who traveled around with us last year for the Oscar-winning film The Danish Poet. This time I was able to engage in an “old friend” reunion myself. Last year’s event was such a wonderful bonding experience that I feel so excited to share with the others about the things we have in store.

The tired filmmakers who have flown in from all corners of the globe took the opportunity to rest before Ron whisked them away in the whirlwind that is the Oscar Showcase tour. After their brief break to reenergize, they slowly trickled down to the hotel restaurant to join us for a bite to eat. Marcy was the first to arrive. As Ron and Marcy caught up on projects they are working on, Marcy revealed that the new film from Michèle Cournoyer, the creator of 2000’s The Hat, will be a controversial one, due to its critique of the burkas worn by Muslim women. Currently, the film is tentatively titled Dress for War.

Soon we were joined by Maciek, whose playful and passionate personality has already ignited the tour with a wonderful spark. Not long after his co-director Chris Lavis appeared. He’s the kind of person whose confidence comes across the moment you meet him. Maciek and Chris told us that they heard about the announcement of their Oscar nomination while at Sundance where they had developed a close bond with Luis Cook, the director of the short-listed animated film The Pearce Sisters. Both Maciek and Chris expressed feeling guilty upon receiving a nod while their new friend was left off the final list of five.

Earlier this year in L.A. for a visit to Tippett Studios, Maciek and Chris had a chance to visit with legendary creature creator and special effect wizard Phil Tippett. Following the event, Phil invited the Madame Tutli-Putli duo back to his house and even picked up some beers on the way. Maciek, the lively storyteller, had the entire table smiling with his tale of hanging with the effect legend and witnessing Phil’s collection of personal art. Maciek described it poignantly as peering at the history of iconic sci-fi creatures alongside the pop culture history that could have been if an executive or artistic decision would have gone differently. He described one of Tippett’s phantasmagoric pieces, which was created from two condoms, concrete, rusting treatments and a blow torch. Maciek also told us about Tippett’s moving work of art created by using magnets to control piles of metal fillings, which form shapes that crawl and morph into one another with the move of the effects wizard’s hand. Both Maciek and Chris fond the experience invigorating, connecting with a veteran artist who is still experimenting and in the process challenging himself to expand.

As 4 pm approached, Peter and the Wolf director Suzie Templeton and Peter producer Alan Dewhurst joined us at the front of the hotel. Suzie, who is a bit camera shy, was very tired from her flight in from Amsterdam. Alan utilized his time before our ILM excursion by getting some work done before colleagues in the U.K. called it a night. On the van ride over to the studio, I sat next to James, who told me that he and Josh had been friends since high school and have wanted to work on a film together for some time. When Josh met Jerry Levitan and heard about the tape Jerry made of John Lennon when he was 14, Josh knew they had found their project. At first Jerry wanted to make a feature documentary, but that scared the hell out of Josh and James, so they pared down the audio footage into five minutes and worked from that. Along the way, James chatted with Chris about doing freelance illustration work, and both lamented about projects that blew up in their faces when client demands became artistically stifling. While en route, Ron tried to help Josh get extra Oscar tickets for Walrus designer Alex Kurina and Yoko Ono, who recently saw their film and has given her full support. No legal battles are a very good thing.

Upon arrival at ILM, Even Pigeons Go to Heaven director Samuel Tourneux; his girlfriend Lucie Bloze, a post producer at BUF; and Hugh Welchman, the producer of Peter and the Wolf joined the group. After a round of handshakes and pictures in front of the Yoda fountain, the group headed in for the first event on the tour.

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Ron’s Oscar Tour San Fran Pics Gallery

oscartour — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 10:43:09 +0000

Outside the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood Shores. Rick DeMott (l to r), Mike Thurmeier, Marcy Page, Roger Allers, Don Hahn & Ron Diamond. © AWN Inc.

Ron and I snapped quite a few pictures during the San Fran leg of the tour. Here’s a gallery of some of the pics that Ron took. Keep checking back for more exclusive photos from the Oscar Tour.

Bob Nicoll (center left) shows us around the expansive EA campus.

The nominees check out PDI/DreamWorks state-of-the-art conference room, which is link directly to the L.A. studio. © AWN Inc.

The nominees have lunch with PDI/DreamWorks head Gloria Borders and Beauty and the Beast director Gary Trousdale (right of Gloria). © AWN Inc.

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