Wall•E vs Panda

I saw KFP a couple of weeks ago, and as my earlier post said, I loved it. And here's why:

Granted, KFP isn't a terribly original plot, but the filmmakers made it work and work well. It's the classic hero's journey. You know, the reluctant hero fights prejudice and adversity to grow into the person he was destined to be. And because this story surrounds the world of hand to hand combat, it's easy to compare it to notables like Rocky and The Karate Kid. There is even the standard mentor character. But for every successful story in this genre, there are 50 failures. So why did this one work?

Panda works for me on several levels. First, it's funny. Really funny. The verbal humor was top notch, with great performances. And the physical gags were really, really great. The rigging on the characters made the squash & stretch work the best I've seen in CG animation since The Incredibles! And talk about timing! Man!

I have to admit that 10 minutes into the film, I pretty much knew where it was going plotwise. But there were enough surprises and entertaining performances to keep me interested all the way through.

Something that I think really really helped in the story was the dual arc of both Po and Shifu, his mentor. Usually, mentor characters don't change or grow to this degree, but they did a nice job of keeping the story from slipping into total cliché by adding this facet to his character.

It was also refreshing to see a Dreamworks film that didn't didn't rely on fart jokes for the lion's share of its comedy. (Don't get me wrong, I snicker at potty humor as much as anyone. But it does tend to wear after awhile.)

Any shortcomings? Yeah... I thought the secondary characters (Tiger, Mantis, Monkey, Crane & Serpent) were too much in the background, and not developed nearly enough. And what a waste of voice talent! None of them had enough dialog to warrant getting name actors. But even with that, I walked out of the theater wishing I had another ten bucks to see it again.

Today, I caught a matinée of Wall•E. I really, really, really wanted to love it. Instead, I just liked it.

Visually and technically, it is flawless. It was a pure visual treat. The character development was incredible! I mean, they took two nearly mute characters and revealed a lot of character depth with pantomime performances. I don't know anyone else who has come close to that kind of mastery. I even loved the very subtle Noah imagery. (Spoiler: Didn't Eve holding that little plant look live a dove & olive branch? Especially with the plot about the Earth's population waiting on an "ark" until they could return. Nice, yeah?)

So what went wrong?

I think it's this: The setting was epic and the story was small.

Okay, now for the lengthier explanation. Visually, as I've stated before, this film is full of expansive, huge, glorious imagery. The level of realism that Pixar has reached has greatly surpassed anything they have done before. However, the story (and I'll try not to include overt spoilers here), is a very small one. That's not a criticism in itself, I like small stories. This is an age-old plot of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. Two principle characters. That's all. (plus a comic relief cockroach). None of the other characters intersect their story beyond being obstacles. There is no real interaction with them. And the obstacles that they do encounter never seem to reach the level expected in a film that looks this lush and epic.

By comparison, let's look at the epic film Gone With The Wind. The relationship between Scarlett & Rhett is set against the horrors of the American Civil War. Their drama includes a love triangle, numerous betrayals, the death of a child, etc. The stakes were high. And as soon as that opening scene hit the screen, the audience knows they are in for a big story because the visuals are big.

If Wall•E had the same production scale as Toy Story, my expectations would have told my instincts to expect a light story. And I would have been overwhelmed at the emotions that were exuded by this pair of robots. But the look of Wall•E telegraphed something on the scale of Laurence of Arabia. And the drama just didn't measure up 100%.

Recently, I was corresponding with Keith Lango about story, and I told him something I had learned: My 6 points of Storytelling vs Production Value.
Here are the first 3 points, because I thought they were the only ones relevant to this review:
1. Good Story comes first. A pretty film can be terribly boring.
2. Low budget films with good storytelling are a sure bet.
2a. An audience can sense a low budget (Napoleon Dynamite, Hoodwinked, etc) and will cut it some slack.
3. Audiences can tell a high budget film, therefore will hold the storytelling to an even higher standard.

It's like if you went to a really, really fancy restaurant with valet parking and waiters in tuxedos and a string quartet playing in the corner, you would expect cuisine that came off the set of Iron Chef. But if they brought you an Outback Steakhouse filet, you would be disappointed, no? I guess that's what I'm saying. I like Outback's filet, but I the surroundings made me expect more meat and spice.

By the looks of the weekend box office grosses, I might be in the minority on this.

So my advice is go see both films. Enjoy them. If you agree with me, fine. If not, even better because you'll have gotten more of your money's worth.

Thoughts?

Sketchbook

It is with a certain amount of joy that I announce the unveiling of my first printed sketchbook.
I am speaking at the WiFi Film Conference in Wilmington, N.C. this weekend and had these published as an offering (for sale) for the attendees.
But I am also offering them here. For a mere $10.00 (U.S. shipping included. Add $2 for Canada or Mexico. Email me for all others.), you can have one of these 34 page, lavishly illustrated in black and white volumes of my doodles. Many of the drawings have been on my blog, but many haven't as well.
Simply send your payment via Paypal to: timothyhodge@yahoo.com. You should get your book in a couple of weeks.

When I figure out html better, I'll add the book in a permanent position in the sidebar on the right.

Kung Fu Panda!

Wow! Loved every single frame of it!

You can find the opening sequence here.

And the closing titles here.

Portfolio Submissions

The other day, a recent art school graduate asked me for some tips on assembling his storyboard portfolio. He will be going out to L.A. , and wanted all the help he could get.

After years of looking at portfolios during my commercial days, and being on the review board at Disney* for awhile, and through my own personal mistakes from my own portfolios, I gathered together a short list of guidelines. So if you are also new to the job market, I hope this helps...

First of all, put yourself in the position of the person(s) reviewing your work. They will be very busy with either pressing work to get back to, and/or 25 other portfolios to look at over their lunch hour. I say that to remind you that you have a short opportunity to really wow them. Usually studios gather portfolios and reels and look at them all together. You will rarely get a personal interview without going through this weeding out process.

Keep your portfolio short. 12 - 15 pages max. They will usually see what they need to see in the first 3 or 4. If they don't like it after that, they will move on to the next portfolio. Make sure page one is outstanding! If the first 3 or 4 are good pages, they keep turning to look for consistency. Keep your portfolio small: 8 1/2 x11" to 11x17". Big, unwieldy portfolios frustrate the reviewer. Make it easy to flip through.

If your work is primarily storyboards, I would make sure you do your best to lay them out professionally. Make them look like actual production storyboards. If you don't have a storyboard template, you can download a one at: Animation Meat Then drop your drawings into the panels with Photoshop. For presentation, it would probably be better to use a template with 6 panels, however.

Your entire portfolio doesn't have to be laid out storyboards, but make sure you have a few at least to show you are familiar working in the proper format. In fact, adding a little variety with some individual, non-story sketches will be a good idea. (This paragraph only applies to storyboard submissions).

Prepare up to 20 pages then have a couple of artist friends (or teachers) rate them all. Pick the top dozen. Only put in your best work!

Before you send your portfolio in, check the company's website for their submission requirements. If they suggest including life drawings, include some.

Submissions to TV studios, feature animation studios or commercial studios require different strengths and should be tailored to what they are looking for. You will be competing with hundreds of other graduates and out-of-work artists. Don't give the reviewer an excuse to close your book and go to the next person.

Make sure your name and contact info is on every page. Keep it small, not drawing attention to itself. You need it there on the outside chance your book gets torn up, but more importantly, if the reviewer is impressed with something on page 8, they don't have to turn back to the front or search for your resume to get your name. It keeps the rhythm going.


This is a page from a book I recently put together. I went to the expense of having it printed and coil bound with a vinyl cover (cost about $22 at Kinko's), but that isn't necessary. What matters is the quality of the work and a neat and clean presentation.

Notice the contact info (blurred here for my convenience). Simple and out of the way. Fancy logos with self caricatures on every page do not help. They are annoying and make it look like you are more into yourself than your work. You can do a logo or caricature on the first or last page, but keep it to that. But it is not at all necessary.

You can also include your website or blog or Deviant Art site, but that should be an extra. Don't rely on the internet to open a door.

I hope this helps somebody. Good luck! It's a bumpy road out there!

- T

* Just to clarify, while I was at Disney Feature Animation in Florida, I was honored to spend a few months on the artistic review board. It was a position that was voted on by fellow artists. I had input on internal promotions and helped review hundreds of student portfolios for the intern program. It was a great learning experience.

Back in the Saddle

I didn't think I was going to be quite as busy as I was the last couple of weeks. I'm winding up the last few episodes of "3-2-1 Penguins!" and looking for my next gig. And when it rains it pours.

I had three, freelance jobs this last week. And one more waiting in the wings. They are all development or writing deals, so I can't talk much about them.

However, one of my clients worked out a barter with me. I don't usually work that way, but he's a good friend. He bought me a copy of ToonBoom Studio 4 in exchange for the work I did for him.

I just sat down today to play with it. Within an hour, I created the following run cycle.

It takes a little getting used to drawing with the vector based pen. But I think I'll like getting used to it. I'm looking forward to trying out the other features that work more like Flash animation.

This could be fun!