Mitch from PixarPlanet was recently fortunate enough to have attended a seminar hosted by Andrew Stanton, acclaimed director of Finding Nemo and who is now directing WALL-E. Mitch has posted a report of the seminar over at PixarPlanet. Here is a segment from the report…
He showed/described to us a number of things, including how challenging it was to make certain scenes in Toy Story work, how particular scenes in films can evoke a specific and powerful emotion/message, and the various actors that were chosen to play the part of Hopper in A Bug’s Life.
As far as Toy Story was concerned, Mr. Stanton mentioned that it was hard for he and his fellow coworkers to develop the characters so that they and their personalities were likeable and convincing to the audience. They actually had to “tone down” certain characters’ demeanors and such, actually.
You can read the full report, including pictures of the Disney backlot like the one above, here. Thanks Mitch! (PS. I am going to be away till Wednesday, so if you have any news item, please send me an email with a link to it, as it would help me a great deal when I get back.)
Last modified: September 22, 2007
GRAMMAR!!
“…it was hard for HIM and his fellow coworkers…”
luxo jr. – No problem, dude.
I’ll keep an eye out for any news items….
anonymous – I could have sworn that I corrected that. Heh. Well, my apologies for the spelling mistake. I usually don’t make such errors, but heck, you can’t expect me to be perfect every time. 😛
— Mitch
Well, it would have been an interesting story if the gentleman knew how to take decent notes and convey the information gleaned instead of using poor grammar, too much slang, and providing very little substance.
I’m terribly sorry for the poor quality photographs and less-than-decent write up of the event, but I did give my utmost to make it enjoyable.
I’m a female, by the way.
— Mitch
Well, I thought it was an interesting write-up. The points that Andrew Stanton made regarding Pixar’s mottos and rules to go by were helpful to me, as someone aspiring to work with film. 🙂
As for you two cowardly anonymous people, well you can both take a long walk off a short pier, as far as I am concerned. And you got far more respect than what you deserved from Mitch in regards to your “constructive” criticism. Anton Ego’s speech in Ratatouille has a lot to say about people like you.
Hi, my name’s Michael Sullivan. I was eager to click over to the site, and I was also tremendously disappointed with the author’s poor recall. The write-up left me wishing she had taken better notes. Not the end of the world, but a disappointment nonetheless.
If someone doesn’t leave their name, does that make their commentary less true?
rachel: Eheh. It’s okay; I’m all right. Thank you, though. *hugs*
I see what was wrong with my report now. It was designed to suit the tastes of the members at Pixar Planet more than anything, which is probably why it is not constructed as well as it should be. As for the spelling errors, well, I despise making any grammatical mistakes intentionally, which is why I double check my entries/posts as thoroughly as possible. There is the occasional time when I overlook something, however.
— Mitch
wow! i’m surprised at how many people are commenting on this to critize Mitch!
I just followed upcoming pixar’s link to mitch’s awesome write-up, then saw her link to the comments page here, and I must say, I didn’t expect anyone to be so nit picky and mean!
She didn’t even have to write anything, or take any pictures, but she took the time to do it anyways because there actually are people who have an interest in hearing about the seminar.
Thanks Mitch, I appreciate it! I’m glad you had fun! It was awesome reading about it, and I thought this write-up was plenty descriptive!!
susie bones – Eheheh. Well, thank you, susie. I expect comments like this, but there are some people who just get on my nerves…. (snigger)
Thank you very much for the kind comments, dude. 🙂
— Mitch
Welcome to the Internet. The rules? When you post, especially to a board with comments that include an anonymous option, expect a wide variety of opinions to come back to you. This isn’t middle school: people who disagree with your point of view are neither meanies nor ‘haters’ simply because you don’t like what they have to say. You’re expected to deliver, and when you don’t you’ll hear about it. Having your BFFs flood the board with, “You’re awesome!!!” and similar meaningless pablum doesn’t score you any points with serious readers who expect quality.
Ignore good advice at your own peril, no matter who offers it.
Anonymous – Yeah. Now, see, this is exactly what I mean. I want to improve for the good of myself and other various readers. If my friends post their comments on the matter I want their truthful opinion, believe me. I don’t want to be “cooed” and “tenderized” or anything of the sort. I want the facts. However, I do hate it when an anonymous user simply points out my mistakes and nothing else. I’m not new to the internet, so I expect and welcome certain types of criticism. Keep in mind, though, that I’m not perfect. No one is. If I make a blatant error, people don’t have to scream it to my face. Think of how you would feel if you were in my position. It’s difficult (for me, at least) to accept a possible fact, apologize, and realize my mistake while having people shove the turkey down my throat while I’m doing it….
Of course, I do have a sensitive side. It’s my weakness, which is probably why I take such things to be cast in a rather dark atmostphere.
To any and all “Pixar Planet” members: If you come running to my defense, please do it in a decent manner. I don’t want anyone to comfort me and say that my work is acceptable just because they know me well. If there are flaws in my work…then point them out; I would be most grateful for it.
— Mitch
Mitch,
I enjoyed the piece. I appreciate that you went to the effort to share the information. In retrospect, there are certain areas where perhaps better notes could have been taken…but you probably didn’t attend thinking you were going to have to turn in a college-level production. A word of advice: take what you need and leave the rest. We all can learn from our critics, whether or not we know their names. And we all can choose to not take anything personally, no matter who says it to us.
You appear to be a big Disney/Pixar fan, so you already know nothing’s ever finished until Lassiter says it’s finished. Keep up the already good work, but more importantly, keep moving forward! 🙂
Anonymous: Heheh. Yes, very good points there. I realize my mistake in that I could have made the article more presentable and should not have taken negative comments so seriously. The review in question was primarily meant to be read by Pixar Planet users who know my style of writing. Had I taken more time to polish off the piece, various sentences and phrases would not have been added.
Thank you for the comments! I sincerely appreciate them.
— Mitch
P.S. For those of you out there who are wondering, I am a college student whom is under the age of twenty and I am capable of releasing a more professional review than the one you just scanned/read. The only reason I didn’t submit a highly-polished article/review this time around was because the review itself was meant to be a fun read and not one to be critiqued. But, then again, I should learn to expect the unexpected. Heheh.
Thanks for the story, I appreciate the time you put in.
“If someone doesn’t leave their name, does that make their commentary less true?”
No, but that someone is still a coward, online and offline.