What is the secret ingredient of Pixar’s life like movies?

 

 

In this next blog post we’ll be learning what the secret ingredient that Pixar studios uses in their life like animation. I hope you’re as excited as I am so without further ado let us begin.

For those of you who already know this please feel free to skip to the next section. And for those of you who do not, stay tuned because we have some important information to cover.

What is Pixar studios?

Pixar studios is an American animation studio which was founded in 1979 although it did not go by the name “Pixar” until its hive-off  (“Hive off is a term for when a section or department of a company splits off and becomes its own company) Originally Pixar went by the name of “The Graphics Group” as it used to be part of the “Lucasfilm Computer Division.”

Pixar studios is well known for making several successful Disney movies such as Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Ratatouille, Etc. If you wish to learn more about Pixar follow the link here https://www.pixar.com/our-story-pixar 

With that brief bit of history out of the way let’s continue on.

In this video here we learn about what it is that makes Pixar movies so life like.

https://www.ted.com/talks/danielle_feinberg_the_magic_ingredient_that_brings_pixar_movies_to_life

If you couldn’t guess it on your own don’t worry I’ll do my best to break it down.

The secret is... Lighting!

Because Pixar uses three dimensional animation lighting is extremely important without it you’d end up with a dull, lifeless, and unbelievable world.

You need lighting to bring it to life and in the next images that I’ll be showing you soon you’ll see why it’s so important.

“As I learned to light, I learned about using light to help tell story, set the time of day, to create the mood, to guide the audience’s eye, how to make a character look appealing or stand out in a busy set.” –Danielle Feinberg (is a cinematographer and director of photography for lighting at Pixar studios)

 I’ll show you two images from the Pixar movie “WALL-E” One with lighting and one without.

  Image without lighting.

 

Image with lighting.

Danielle continues.

“As you can see we can create any world we want inside the computer.”

The only problem with having all that creative freedom is that you can end up creating unbelievable and jarring worlds. Danielle says “So to combat this, we tether ourselves with science. We use science and the world we know as a backbone, to ground ourselves in something relatable and recognizable.”

For example when making the movie Finding Nemo they reviewed a clip of underwater footage and proceeded to recreate it using 3D animation.

The team then took apart the footage and separated it to see what parts made it look underwater.

“We considered each of these elements and which ones had to be scientifically accurate and which ones we could push and pull to suit the story and mood.

 

 

 

The best example of lighting is in the movie WALL-E.                                   Unlike other characters WALL-E doesn’t have a face so lighting took an important role in bringing this character to life.

Original version of WALL-E eyes.

 

After multiple attempts to fix his eyes they finally did it when they added a light to WALL-E which accidentally leaks into his eyes.

“You can see it light up these gray aperture blades. “

By accidentally adding that bit of lighting to his aperture blades WALL-E now looks truly alive.

“Later in the movie towards the end, WALL-E loses his personality, essentially going dead.”  This is the perfect time to bring back his original lifeless eyes. (turns out they too have a use after all.)

When WALL-E comes back to life we see his eyes return to their normal appearance. Without lighting we’d lose all the context and detail that brings a story to life.

“We use math, science and code to create these amazing worlds. We use storytelling and art to bring them to life. It’s this interweaving of art and science that elevates the world to a place of wonder, a place with soul, a place we can believe in, a place where the things you imagine can become real.”

 

I could probably talk endlessly on the importance of lighting in animation (Because there’s a LOT to cover). But I wouldn’t want to bore you. So with this light summery concluded... it’s time I take my leave.

Hold up! You think I'd let you leave before I give you a bagel fact?

Bagels are 628 years old! and they probably looked something like this.