Working for Pixar

Alex Orrelle , animator of Pixar , holds a discussion with , Israeli Animation Forum members , on Pixar , Manex , Matrix 2 and more .

Something about Alex : Alex Orrelle , was born in London but was raised up in Israel , where he became an animator . He studied animation , at the Academy of Art College , in San Francisco and under his direction , a short CG ,  group project , called " Freeware " came up . This thereafter , won the Alias|Wavefront , student competition . Alex , carried on working , as an animator for characters, for all of the matrix sequels , at Manex Visual Effects . At present , he’s at Pixar , where people can avail his services , as both , a character animator and a storyboard artist too . 

Here , is a piece of conversation , which shows his work at Pixar .

Hermonir : Hello everybody !  , hello Alex !.

Aorrelle : Shalom , from San Francisco

Phoebs : How were you accepted at Pixar ?

Aorrelle : Getting into Pixar , was a three year project . I had studied , at the Academy of Arts , in SF and took Pixar´s short film class , there . During that course , I had got to know , the teachers and made everything clear , to them , that I wanted a job at Pixar... I had to prove my worth , through my works  and exceed every expectations . Even if , you are as good as animators at Pixar , it doesn´t mean you have a job there. It´s very much about timing .

Morobuse : What is your background ? Traditional cell animation ? Claymation ? Life drawing ? Tell us , the secret ." To get into Pixar , you have to be good . There´s no secret as such . "

Aorrelle : My background , is a lot about drawing . Since I was a kid , I would draw , make home movies  ,with my friends and a super 8 and even try to shoot some animation stuff . It was very unsuccessful , but at least , I tried . To get into Pixar , you have to be too good . There´s no secret . You have to love animation , love talking about it and understand what makes it so appealing .

Galrt : Going to schools , in the US , is quite expensive , in local standards . How did you handle it financially , if you don't mind me asking ?

Aorrelle : Schools were very expensive , for someone who can´t work . It´s a privilege , I owe to my parents .

Kfiram : I've always wondered  , how big studios , like Pixar , divide the work among the artists . The general conception , is that , a modeller , does nothing but models , a shading artist does shading alone , the guy in charge of Lip Sync , doesn't animate body movements  , etc. Is that really the case? And if so , how come , you're both , character animator and storyboard artist ? What exactly do you do anyways ?

Aorrelle : Great question ! Pixar is constantly , re evaluating how artists , are defined on a production basis . So much so , in fact , that no two movies , are made exactly , the same way .Toy story was made , by very few people . At that time , the modeller , was also an animator and the shading artist and layout design , etc . But , since Pixar got successful and the technology more complex , it became necessary , to split up people into categories , mainly , because the tools are too difficult to master on all the separate tasks .I work in the shorts department and when I was hired , the story  head , on the current short film , was my storyboard , a teacher from school . So , I got to work on the story , as well , which is a big bonus for an animator...

Kfiram : Have you worked on " Mike's New Car ? “

Aorrelle : I just helped , with the title animation on that , because I was working on a Buzz light year serial , TV commercial , at the same time . If you want to search for it ,  it´s called " Buzz Blasts " and it is a 30 second commercial .

Hermonir : If people create animations , for different characters , how do you get the characters to act the same , consistently , throughout the movie ? Is there an " animation sheet , " for each character , where the style is established , for different moods and people refer to it ? Or , is it just the director´s job , to keep everything consistent ?

Aorrelle : Animators , are usually cast shots , according to the animators specific strengths , like physical action or subtle emotional acting .There are sometimes , character leads , but no animator is married to one character  ,for the whole movie . It´s all the animators jobs , to keep animation consistent on the characters . That´s why , we have dailies , a daily review, of the work , that´s been done the previous day , when everyone gets to comment , on everyone else´s work .

Hermonir : What is the animation quota ? How much final character animation , does an animator produce in a week ?

Aorrelle : Four feet per week  , about three seconds .

Phoebs : Do you use Render man ( Alfred ) ?

Aorrelle : Yes .

Hermonir : Pixar animator ,  Victor Navone ( creator of " Alien Son " ) is working  ,on a new short called ,  " Big Bang ". I wish , my finished films ,  looked half as good as his animated work .

Aorrelle : Victor is my office mate . He´s been working on this animation ,  for six months already and has special permission , from Pixar , to make it independently .Don´t hold your breath , though . It will probably , take him two years to make .

Hermonir : Six months ? What's taking so long ?

Aorrelle : He also has a full time job .It´s really tough , working , then spending nights and weekends , on such an engaging project .

Personal work :

Galrt : is there a place , we can see , some of your personal stuff ?

Aorrelle : Sorry , not yet . I´ll have a website later this year , though . I´ll keep you all posted .

Kfiram : What can you tell us , about your personal films ?

Aorrelle : At the academy,  I made two hand drawn films and directed a CG short film . The first film  ( for the Pixar animated , short film class ) is called Soda ( 3.5 minutes ) and it´s about a guy , who´s waiting for a subway train and gets in trouble  ,with a soda vending machine .T he second , was called Lou ( 3 minutes ) and it was about a kid , in a public urina l, who can´t reach the urinal . A cockroach , called Lou , tries to make a deal with him . The third , Freeware  , you can read all about  at :

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,424515,00.html

Being inside the Matrix

Kfiram : What exactly , did you do on the Matrix sequels ?

Aorrelle : At Manex , I was a character animator  ,on R&D for Matrix 2 and 3 , before I moved to Pixar.  I also did pre visualization , which I really enjoyed . It´s basically , rough 3D animation , that conveys information , about the complex live action shoots , before it happens , so the editors can work on i ,t before it´s shot .

Animation and employment tips

Morobuse : What  are the common mistakes , with young inexperienced animators and how can one avoid them ?

Aorrelle : The most common mistakes ,  of inexperienced animators , are , shutting themselves at home and not showing their work for critics , thinking that  , they´ll figure it out themselves .The second mistake,  is showing their work to EVERYONE , including their mother and never finishing the film .

Jhones : From your experience , when creating a film , intended to impress a potential employer , should I try , to show a great deal of technical control , have a unique animation style and work on some complex models , or should I create something loose with a good idea ? " The things  ,you´re not good at , you don´t like doing it anyway . "

Aorrelle : The only way , to impress an employer , is to show  ,what you´re good at . The unlikely chance,  that you are an incredible designer, modeller , shader , animator , rigging artist , cinematographer and lighter , is , it will take you , too long , to make a film by yourself , to get a job. It´s important , to get a feeling , of what you are strong at , so , you can keep working on your strength ,  instead of , trying to work on , what you´re not naturally talented at .You´ll find out quickly , that the things , you´re not good at , you don´t like doing it anyways . For example , if you love animating  , you should make a very simple scene , even a film (IF you like making films . Not everyone does it ) . Then ,  your potential employer , knows what to look at . Having a ton of effects , lights and camera moving ,  usually makes people here , detect , that you´re trying to distract them from bad character animation .

3Dennis : Do you think , drawing ability , is important for work , on visual effects ? If I can't draw , what can I accomplish ?

Aorrelle : Just learn to draw .There´s no excuse , not to know , how to draw . As good as you are , at effects , modeling and animation , you can´t see half your mistakes , if you don´t understand good composition , good design and appealing shapes .It´s just a fact . Sorry , I can recommend some books , if you´re interested in .

Talotan : After writing dozens of scripts and acknowledging that , I'll never find , the time to actually make them ( as long as there's " real " work ) , I've come across, a really astonishing script . The question is , should I try, to involve outside sources , to help with the production ? If so , will I still have creative control ?

Aorrelle : The answer is tough : You can´t get anything , off the ground alone ,  you need people who have , what you´re missing . As far as creative control is concerned , if you´re afraid of someone walking in and taking over , you should be so lucky , to at least , get the funding for it . It´s a negotiation . Like peace ! You have to make " tough concession "  , for the other side , to have any reasons , to help you  .If you get the money ,  for it yourself  , you can control it .