Directing, camera, design...

[Alexandra Poston]

Recently I've been going to a lot of school lectures by different companies such as Laika presenting about Coraline, Pixar lectureing about Nemo, and I'm about to go to a lecture from Dreamworks and Cartoon Network. A lot of what they talk to us about is the how they made what we see, and how to do our jobs as animators. That's what this whole site is about too, but then I have this other curiosity. When Don and Gary were at Disney, they realized that they wanted to know how to do more than just inbetweens, they wanted to know about everything that went behind the movie. Then, in a little time, they branched off and started making their own movies. I've just now been realizing how much thought goes into Camera angles and movements, emphasis, lighting, shots... How do you guys do it? Did you just read a lot of books on cinematography? Did you go to a lot of lectures and classes to understand the art of film and directing? Did it just come naturally? I've been reading some books on film, trying to understand how I can communicate a story in the best possible way, and maybe ultimately one day I'd like to become a director of a feature length film - or maybe at least just understand a fraction of what it is to be one. Don's story is just very inspiring

[Don Bluth]

Recently I've been going to a lot of school lectures by different companies such as Laika presenting about Coraline, Pixar lectureing about Nemo, and I'm about to go to a lecture from Dreamworks and Cartoon Network. A lot of what they talk to us about is the how they made what we see, and how to do our jobs as animators. That's what this whole site is about too, but then I have this other curiosity. When Don and Gary were at Disney, they realized that they wanted to know how to do more than just inbetweens, they wanted to know about everything that went behind the movie. Then, in a little time, they branched off and started making their own movies. I've just now been realizing how much thought goes into Camera angles and movements, emphasis, lighting, shots... How do you guys do it? Did you just read a lot of books on cinematography? Did you go to a lot of lectures and classes to understand the art of film and directing? Did it just come naturally? I've been reading some books on film, trying to understand how I can communicate a story in the best possible way, and maybe ultimately one day I'd like to become a director of a feature length film - or maybe at least just understand a fraction of what it is to be one. Don's story is just very inspiring

Alexandra,
Any great accomplishment, even that of becoming a director of your own animated film has everything to do with your abilities as an artist in several fields. To mention a few, drawing, acting and music. If you aspire to be a director, you will also need to be experienced in world affairs and also be a knowledgeable philosopher; and it wouldn't hurt to have some writing skills either. If you look at the size of this mountain of things to do, you could easily get discouraged. My sincerest advise is that you take becoming an Animator/Director one step at a time and enjoy the journey. Don't be in a big hurry to get there.
Certainly, the lessons I learned on Directing have taken many years;seven years producing Banjo the Woodpile Cat in my garage. Furthermore, I owned and produced plays in a legitimate theater for two years to experience how actors work with each other. Over the past four years, I've been producing and directing plays in my own home to keep my mind stimulated.
Set goals for yourself that are small and doable; you must have success in your endeavors to build self confidence.
I'm here to help if you need it.