#229 - Why We Should All Study Animation

The toughest thing for a director, is to know what you want.
It's not how to get what you want, it's knowing what you want...

That's why I'm so in love with the Disney animators, and why I think animation is the father of live action cinema.

Because they have to have in their mind a clear picture of how a chipmunk rolls over in the snow.

They've got to know what each side of that chipmunk looks like and they don't build chipmunks and roll them over in fake snow, they have to use their imaginations and paint these things 12 cells a second and know how the fur moves and how the winds blowing...

That's why I think all directors should be animators first because you really can take the imagination and become something tangible...

The editorial process of animation is one that weaves the editor into the very heart of the storytelling process, and through its iterative re-writing and re-making workflow can teach you a ton about writing, structure, story, character and emotion.

Oh and Spielberg says so.

We've covered editing and animation before here on Cut/daily back in #127 - What does an Editor even do in Animation?

But in this issue I wanted to simply share some entertaining and informative behind the scenes featurettes from one of the funniest and visually striking films I saw last year:

The Mitchells Vs The Machines

This is probably my favourite moment from the movie, especially when the Dad gets hit in the face by the fire extinguisher.

When it comes to laughs, I am a simple person.

Inside The Groundbreaking Animation

Edited by experienced animation editor, Greg Levitan, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is also produced by Sony Pictures Animation, who also created the stellar and equally ground-breaking Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which you can take a deep dive into the making of here.

In this first video you can learn a little bit about how that connection helped create the look of TMVTM, thanks to insights from VFX Supervisor Michael Lasker.