Just a Tad

Sketches

I started this blog because I had such fun sharing an "inside" look at the animation process of bringing Hellboy from comic to cartoon.  I thought I'd do the same here with my various projects.  The problem is that I'm usually working on the projects of others so I'm not at liberty to share any details.  I can't even share anything about my own project which is entering development!

So instead of being a rich source of content, my work keeps me from posting... at least when I'm busy.  My day job of storyboarding slowed drastically as we wait for a rewrite.  So I decided to just do some sketching in Photoshop on the Cintiq.  Man, I gotta get one of those.  I'd gladly get rid of my drawing board and switch to digital.

I've never really gotten the hang of drawing on a pad while looking at a monitor.  I would rather drawing something, scan it then edit it using the wacom pad.  But drawing on the screen makes all the difference in the world.

So here are my Cintiq doodlings from my downtime at work.

 

 

I'll try to have some "real" content next week.  -- Tad

Is It a Show Yet? The "Sit" of Sitcoms

Back at Disney, I was developing ideas for a musical Jeckyl & Hyde, direct to video feature.  But I sensed original productions were going nowhere in competition with the never ending parade of sequels so I volunteered to return to TV on a HERCULES series.  I loved mythology, the superhero side, the irreverence and the design sense of the feature that was still being animated.  Plus I'd be working with Bob Schooley and Mark Mccorkle, partners on many of my projects.   (This was well before they created KIM POSSIBLE.)

 We looked at the movie and saw that the best fit for The Disney Afternoon would be to use the teen Hercules instead of making a sequel to the movie.  (Although it would've been cool to do a big action series). We used Hercules' trainer, Phil, and the muse with the broadest personality to act as competing mentors to the boy.   We pitched to Michael Eisner, he gave his blessing and we had a greenlight... for about five minutes.

That's when Dean Valentine, then head of Walt Disney TV Animation, told us, "You don't have a show yet."   We grumbled that Michael Eisner seemed to think we had a show but went ahead and re-examined everything we had done.  Because we didn't have a choice.  I don't remember him giving us notes beyond that.

That re-examination led to a much stronger idea:  young Hercules in high school as an outcast along with his outcast friends, Icarus and Cassandra, brilliantly played by French Stewart and Sandra Bernhard.  Turned out to be a beautiful show and one of the best written, thanks to Mark and Bob.

Darkwing Duck had a similar, "negative note" stage of development.  Originally it was Double O Duck and a one note spy parody.  Jeffrey Katzenberg told me it was a one note spy parody and ordered me to do it over.  It became a much stronger, much funnier and fresher series.

Greg Weisman pitched a spin off of the Gummi Bears that featured some of the most entertaining characters who had been featured either as villains or as guest stars.  He had a solid setup, great potential for stories and no show.   Greg learned his lesson and created the fan favorite Gargoyles.

Each of these early concepts had solid characters and plenty of story potential.   What they didn't have was a defining focus, a "franchise," the situation that sets up the sitcom.  Your characters need to band together to protect the planet, solve a crime, raise a family, run a business or "try to take over the world."  Whatever it is, that situation should put them under pressure, socially, physically or ideologically in a way that will make their choices harder or more extreme.

Darkwing Duck fought crime at the same time as raising an incorrigible daughter who wouldn't stay out of his hero business.  That's a richer story mine than just superhero parody.   Look for a situation that highlights what you want to do with the series.  Our first Hercules pitch was okay, Hercules had to learn to be a hero.  We gave him competing teachers, one that pushed physical achievements, one that concerned herself with emotions and his sensitive side.  But the high school backdrop made it easier to tell those stories and made it more relatable to the audience.  Young Hercules had to defeat monsters while trying to keep his grades up and find a date for the prom or whatever.  

 "Oh yeah?  What about--?"  Yes, yes.  Series sell without a defining focus.  I get it.  But selling those is often a matter of relationships and having proved yourself ahead of time.  There were hundreds of family sitcoms before The Simpsons.   What was the hook that sold it?

James L. Brooks was already a television giant with a distinguished pedigree.  He was producing The Tracy Ulman Show and wanted small animated bits that would compliment the show's sketch comedy.  He knew Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strip and called him into pitch.  While sitting in the lobby, Groening realized that if he sold his comic strip idea, he'd lose all rights to his life's work (up until that time, anyway).  He came up with the idea of doing slices of a family's life with the irreverent attitude of Life in Hell.  That intrigued Brooks and they produced a series of shorts.   Those shorts showed the potential of the idea, James L. Brooks provided comic security and the network approved the series version of that family which went on the air as The Simpsons.   It fell under the very broad comedy of "Life with Wacky or Long Suffering Dad" but became much more.

But barring any high profile relationships you have with the Hollywood Elite, put the extra effort into the material you want to pitch.  Put your characters into a metaphorical pressure cooker.   The ODD COUPLE is not much of a concept without forcing the opposing personalities into the same apartment.  The crew of the original Enterprise were well defined characters and ready for adventure but wouldn't have become cultural icons without their "five year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations..."  

So look at your characters and the stories you want to tell then ask yourself, "Is it a show yet?"

Finding Your Partner: No Magic Here

I'm gratified that so many animation professionals are finding this blog to be useful.  I'm glad people are finding value in my perspective.  But some stuff is a matter of common sense and I'm not sure I have anything unique to offer.  Sadly, this is one of those subjects: finding someone to work with.

The most important stuff was covered in the last post.  Keeping in mind my opinion that you shouldn't be pitching a show until you've been in the animation industry for awhile, the absolutely best way of finding a partner is through networking.   A decade ago we'd call that "asking your friends."  

 

When I was part of Disney Feature Animation there was no distinction between the people in story and those in animation.  Almost everyone drew and those that didn't worked closely with artists.  It was weird when I moved to TV and was told there were two camps, writers and artists.  I don't think it was a harsh divide on any of my shows since I tried not to employ douches but it still there a bit. 

The fact is that the closer the two groups are, the better the show and the better the production.  That's probably grist for another column so I'll move on.  The point is to show respect to the people you're working with and compliment good work.

Kevin Hopps, a writer I believe I've mentioned before, searches out storyboard artists when he sees someone plussing one of his scripts.   He's especially excited when an artist adds humor or drama to what he had suggested.  As a story editor, he's often cut dialogue to make time for visual coolness, or if he thinks the story points have been nailed by the action.   That's the model to use.

If you're a writer and see storyboards, character designs, background designs or BG paintings that look great, tell the artist!   If you're an artist and really enjoyed the script you were given to work on, compliment the story editor (who may be the only writer on staff) and ask him to pass the compliment onto the writer.   Animation storytelling is a matter of story structure, character, visuals and (usually) dialogue.  The more you learn about what the other guy adds, the better you'll do your job.

If you connect like that from your first days in the business, you'll have no problem knowing who you want to work with when it comes time to create a show.  More importantly, if you actually get interest in your pitch, you'll know enough about the creative side of production that you'll be prepared to run the show.

But if you're outside of animation and hell bent on ignoring my advice of learning the medium before trying to create a show, check the net.   The single most browsed home of artists is probably Deviant Art.  It's a community of artists, from absolute professionals to teen hopefuls.  Search for an artist you know or a character from comics or animation.  When you find an artist you like, check out his links to artists that he admires.

 
 That's where I found Sean "Cheeks" Galloway who Mike Mignola picked to design the animated Hellboy.  Cheeks went on to do a fantastic job of recreating the Spider-man cast with Greg Weisman and Vic Cook for The Spectacular Spider-man Series.

The more professional the artist you find, the more cut and dried his rates for work will be.  Write the artist a polite email.  If you are going to pay for work, state that early on.  Writers are inundated with people who say they "have great ideas, I just need someone to write 'em out."  The same is true with artists.  If the person is making his living that way, don't look for freebies. 

So I hope there was something useful in there for you.  See you next time.   --Tad