Just a Tad

Building the World One Stroke at a Time

Since this post is related to the previous, I thought I'd illustrate it with the work of the same artist, Chris Schweizer, who is selling original art for just $100 per page.  As more artists turn to working digitally, original art from a published work is becoming rare.  So enjoy the art and consider getting some to hang on your wall.  You can certainly see Chris's talent grow with each book. If you have doubts, hit the link to the preview of CROGAN'S LOYALTY in the preceding post.

And now back to the ongoing saga of that which I cannot speak: my pilot at Disney Jr.

So when last I wrote I had a character designer working.  I also have an art director and BG layout artist working.  Again, I apologize for the lack of visuals to illustrate this but isn't it cool how the legionnaires are crawling out of the sand?

 We had talked about using a line on the backgrounds in the style of 101 DALMATIANS.  You'll find a wonderful discussion of those backgrounds on a website by Oswald Iten, a Swiss film scholar and animator.  My layout artist started with an exterior and drew it in three different ways.  

I don't like to dictate.  I'll do it as a matter of course when I'm producing a show but I much rather explain what I want and then be pitched to.  For instance, there's a bird guest star in my pilot.  I didn't give the character designer any sketches but I sent him many bird pictures featuring wild plummage and photos of an actress who plays a similar personality as our bird. He also has the script, of course and if I had voice auditions, I'd send him those.  I hired him because of his talent.  Why should I bring him down to my level?  Of course once he's taken a shot I'll mark 'em up or cut and paste versions together in Photoshop or even do a sketch based on his.  It's the whole pic worth a thousand words thing.

Same thing with an actor.  Never give an actor a line reading unless they ask for one. If the person is just not getting it, paraphrase the line with the line reading that you're looking for but DON'T USE THE SAME WORDS.  If you're the story editor and the actor can't get it, maybe the problem is in you line.  Move on, consider a rewrite and come back to it.  Also, DON'T REDUCE THE ACTOR TO YOUR LEVEL OF ACTING!  You've written the line and have heard it in your head over and over.  That doesn't mean it's the only way to say it.  Be open.

But I've digressed.  Back to BG layouts.  The artist delivered three versions.  The first was very close to the Dalmatians style... and it immediately looked boring to me.  My show has adventure and sentiment but will not take itself as seriously as an old school Disney feature.  The playfulness I'm after should be mirrored in the artistic design.

The second had more caricature to it.  The walls weren't necessarily straight, architectural detail was
more flamboyant yet there was still a solidity to the forms.  In my mind that solidity will help build believable atmosphere which is another way of saying "mood."  

I loved the third.  It was humorous, very graphic, fanciful.  But it seemed to say "short subject" to me instead "feature" or "pseudo-feature."  I worried that I might be making that decision from a lack of imagination.  Maybe I was limiting myself unnecessarily.

So I took a tour of the internet, looking at backgrounds from animation and lots of Maurice Noble stuff.  I wasn't analyzing; I needed new input.  I copied a few examples to send to the artist, not as an example of what to do but just to show Noble's simplicity.  Curiously, as soon as I pulled up the three examples, the "middle" version leapt out at me.  It was definitely the right way to go and not just the "safe" choice.  It was kind of weird.  If anything, looking at all those Warner Brother's BGs should have pushed me toward the most caricatured BG but it didn't.

So I gave the artist my pick and some pragmatic notes about what was needed, not only for the pilot script, but for future stories -- bushes to hide behind, windows with a view of arriving guests, a suggestion of the neighborhood and distant hills.  He came back with two more sketches.  He didn't just add things to the existing drawing, he played with the shapes as well as adding the pragmatic stuff.  He also did one with a Maurice Noble kick to it.  Again, a gorgeous piece but clearly not right for the world we are building.

His lines will become a sort of overlay to the background colors.  He asked if they should remain sketchy like those in Dalmatians or be done in Photoshop or Illustrator as clean lines.  I told him that was up to the art director who will make the choice with production in mind -- no sense picking a style that is too hard to execute on a TV schedule.  See?  I don't dictate.

Until I do.

 Hmmn, I didn't touch on Casting or Music so I guess I'll leave that as fodder form my next post. --Tad

 

Producing a Pilot

I've been busy.  Obviously that business did not include blogging but I ran into my usual obstacle of not being able to write about my work because networks like to keep that stuff under wraps.

Worse, we're in the design stage of my pilot so I have exploratory sketches, sketches with my notes and then "almost" final designs which would really show the creative/decision making process.  Can't show those either.

But I hate to post without visuals so I'm populating this blog with the work of Chris Schweizer  who has released the third book of his Crogan's Adventures series, CROGAN'S LOYALTY.  Allow me to link to an incredible preview.  Each book stands alone.  If you are interested in history, genealogy, great graphic storytelling or want to get someone interested in any of those, this is the series for you.

I am not developing the Crogan books for Disney.

But I have been greenlit to pilot on a show for the Disney Jr. Channel.  So once again I will attempt  to talk about something without talking about it.

The script process went smoothly, suprisingly so, at least for them.  They'll often go through a half dozen rewrites before they get a draft close enough to start thinking about production. Actually they told me "17 drafts" but I'm guessing they were exaggerating for humorous effect.  But if you reach more than four drafts of a script, somebody isn't listening or they're clinging to their babies. Big rule of development: LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN.

A huge reason for my success with this pilot script is that they are looking for exactly what I was trained to do, create character oriented comedy and action with heart.  The challenge is getting that into 11 minute episodes.  But aside from that, I was always willing to make major changes to get the tone closer to what they wanted.  Note that they give fewer notes on pilot stories than they do on episodes because they want the creative lead to find the show he's excited about doing... as long as it overlaps with what they're excited about. Episodes come under the scrutiny of Broadcast Standards, educational advisors and what not.

When writing a pilot, never be afraid to dump a gag, favorite line or even a storybeat if it's getting in the way.  If the series is approved to production, you'l have plenty of episodes to give those gems a home.  

A note I got on the second draft suggested that my script was a little too sophisticated for the the Disney Junior audience.  This is what I feared.  I don't think I can write DORA THE EXPLORER or even WINNIE THE POOH.  When Karl Geurs and Mark Zaslove created the original Pooh series for the Disney Channel, I told them how much I admired it and admitted, "I can't get there from here."  So the idea that I might have to simplify concepts, soften action or reduce vocabulary gave me the willies.

Thankfully, the willies were short lived.  The development execs explained they only wanted me to include more visual comedy.  Shades of Chuck Jones!  I love that stuff.  The fact that I had decided to make the antagonist a silent character played right into this.

The script was approved and the design process has started.  The series is based on a Disney feature but not an animated one, so there was no design style set.  I was forced to venture into the treacherous landscape of "I'll know it when I see it."

I think I've stated in previous posts that a animation character designer usually survives by being a chameleon who can design a sea urchin shoe salesman for SpongeBob Squarepants as well as the latest villain to face the Batman.  Disney suggested a couple of artists and I hit the internet (and if you're a professional artist without some sort of web page, blog or Deviantart posting you are missing a lot of potential employment).  

The first two guys came up with some really fun designs but they didn't have the solidity we were looking for.  The pilot has action that calls for traditional animation that will have some depth to the action.  Although it's a comedy, it's not a flat, all action right to left, left to right show.  I gave some notes but the artists' second passes were still missing the ballpark.  Note: I probably could have directed these guys into a direction we felt suitable but I was looking for an artist who would surprise me.  Luckily the third artist turned in a slew of designs well with in the ballpark and a couple were home runs.  We're on our way.

We've also met on casting, music and BG design.   Some of which I'll discuss next time around.  Don't forget to check out Crogan's Loyalty !                           --Tad