Core Philosophy
“I follow this philosophy of, show me what that feeling looks like”
A Whole New World
A Whole New World
Section titled “A Whole New World”Module Overview
Section titled “Module Overview”- Progress so far: Covered animation pipeline, ideas, and heroes
- Current focus: “Today, it’s all about the world, because our stories and characters need to be set somewhere, right?”
- World examples:
- Brooklyn in another dimension
- Hungry town of Swallow Falls
- Monster-filled hotel in Transylvania
- Core concept: “A huge part of animation is world building”
Animation vs Live Action World Building
Section titled “Animation vs Live Action World Building”“Filmmakers can just take a camera, take a crew, and start shooting on location in Brooklyn”
“We have to build Brooklyn from scratch, from the sky to the ground, and everything in between”
- Scope of work: “It’s an enormous amount of work, and it calls for both attention to detail and big-picture thinking”
Asset Scale & Team
Section titled “Asset Scale & Team”- Average CG feature: “Contains over 25,000 assets, or digital files that include characters, backgrounds, effects, props, everything”
- Intentional design: “Nothing you see on the screen there is by accident”
- Key roles: Production designers, art directors, texture artists, VFX supervisors choose what gets seen
World as Character Foundation
Section titled “World as Character Foundation”- Creative freedom: “In animation, the world is yours to create”
- Universal appeal: “I think animation’s a really universal art form, you know, and to do that to reach people, you know, the world has to feel right”
- Hero context examples:
- “What would, like, Paul Atreides be without Dune”
- “Batman without Gotham”
- “Miles without Brooklyn”
- Stakes importance: “What are these heroes fighting for? You know, their world has to feel as real as they do”
Virtual Set Construction
Section titled “Virtual Set Construction”- Building approach: “Everything is built. You work in this virtual environment, but you’re building things like you would on set”
- Foundation principle: “And that’s the foundation for everything you’re gonna do”
Emotional Visual Design Philosophy
Section titled “Emotional Visual Design Philosophy”Design Process
Section titled “Design Process”- Emotional needs assessment: “Once I understand what the emotional needs of the scene are, is it fear, is it love, is it anxiety, is it comfort?”
- Visual projection: “I then need to project those feelings visually into the world around me”
Emotional Design Examples
Section titled “Emotional Design Examples”- “If we’re in a very heightened, stressful situation, we might want to increase the erratic angles of the entire set just for the scene”
- “Make everything feel askew, like we’re losing our grip on the world, and it’s becoming more violent and more aggressive to the character”
- “If we’re feeling in love, you know, when you’re there and you’re having that moment, nothing exists around you”
- “It’s you and the person that you’re falling in love with, and the world just becomes this supporting, warm blanket that comforts you”
- “Let’s get rid of our set, then. Let’s just fill it with the colors and the emotions”
Underlying Concept Development
Section titled “Underlying Concept Development”- Foundational concepts: “Usually, there is kind of an underlying concept that you want to follow”
- Project examples:
- Mitchells vs. Machines: “The human handcrafted world meets the clean robot world. And what does that human handcrafted world look like?”
- Spider-Verse: “It’s the comic book come to life”
- Implementation challenge: “So, you have, like, the catalysts of the ideas, but then what does that end up really looking like?”
Production Design Team Structure
Section titled “Production Design Team Structure”- Leadership roles: “At the directorial end, you’ll have the director, the production designer, they will start designing the world”
- Look of picture team: “At the beginning of the film, we have, like, a team called the look of picture team”
- Early planning: “As early as we can, we try and kind of, like, think about what is the look that we’re going for?”
Multi-World Complexity
Section titled “Multi-World Complexity”Spider-Verse Challenge
Section titled “Spider-Verse Challenge”- Technical questions: “On a film like Spider-Verse, there’s a lot of questions about how do we even achieve the look of this world?”
- Multiple solutions needed: “You’re not only solving one look, you have to solve multiple looks”
- World-specific rules: “Each world has its own look, has its own rules, has its own way of being animated”
Stylization & Collaboration
Section titled “Stylization & Collaboration”Story-First Principle
Section titled “Story-First Principle”- Core purpose: “Really, it’s about storytelling, so everything that we’re doing should never distract from the story”
- Enhancement role: “We’re really just kind of enhancing and kind of creating the mood and the atmosphere”
Quiz Question: How many “assets” does an average CG animated feature contain?
Full Answer Options:
- 10,000
- 1,500
- 25,000 ✓
Answer: 25,000 assets per average CG feature
World building in animation requires creating every visual element from scratch, involving massive asset libraries and collaborative teams who use emotional design principles to support storytelling. The world must feel as real and compelling as the characters themselves, with each visual choice serving the story’s emotional needs.