James Baxter interview!

Interview by Erik Fountain and Mario Furmanczyk So one might be wondering how the hell did this random Mario guy arrange an interview with the one and only James Baxter? ell! thanks to my good "riend Erik Fountain! who#s a good "riend o" James$! I tagged along "or an interview which was meant to hel% Erik %ass one o" his critical studies classes& I ran into Erik that night and he asked i" I#d like to go with him and obviously I did' It was an interesting interview because it started out very %lanned (Erik had a list o" )uestions to ask him* and then it ended u% as a sort o" im%rovisational! casual conversation& It was almost as i" I was talking to one o" my +alarts buddies about animation' (But this buddy ha%%ened to know a lot more about animation'* So one might also be asking''''why didn,t you %ost this interview in last year,s -ournal? I,ll be honest' .t the time I was kind o" avoiding anything and everything that had to do with my website because I was -ust at a low %oint artistically and didnt, want to con"ront it' I was also looking "or the best o%%ortunity to do this golden nugget o" animation wisdom some -ustice& So here it is& My new -ournal will start o"" with a bang this year& I,d like to thank James Baxter "or this interview' I think it,ll be a great resource "or you all& Ok so first of all, here is some background info on James before his animation career. / Be"ore .rt School! James Baxter attended the +ambridge 0ech +ollege "or gra%hic design' 1e took classes in ceramics! industrial design! and gra%hic design' 0hat#s where James "irst managed to get his hands on "ilm e)ui%ment' 1e started animating with cut out animation under the camera and was intrigued with animation ever since& James later attended est Surry +ollege o" .rt and 2esign! which was the only school "or animation in 3ondon' 0he %rogram was more ex%erimental in nature' ."ter about a year at Surry! he was o""ered a summer -ob on 4oger 4abbit where a hand"ul o" his "riends were also working' James said that 4oger 4abbit was a big deal since it was so rare to have such a huge %roduction done in 3ondon' So James initially ex%ected this 4oger 4abbit gig to last "or the summer but they hired him "ull time' 0hat ended his career as a student and marked the beginning o" an amazing career in the world o" animation&

- Q: Whats the best thing that has ever happen to character animation? JB5 alt 2isney / no brainer& orst thing that has ever happened to character animation?

- Whats the JB5 II

-Erik asked an interesting question which seemed to spark a bit of excitement in James. Who was the best out of the Nine !d "en and what wou!d make the u!timate animator# James came u% with the 67ine 8ld Men triangle9' . combination o" Milt :ahl! Frank 0homas and :imball' /Milt :ahl / Insane dra"tsmanshi%! staging /Frank is acting "rom the gut! uni)ue "or every character' 2oesn#t have the best dra"tsmanshi% but a%%roaches acting in a uni)ue! s%ontaneous! honest %er"ormance / ard :imball / "or his comedy and zaniness and limitless animation' - Q: Whats !our opinion on the combo of "d and #d? JB' It all de%ends on who#s wielding the tools' It#s a matter o" taste' hat kind o" look do you want to achieve? ith enough work you can almost achieve any look these days' I don#t think it#s been done extremely well' It sticks out like a sore thumb a lot o" times' Iron ;iant is one instance where it was done well' Q: $f !ou ere in a position to use both ould !ou? ard

JB5 I" it#s best "or what you#re trying to do as "ar as the demands o" the story Q: What are !our feelings on here hand dra n is right no ?

JB5 Something#s de"initely brewing' 0he regime change at 2isney was very exciting' 2isney#s doing shorts again so that#s great' $% Based on things that are being done now& where wou!d 'ou !ike to see things go now# JB I#d like to see hand drawn start %ushing some boundaries' Stylistically it was in a rut! looking back on itsel" a lot! even though I#m working on a %ro-ect (Enchanted* that#s su%%osed to look back on the %ast' e#re trying to get a nostalgic "eel to it' I#d like to see things done in a di""erent style' Since there#s so much digital hel%! there#s a lot o" digital %ossibilities "or the "uture' e#re trying to do things that won#t limit us to line and "lat color' But -ust be care"ul that you#re not -ust doing things -ust to be doing things' Just don#t distract the audience' (Freckles on "aces! textures! etc'* Q: Whats !our favorite %& film so far? JB5 Incredibles because they tackled humans "or the "irst time and they were very care"ul to %ick the style so they wouldn#t be to literal and not too abstract' It#s very easy to add a lot o" distractions' It takes a lot o" disci%line to hold back on going overboard with details' Q: What is !our opinion of %& as opposed to hand dra n? JB / you have to get more subtly in +; because o" the nature o" the design' It#ll go dead without more subtlety' +; takes a lot more layering' <ower%u"" ;irls "or exam%le lends itsel" to more sim%le acting' Subtleties -ust wouldn#t "it with the design'

hat James doesn#t# like about +; is that it -ust mimics live action a bit too much' /On comparing and contrasting 'pirit and the (onke! in 'hrek: JB5 S%irit was su%%osed to move realistically' 2onkey is visually more realistic but his acting wasn#t necessarily very realistic to what a donkey would do' (exam%le* donkey doing the running man' I was glad that I did S%irit "irst because I learned what to do and what I could leave out going into Shrek' Starting S%irit was daunting because I didn#t know enough about horses' But once you seriously invest yoursel" into learning one "our legged animal the rest aren#t so hard' 2idn#t know how to change gate %ro%erly' .ll the s%eci"ics to horses were unknown' ='what they do with their heads when they gallo%' -With animation being so !oung, as Ollie being the last representatives of the ) Old *en, the! contributed to the animation industr! ith the books the! rote. (o !ou plan on dong an!thing like that? JB5 Best things that 8llie and Frank did were write those books' I love teaching maybe on 2>2s because animation moves' 0rying to ex%lain animation in book "orm is limiting because animation is all about movement' I#d love to do something on 2>2' -What film did !ou learn the most on? JB5 4oger 4abbit "ollowed by S%irit' ?% until 4oger I was on my own! -ust dri"ting with my "riends' Just trying to learn by watching movies' Sel" teaching ourselves' It was a stee% learning curve in getting into a studio and assisting %ro animators' 0he stu"" you can get "rom watching and reading are the basic stu"" (through analyzing*' hat you don#t get until you actually sit down with a %ro"essional is the %rocess' 1ow do you start? 1ow do you structure the scene? @ou can do it on your own with time but it#s much easier to learn "rom someone' 8ne o" the things that I learned "rom .ndreas' .ll my animation is in gra%hite and the inbetweensArough inbetweens in blue %encil so the clean u% artist knows on which drawings heAshe has liberties in changing' (0his %rocess originates "rom Milt'* Q: What ere !our influences, hat made !ou ant to pursue a career in animation?

JB5 saw star wars when I was BC and loved it' anted to blow u% s%aceshi%s' as initially into s%ecial e""ects' 4eally into s%ecial e""ects& Fan o" 1arryhausen' But all the while drew since D' Saw 4obin 1ood and mother remembers him coming home trying to draw the 4obin 1ood characters' 1e co%ied a lot o" stu""' <hase where he would co%y Frank Frazetta %ictures' I remember sitting in art class and co%ying the 62eath 2ealer9' My "uture brother in law was in the next door %rint sho% and saw his drawing and said it was a Molly 1atchet cover& +an#t remember exactly how I "irst heard o" 2ick illiams but I grew u% watching a lot o" his commercials but grew u% watching the 6South Bank Show9 with Melvin Brag and they did a show about 2ick when I was about BE' 0hey showed "ootage "rom the 0hie" and the +obbler which was ins%iring' It was -ust so nice to look at' It was always destined to be the ultimate animated cult movie i" it ha%%ened' Maybe 01.0 was one o" the worst things that ha%%ened to animation' It#s %retty im%ossible to "ind the work reel' Q: $n the industr!, hos ork do !ou most admire?

JB5 0here#s Eric ;oldberg and Sergios <ablos' 0hose are the "irst two that come to mind' Sergio is a great dra"tsman and great acting' ;reat actor' Eric is a master o" the more cartoony arner Brothers style' I#d like to do some more o" the cartoony stu"" mysel"' Q: What do u make of 'ergios film?

JB5 Seen the trailor! thinks it#s really cool' James +a,ter on the most recent batch of %alarts films -./-.01 Jules Soto#s "ilm is the only thing that gets James# boy to clean his room& 1is son 38>ES Jules# "ilm& Margaret Baxter (James# daughter* says Jules Soto makes the best "ilms ever& Bert @oun#s "ilm made James laugh out loud and James also said that my little dragon (my third year "ilm* was the cutest dragon ever done& 0hat was an awesome com%liment considering how cra%%y I "elt about my "ilm at the time& -James +a,ter on the 23rocess4 / the more you get to the %lace where you have a %retty good idea o" what it looks like without testing it! the better' 3rocess ise- the ability to %ro-ect ahead' hen you time out your keys in the lunchbox! determine which drawing is really gonna be there' @ou got to commit and write the number down on the %iece o" %a%er' I" it works! then you#ve learn something' @ou get a better idea o" what it#s going to look like in the end' It#s all about analyzing what you#re doing' 0rying to break down the little things in what you#re doing' 1e structures his scenes not only around the extremes o" what#s ha%%ening but also structuring in terms o" what#s ha%%ening in the torso' 'tructuring a scene / deciding which drawings are going to be on which "rames and committing to them' 60ent %oles9 / where everything comes together to a solid structure' On perspective runs / -ust %lan out the %ers%ective on one sheet o" %a%er by drawing indictors "or where the heads are' On a oman running dress' ith dress / draw what#s going on underneath the legs "irst and then overlay the

5nimating tension6acting in a scene. / takes some acting cho%s! actor#s ability' 0o come u% with the right acting choices to sell the idea' 2a >inci#s )uote! 62rawings should be done in such a way so that there is no con"usion as to what#s going on'9 1onesty' F Q: What do !ou think about video reference? JB5 +ould be good and bad' Just realize the %it"all' 0he character will be doing what you#re doing' 0he character might not be you' Just kee% that in the back o" the mind' 1e never acts in the mirror because it assures that the character will end u% looking like him too much' It#ll be his mouth sha%e! not the character' Q: 7o do !ou ork out e,pressions ithout an! kind of reference?

Just by memory' 0here#s a commonality to how the "ace works in general but how one character#s "ace moves as o%%osed to another should be ex%lored' Subconsciously connects a %erson in memory to character or study re"erence' 4a"iki is -ust the silly side o" James Baxter& Big Jack 3emon / some like it hot! Mr' 4oberts! a%artment +larity in the acting seems like over acting but it#s not' Just extremely clear'

5nimatabilit! in character design JB5 needs to have limited gra%hic cheats' 2a""y duck sna%s into %oses (so that gives room "or the cheats* Scul%tural' 2esigns which are scul%tural' 4ecommends scul%ting