WAnimate Talks: Courtney Armitage

Kate’s take on…..Courtney Armitage…… Pixar Layout Artist.

Central TAFE 2005

Courtney works at Pixar and talked about Pixar and her role as a Layout Artist, how she got into it, and what it involves. She claimed to be really nervous and said (in the pub afterwards) that I made her even more nervous taking notes sat in the middle of the theatre in her sightline but she gave a very informative and entertaining talk that was a great insight into animation film making. Here are some snippets from that talk… ( of course I can’t show you the clips from Pixar movies but sometimes you just have to be there.)

A Lay Out Artist set up the shots. Puts in the characters and the cameras and chooses the lens and blocks the scene working from the beats. You look at the storyboards and assess what is important, what is the action? What is trying to be conveyed storywise? What bit is really important and can we get it from that angle?….
Why move the camera? – What are you trying to say? – Save it for when it really counts.
Screen direction is Right to Left

There is a language of film which you know from watching. You notice bad cuts etc. As a layout artist your job is not to be noticed – you want people to notice the animation.

On The Incredibles there were 13 Layout Artists. You work on your own.
(Courtney got the job because she knew about cameras and animation – she was trained for the job.)
A Layout Artist can suggest improvements to the storyboard. You work closely with sets. You have to check the characters can do what you want them to do (actual character rigs but in standby mode.) Depth of field is hard to do, has been up to lighting but is a scene layout job. In Layout you build alternate shots and sequences, it goes past the director but the editor makes the final call. Shots can evoke emotion, dynamic for action, slow for emotion.
Watch movies all the time and learn from other peoples mistakes.
Lay Out starts pretty early on and takes about a year. On Nemo it was very complex. Layout goes to and fro with editing and animation goes to and fro with editing. Layout and animation tends to lengthen it and editors shorten it. A scene might take a few weeks and everyso often it takes a month. You work on 4 or 5 sequences at once. You use a whole set of camera lense – you can do anything in CG.

Some recommended reading:
In the Blink of an Eye by Bruce Block
and Film Directing Shot by Shot by Steve Katz.

Randon notations about Pixar…

• You can customise your office at Pixar.
• She likes to do other things outside of work because doesn’t talk to people in animation. She likes to keep active in camera work and live sets where you can’t control everything.
• There are not many females in animation.
• Sometimes it is a 90 hour week, in off seasons it can be very quiet.
• Pixar brings in outside classes and people but it is in order to work people really hard and not to have them leave.
• They take on interns about 70 at any one time and they are often hired, they are important to Pixar.
• The majority at Pixar are staff. You have to be able to cut it, there are quotas etc
• Pixar is trying to make the pipeline more efficient but probably can’t do it any differently because directors need the structure. But it would like to save money.
• Do sometimes do post mortens
• Pixar has been giving people a chance as directors (writers etc)
• There are a lot of Stop Motion people
• The editor edits the animatics and edits the show as it is built.
• She gets real satisfaction from working on projects such as Monsters Inc. Nemo, The Incredibles and Cars)
• A directors job is to get a cohesive vision bringing all the talented parts together.
• Competition is good for the industry eg Dreamworks, Blue Sky etc.
• A project takes five years from concept to completion.

At Pixar story is king.