Peter Sohns a great example of this multi-discipline approach at Pixar.
Heres what Peter Sohn has to say.
It really jumps out at you.
Oh, thank you.
Its been a real journey to get that going to look, you know, threatening, immersive.
I wanted something that really had a lot of scope to it.
Its tough, you know?
I was thinking that it feels like the first Pixar film about landscapes.
I dont know if thats a fair description.
Thats the challenge we set ourselves, to capture the feel of that.
It had an artificial quality to it.
So how do you tailor an area so it looks like it has that history?
John [Lasseter] would always research things like door scratches, so theres a history.
Its pretty invisible, too thats the other thing thats been fascinating.
How much work was put into the dinosaurs themselves in terms of their form and texture?
Whats funny is, Arlo specifically is the one who feels the most outside of the world.
And we lost that sense of youth to him I definitely wanted to find that boy quality.
This is the first Pixar movie where the main characters are really young.
Most of the other characters are adults or from an adult point of view.
That brought a whole other element.
Theyre the little details that tell you that maybe he could fit into the world.
In the beginning, he runs like a camel.
But then at the end, hes running more like a horse confident and graphic.
That isnt to say the other characters that you meet arent graphic.
So theres a balance, for sure.
So like a human boy that gangly quality.
Its crazy to think that we got to this point, for sure.
…But also, theres a sense of weight and danger.
Dramatically, you have to feel that the world is dangerous.
It didnt feel as threatening.
She came at it from a really painterly angle.
Everything has to be designed.
So your eyes first go to this big graphic shape [points to a mountain on the wall].
There might be a little highlight someplace that your secondary look would go to.
There might have been a landslide there or something.
There would be this cool duality to it.
Just looking up there at the sparkles on the water reminds me of what youve done with the lighting.
Which is something I dont think Ive consciously registered in a Pixar film before.
Using lighting to create drama.
Yes, thats right.
Because its all exterior, its the main component.
to support the characters on their journey.
Its a subtle thing, and Im not sure that everyone would get it.
I was showing you guys yesterday that the river would be roiling when Arlos in trouble.
And when hes talking to Spot its smooth and glasslike.
Some of these are drawings over storyboards.
For example, these are what our artist Rosie did.
She would take that concept and have these discussions of, This would be daytime around 10 oclock.
Well, were going for a morning look to give the sense of hope.
Its subtle, but at the same time, its an effort to support Arlo.
I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the scene you showed us last night.
Its a mime, basically.
A real Pixar moment.
This storys about getting through your fears.
The archetypal boy and his dog story is the thing Ive been honouring.
The idea of I dont like you, Im a dog.
I dont know what you are, Im still an animal.
I understand you and youre giving me something.
This is the catalyst that changes something.
What we have in that clip is, he looks like a human boy.
So before that we were doing a lot of work to make that boy act like an animal.
Like, he makes animal decisions.
You and I look at each other, and we make expressions, we move our eyebrows or whatever.
So what is it that makes Spot act like that?
In that specific scene, its the first time we uncover the human side of him.
Its very subtle its the first communication between them, without speaking.
Spot explains something that Arlo understands, about loss.
Its the first little boy gesture.
Its beyond understanding its Not only do I connect with you, I empathise with you.
Its not like its a Pixar tradition.
We as the story guys and I, we felt that the scene was part of Arlos growth.
As a 11-year-old kid, does he understand loss?
Theres an animal, six years old, and hes lost more.
So theres a depth to him that Arlo doesnt know about until that moment.
Then theyre able to move on.
Look, I come from an immigrant family, where my parents didnt speak English very well.
Id always translate for my mother certain ideas.
She was the movie lover.
So she was this artist movie lover.
But my dad owned this grocery store.
I never saw my dad.
Lets go see a movie.
I was always translating for her, like in a scene in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.
She loves Kevin Costner.
Like, there are moments where Morgan Freemans saying something, and shes like, What did he say?
He said hes the painted man or something.
Everyone laughed at it in the movie theatre, but she didnt understand.
Trying to explain something like that, with my bad Korean, was really tough.
But the Disney movies, the animated movies, I never had to explain.
It was really moving to me.
My mother has always been there.
Thats just another part of it, because Im an animation lover.
I love getting into, like, Ooh what is that gesture?
Its having that sensitivity to the human condition, the nuances of human behaviour and things like that.
For me, I dont know for everyone else, but language barriers are an amazing teacher of observation.
Because you have to read what the person is trying to tell you beyond the words.
What are you saying?
Theres a lot of that in my life.
I was born here, so I dont speak Korean very well.
Its my personal shame, put it that way.
But at the same time, in animation, its all they talk about: observe life!
take a stab at make something come alive!
For me, I study a lot of movies, so I feel my school of life was movies.
Look, its such a crazy thing.
Like you, Im a film lover.
Its what I connected to.
But when I got to art school, it was like, Hey!
That CG was really immersive, like, you couldnt even tell.
Those were the film lovers.
Thats when I began really learning about animation as the observation of life as storytelling.
Whatever confidence has grown, it really has to do with being among my people.
Yeah, we can sit and talk about movies forever!
There are a select few people who can do this.
My brother is not one of these people in terms of being a movie lover.
He grew up watching movies, but he doesnt live in that world.
He doesnt work in movies or whatever.
There are movie lovers and movie nerds, and that is my race.
That has helped me do the job, always, because its about making the best possible thing.
What can I do to make the film the best it can be?
Thats the job Ive had since starting in animation.
It has a lot to do with Brad [Bird].
He was director on the first film I worked on The Iron Giant.And that was his priority.
I lovedThe Iron Giant.
If youre hungry to do that, then you get this scene.
That hit me hard, and Ive tried to live by that idea.
Theyve been through that process.
Theyre there when Ive failed or bombed out, or whatever.
Theyve been there too, and its okay.
Get up, keep going.
I dont think youd get that in a lot of places.
It really is a race, you know?
Peter Sohn, thank you very much.
The Good Dinosauris out in UK cinemas on the 27th November.
