New Pixar Short

I love it when the big studios experiment with different styles.

Though to be fair, this isn't really a new style for Pixar to be working with - it's just not typically a style that they release their films in.

If you've ever seen any of Pixar's pre-vis animatic work, you'll know what I'm talking about. (They frequently include segments as DVD extras. There was a ton of footage at the MoMa exhibit in NYC a few years ago, and snippets pop up online every so often). Half the time, I think that their animatics are more polished and more entertaining than some of the other studios' finished products. When you look at the time and money that they put in to story, character, and style development during the pre-vis stage, it's no wonder that their finished films so consistently deliver.

In any case, I'm not sure what the origin is behind this new short, George and AJ. Perhaps this style was the plan all along. But it almost looks like they might have been developing a fully rendered 3D piece and decided that the animatic was strong enough to release on it's own. The VO sounds like proxy in places, which would further support the theory. Check it out:



Granted, the average independent studio or solo animator can't afford to put together something this elaborate for all the work that they do. But I think it's important to put as much time and effort into pre-production as you have room for. It's better to spend a couple weeks putting together a board-o-matic upfront than to devote a year of your life, slaving away in 3D, before realized that your original idea didn't work so well to begin with. Storyboards and animatics can tell you what's working and what isn't before you dive into the more time consuming 3D process.

I say this from experience. A few years ago, I started tinkering around with a new idea for a short. I actually got as far as spending a month or two modeling and rigging some characters. But before I got too far along, I finally started to realize that the story just wasn't working in the animatic phase, and I decided to pursue other projects. Looking back, I'm glad that I did.

And who knows? Your animatic might take you off in a direction you didn't expect, and you could wind up with a finished product in a whole new creative style.