Arts     

John Lasseter shares magic of making animation

China.org.cn, November 2, 2014

• John Lasseter, the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, toured Beijing and Shanghai and shared some secrets for making successful animated films with fans and students in a lecture last week.

  John Lasseter, the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, shares some secrets for making successful animated films with fans and students in a lecture at the Communication University of China in Beijing on Oct. 30, 2014. [China.org.cn]

   
  
  

  "When you are at school, don't get yourself so seduced by the high technology, and miss out on the basic fundamentals," Lasseter said while presenting in an auditorium at the Communication University of China in Beijing on Thursday. "Drawing, design, animation principles, and film grammar. These are actually the most important things to learn while you are at school. Because in your career, the technology you use will change many times over."

  "Remember, it's never the technology that entertains people, it's what you do with technology that entertains people," he advised the hundreds of students and fans in attendance.

  Lasseter told them that a successful animated film should pay most attention to three aspects: the story, the characters and the world. He elaborated his points by screening several clips from blockbusters like "Toy Story," "Cars," "The Incredibles," "Frozen" and films from the Pixar archives, as well as his earliest works such as "Nightmare," "The Adventures of André and Wally B," and "Luxo Jr."

  "Every one of you has a creative soul," he said, "you've chosen an art form that is so much fun to work in, and the only goal is that everyone works creatively should be creatively satisfied. I believe the best way to be satisfied is by making something you'd be proud of for the rest of your life."

  He also stressed that animation is the most collaborative art form there is in the world. "You maybe can make a short film by yourself, but a feature film will require hundreds of people. When you are directing a feature film as I do, you rely on honest feedback from everybody around you." he said, asking students to show friends and fellow animators their works and be honest with each other when giving opinions in order to evolve and improve.

  The chief creative officer added, "Surround yourself with the people you really love to work with, surround yourself with your best friends. As I told each of my five sons, choose something you love to do and you never work a day in your life."

  It has been 18 years since John Lasseter's last visit to China, when he took pictures with the Sheriff Woody toy from "Toy Story" in Tian'anmen Square and was hilariously quizzed by Chinese police. This time he toured Shanghai and Beijing Oct. 27 – 30, holding several events to talk to fans, students and the media. This time, in addition to walking on the Shanghai Bund and the Great Wall in Beijing, Lasseter also kindly presented sneak peeks of Disney and Pixar's future projects to Chinese audiences. The clips came from "Big Hero 6," "Inside Out," "The Good Dinosaur," "Zootopia," and "Finding Dory," as well as from short films "Feast," "Toy Story That Time Forgot" and "Lava," each of which was cheered by each and every event participant.

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