Pixar Presentation

...

STEP 1: The Idea

When a Pixar employee has an idea for a movie they have to pitch it to a panel of Pixar experts. As soon as the idea is given the green light a first draft of the script is written.

STEP 2: Storyboards

Story artists work to create rough storyboards (sketches of moments from the film) to go along with the script.

STEP 3: Voice Recording

Actors are invited into the studio to record the movie script. Sometimes scratch voices are used for early recordings.

STEP 4: Art Attack!

The Pixar art department researches the background behind the movie to create an authentic fell for the film. The artists then paint pictures, draw sketches and create collages to help bring the film to the life in the imaginations of the team who will later go on to produce the final models and animation.

STEP 5: Super Sculpting and Modeling

From the artists' drawings, models of the characters and sets are created and then scanned into the computer. The computer then gives the model, which are computer-generated hinges that allow for animation (movement) to be possible.

STEP 6: Set up

After the sets have been built using 3D computer graphics, they have to be dressed. Everything from chairs and tables to wallpaper and books need to be created and placed in the correct position.

STEP 7: Make Things Move

As soon as the characters and sets are dressed and colored, the animators get to work. Pixar looks upon its animators as puppeteers and instead of drawing or coloring the shots, their responsibility is to bring characters to life by choreographing their movements.

STEP 8: Lighten up!

After the animation process is complete, the characters and set are given texture and shading. Pixar's process is so detailed that the studio has its own lighting and shading departments which use digital light and shades to set the mood of the scene and make it look more realistic.

STEP 9: Finishing Touches

Next, the film is rendered. Rendering means bringing all the different parts of the film, such as colors, movement and texture together in one shot. This process is very time consuming. Each frame is 1/24 of a second of screen time and each frame takes approximately six hours to render.

STEP 10: A Pixar Film Born

Finally, after each frame has been carefully and lovingly made perfect, sound effects and a memorable music score are added. The newest Pixar film is ready for a worldwide release!

The Movies

In 1995, Pixar released its first feature-length movie, Toy Story. It was a worldwide hit and the biggest grossing movie of the year in the USA. Since then Pixar has gone from strength to strength, making award-winning feature-length and short movies that enthrall audiences of all ages. From talking toys to bungling bugs, over-the-hill superheroes to over-the-top dads, rusty robots to really grumpy old men, Pixar has create a unique and much loved blend of crazy characters, wonderful stories and expert animations.

TOY STORY (1995)

Being a child's favorite plaything is a toy's highest honor. Being discarded is a toy's worst nightmare. Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll, is Andy's favorite toy, and the leader of toys in Andy's room. But Woody's special place is challenged when Andy receives Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger action figure, as a birthday gift. Buzz comes complete with laser beam, voice chip, pop-up wings and a galactic sized delusion: he believes he is a real space ranger, on a mission to save the planet! Buzz's refusal to accept that he is a toy really pulls Woody's string. Worse, Buzz starts to get all of Andy's attention. Then, in a moment of jealousy, Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out of Andy's bedroom window. The other toys turn on Woody, and he knows he has to get Buzz back somehow. During a visit to Pizza Planet with Andy, Woody almost succeeds in bringing the space ranger home, until Buzz's delusions put both toys in terrible danger. They are captured by Sid, the vicious toy-destroying boy who lives next door to Andy. The toys have to get away. But when Buzz sees a TV commercial and realizes he is "just a toy", he becomes deeply depressed and refuses to save himself. Overcoming his jealousy, Woody convinces Buzz that being a child's favorite toy is a wonderful thing. As Buzz and Woody work together to escape from Sid and get to Andy, they both learn that loyalty and friendship are more than just child's play.[pic 3]

A BUG'S LIFE (1998)

Ants work and gather. Grasshoppers bully and take. That's the way it has always been for the ant colony where Flik, an inventive ant, lives. Every autumn, when the last leaf falls, the ants prepare an "offering" for a greedy grasshopper gang, led by the horrible Hopper. No one in the ant hill, including the Queen or her lovely but insecure daughter, Princess Atta, believes it can ever change. Except Flik. But when his seed-picking machine wrecks the ants' offering, the entire colony is in danger. Once again, Flik thinks "outside the ant hill". He volunteers to go to the city and look for warrior bugs to help defend the colony. But when he arrives in the city, Flik mistakenly recruits a troupe of circus bugs. While the circus bugs think Flik is inviting then to perform, Flik and the colony ants think they are coming to fight. When the ants learn the truth, Princess Atta banishes Flik forever. Then, despite his squashed self-esteem, Flik dares to make one last bold stand against Hopper. Inspired by Flik's bravery, the ants unite at last. Together with the circus bugs, they drive off Hopper's creepy crew and Hopper meets a crunchy end. Flik's courage, determination and belief in himself gives the entire colony and the circus bugs something far more important than a few inventions. It gives them belief in themselves and a new beginning.[pic 4]

TOY STORY 2 (1999)

When Andy decides not to take Woody to Cowboy Camp for the first time ever, Woody is crushed. Is it because Woody's shoulder is ripped and Andy doesn't want him anymore?