The magic ingredient that brings Pixar movies to life | Danielle Feinberg

Summary

The speaker shares a personal journey from aspiring artist to a career at Pixar Animation Studios, where they discovered the magic of combining art with science through computer animation. They recount the process of creating three-dimensional worlds and characters, emphasizing the importance of lighting in bringing these virtual environments to life. The talk highlights the balance between artistic freedom and scientific grounding, using examples from films like 'Finding Nemo' and 'WALL-E' to illustrate how Pixar uses scientific principles to create believable and emotionally resonant worlds. The speaker concludes by celebrating the interplay between art and science, which allows for the creation of immersive and enchanting stories that resonate with audiences.

Takeaways

• 🎨 The speaker's initial dream was to be an artist, which was discouraged by an adult, leading to a shift towards a career in science and eventually computer programming.
• 🚀 A pivotal moment in the speaker's life was the exposure to computer animation during college, which reignited the passion for art and led to a career at Pixar Animation Studios.
• ✨ The process of creating animated films involves building a three-dimensional world in a computer, starting from a point and gradually forming characters, landscapes, and environments.
• 💡 Lighting is a crucial aspect of animation that brings the world to life, combining real-life observations with artistic and narrative needs.
• 🌟 The transition from rough to final lighting can be a magical moment, where the animation takes on a lifelike quality, fulfilling the speaker's childhood artistic dreams.
• 📐 The use of light in animation serves multiple purposes, including storytelling, setting the time of day, creating mood, and guiding the audience's attention.
• 🌍 The creation of animated worlds is not bound by real-world physics, allowing for the depiction of impossible scenarios, but is grounded by scientific principles for believability.
• 🐠 'Finding Nemo' serves as an example where scientific research into underwater light behavior was used to create a realistic yet artistically manipulated underwater environment.
• 👀 In 'WALL-E', the character's binoculars were a significant challenge in lighting due to their optical perfection, which initially led to an undesirable glassy-eyed appearance.
• 🔍 The animators found a solution for WALL-E's binoculars by introducing a light that interacted with the character's 'eyes', giving him a more soulful and emotive appearance.
• 🧬 The jellyfish scene in 'Finding Nemo' was a struggle until the balance of science and art was achieved, leading to a moment of collective applause and validation for the team's efforts.
• 🌈 The interplay between art and science in animation creates a world that is both believable and wondrous, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the story.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial dream when they were seven years old?

The speaker initially wanted to be an artist.

Why did the speaker change their career dream from artist to scientist?

The speaker's dream was discouraged by an adult who claimed that one cannot make a living as an artist, leading them to pursue a career in science.

What sparked the speaker's interest in computer animation?

The speaker's interest in computer animation was sparked when their computer graphics professor showed the class short films, which were the first computer animations they had ever seen.

How does the process of creating a three-dimensional world in a computer animation movie begin?

The process begins with a point that forms a line, which then forms a face, creating characters or elements like trees and rocks that eventually form a forest.

What is the role of lighting in computer animation?

Lighting involves placing virtual lights within the three-dimensional world of the animation. It helps to create a sense of realism, set the mood, and guide the audience's attention.

How does the speaker describe the moment when the animated world comes to life?

The speaker describes it as the moment when all the pieces come together, and the world appears as if it's an actual place that exists, which never gets old for the speaker.

What is the significance of using science in creating the animated world?

Science provides a backbone and a grounding element, helping to create a believable world that is relatable and recognizable to the audience, while still allowing for artistic freedom.

How does the speaker describe the process of lighting for the character WALL-E?

The process involved addressing the challenge of making WALL-E's binoculars, which were optically perfect, appear less reflective to give him more character and personality, ultimately making him more relatable.

What was the turning point for the jellyfish scene in 'Finding Nemo'?

The turning point was when the speaker, during the lighting process, managed to balance the colors and effects to create a visually appealing scene that was initially struggling to come together.

What is the key takeaway from the speaker's experience with lighting in animation?

The key takeaway is the beauty of the interweaving of art and science in animation, which allows for the creation of believable and magical worlds that can evoke emotion and wonder.

How does the speaker feel about the dual identity of being both a scientist and an artist?

The speaker feels empowered and fulfilled by the realization that they can be both a scientist and an artist, as it allows them to combine their love for math, science, and coding with their passion for storytelling and creativity.

What was the reaction of the director and the team during the review of the jellyfish scene?

The director and the team were initially silent, which made the speaker nervous, but then they started clapping, indicating their approval and excitement for the scene.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 The Artistic Journey and Pixar's Magic

The speaker reflects on their childhood dream of becoming an artist, which was initially discouraged by an adult. Despite this, they pursued a career in science and computer programming, only to be inspired by computer animation at college. This led to a role at Pixar Animation Studios, where they discovered the process of creating three-dimensional worlds and characters through math, science, and code. The speaker's passion for lighting was ignited, as it allowed them to bring these worlds to life, creating a sense of magic and wonder. They also discuss the importance of using science as a foundation to ground the artistic freedom in animation, using 'Finding Nemo' as an example of how they studied real-life underwater footage to inform their animation techniques.

05:00

🌊 Harnessing Science for Artistic Expression

The speaker delves into the technical aspects of creating underwater scenes in animation, emphasizing the balance between artistic freedom and scientific accuracy. They discuss how they used the physics of water, light, and movement to create a believable underwater environment in 'Finding Nemo'. The importance of color, visibility, and the behavior of light in water is highlighted, along with the creative decisions made to enhance the storytelling. The speaker also shares the challenges faced in lighting WALL-E's binoculars to convey emotion and personality, and how they found a solution that maintained the robot's material integrity while solving the reflection issue. The narrative concludes with the impact of these artistic and scientific efforts on the audience's experience and the speaker's personal realization of their dual identity as both a scientist and an artist.

10:03

🐙 The Triumph of Lighting in Animation

The speaker recounts the process of lighting the jellyfish scene in 'Finding Nemo', which was initially met with directorial skepticism due to its departure from the artistic vision. Through persistence and attention to detail, focusing on color balance and the interplay of light, the scene eventually came together in a way that was both scientifically informed and artistically compelling. The moment of triumph came during a director review when the scene was met with applause, signifying the successful fusion of art and science. The speaker concludes by celebrating the power of animation to make the imaginary real, and the personal epiphany of being both a scientist and an artist.

Keywords

💡Artist

An artist is an individual engaged in creating art, which can include various forms such as visual arts, music, or writing. In the video, the speaker initially aspires to be an artist, which is a central theme as it reflects the creative drive that leads to a career in animation and lighting at Pixar.

💡Scientist

A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in a particular field. The speaker pivots from wanting to be an artist to aiming to become a scientist, reflecting a love for math and science, which later intertwines with their artistic aspirations in the realm of computer animation.

💡Computer Programming

Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. It is a foundational skill for the speaker in their journey towards a career in animation, as it enables the creation and manipulation of digital worlds and characters.

💡Lighting

In the context of animation, lighting refers to the process of illuminating a three-dimensional scene to create depth, mood, and a sense of realism. It is a critical aspect the speaker falls in love with, as it transforms static 3D models into a dynamic and believable environment, bringing the animated world to life.

💡Three-Dimensional World

A three-dimensional world, in animation, is a virtual environment created within a computer that has height, width, and depth. It is a key concept as it represents the space where characters, objects, and environments are designed and animated, allowing for a realistic and immersive experience.

💡Animation

Animation is the process of creating the illusion of motion through a sequence of images. It is the main theme of the video as the speaker's career and passion are deeply rooted in the field of computer animation, particularly at Pixar Animation Studios.

💡Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In the video, science is used to ground the artistic freedom of animation, providing a realistic backbone to the fantastical worlds created by the animators.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images, and sounds that often aim to entertain, educate, or inspire. It is a vital element in the video as the speaker discusses how the art of storytelling is used in conjunction with scientific principles to create engaging and believable animated narratives.

💡WALL-E

WALL-E is a character from the Pixar film of the same name. The speaker uses WALL-E as an example to illustrate the challenges and creative solutions in character design and lighting, particularly in making a robot character appear emotionally expressive and relatable.

💡Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is a Pixar animated film that serves as an example in the video to demonstrate how scientific research and artistic vision are combined to create an underwater world that is both realistic and fantastical, contributing to the film's immersive storytelling.

💡Jellyfish

The jellyfish in the video represent a specific artistic and technical challenge in the animation of 'Finding Nemo'. The speaker describes the process of lighting and creating the scene involving jellyfish, which became a pivotal moment in realizing the beauty of combining art and science in animation.

Highlights

At the age of seven, the speaker's dream of becoming an artist was discouraged by an adult, leading to a shift in aspirations to become a scientist.

The speaker's love for math, science, and coding led to the decision to study computer programming in college.

Exposure to computer animation during college inspired the speaker to pursue a career in animation, specifically at Pixar Animation Studios.

The process of creating movies at Pixar involves building a three-dimensional world inside a computer, starting from a point that evolves into characters and environments.

The speaker discovered a passion for lighting in animation, which involves artistically placing lights within the 3D world to enhance the story.

Lighting can set the time of day, mood, guide the audience's eye, and make characters more appealing or standout in a scene.

The freedom of creating any world in computer animation can lead to chaos, so the use of science helps to ground the art and maintain believability.

The movie 'Finding Nemo' serves as an example of how science is used to recreate the underwater environment, including the behavior of light in water.

The importance of scientific accuracy is balanced with artistic license to serve the story and mood, as demonstrated in the color adjustments for Sydney Harbor in 'Finding Nemo'.

The speaker discusses the challenge of maintaining WALL-E's character and personality through lighting, particularly with his binoculars acting as 'eyes'.

Innovation in lighting for WALL-E involved manipulating reflections to give the robot a 'soulful' appearance, enhancing the audience's emotional connection.

The jellyfish scene in 'Finding Nemo' was a turning point, where the integration of art and science led to a breakthrough that was celebrated by the production team.

The beauty of lighting lies in the moments when the combination of art and science brings a scene to life, creating a world that is believable and immersive.

The speaker emphasizes the interweaving of art and science as a means to elevate the world of animation to a place of wonder and soul.

The realization that one can be both a scientist and an artist is a powerful moment that encapsulates the essence of the speaker's journey and the animation process.

The applause at the end signifies the audience's appreciation for the insights shared on the intersection of art and science in animation.

Transcripts

When I was seven years old,

some well-meaning adult asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Proudly, I said: "An artist."

"No, you don't," he said,

"You can't make a living being an artist!"

My little seven-year-old Picasso dreams were crushed.

But I gathered myself,

went off in search of a new dream,

eventually settling on being a scientist,

perhaps something like the next Albert Einstein.

(Laughter)

I have always loved math and science,

later, coding.

And so I decided to study computer programming in college.

In my junior year,

my computer graphics professor showed us these wonderful short films.

It was the first computer animation any of us had ever seen.

I watched these films in wonder, transfixed,

fireworks going off in my head,

thinking, "That is what I want to do with my life."

The idea that all the math, science and code I had been learning

could come together to create these worlds and characters

and stories I connected with,

was pure magic for me.

Just two years later, I started working

at the place that made those films, Pixar Animation Studios.

It was here I learned how we actually execute those films.

To create our movies,

we create a three-dimensional world inside the computer.

We start with a point that makes a line that makes a face

that creates characters,

or trees and rocks that eventually become a forest.

And because it's a three-dimensional world,

we can move a camera around inside that world.

I was fascinated by all of it.

But then I got my first taste of lighting.

Lighting in practice is placing lights inside this three-dimensional world.

I actually have icons of lights I move around in there.

Here you can see I've added a light,

I'm turning on the rough version of lighting in our software,

turn on shadows

and placing the light.

As I place a light,

I think about what it might look like in real life,

but balance that out with what we need artistically and for the story.

So it might look like this at first,

but as we adjust this and move that

in weeks of work,

in rough form it might look like this,

and in final form, like this.

There's this moment in lighting that made me fall utterly in love with it.

It's where we go from this

to this.

It's the moment where all the pieces come together,

and suddenly the world comes to life

as if it's an actual place that exists.

This moment never gets old,

especially for that little seven-year-old girl that wanted to be an artist.

As I learned to light,

I learned about using light to help tell story,

to set the time of day,

to create the mood,

to guide the audience's eye,

how to make a character look appealing

or stand out in a busy set.

Did you see WALL-E?

(Laughter)

There he is.

As you can see,

we can create any world that we want inside the computer.

We can make a world with monsters,

with robots that fall in love,

we can even make pigs fly.

(Laughter)

While this is an incredible thing,

this untethered artistic freedom,

it can create chaos.

It can create unbelievable worlds,

unbelievable movement,

things that are jarring to the audience.

So to combat this, we tether ourselves with science.

We use science and the world we know

as a backbone,

to ground ourselves in something relatable and recognizable.

"Finding Nemo" is an excellent example of this.

A major portion of the movie takes place underwater.

But how do you make it look underwater?

In early research and development,

we took a clip of underwater footage and recreated it in the computer.

Then we broke it back down

to see which elements make up that underwater look.

One of the most critical elements

was how the light travels through the water.

So we coded up a light that mimics this physics --

first, the visibility of the water,

and then what happens with the color.

Objects close to the eye have their full, rich colors.

As light travels deeper into the water,

we lose the red wavelengths,

then the green wavelengths,

leaving us with blue at the far depths.

In this clip you can see two other important elements.

The first is the surge and swell,

or the invisible underwater current

that pushes the bits of particulate around in the water.

The second is the caustics.

These are the ribbons of light,

like you might see on the bottom of a pool,

that are created when the sun bends through the crests

of the ripples and waves on the ocean's surface.

Here we have the fog beams.

These give us color depth cues,

but also tells which direction is up

in shots where we don't see the water surface.

The other really cool thing you can see here

is that we lit that particulate only with the caustics,

so that as it goes in and out of those ribbons of light,

it appears and disappears,

lending a subtle, magical sparkle to the underwater.

You can see how we're using the science --

the physics of water, light and movement --

to tether that artistic freedom.

But we are not beholden to it.

We considered each of these elements

and which ones had to be scientifically accurate

and which ones we could push and pull to suit the story and the mood.

We realized early on that color was one we had some leeway with.

So here's a traditionally colored underwater scene.

But here, we can take Sydney Harbor and push it fairly green

to suit the sad mood of what's happening.

In this scene, it's really important we see deep into the underwater,

so we understand what the East Australian Current is,

that the turtles are diving into and going on this roller coaster ride.

So we pushed the visibility of the water

well past anything you would ever see in real life.

Because in the end,

we are not trying to recreate the scientifically correct real world,

we're trying to create a believable world,

one the audience can immerse themselves in to experience the story.

We use science to create something wonderful.

We use story and artistic touch to get us to a place of wonder.

This guy, WALL-E, is a great example of that.

He finds beauty in the simplest things.

But when he came in to lighting, we knew we had a big problem.

We got so geeked-out on making WALL-E this convincing robot,

that we made his binoculars practically optically perfect.

(Laughter)

His binoculars are one of the most critical acting devices he has.

He doesn't have a face or even traditional dialogue, for that matter.

So the animators were heavily dependent on the binoculars

to sell his acting and emotions.

We started lighting and we realized

the triple lenses inside his binoculars were a mess of reflections.

He was starting to look glassy-eyed.

(Laughter)

Now, glassy-eyed is a fundamentally awful thing

when you are trying to convince an audience

that a robot has a personality and he's capable of falling in love.

So we went to work on these optically perfect binoculars,

trying to find a solution that would maintain his true robot materials

but solve this reflection problem.

So we started with the lenses.

Here's the flat-front lens,

we have a concave lens

and a convex lens.

And here you see all three together,

showing us all these reflections.

We tried turning them down,

we tried blocking them,

nothing was working.

You can see here,

sometimes we needed something specific reflected in his eyes --

usually Eve.

So we couldn't just use some faked abstract image on the lenses.

So here we have Eve on the first lens,

we put Eve on the second lens,

it's not working.

We turn it down,

it's still not working.

And then we have our eureka moment.

We add a light to WALL-E that accidentally leaks into his eyes.

You can see it light up these gray aperture blades.

Suddenly, those aperture blades are poking through that reflection

the way nothing else has.

Now we recognize WALL-E as having an eye.

As humans we have the white of our eye,

the colored iris

and the black pupil.

Now WALL-E has the black of an eye,

the gray aperture blades

and the black pupil.

Suddenly, WALL-E feels like he has a soul,

like there's a character with emotion inside.

Later in the movie towards the end,

WALL-E loses his personality,

essentially going dead.

This is the perfect time to bring back that glassy-eyed look.

In the next scene, WALL-E comes back to life.

We bring that light back to bring the aperture blades back,

and he returns to that sweet, soulful robot we've come to love.

(Video) WALL-E: Eva?

Danielle Feinberg: There's a beauty in these unexpected moments --

when you find the key to unlocking a robot's soul,

the moment when you discover what you want to do with your life.

The jellyfish in "Finding Nemo" was one of those moments for me.

There are scenes in every movie that struggle to come together.

This was one of those scenes.

The director had a vision for this scene

based on some wonderful footage of jellyfish in the South Pacific.

As we went along,

we were floundering.

The reviews with the director

turned from the normal look-and-feel conversation

into more and more questions about numbers and percentages.

Maybe because unlike normal,

we were basing it on something in real life,

or maybe just because we had lost our way.

But it had become about using our brain without our eyes,

the science without the art.

That scientific tether was strangling the scene.

But even through all the frustrations,

I still believed it could be beautiful.

So when it came in to lighting,

I dug in.

As I worked to balance the blues and the pinks,

the caustics dancing on the jellyfish bells,

the undulating fog beams,

something promising began to appear.

I came in one morning and checked the previous night's work.

And I got excited.

And then I showed it to the lighting director

and she got excited.

Soon, I was showing to the director in a dark room full of 50 people.

In director review,

you hope you might get some nice words,

then you get some notes and fixes, generally.

And then, hopefully, you get a final,

signaling to move on to the next stage.

I gave my intro, and I played the jellyfish scene.

And the director was silent for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

Just long enough for me to think,

"Oh no, this is doomed."

And then he started clapping.

And then the production designer started clapping.

And then the whole room was clapping.

This is the moment that I live for in lighting.

The moment where it all comes together

and we get a world that we can believe in.

We use math, science and code to create these amazing worlds.

We use storytelling and art to bring them to life.

It's this interweaving of art and science

that elevates the world to a place of wonder,

a place with soul,

a place we can believe in,

a place where the things you imagine can become real --

and a world where a girl suddenly realizes

not only is she a scientist,

but also an artist.

Thank you.

(Applause)