Ok, so the narrator said that part, but it’s true! A real treat to watch Chomet animate, and very interesting to see the way he holds his pencil while doing so. Up until now I’ve only seen/done it that way in figure drawing classes.

Bobby Chui recently interviewed one of my favorite artists, James Robertson, on ChuiStream. It’s a great interview full of insight into the boarding process in feature animation at Pixar, the dynamics of a Story Department and Story team, and the where they draw their inspiration for such engaging scenes like the incinerator one at the end of Toy Story 3 (which he boarded). This is a must see interview for animation students. Keep in mind it is full of spoilers though.

If you’re not already following James’ work through his blog, you should be. James has been an inspiration for me for years. One of my first posts was way back when I was in film school and James’ gesture sketches blew my mind. Back then he was in the process of putting his portfolio together, applying to, and being interviewed at Pixar. It was a real treat to just chat with him and get inspired. He had a lot of great information to share with me, and I soaked up everything he was telling me. Very nice of him to chat with such a noob. Anyway, the interview is about an hour, but it’s worth it. Check it out below: