It is incredibly easy for us to overlook details in a film. However, the great films do not take that as a reason to forgo the intricacies in the background. It is true that shortcuts are utilized by filmmakers for many items in the background, as many of these various elements will not be seen up-close by the audience. Pixar has never shied away from even the smallest details, evidenced by the work of many of their employees. One such example is Technical Director Michael Frederickson, who was integral in the process of building the London we will see in Cars 2.
Frederickson shared the following tweet yesterday afternoon, briefly sharing his role on the upcoming film:
It's been my job to build the 40,000 buildings that make up London in Cars 2, and you'll be able to see a few in the amazing Cars 2 poster.
— Michael Frederickson (@mfrederickson) April 15, 2011
Yes, that indeed says 40,000. Many of the buildings will only be seen for a few seconds on film, and others may never even appear clearly on screen, but those 40,000 buildings were created just the same. Can we say that London is the city that Frederickson helped build?
Michael Frederickson
We often speak about the beauty of the animation of Pixar films, but the technical aspects of their films are often overshadowed. The fact that viewers may not pick up on the technical side is not necessarily a bad thing because the studio does not want the audience to focus on it – that would take the audience out of the story, which is not ideal. However, providing moviegoers with detailed visuals creates an authentic atmosphere, leading many to forget they are even watching an animated film.
Now, building a large amount of buildings obviously takes a lengthy amount of time. In this case, Michael (and others at Pixar) spent about a year working on London, as he joked about how well he now knew the city:
Perhaps the weirdest moment of working on London for so long was realizing I knew my way around a city I've never visited.
— Michael Frederickson (@mfrederickson) April 15, 2011
For a look at some of his results, check out the London portion of the Cars 2 triptych poster:
©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
We look forward to seeing his hard work up on the big screen when Cars 2 hits theaters on June 24. Kudos on the meticulous work, Mr. Frederickson!
You can follow Michael Frederickson on Twitter here.
UPDATE (4/18/11): In our haste to acknowledge individual work, we overlooked the fact that Pixar is an intensely collaborative environment and that a piece of their films is rarely the work of just one person. Michael sent us a note after seeing this post to clarify that the London you’ll see on screen in Cars 2 was the product of hard work from a large team of talented artists and technicians.
