The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, recently produced a series of videos entitled “Production Design in the 21st Century,” where they spoke to production designers within the film industry. Harley Jessup, who is the production designer for the upcoming Cars 2, sat down to talk about his career leading up to joining Pixar for Monsters, Inc. and goes on to share some thoughts on how the animation industry works. Click here to view the full video.
Harley Jessup. Photograph by Deborah Coleman. ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
It is fascinating to hear of the difficulty we can have in thinking about how the animated world is created. As Jessup notes, creating these vast worlds using animation is more than just “pushing buttons.” The great part of having total control over what appears on screen is just that – the filmmakers have control over exactly what the audience sees. This is in contrast to live-action, where those working on the film have to work around the rules and actual settings of the real world.
Jessup hard at work. Photograph by Deborah Coleman. ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Cars 2 is on track to set a new standard for Pixar in the departments of animation, lighting, production design, and many other aspects of film. Take a look at this trailer again and look at the realism of the water in the beginning and the way the light appears and is reflected in the water. Also note the fantastic production design. Simply stunning.
We will get to see more of the work of Harley Jessup when Cars 2 rolls into theaters on June 24!
