Animated Movies

[ysabetwordsmith]

This morning when I got up, I noticed the title on Doug's computer: "The two scariest words for Hollywood studios in 2016: animated movie."  

So I asked him what was scary about animation, and he said it was the risk.  A successful animated movie has the highest profit margin of any format.  But they also cost the most to make, so it's a big loss for movies that don't succeed.  CGI movies are even more expensive, unless you cut corners on things like water and hair.

I thought for a moment and said, "So do the movie in traditional cels and pay more for a better script."

In my sleep.  Remember, it takes my brain about an hour to boot up after waking.  I solved a problem, that Hollywood is pissing and moaning over, in my sleep.  With nothing more than the part of my brain that can run an automatic routine but fumbles even that if even one detail is different -- which immediately happened because of the conversation.  

Wow.  I knew Hollywood was bad at solving problems, but worse than my autobrain?  Dudes.  That is lame.

Comments

[shiori_makiba]

Totally agree.

Unfortunately a lot of the studios that do animation have completely closed their traditional animation department. Disney did after "Princess and the Frog" making some kind of noise about traditional animation movies not making enough money and that kids didn't like them and the list went on. But tone kind of smacked of major studio has already made up its mind and is looking for excuses. And making sure they get their excuse . . .

Guess I should be happy that they didn't use that "failure" as excuse to not make anymore princess of color movies . . .

I don't mind 3D animation exactly. If it is well animated. Through even the best animated stuff still has a very plastic look to me, like everything is made of rubber or something. Design choices also play a role - I couldn't watch Clone Wars because I hated it aesthetically. To be blunt, I think the character designs and things of that nature are ugly.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I find many of the animation styles off-putting too. But it's okay to have variation.

Re: Yes...

[shiori_makiba]

>>But it's okay to have variation.>>

*nods* No problem there. If you like it, cool. Just don't demand that I do. Some people don't like the visual styles I like. That's cool - I wouldn't force my taste down their throat either.

Don't have a problem with variety of animation styles - each appeals to someone and that's great. It's just another way of telling all the stories.

But there always seems to be at least one "But so-and-so and such-and-such means you should do x anyway / you are just being silly" person in every conversation about preferences. Those people I have a problem with and make discussing the merits / short-comings of respective styles impossible.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Sometimes, you just have to tell people to go fuck themselves.

Re: Yes...

[shiori_makiba]

*laughs* True that.

[redsixwing]

I like the look of cels anyway, and then - provided the studio doesn't want to hold on to a movie's worth of them forever - you even have an ancillary source of things to sell. I've seen some gorgeous things done with framed cels.

If Hollywood would take notes out of your book - or from other, less-falling-apart entertainment industries - they might not be in such a bind.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I like the look of cels anyway, and then - provided the studio doesn't want to hold on to a movie's worth of them forever - you even have an ancillary source of things to sell. I've seen some gorgeous things done with framed cels. <<

I agree. Cels should be kept rather than reused, and make terrific merchandise to sell.

>>If Hollywood would take notes out of your book - or from other, less-falling-apart entertainment industries - they might not be in such a bind.<<

If only.

Meanwhile, over in Terramagne, it's still common for professional fiction writers to do scripts on request. That raises not only the quality of TV and movies, but also the amount of money a writer can make.

[siliconshaman]

The problem is that studio Exec's are basically over-thinking everything... those that aren't complete dicks.

[mdlbear]

Animation software used by Studio Ghibli is going open source | The Verge it's software that makes it easy to seamlessly turn hand-drawn keyframes into full animation. Pure magic.

I am *SO* getting a copy of this.

Go for it!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That looks awesome. I love animation. Feel free to use any of my stuff to practice with, if you like.

[stardreamer]

ISTM that going back to cel animation would only cost less if the studio was paying the animators third-world rates, and that's not a solution I'd find acceptable. But I don't know much about this industry, and I could easily be wrong.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure you lose the producers at 'pay more for a better script'. :) They'd argue that it doesn't matter as long as they hype it enough.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

People usually don't listen to me. That doesn't change the facts, though. Hype can sell a movie, until the early viewers reveal that it's a shit film. But a great story will carry it even with a modest art and promotional budget. Simple EROEI.

Re: Well...

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it's just the mindset of some people: if they can't do something (write, draw, science, etc.) then it must be unimportant and something they can replace with something they are good at (throwing money at the wall until it sticks). :)

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I am more impressed by things I can't do than things I can. But then I am weird.

Re: Well...

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

You have self-esteem. :)

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well, yeah. My sense of self-worth is internally generated and independent of other people's opinions. They don't seem able to tell the difference between truth and nonsense. Now that you mention it, this does seem like a rare trait in humans.

Re: Well...

[ng_moonmoth]

You aren't the only one, by a long shot. That's the way I feel, too. And if that makes me weird, vive la différence!

Of course, then I'm likely as not to start trying to figure out how they do what they do, and how much of it I can do...

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

For me there's a difference between things I don't know but could learn, and things I know that I have no potential for. I enjoy art and have some skill at crafts, but I don't have the manual ability for painting pictures. So a good painter will impress me.

So...

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

...you'd be a lousy venture capital provider, I suppose. (There, you're supposed to be impressed with how smart YOU are for picking the idea someone else came up with.)

I am sort of the same way - at the very least, I try to be respectful of things I can't do, even if I don't value them as highly as other things.

Re: So...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm a ... different venture capital provider. I look for someone who's got a sharp idea to solve a problem. It's usually something that urgently needs doing but nobody else wants to back it. Here, go fix the thing.

This is also how I crowdfund. I am looking for projects that are fresh and entertaining, and ideally, address issues that the mainstream is ignoring.

Re: So...

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Nod. My mind has had a bad thought burned into it. During Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign, the question of venture capital played a role. In one interview, I saw a venture capitalist who was proudly pointing to tapered soda cans as something that a venture capitalist might provide funding for - you see how *BRILLIANT* it is to notice something like this, and invest in it?

And it's not fair - I'm sure a lot of venture capital folks know that they're supporting brilliance, and have no delusions that they are the brilliant ones, rather than the engineer(s) who found a way to make a workable can with less aluminum.

But that someone could so brazenly make this claim in an interview was scary. Because we can be pretty sure that he's not the only one who thought he was smarter than the engineer who could design the new can. And if he can devalue even the engineering, he can sure as heck devalue a lot more that goes into the business.

Re: So...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>During Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign, the question of venture capital played a role. In one interview, I saw a venture capitalist who was proudly pointing to tapered soda cans as something that a venture capitalist might provide funding for - you see how *BRILLIANT* it is to notice something like this, and invest in it?<<

Well, it's basically like editing. You look at a big pile of stuff and pick out what's good. Certainly it takes skill. It takes extra skill to spot a diamond in the rough, and polish it. But dude, bragging on yourself like that is kind of tacky.

>>And if he can devalue even the engineering, he can sure as heck devalue a lot more that goes into the business.<<

Including money paid to anyone other than himself.

Re: So...

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Yes - editing is actually a damn fine description of it! And I'll even grant that there are likely some editors who spot the amazing potential in the horrible writing, and can justifiably feel brilliant for giving such a person a push and some polish. Such an editor might never write a work of salable prose, but might nevertheless hold their head up high as a creator of art, for the shaping of the person.

Which is why I realized that I was being a bit unfair to venture capitalists. Someone has to figure out that X_Idea is good or that Y_Idea_Owner has That Drive that will succeed eve if it's not that *great* an idea.

Hell - the right venture capitalist can find the canner that needs to retool to make tapered soda cans, and find the beverage owner who's suffering in the market place due to being unable to shave that tiny extra bit off the costs of bottling and shipping. And if that person wants to brag their head off, I'll let them, and even give them a golf clap if they avoided having to cram down wage cuts or steal the DB pension plan and turn it DC to pull off the coup.

Re: So...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly. It's a skill, like any other. One can use it for good or evil. Some people look for products or processes that can improve the world. Others only look for profit, and don't care that making or using the invention will cause serious environmental damage or bodily harm. Some treat their business partners with respect, others just view them as prey.