Chris Wedge discusses fantasy and the importance of keeping the audience engaged
At Blue Sky Studios in Connecticut, Oscar winning filmmaker Chris Wedge talks about directing the animated 3D adventure comedy EPIC.
The exciting and entertaining film tells the story of a teenage girl who is transported into a magical universe in the depths of the forest, where she teams up with an elite band of warriors to save both their world and ours. The film stars Amanda Seyfried, Beyoncé, Colin Farrell and Josh Hutcherson.
Epic: the fantastical new film set IN A HIDDEN WOODLAND WORLD WHERE THE creatures may be miniature, but the STAKES ARE HIGH AND THE ACTION IS EPIC.
In Greenwich, Connecticut on America’s East Coast, Blue Sky Studios is set in 155 acres of rambling woodland. Today the outlying area is quite beautiful, with more than a hint of magic. It is the depth of winter. The trees are frosted with white and sparkle in the bright, cold sunlight. The ground is carpeted in thick snow, the sky is gray. It is quiet, serene and still. Blue Sky has produced hits that range from the wildly popular ICE AGE series, to ROBOTS, HORTON HEARS A WHO and RIO, but it feels like a long way from Hollywood. And it is easy to see how the creative team of filmmakers, led by director Chris Wedge, found inspiration right outside their window for their latest film. EPIC tells the story of a battle taking place in a hidden, natural world populated by tiny beings. In every other season, the Connecticut countryside is green, vibrant, musical and picturesque, exactly the kind of environment that would lead a team of imaginative artists to envisage a whimsical and wondrous universe that exists parallel to our own world even though we can’t see it.
In contrast to the stark, icy landscape, the atmosphere inside the award-winning Blue Sky Studios is warm. A hub of intense activity and focus, there is an upbeat and infectious enthusiasm that permeates the modern, hi-tech, open plan space. Sculptors, art directors and animators are hard at work, putting the finishing touches on their most exciting and ambitious movie to date.
A forest fantasy as thrilling as it is stylistically sumptuous, EPIC is set in a magical universe that is steeped in fantasy but grounded in nature. While the characters and the world depicted in the film are minute, the story itself has a grand scale, chronicling an epic conflict between the forces of life and the forces of decay. Inspired by William Joyce’s 1996 book THE LEAF MEN AND THE BRAVE GOOD BUGS, Wedge has created an imaginary world where tiny warriors known as Leaf Men fly around on hummingbirds and where dangerous creatures lurk in the bushes and under logs. The Jinn are the ordinary civilian inhabitants of the forest who are ruled by Queen Tara (Beyoncé). The Leaf Men, led by Ronin (Colin Farrell), are the warriors who have a mission to protect nature and their world. The bad guys, the Boggans, led by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) are bent on destruction.
“The Leaf Men are the protectors of the forest, the protectors of life and they’re like little samurai,” says Chris Wedge. “The bad guys, the Boggans, ride on bats. They want to destroy the forest by spreading decay. They are creepy crawlies who spread rot. They shoot poison arrows and things die. Who is going to win control of the forest? Who is going to live or die? We meet a cast of characters involved in this struggle. Some are very stoic and heroic and others are more comedic. And we also meet some humans.”
EPIC’s human heroine Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried) is a feisty teenager who is told by her eccentric scientist father Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), “Just because you haven’t seen something, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” She doesn’t believe him until she shrinks and is magically whisked off to the forest kingdom where she joins forces with the Leaf Men.
Visually breathtaking, the detail that infuses EPIC is exquisite from the luminous Queen Tara with her dress of iris petals to the Leaf Men warriors with their armor, inlaid with beetle shells, and the brave knights with their leaf shields and twig bow and arrows. The inhabitants of this magical world have taken on the appearance of the world in which they live and are essentially an extension of nature.
“We wanted the audience to feel initially that they are watching something that feels very familiar and natural, that they could find in the woods where they live,” says art director Mike Knapp. “Then we start to play with the familiarity and transform that environment. During research, we went out into the woods and did a lot of drawing and painting and photography. We looked for the little design cues in nature that we could embellish to create a naturalist environment. We looked at rocks and moss and fungus, dead leaves on the floor of the forest and fallen logs. We looked at the balance of life and decay in the world around us. We showed how alien this world could be if you were a little guy running around through the forest. Trees would be like skyscrapers and flowers would seem like they are hundreds of feet tall. Everything is more luminous and bright. It’s a strange world.”
EPIC’s stellar voice cast includes Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Chris O’Dowd, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, and Beyoncé Knowles.
Blue Sky co-founder and creative director Chris Wedge is a classically trained animator with extensive experience in stop-motion puppet animation as well as a Masters degree in computer graphics. A pioneer in the field of computer animation, he won an Oscar in 1998 for his short animated film, BUNNY. He directed the original ICE AGE (2002) and ROBOTS (2005.) Blue Sky is owned by Twentieth Century Fox.
Chris Wedge sat down for the following interview over lunch at Blue Sky…
Where did the inspiration for EPIC come from?
It always starts with a world for me. I started thinking of this particular world depicted in EPIC almost a decade ago. It is a world that is hidden right under our noses in the forest.
The film is beautiful; how did you create the look and feel of this vibrant imaginary world?
It is very rich and romantic and is inspired by Victorian countryside paintings. We looked at illustrators and artists at the turn of the century who were painting little worlds and civilizations with coronations and funerals and battles. We wanted a very natural world and we styled the colors and lighting to support what was happening in the story, whether it was funny and light or exciting, or vibrant or dangerous. We worked with a whole spectrum of color. There is a lot of technical artistry that builds on what we’ve done in the past at Blue Sky and I think we’ve put a great deal of focus into making our world look very natural.
Can you discuss the technology behind the film? You bring the forest world to life so vividly.
As one of the founders of Blue Sky Studios, half of what makes our company unique is our nerdy fascination with technology and what we can do with it. My interest is in images that can’t be made any other way and making them very detailed, complex and natural. I want to take the audience into an immersive world. So EPIC is not just animation or a cartoon, it’s a movie. Part of the intention with this film is to expand our cinematic scope so that EPIC feels like a big, live action adventure that takes place in a fantastic world.
What kind of innovations have you used?
Well we continue to evolve and we have developed techniques that allow us to put more and more detail into the worlds we create. So for instance in ICE AGE, our first feature, we didn’t know if we could finish a film and we designed it very simply. There was a pine tree here and there but we put all the detail into the characters. Now making EPIC ten years later, we have a forest filled with foliage and leaves and ferns on the ground that can blow in the wind. All that amazing detail gives the story its visual richness that leads you to believe that the action could be happening and that the universe is real.
It is a fantasy, but watching the film it is possible to imagine that the miniature world in nature is real.
Yes, it is all very plausible that this tiny word really exists. If you look carefully, you can see evidence of its existence in the woods. The things that are rotten are where the Boggans have been battling. Where you see life again in the forests, that is where the Leaf Men have been fighting back. The film offers reasons why we don’t see these tiny people all the time. But the world feels real. And we actually get to travel into it.
What made you decide to direct this film?
I felt I wanted to direct this film because I’ve been thinking about it for about a decade and it took a lot of work technically and artistically to get it to a place where we could actually make the movie. I have been consumed by this project for the last three or four years.
The voice cast is wonderful. Do you ever create the characters with the actors’ looks and personalities in mind?
Well, I have to admit that the characters are designed before we cast the actors. We always design them with archetypes in mind. In my opinion, the animated character on the screen needs to exist in its own world and in its own right. So for the actors, I am always looking for a voice that can be recognized but isn’t so distinctive that it pulls us out of the movie. Beyoncé is the closest to resembling her character because Queen Tara is a humanoid character who resembles a real person. But she doesn’t really look like Beyoncé. Her design was done before we cast Beyoncé.
Presumably Beyoncé works so well because you needed someone who could embody a beautiful and powerful queen?
Yes, for her character we set out to design a contemporary queen and we were referring to notions of queens from old fashioned fairytales. We decided that Beyoncé’s personality would fit this character that is larger than life. I wanted Queen Tara to be iconic. She is literally the life of the forest. Plants grow in her presence and without Tara the forest will die. I thought the audience would get a kick out of it if we had a personality as iconic as Beyoncé in the role. Then they would understand the stature of Queen Tara. It so happens that Beyoncé’s voice has a lot of gravity and texture. It sounds beautiful.
Can you talk about the other cast members?
Colin Farrell is perfect as Ronin the stalwart Leaf Man general, because he has a very easy natural roguish way to him; he is confident without trying too hard, he is great and very funny. I wanted a voice that would surprise people a little bit. I love Colin’s Irish accent, it gave us the swagger that Ronin needed.
Actors generally love playing great animated characters don’t they?
Well to give you an example, Christoph Waltz came in and was very excited about playing the villainous Mandrake [leader of the Boggans] who is a smart, erudite fellow. Christoph has won two Oscars (for DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012) and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009)) and he is a guy who grew up acting. He’s a great actor who has performed all over the world, on stage and in films. But you could tell how excited he was when he was in the sound booth here behind the microphone. I was in front of him and we both had copies of the script, I was voicing the other character. But every time I looked up, Christoph, actually in character was looking at me and he was terrifying me! I work behind the camera (laughs); I don’t want to be in the film. But Christoph managed to draw the character out of me. He is so skillful and he demanded that we have a conversation that sounded real.
Can you discuss Amanda Seyfried who stars as Mary Katherine?
Amanda is a fantastic actress and she can really use her voice to make you feel what she is thinking. I don’t know how many people are going to notice it is Amanda Seyfried’s voice coming out of that character. She brings a tremendous amount of acting talent to the character, but you don’t think of the actress’s face while you’re watching her character.
How important is that?
It is very important. I wanted to use voices that don’t pull people away from the characters. Josh Hutcherson plays Nod, the new recruit who is a bit of a loner. He is a young and spirited teenager and for that character we needed a very funny, playful voice that would be appealing. That is what Josh is like; he is great. Everyone we have is fantastic.
Are there any funny exchanges with the actors when you approach them? I am wondering how someone would respond when you call and say, “I have you in mind for a slug or a grub”?
Well most of those pitches happen in person, not on the phone. We bring people in, we tell them about the movie and give them a little presentation. Then we pitch the character we are hoping they will play and we start to talk. Steven Tyler came in to talk about the character Nim Galuu, and Steven is like a grown up little boy. He’s the most excited, animated person I’ve ever met in my life. He signed on right away. The character doesn’t look like Steven Tyler. But Steven’s voice is great for him. Steven is great. Everything fascinates him. He loved our ICE AGE movies and was even more excited that I do the voice of Scrat in those movies. He actually brought a DVD of ICE AGE in for me to sign. Steven Tyler asked me for my autograph! I haven’t asked him for his autograph yet, I think I should do that (laughs).
How much time to do you spend with the actors as they record their parts?
Actually, you don’t spend as much time with the cast as you do when you’re shooting a live action movie. They come in for four hours at a time, five or six times over the course of the movie. They read the lines and act. As a director, I’ll tell you the most intimidating part of recording the voices is that our actors don’t have other actors to play against. There’s no scenery, there’s no costume, they just have to imagine everything. So we surround them with artwork and sometimes you have to get in there and act with them.
Of course, non-English-speaking countries have their own actors voicing characters. Does that make a difference?
I think for animation it helps to make it all real for the audience in that country or that market, especially if our movie isn’t about a culturally specific place. I’ve heard people around the world tell me that the audiences think that ICE AGE comes from their own country, because the characters sound like their own actors. So if it makes it more immediate for them, I’m all for it.
Why do you think we love great animated movies such as EPIC?
I think there’s something about fantasy that people love. It shows you something you haven’t seen before. It takes you somewhere you haven’t been before. It’s escapism in a lot of respects, but also in animation we get to manipulate the physics of the world that we know. We get to exaggerate like crazy. We can twist the physics of the world so people can jump in the air and hang higher. We watch them do this and we believe it. It is fun to watch. It’s like watching sports, its beautiful, like a dance.
Is there an eco theme weaved through EPIC?
By virtue of the subject matter you are going to be rooting for the good guys, but I didn’t want to make a story about land developers destroying the forest or polluters. I wanted it to be a fantasy film about the creatures that live there. My intention was to take us to a different world that we can see with our own eyes.
Is there anything you would say that sets Blue Sky films apart in the world of animation?
Every one of our films is different and every film comes from a slightly different place. This one is very director driven. I’ve been trying to make a film that feels more cinematic. The ICE AGE films were very bright and colorful and full of personality. That comes from our fascination with broad animation styles from the 40s at Warner Bros. for instance. EPIC has a breadth and scale that makes you forget it is animated at times. There is the great comedy we normally do but also a broader spectrum of emotion and sweeping action. And of course there is our ironic title: EPIC. It is an epic story that happens in a tiny place.
You co-created Blue Sky and visiting it, the studio seems wonderful, everyone’s so talented and enthusiastic. What is it about the atmosphere here that is special?
We’ve been building a strong team at Blue Sky for 25 years and we’ve collected the most talented people we could find. We are on the East Coast in the North East and that is a bit of a rarity in this industry, so we have people working here who like the location. They tend to stay for a while. We ask people to put as much of themselves into these films as they can. Then we let them run as far as possible without micromanaging them and being overbearing. My feeling is that every one of our artists has as deep a well of creativity and imagination as I do. And if you let everyone tap into that well, you are going to have something much greater than you would have had if you did it on your own.
Were you fascinated by animation as a child?
I grew up in the countryside in Upstate New York with my younger brother and sister. I liked to fix things and I always liked making things. I was always making a go-kart or a fort or a little machine when I was a kid. I was lucky because my parents let me do whatever I wanted to do (laughs). I started with stop motion as a child. I would make little puppet movies and sets and I lit them to make them look as realistic as possible. My parents let me make things and supported me in whatever I wanted to do. I owe them a debt of gratitude. They never said, “you’re never going to go out and make money doing that, you really should try being a doctor or an engineer.” They never worried about me too much.
What were your influences and inspirations as a child?
We didn’t have the Internet or DVDs of course and we had to wait for movies to come to the theater or play on television. I saw whatever was coming through. I was a big KING KONG fan. I was a child of the seventies and loved all the films that were coming out at that time: THE GRADUATE and THE GODFATHER. I was a big fan of Stanley Kubrick. In terms of animation there was just Disney really. I loved some of the old stuff: PINOCCHIO, SNOW WHITE and BAMBI. I loved classic animation.
How fulfilling is your work at Blue Sky?
It’s the work that excites me now. I love the work. Building the company was exciting and terrifying for a long time and now I have the luxury of really focusing on the work. Other people run the company so I can afford to be a director in my own right and live or die on my own ideas. I spent so long on EPIC and I am starting to wonder what will happen next. I hope that over the summer I will come up with something new, we’ll see.
Elaine Lipworth
EPIC IS OUT NOW ON 3D BLU-RAY, BLU-RAY AND DVD