MANILA – With a portfolio that includes animated treasures such as Princess and the Frog, Wreck-it Ralph, Treasure Planet, and perhaps the biggest animated film in recent history, Frozen, James Finch’s career is any young artist’s dream.
Finch will be speaking at the upcoming entertainment design conference, ICON Manila, which will take place on Thursday, July 3, at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.
In an interview with adobo, Finch shared how he started and stayed at Disney, what working on Frozen was like, and why 2D still matters.
How did you start with Disney?
My journey with Disney Animation Studios began when I applied to the internship program in my senior year at Ringling College of Art and Design in 1994. I was selected to attend the program from over 500 submissions that year. In the spring of 1995, I started the program at the Florida studio and later transferred to Burbank, California to continue as a Layout apprentice for Tarzan. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to work on films like Tarzan, Atlantis, Bambi 2, Brother Bear 2, Princess and the Frog and now Frozen and continue to work on exciting new projects to this day.
What are the challenges of working with a well-known animation studio like Disney? Were there times when you had to compromise personal style to follow the studio’s style?
Adapting to any studio’s culture and process is how one stays relevant and continues to grow with a studio like Disney as they move to reinvent themselves when technology and processes change. The question of style is interesting because when I worked in the Layout department on 2d projects, adapting to any style was a common requirement in order to move from show to show. Now as a visual development artist, a personal style is encouraged if it meets the challenges of something new. The fundamentals of film design and good drafting skills to construct sets or realize characters from story to animation can constantly be upgraded to meet the complexity level these films can take on. There is a lot to learn on every project. We are all pushing each other to make great art.
With Frozen in particular, what was the most challenging part of working on it? What was your favorite part?
The most challenging part of working on Frozen was that it was up against a tight schedule and there was not enough time to work on any one area or location as far as you wanted to take it. Although the schedule was tight, I had a lot of good opportunities to design complex sets, so I always felt good about getting back to work everyday.
Disney has been making an effort to make their princess movies appealing to both girls and boys. How does this extend to the artwork?
In terms of the Disney Princess and their appeal, well everyone feels the success of what looks good on the screen and how we all relate to these characters. As artists we are motivated to design worlds and characters that are embraced by the public and adored by both girls and boys. We feel a sense of success when a film like Tangled or Frozen does well.
Most animated movies these days are 3D. Is there still room for 2D animation? Is this a technique that is on its way out, or is it still important for young artists to learn traditional techniques?
2D art and animation still lives in different forms. It is a difficult process and requires a lot of hands and skilled workers to meet the demand and of course, compete with the hyper real world of CG. I can’t really speak on Disney’s business models moving forward, but I can say the studio has always tried to support its artistic roots and have found ways to experiment with Short Animation projects like Paper man and Feast. Artists in school should be encouraged to try both. I am sure you will find 2D animation is much more involved and sometimes more time consuming. An appreciation for the 2D past will give you perspective on how amazing the work is that is currently being done in animated CG films.
Continuing the 2D/3D discussion, a lot of the concept art you did for Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph are in traditional media, and a lot of fans who have seen it say that they even prefer the 2D look to CGI treatment. What do studios consider when they decide to make a movie in 3D animation instead of 2D?
All the studios want cool and amazing looking films. CG films are getting better and better every year and it’s pretty exciting. The goal is to make you forget you are even watching an animated film. The Studio’s constant goal is to make an entertaining film that has commercial and innovative appeal. It is a huge collaboration of talented individuals rendering the film to make it look as real as possible. However, TV shows use Concept Art to try and influence the visual style of a 2D project. They tend to have smaller budgets, smaller teams, and specific audiences. They are mostly developed for home entertainment verses theatrical releases which are intended for everyone to enjoy on the big screen.
