From DreamWorks Animation comes a new adaptation of a literary sensation, Peter Brown’s beloved, award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot.
The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot (Lupita Nyong’o) —ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling (Kit Connor).
As this beautiful and brilliant animated film hits cinemas in time for the school holidays, Nick L’Barrow spoke with the film’s director Chris Sanders (How To Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch) about using real cameras to help create animated action scenes, and the magical movie memories he has.
Nick: Chris, it’s a pleasure to see you again! How are you going?
Chris Sanders: Hello! Good to see you!
Nick: Thank you taking the time to chat. This movie is beautiful. The joy and laughter that filled the cinema we watched it in was genuinely magical. So, congratulations on such a beautiful movie.
Chris Sanders: Oh, thank you so much.
Nick: My pleasure! One thing that really stuck out to me, and something that I don’t think enough people talk about, is the cinematography of animated films. The deliberate decisions you make as a director, like having shaky, handheld camera movements in the more intense, action scenes of the film, and the idea that those have to be edited in. I’m curious to know what your creative processes and inspirations behind visual elements like that are?
Chris Sanders: Absolutely. You know, we have a cinematographer. Chris Stover is the name of the cinematographer in our team, and he has a huge job! When it comes to animated films, we record the voices before we do anything in animations. But, before the animation hits, we actually move the camera. Somebody has to go first, and it’s the camera!
We have stand ins for the characters, and we do camera movies so the animators know what angles they’re hitting, and afterwards we go back and fine tune. Chris Stover and his team does all of that. I mean, he’s an artist himself! And he’s always thinking about the details and the really tiny nuances.
And as I watch the film, I’m always seeing little, tiny things that he did throughout the make sure that this thing flows and feels the right way. The lens choices, and the camera movement, and pulling focus, and the selective focus even within a shot.
I did something different on this film that I never have before. We have two, what we call, ‘oners’. They are these massive, mega shots where the action goes on and on and on. And I was always intimidated by the idea of them. But we utilised them twice in this film, and I learned how effective those cane be.
It’s a lot of work to accomplish, but once that shot is in place, what you get out of it is a magnified effect. I will always consider that to be something that we should do in the core of say an action sequence.
Nick: It’s truly incredible to look at. It’s absolutely astonishing. I have a small anecdote from my screening. There was a kid, maybe five or six years old, who was sitting in front of me. And he got up, went and got some popcorn, and when he came back, he stood at the end of the row and just stared at the screen for about 60 seconds, just in awe of what he was seeing on the screen. And I was kind of moved by it. I love cinema, and I think cinema is magical. Watching him watch the film like that was incredible. So, I’m curious to know if there’s ever been a cinematic memory for you that stands out? A moment on the big screen that you were in awe of?
Chris Sanders: You know, there are some movie moments that stood out to me, and always have. Interestingly, there’s a shot in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that is pure movie magic! And it’s the moment of truth after Dick Van Dyke, his character has been locked up in this garage for seems like weeks upon weeks, maybe a month.
And eventually the doors open, and he rolls the car out. And that camera movie, and the car coming past the camera with the music swelling at that point – I’m getting chills just thinking about it!
That’s the power of a carefully crafted shot.
Nick: That’s incredible. I’m getting the wrap now, but I just wanted to say again that this movie is beautiful. And you’ve been a big part of my film watching journey growing up, watching Lilo and Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon. I’m a big fan of you work, Chris. Thank you so much for taking the time. And I’m also excited to use “male bovine excrement” as my substitute swear word from now on!
Chris Sanders: [laughs] That came from my friend in high school, who used to say that, and I always remembered it. My friend Carlos used to say that, and I finally have a chance to use. And to have Matt Berry say it… that’s a movie memory for me!
Thank you so much to Chris for his time, and to Universal Pictures for organising the interview. The Wild Robot releases in Queensland cinemas on September 12, and all other Australian states and territories on September 19.
