9/22/21 Eric Darnell (ONLINE)
Eric Darnell
Introduced by Aloha (Haekyung) Lee
https://www.baobabstudios.com/
Eric Darnell is Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Baobab Studios, the world's leading independent interactive animation studio, Baobab Studios. Baobab’s mission: Inspire you to dream by bringing out your sense of wonder. Make YOU matter. Under Eric’s leadership, Baobab Studios has won 7 Emmys (3 Best Interactive Emmys), 2 Annie’s (first-ever Annie Award for Best VR Production), and first ever SIGGRAPH Immersive Best in Show Award. His interactive animation has achieved over 25 million views. Baobab has released Invasion!, Asteroids!, Jack, Crow: The Legend, and Bonfire to commercial and critical acclaim. Baobab’s latest VR piece, Baba Yaga, made its world premiere at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.
Eric's career spans 25 years as a computer animation director, screenwriter, story artist, film director and executive producer. He is the second highest box office grossing writer and director of animated feature films. Darnell was a director and screenwriter on all four films in the Madagascar franchise, which together have grossed nearly $3 billion at the box office. He was also executive producer on The Penguins of Madagascar. Previously, Eric directed DreamWorks Animation's very first animated feature film, Antz, which features the voices of Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Sharon Stone. Eric earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and a master's degree in experimental animation from The California Institute of the Arts.
It was an informative experience hearing Eric Darnell speak about his career journey to becoming Co-Founder at Baobab Studios. His discussion on what makes a successful animation director opened my eyes to the culture of the animation industry. He pointed out that a director must be well-rounded and be familiar with a lot of references so that communication can be clean and direct when it comes to giving feedback to artists. “Have your eyes and ears open" was the quote that struck me because being always aware of what things are around you will help fuel creativity and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI found his discussion on pitches really helpful because often I do not hear the perspective of an animation director. To make a pitch successful, one needs to have a catchy hook that puts the concept in a succinct, witty way. His example of pitching the Madagascar Penguins as The Beatles was hilarious and helped put the penguin team in an interesting, dynamic way. I enjoyed his sense of pragmatism and practicality when it comes to topics regarding storytelling and ideation. Less is more and aim for simplicity!
Thank you for inviting him!
Jarrod Chatham
Eric Darnell gave a great talk about his career in becoming a Director in Dreamworks and then Chief Creative Officer in Baobab Studios. This lecture reminded me that everyone comes from different backgrounds and experiences in the industry. One of the things he mentioned that stuck with me was how he described the daily routines he encountered as a director: going to meetings after meetings, throwing grenades at people's work, and defending his decisions with executives. It was the sober, depressing truth. I appreciated his perspective and reminded me of the value of pursuing one's passion in life.
ReplyDeleteHis answer to my question on writing for animation was invaluable. Writing characters one genuinely likes, building subtext, and humanizing villains are all great points. Thank you for having him speak today!
Parker Chatham
Shengwei Zhou (szhou894@usc.edu):
ReplyDeleteMany of the skills Eric mentioned today are very practical in storytelling and character building.
First of all, he mentioned that when creating a character, it is necessary to clearly state what the character needs and what the character wants. What the character wants is the character's motivation. What the role needs is why the role has this motivation. The two are connected to each other and work together to advance the story. For example, in most Disney animations, characters often have certain defects or are in a self-identification dilemma (often related to gender or culture) at the beginning, and then they will want to fall in love or get a job or realize their dreams to get out of the dilemma. However, what they really need may not be love/work/dream, but to realize their personal value, or their unique self to be accepted by the community they involved in.
I personally find that when establishing what the character wants and what the character needs, most attractive movies or animations often set a very inductive camouflage motivaiton for the character in the beginning. That is to make the audience mistakenly think that what the character wants is A, but after being through a series of events, the character will understand that what they really want is B. And A often contradicts what the character needs, and B can meet the real needs of the character. For example, many of Pixar's animations are used to shape characters in this way. In "Soul", the main character mistakenly thought that what he wanted was to become the highly anticipated musician, but after experiencing a series of events, he realized that what he really needed and what he really wanted was just to enjoy every beautiful but ordinary moment in his regular daily life.
Secondly, Eric always starts with “what if” to trigger the character in different scenario. This way of asking questions can not only give the character more room for growth and make the character more dimensional, but also give the audience a wider imagination space, allowing the audience to fully interact with the character. Finally let the character come alive.
Finally, Eric emphasized that you have to love the character you create. This makes me rethink that many successful villains are not absolutely bad, and some villains are even cute and adorable. Why do those villains give the audience such a feeling? It is because the screenwriter also loves those character even though they are seemingly evil. The screenwriter will go deep into the inner mind of the villains to explore what causes them to seemingly look bad. If the core motivation for the villains to do bad things is sympathetic, they will become more complicated and pitiful. For example, in the classic screenwriting technique book "Save the Cat", it discusses that the simplest way to make a character adorable is to let the character save a cat. No matter how wicked he/she is, once she/he saves a cat, he/she will become cute.
Thanks so much to Eric Darnell for an informative presentation tonight. Personally, I had resonance with Eric’s opinion about opening our perspectives. He briefly mentioned learning about things that you don’t like—watching movies that you wouldn’t normally watch or listening to music that’s not in your favorite genre, etc. It helps opening perspective by helping us understand ways of thinking other than our own. That is something I have always been doing or trying to do. Receiving information that’s not my “taste” helps me stay open and accept all kinds of styles. I enjoy seeing opinions that are different or even opposite to mine. The opposition creates balance. The variety enriches art.
ReplyDeleteCherry Guo (guomengy@usc.edu)
Delaney McCallum (jmccallu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed hearing Eric speak about his journey to Dreamworks and beyond. I related strongly to his experience, coming from a small town and a self-taught background. It is always refreshing to hear someone so successful talk about their own imposter syndrome, it makes me feel less alone in that! I really appreciated his relaying of Christine's advice to just keep doing what you're doing and everything will work out.
His framing of the elevator pitch as a "what if" was incredibly useful to me. I loved how he described inviting the viewer to create the own story in their mind. It immediately makes them more interested if they feel like they have some power in the story's creation. I have even started pitching my own ideas to myself in that way. One "what if" leads to another and another until I have a fully formed idea.
I also really appreciated Eric's candor and honesty about working heavily in the studio system for so many years. This industry is really grueling, and I definitely think about what is really best for me and my soul sometimes. Obviously, it was an incredible experience to direct such influential films, but I appreciate that he was realistic about goals and what makes us truly happy.
Stefie Gan (stefiega@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI appreciated Eric's honestly and transparency when sharing his artistic journey. I was surprised to hear he was programming at PDI at some point. He originally thought of becoming a doctor like his father before going into journalism and writing. It seems the multidisciplinary nature of artists can be useful. However, I feel more companies want their workers to specialize, rather than wearing multiple hats. Even from the point of view of small studios, it's probably attractive to have worked at bigger studios doing a specific skill. Similar to Eric, there's a lot of uncertainly in which job I'd end up in after USC. It's interesting that he worked in the Bay Area multiple times with companies who are doing something technically new.
From his experience being at Dreamworks, he gave us practical advice of doing a pitch. Simply by having a compelling paragraph is enough to start a pitch. This makes doing a pitch less daunting. As you can probably keep developing the pitch deck while circling the one paragraph around. I often reflect at the idea of spending too much time on a task, for example, spending years on a pitch, or developing a portfolio sequence. I think about the phrase Andrew Loomis said, which is to show your art quickly before they get too expensive. Meaning, it's probably not sustainable to spend a lot of time on something and never show it. We learn quicker when we make quicker mistakes. Perhaps pitching ideas work the same way, it's probably better to pitch often and learn from our mistakes, maybe the sequence isn't funny enough? confusing? etc, rather than holding onto it and not showing it to anyone until it's perfect. People work differently and there are probably people who work the latter way as well.
I think about the amount of endurance needed to champion a film for 5 years. Starting from nothing, you make a feature film. When we think 5 years, it sounds long, but it's not long at all. We spend on year to make a 5 min film, so 5 years to make a 2 hour film is actually quite fast in that sense. Eric went onto making a feature film for studio, which is ambitious for someone who is just starting out. It's a lot of wait on the director, but also the art teams do a lot to bring magic to the film. As directors, we're juggling with many different departments. I'm already feeling scattered for my own thesis film. When you look at a film for so long, you no longer have fresh eyes and the sequence reads differently every time you see it. It's a skill to develop that passion and endurance.
Anna Wang
ReplyDeleteawang206
It was such a pleasure to listen to Eric Barnell, known for co-directing Antz, as well as co-directing and co-writing Madagascar. He was such a humble and knowledgeable artist. Like Valerie from last week, he talked about how his journey becoming a director, which we as young artist can all relate to. He spent four years in the basement alone to finish his experimental film, which opened a door for him to the animation industry. He talked about imposture syndrome, and talked about how he got through it. He also talked about his very touching story of his professor at the time, Christine, told him to “keep doing what you are doing and you’ll get to where you are”. He was interested in life, and he was working with many different people. When he became a director, he made the team feel ownership, value, and let them know the goal. Through his story, I learned persistence and also the importance with connecting with people, who may be your mentor, colleague, friend and people in everyday life in general.
Xiaoqian Zhu (xiaoqiaz@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteThanks Eric for sharing his stories. There were so many good questions coming from classmates. Eric answered kindly with advice covering a wide range of topics, which are inspiring! I have heard about many comparisons between big studios and small ones. I think they both have features and drawbacks. We can decide which one to go really depends on our needs and our own strength.
It is even harder to start own studios, which he/she has to work with people from different disciplines. It was interesting to know that Eric plays the piano everyday. So, it is easier for him to work with composer as he knows about music. I think if we want to work on our own, we really need to have a wide range of knowledge, even just knowing a little bit of everything. Not only that it is easier for us to collaborate, but also we can think in different perspectives or in different state of mind.
But more importantly, having one thing that be really good at and having unique thoughts and developments within it are still the keys to succeed. Eric also reminded me that the process is very important. Enjoy in the long period of time when making an animation is more important than keep wondering if it will be successful at the end.
Lyu Tianyun
ReplyDeleteusc id：2799801213
Thank you very much Eric for sharing his growth experience and story with us. That was so inspiring.
I really understand that Eric said that we need to get good grades to work on something we don’t like. Especially back in China. Parents hope that their children will have a bright future. So as Eric said, I also had to take piano courses for like over 10 years and I had to drop off when I was in high school. I had to study hard to take the college entrance examination. In my second year on high school, I decided to choose the way I liked, the animation. So after years I did something I am not interested in I finally told my mom that I am not going to do the things I don’t like anymore, and surprised, she agreed that I could choose to study art.
There a time that I don’t know what my future gonna be, I tried to be a hotel manager because I learned French and it could make money lol. Like Eric, I also have a guider in my high school. He told me that I can take the path of animation, and he himself plans to take this path because he really love animation, and it’s inspired me that I can do what I want. I always appreciate what he told me even it’s just a little favor.
First of all, thank you very much for inviting Eric to give us a speech。He told how he finally chose to take the path of animation from his many hobbies. Although he gradually learned about his pursuits at the halfway of undergraduate, I admire his courage. He can go forward to what he wants regardless of his age.In China, people often question "you are still studying at this age?" The feeling is that you need to have a life goal from the beginning. Once you find that you are not satisfied with what you are reading or doing, many people will persuade you You will just live it. So when Eric came to the university, he started to think about changing his major, and then went to Calarts to study graduate school and felt very admired.Eric mention that they can have characters that react in real time to what the viewer does, and so they can tell stories that invite the viewer to be a part of it and. And where they feel like they do matter where they feel like the decisions they make, and the things that they do actually make a difference, or at least have an effect on the story.For the past two years “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” has developed a five-way ending story, presumably based on the parallel worlds of the book Bandersnatch.Unlike previous episodes of black mirror dramas, which talked about a thought-provoking question, "Bandersnatch" pays more attention to the audience's choice of the plot direction, and the five endings involve more problems.This kind of interaction not only makes people more immersed in the plot, but this part of the real-world plot is not only complete, but also much more complicated and exciting than the part of the plot selection on the screen-because the next plot is completely yours Life cannot be regressed and cannot be controlled. So I think it’s cool to create an interactive animation.
ReplyDeleteshiqihu(shiqihu@usc.edu)
It was enlightening to have Eric Darnell as our speaker last class. I connected to his story and related to him in a number of different ways. I appreciated seeing someone at the top of their field who was so transparent about the hardships of being a feature director. It was illuminating to know that anxiety and burnout can be real for anyone, and that working as a big director doesn’t suddenly mean you’re above it. The overwhelming worry that Eric described during his time at Dreamworks and in school was relatable, but it was encouraging to see that even through those feelings you can push forward and achieve your dreams.
ReplyDeleteI liked Eric’s thoughts behind idea making and story. I had never considered approaching a pitch or a story as if you’re inviting someone else to make your world their own. I thought that that was a creative and smart way to develop pitches and stories. I could see this ideology behind Baobab Studios Inc. Putting the viewer’s experience first in this way is so honorable and inspiring. I was really excited to hear about a company which cares so much about putting story and character first, no matter the medium. I felt like these values aligned with who I am and what I want to do with my work. Eric’s presentation made me hopeful about succeeding as a director and potentially having my own animation company someday.
Victoria Cruell (cruell@usc.edu)
I’m really touched by Eric Darnell’s speech and I appreciate how honest and down to earth he is about his journey. As someone who didn’t always know what I’m doing, I relate a lot with his journey as a young artist when he said he was also at one time lost and not sure of his direction. However, he was motivated by Christine Panushka to keep doing what he’s doing. He spent four years in the basement finishing his film, and that film led him to other opportunities in the animation industry. He was also so humble when he was sharing his experience in work, it was surprising to find out that even a successful animation director like him can feel the same way of anxiety as everyone else, and it’s relieving to find out that you could work through those feelings and achieve your goals.
ReplyDeleteRuoyu Chen(chenruoy@usc.edu)
Thanks Eric for a wonderful, informative speech! Eric is a great speaker that conveys his energy and passion through the lesson, and that energy really infects me. He gave a lot of thought about developing stories and getting audiences to feel connected to the stories. For example, twist certain elements(characters, locations, etc.) in an existed plot to bring humor and make the story unique. It was also very inspiring to hear his personal journey in detail. Especially as a mfa3 going to step into the industry for the first time, I'm totally related to the confusing anxiety of not sure which way to go and where to focus. And he was so honest about his experience and opinion about different working environments in the industry, which sheds light on pursuing my future career.
ReplyDeleteGiulia Pan (tzuyupan@usc.edu)
It was a great experience to have Eric Darnell share his journey of animation. As a legendary filmmaker in the industry, Eric directed many famous films, such as Antz and Madagascar. He has created many impressive characters, but he did not stop and stay in his comfot zone. He dared to step out of his comfort zone and try new things or something he didn’t like. It would be helping open our perspective to learn about something we don’t thoroughly understand.
ReplyDeleteAnd I’m very grateful to Eric for being able to honestly tell us that animation production has never been easy work. These fantasies and miracles in the movies are the fruits of the hard work of countless staff day and night. Keeping this in mind certainly can be more helpful to us, who are aspiring to engage in animation work in the industry.
Naicheng Liu
Vicky(Shunyi) Xie
ReplyDeleteThe speech of Eric makes me think more about what I should do as an artist who want to become a director someday in the future.
Unlike Eric, I graduated from art college, doing art all the time and making art that are specifically relate to the animation industry. Eric said he was not even in the film school at the beginning, instead, he was form broadcast major, knows a lot of basic things of a lot of stuff such as music, film, animation, and even engineering. Those knowledge helps him to have a better video of the world so that he is able to control the big picture of the film and the team and direct the whole feature film. I was rejecting to spend time on things other than drawing and making art for animation industry, and I think I should change my perspective of “working hard” and try to learn something else as well since I also want to become a director.
Another thing that motivates me is the past of Eric. No one’s success is easy, he tried a lot of things and went through a lot of things.I always expected I can go and find a job and be success in the industry right after I graduate from my undergraduate school, turns out I am not able to find any job and makes me very sad. I shouldn’t think in this way, because just like what Eric said, keep going. Keep going, keep hard working, don’t always remember the sad things all the time, remember the happy things, do what you like rather than think about the money all the time.
All those things are what I can do to make my life better not just as an artist but also as a human and I really feel inspired by him.
Shon Xiao
ReplyDeleteI loved Eric Darnell’s talk about his experience entering the animation industry from a non-conventional path. It was comforting to see another animator with an early background in STEM. Having come from a computer science Bachelor’s degree but a heart in the arts, I had always felt like I was a bit out of place in both spaces. Eric explained how his interdisciplinary experiences and skills allowed him to navigate collaborative projects more smoothly, as he was able to communicate more clearly with a wider variety of people. He was able to brainstorm ideas with those in charge of music or those in film. Hearing this perspective on having a diverse set of skills and interests, I suddenly recognized the benefits of my own background as well. Having graduated with a degree in computer science games, I now notice how much easier it was for me to create games with others when I had both experience in the arts, animation, and programming. In comparison, I knew very little about music, so I struggled to communicate exactly what I wanted with the composers on our teams. Eric’s story has made me realize there are benefits to both being a jack of all trades and an expert in a specific area.
The other compelling part of Eric’s talk was his take on narrative content in the medium of VR. More specifically, Eric stated that “narrative is not confined to just the film format,” and it opened my mind. Of course, logically, I realize that narration exists far earlier than film and traverses many mediums. But, when one is so constantly involved in the world of film, it sometimes feels as if that is the only medium that exists. Coming from a games background, I have often seen the debate between what makes a game separate from a film, and how do the two mediums overlap. However, there is no doubt that narrative is effective in games, so there is no reason to not apply the same logic to the interactive world of VR. I believe society just has yet to discover how to best utilize the medium for narrative stories.
Charlene Xu
ReplyDeleteEric Darnell is such a sincere and thoughtful presenter and I truly appreciate how he was willing to open up and talk about his early experience from a non animation background into a career professional. Thank you Eric! I was super intrigued by what he said about why he chose to do VR when he first established his studio. It’s so true that as a rising new animation studio there’s no way for you to directly confront studios that have already established its branding and fan base like Pixar, Disney, or Sony Pictures, so picking a specialty field might help immensely to quickly get attention and find its target audience.
I was also motivated by how Eric spent four years making his own film. Sometimes we get so anxious over peer pressure and stop making the film we truly want to make and go out of our ways to make “quick films.” For me personally I think spending a whole year on a film is already very exhausting, both mentally and physically, and spending four years is unimaginable. I have a lot of respect for artists who spend years on a single project, and I’m so inspired that Eric was able to persist into what he liked and at the same time integrate what he’s good at into his art.
Jiamu Tao
ReplyDeleteIt was engaging hearing from Eric about his journey to become the Chief Creative Officer of Baobab Studios. I loved how he had always kept an open mind towards everything art, or even not art-related. Art is inspired by life but higher than life, and life includes everything. In my opinion, to be a great artist, you need to know how to live first. And really, everything in its ultimate form, is art.
His talk about what makes a good pitch is informing and helpful. He said that only genuine writing and ideas come through. And sometimes in a pitch, less is more.
I really appreciated how honest and open Eric Darnell was when sharing his artistic story. It was definitely not easy to direct one of the earliest CG animation film and then walk away from a big studio name to pursue a life of his own. Hearing about his anxiety of being in a big team and a big company system was not discouraging at all but in fact very relatable. It made me think of what I really want for my career and my personal life. I used to think that being in a big studio automatically means that you will have thousands of audience but Eric said, and I agreed, sometimes one audience is better than a thousand, even if the audience is yourself. It urged me to put more value into myself and my art work. He also said that If you’re an artist and you’re making art and then you’re not failing. That means a lot to me as a student. I really appreciated his talk.
ReplyDeleteChenxue Lu
I’m so thankful for Eric’s words about his experience in the animation industry. Eric Darnell is an animation director, screenwriter, story artist, and producer that worked on various great films like Madagascar and Antz. He brought us through his life as an animator. He started with dreaming of being a doctor but built his own studio and gained lots and lots of success. Working on animation is never an easy thing. Also, working on animation is not about working in big studios and working on famous films. Eric spent years in his basement working on his experimental animated film. His hard-working attitude and story are super inspiring and encouraging. He also brought us through pitching techniques. Less is more always on this point. I like the part he teaches us about character designs. To make successful characters, you need to find a way to love them first. This is very inspiring to me, and I’m sure it will help a lot throughout my career.
ReplyDeleteJiayi Tang
Tangjiay@usc.edu
Thank Eric for sharing his story with us. Last week's seminar was not only packed with information but also touching. Eric's growth experience, academic background, and initial career development all made me surprised by his final achievements. He mentioned his imposter syndrome, which surprised me but also felt reasonable. I often hear women share imposter syndrome and seldom hear socially recognized successful men express this kind of mentality. Knowing that anxiety and burnout are natural to anyone is instructive.
ReplyDeleteHe pointed that artists should fall in love with the characters they create is very interesting, and it is essential to indulge in villains. No matter what kind of characters they are, they should be three-dimensional, not limited to the "typical roles" they play in the story.
Shengluo Zhang
shengluo@usc.edu
Gunjan Dere 2447599576
ReplyDeleteSuch an organic conversation! I would like to take a moment and talk about my interaction with him
I absolutely admired the way he answered my question. VR is something that has been on my mind for a while and it has always perplexed me because of the cinematic vastness it offers. Its not the scale but the immersion, the bare essence of it that really stressed me when I wanted to pitch an idea. I wrote narratives which ended up becoming so convoluted — they lost the essence of the story I wanted to convey. Resulting in me abandoning the project. Eric answered the same thought that frequented my head, ‘what if they choose not to look at the thing I want them to look at’ and honestly in that moment, there was a thought that occurred to me which went like,’ hmm maybe I am on the right thinking path for the journey to become a animation director’ and a certain sense of doom which always led to me feel like,’oh no, i will never get to be in that director seat’ just disappeared.
Eric Darnell has the kind of wisdom that can only come with years of experience, trials and tribulations, and hard work. His motivations for working in animation reinforced my own logic when pursuing this field. I want to spend my life doing something I care about, so that even when everything is going wrong I know it isn’t for nothing because I enjoy it. I read a book a while ago that essentially said “In life you need to choose your problems. The problems need to be worth the effort and even if you fail you won’t have any regrets or feel like it’s wasted time.” This is really a huge part of what Darnell was trying to emphasize for us. He made the point that if you’re going into film thinking you will only be happy if it is successful, then you will never be happy. You work for years hoping that what you’re making will be good, and it may tank for reasons completely unrelated to your talent or effort. My favorite quote of the night was when he said “it's not always going to make you happy and it's and it's going to be hard, because if it was easy everybody would be doing it. You're going to have to push yourself, but you have to love what you're trying to do.” You have to have passion for your stories, characters, and art. Most of what you will make will probably not be any good, but you have to put in the time and love into every project to make the most of a learning experience. After making a ton of work you may not like, the experience will eventually lead to some really great work. The key is not selling yourself short, believing in the process, and trying to enjoy it when you can. I also loved that Darnell said his biggest asset in being a director was an appetite for learning, curiosity about many different things, being humble, and trusting your talent to do what they do best. This is exactly the reason why I am interested in art direction and why I chose this path, so it was really comforting to hear. Being driven by curiosity and loving working with different people and being fascinated by them sounds like an amazing job to have. I definitely resonate with this more than picking one specific role in the pipeline and sticking to it, and it’s relieving to know that this can actually be an asset and not a disadvantage in our industry. I’ve always worried about not being particularly expert at any one thing but being knowledgeable about many different things, thinking it would prevent me from ever getting anywhere. I can’t seem to stop myself from exploring different things, however after listening to Darnell it gave me the confidence to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m really glad he shared his experience and wisdom with us. He’s such a relatable and inspiring person.
ReplyDelete-Nina Ceklic
Vicky Gu (xingyugu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful experience to listen to Eric Darnell talking about his journey to become a co-founder of Baobab Studios. His story has taken me away from my anxiety for the soon-to-be graduate that I am about to become next spring. Many of the guests that we've had were all super lucky when they started their career, (I'm pretty sure they weren't, but that's the first impression I got from a lot of the guests) which made me wonder if we were ever going to be as lucky. I personally was encouraged by Eric to continue on this path of animation when he told us about the hardship he had gone through to come this far. I really appreciate his honesty and I am equally grateful to be able to have Sheila and Christine as my mentors. Eric seemed to be a really awesome director to work with, and I really appreciate the fact that he actually acquaint himself with the different fields of knowledge that goes into a production. I have work with directors that know nothing about the each individual parts of the project and it was a nightmare to communicate with them. I have always been interested in other subjects than just animation/film, so I hope if one day I become a director, I can also become someone like Eric who appreciates artist for their work and understands the different aspects of the production pipeline. Eric's experiences in the field was super relatable and I'm super grateful that he was willing to share his wisdom with us.
Georgina Gonsalves
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated Eric Darnell's visit with us! I admire his passion and drive. It was really impressive that he directed the first animated film from Dreamworks, Antz. I remember watching it as a kid and I was so inspired by it, (and terrified on the part with the decapitated ant). After starting Baobab Studios, it's amazing to see the wide range of works they produce. I really appreciated his talk on the "elevator pitch". This is especially helpful for us to hear as we will be entering the industry soon. I appreciate it when visitors take the time to go into depth with the questions students ask and that is exactly what Eric did. I really liked the fun stories of making movies that he shared with us. My favorite quote from his visit, "It is essential to be interested in the world." Great guest!
ggonsalv@usc.edu
DeleteEric Darnell made a lot of interesting points last week, but the one that stuck out for me was that a director should “know a little about a lot of things.” This really excited me, because as someone who’s struggled with severe ADHD, I’ve always had a habit of collecting new interests. I’ll find some new niche that I haven’t explored, like woodworking, programming, modular synthesizers, game development or close-up magic. Next, I’ll hyperfixate on it and learn everything I can about it before I lose interest, which can be anywhere from days to weeks to months later. This way, I’ve become sort of a jack of all trades, but master of none. I haven’t found much use for any of my “side skills,” but every now and then, it gives me a slight edge or a new perspective to help me solve problems in my animation work. It’s good to hear some more validation from an industry pro that it can help me later in my career as well.
ReplyDelete-Jackson Roberts (jpr02403@usc.edu)
Clara Chou (yuncheng@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate Eric Darnell sharing his career path of becoming a successful director of many films and even a co-founder of a great studio. His advice of doing things that you don’t like is really inspiring. I realized that when I do something that I didn’t enjoy or just something out of my comfort zone, that’s when I learn the most at the end. Also, “what if” is really a great way to get your imagination going and get inspiration from everything in life. All the ideas bounce and one possibility will lead to many other possibilities. I really enjoyed his talk and have learned a lot from it!
Tyler Krantz, tkrantz@usc.edu
ReplyDeletet was great to hear from Eric Darnell last week. I appreciated learning about his career journey, from an undergraduate degree in journalism, to getting his masters at Cal Arts, moving up the ladder to be one of the most successful writers and directors of feature animated films. The way Eric described his time at DreamWorks was incredibly interesting, how he began directing with a heavy hand, before learning the value of focusing on the bigger picture and trusting creatives with the details. I was intrigued to learn about Baobab studios, and Eric’s foray into storytelling through the medium of virtual reality. I am excited to see what projects they release next.
Kacey Layson (klayson@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteEric Darnell’s seminar last week was very inspiring, genuine, and relatable. Eric Darnell has numerous experiences within the industry- currently at Baobab Studios as a Chief creative officer, he has previously taken on directorial roles as Computer Animation Director. He has worked on the Madagascar films, and the first Dreamworks animated feature film Antz.
Eric’s conversations were kept really candid and conversational, I really appreciated how he let us experience how he was feeling. He touched upon feeling imposter syndrome, which I feel a lot of artists, including myself, experience throughout their lives. It was interesting to get a perspective from him, as a director who is successful and has created many films in the industry and how he manages through the tough times. Eric talked about the things that kept him going and allowed him to have some degree of success. He said, “Not that he was a great visionary, but he knew enough about things that he was interested in- such as life, art, science.” To surround yourself with people that know more than you do, and have an interest to learn about anything and everything. Having an open mind to be interested in many other things helped him to become a director. As a director, it’s not a role where you just tell people what to do, but you need to inspire confidence in others. It’s about what the goal is (as a film, or a project) and to inspire them, and the team should feel like they are valued and can take ownership.
As artists and storytellers I think this is super important because collaboration is huge when it comes to animation and filmmaking, and the topics that Eric touched upon are great reminders.
Thank you Eric Darnell for the opportunity to hear your story and experiences!
I really appreciate Eric Darnell's talk about his whole life, and how he becomes a Director in Dreamworks and why he leaves and then creates Baobab Studio. His different backgrounds and courage to make change really touch me. This reminds me how I decide to change from learning computer science to animation. Eric actually had a pretty hard and painful time when he begins to make his own film, but he insists on doing what he wants and what he likes. Although the story behind the successful people always sound so easy, but the truth is seldom people can really do like him. The idea of giving up is something always appear in my head when I met difficulties. However, Eric's life is really cheering people up. Moreover, I found the reason Eric decides to leave Dreamworks is also interesting and inspiring to me. I really appreciate his choice because he chooses something harder, which he has always done. Having a studio is also one of my dream in the future, so his suggestions and life experiences are all very helpful to me. I have learnt that finding the good and interesting side of the life is really important.
ReplyDeleteSiqi Fu
siqifu@usc.edu
One of the greatest motivations that lead me to the path of animation was seeing an introduction video of the animation’s production from the DreamWorks’ Madagascar team. So It is meaningful to me to have the opportunity to hear the presentation from Eric. I was resonated with the words that he said about the struggle of finding the career path, and how he use the alternative experience and different fields of interest as his advantages in directing. I also appreciate the genuine and practical advices he gave us about going for director career or establishing a studio by ourselves.
ReplyDeletelrsu@usc.edu
Lydia Su
Jessica Wu
ReplyDeletewujessic@usc.edu
Eric’s lecture surprised me in a good way. Madagascar was a childhood favorite of mine. And I thought the director would be hard to approach because he’s such a well-known director. But instead, he was really down to earth and shared his journey with us. He shared how he got into Calarts for graduate school. And how he was a waiter for a while. I really appreciate that he was willing to be vulnerable with us when talking about a conversation he had with Christine. It is somehow comforting to know that an established director like him was also once lost. Last but not least, he also talked about his experience working at a big studio. And how he dealt with imposter syndrome. In general, I really enjoyed his talk.
I am so impressed with all of our guest speakers, every week I feel that I have a favorite. I really appreciated Eric Darnell’s passion, kindness, compassion and empathy, it truly identified with me. Darnell’s journey was so inspirational and not only that, I identified with him in that instant where I wasn’t sure what I was doing, why I am doing it, and I couldn’t feel the real me. That moment made me realize that I have to make a change to my life and find my path to my real journey and message.
ReplyDeleteMy take from his talk, is that it’s good to experiment with a lot of different materials and to learn new skills, something will click and you’ll find your way. I love learning and will continue to enjoy it, and will take every opportunity to be confident and grow. One really important piece of his story is to enjoy what you are doing and love it! Even if you are the only person watching your animation or admiring your work! That was really nice to hear. I also thought it was so clear and impactful to think that it’s not so important to work for a big company, you can start up your own thing and be good at it and become something big. This really resonates with me as I’ve always wanted to join Pixar and still want to, but I want to learn from them and then start up my own studio in the future.
Looking forward to seeing our next speaker and hearing her story!
Thanks,
Dina
ReplyDeleteEric Darnell was a breath of fresh air , his experience and journey traveling through the industry was not one we heard as it was more self reflective than other speakers we’ve had. First off he got into grad school when he was in his late 20 I can relate as I myself am 27 and its my first year here. Right off the bat he caught my attention because Eric was were I am now. Thus I would be able to learn a lot about his experiences.
I have never heard of the term Imposter Syndrome until Eric addressed it. Once he addressed it it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. He described every emotion Ive ever felt while traversing through the industry. IM not the only person to have feel this way an I have absolute nothing to fear but fear itself.
Something he said that will always stick with me, just because your work isn’t a good doesn’t mean you as a person aren’t good. In a nutshell in order to be good you have to produce mediocre work in order to learn and produce better work.
Eric also talked about how negativity poisons the environment in other words if you are a negative person your attitude will poison the work environment. In order to avoid this positivity is key, This really spoke to me as I have been the negative person and I had no idea that my attitude was affectedly affecting the team I was working with on the time.
Eric talked about a lot of useful information but what stuck with me the most was the self reflection and mental health parts that no one ever talks about. He made me feel empowered, its okay to feel these emotion but the goal is to overcome these emotions and move forward. I struggle a lot with mental health issues and Eric made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Im very glad I he came because without his speech im pretty sure I would be having a panic attack at this point in time but if Eric can overcome his inner demons so CAN I!
Pedro Chinchilla
Eric's backstory was super fun to listen to. Especially learning that he switched to journalism so he could get his hands on a film camera. That's the kind of passion for art that I find so encouraging. Especially since I was on track to become an investment banker or an accountant for the majority of my life so I can really relate to a big career/life change. Looking back, it's crazy to think how much of Eric's work I have seen growing up. Madagascar and Antz were some of my favorite movies. I also lost my mind when he mentioned he worked with Noah Baumbach I loved hearing him mentioning that he was a waiter for 5 years while working on his film and that he was happy and content with that lifestyle was reassuring to hear. It was also amazing that Stan Brakhage was his professor because I remember his work from Christine's History of Animation class and that Eric himself was inspired to work in Stan's style. That was also awesome to hear. All in all, this talk would be worth revisiting because it was full of amazing gems and so much wisdom. I particularly loved his response of "with alcohol and marijuana" about how he manages working in a tough situation. By far my favorite guest so far.
ReplyDelete- Armando
Today, I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you, Sheila, Christine, and Eric. Because meeting Eric and hearing from him, might be a turning point for me as an artist. As I have mentioned during the QnA in last week's seminar, I was told that such a thing as "Narrative VR Film" cannot exist; because freedom of vision(perspective) and film grammar(cinematography) are incompatible. My wild curiosities were turned down and even though I wanted to believe that it was still possible, I found myself leaning more and more to the pessimistic side too. I eventually talked myself just to focus on what I could do and enjoy in more realistic terms, which was storyboarding. The core was my love for storytelling, so I felt like I could settle with boarding. (Which still is the main option for me, honestly.) However, there was always this spark of curiosity about the possibilities that Virtual Reality could offer as a platform for telling stories. And that small spark turn into a huge fire when I found out about Baobab studio! I think it was an amazing choice for me to volunteer for Eric's introduction. Because on the way, researching about his life, works, and his present, I found hope. Hope that this was an actual thing going on and something that is actually working well! Although I agree with Eric about the awards(Oscar, Annie, etc) not being the sole key point, I personally think that it is as much as important as the rest. Because publication and recognition matter, especially when you are trying to talk about a social topic and you want more people to hear out your stories. And this also leads to my dilemma of choosing the safe and stable way and the more adventurous yet tempting way. But like Christine told Eric, and what Eric's life story told me, I think I might take a step into the unknown, to infinity and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI want to end this journal with Christine's wise words: Keep doing what you are doing, and you’ll get to where you are.
- Aloha Lee / haekyung@usc.edu
Eric's presentation inspired me greatly. As a huge fan of his works from a very young age, i was super excited to listen to his creative experience and the process as well as difficulties in making those projects that in the end amaze the entire world. He shared a lot of deep insight in not only film making, but also in art creating itself. One thing he told us about being an artist is that, we don't need qualification to be an artist, so as long as we are making art, creating things that we like, it will be rewarding. Another thing that is super inspiring to me is that, if we set making a film that will in the end be successful as our goal to be an artist, we will never feel fulfilled since there is no guarantee that what we created will be successful, only if we really enjoy creating art itself, enjoy the process of making things that we like, we will feel rewarding along the entire journey. Thank you Eric for sharing these deep insight of art and life with us, i was deeply inspired and have learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteRui Han ( ruihan@usc.edu )
"Be Curious about Life" I absolutely loved hearing Eric speak as well as his philosophy on how to keep your wits about you in the entertainment industry! He was full of rich stories and experiences and I enjoyed hearing about his views on the importance of having a broad range of interests in order to increase your ability to connect with others. Going from studying journalism to codirecting a movie and talking to Hans Zimmer about Music! wow. truly inspiring. I really admired his drive and tenacity when he was describing his experience in realizing Madagascar as well as his tip on how to always make sure you bring your A-game. Eric's creative notes on how to keep an elevator pitch lively and engaging were also very helpful as well! the overall seminar felt very conversational, insightful, and very down-to-earth. It was truly a pleasure having him in class!
ReplyDeleteAdriel ameka@usc.edu
Eric Darnell was such a great guest to have this past week. I enjoyed his passion and the honesty that he brought to the discussion. As he reflected on the path of his career, I was really inspired by his dedication to pursuing his goals and persistence to tell the stories he wanted to have come to life. From journalism to the latest in VR storytelling he was persistent in his ambitions. What resonated most to me about Eric was his thoughts on the quality of life as an artist. He brought to the table a perspective that it was a privilege to be doing he loved to do. He spoke about having such enthusiasm when he was working on his personal film but also waiting tables to make ends meet during the day. He said he didn’t mind because was just doing what he loved to do and I saw that as just a tremendous show of character which I respect. It was just amazing to hear how simple story fundamentals transition over to a frameless medium like VR. Very exciting advancements in animation and I’m looking forward to seeing what Eric and Baobab Studios do next.
ReplyDeleteKaisey kmccalli@usc.edu
I really enjoyed Eric Darnell's presentation last week! Coming from a journalism background and even worked multiple jobs at the same time, Eric strived hard to made his way up and pursue his dream. Hearing Eric's personal story, I found it very emotional and touching. I respect Eric's dedication, even in the hard times, he chose to take Christine's advice and continued to do what his doing, which is the most important thing. To me, those are some very precious words, because sometimes students like me often doubt ourselves, don't know if we are doing the right thing, while the only thing we should really focus on is keep doing what's in front of us. Eric's enthusiasm on film-making also inspires me a lot, not only he gave great tips on pitching ideas, but also he told us to never stop being curious in life. As an animator, it is crucial for us to wonder about the world, to be imaginative and creative, we should never stop learning new stuff, and Eric reminds me of that. Thank you for the amazing lecture, Eric!
ReplyDeleteSydney Chen (pinghsin@usc.edu)