Pixar Layout Reel (2020)

A reel of my previs work for my personal projects and at Pixar Animation Studios

Reel Breakdown

Onward

Sequence 1 (00:05) – (01:02): In this sequence, the protagonists Ian and Barley attempt to sneak their father, who is only reanimated from the waist below, into the van parked in front of their home. The comedy from this scene comes from how poorly the brothers have disguised their father, and the increasingly incredulous look of their neighbors as they struggle to keep up with the façade, making covering this short distance seem embarrassingly long. Staging characters along such a tight space while maintaining the illusion of a long journey was the most significant challenge in the scene, accompanied by maintaining the line of action across various shots from different angles.

Sequence 2 (01:03) – (01:37): The focus of this sequence was to maintain a sense of mystery and suspense along the brother’s ride to the Manticore’s Tavern, a place where a fearful warrior supposedly could fully revive their father before the reanimation spell wears off forever. The challenge here was accommodating three characters and a rather large prop (Ian’s staff) within the van without clipping through the geometry. It was revealed after this assignment that Ian’s staff had a custom rigging control that allowed it to shrink and stretch as needed.

What This Place Meant

Sequence 1 (01:55) – (02:03): The storyboards for this sequence were largely unchanged during production. Pre-visualization for this scene was created in Houdini. This required me to reproduce the camera from the live-action plate in a virtual environment.

The camera's movement was meant to convey a sense of chaos and urgency, almost as if the audience were trying to escape the basement as well in desperation. The cutaway shot to the fire burning through the attic uses a greater DOF to briefly jolt Isaiah into the real world and force him to face this new reality.

Sequence 2 (02:04) – (02:36): We had to rely on the zoom lens to obtain this tight framing. It was meant to convey Isaiah's sense of helplessness after the fire and uncertainty with this sudden change, effectively leaving him feeling trapped.