Here's the answers from John to his Q&A. Hope you like what he's put down
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John Pozer Q&A about BEAST WARS - January 16, 2010
Q. 1. On Feral Scream Part One, everyone or everyone I knew seem to know that the mutant cat was Cheetor. Did you guys make it obvious because you didn’t want the audience to believe that you killed another character (well, until the second part reveals he is alive and the transmetal II cat) like Dinobot was. Or was it an accident that it was obvious?
JP: In the closed world of Beast Wars, it’s difficult to introduce a brand new character. It was a design of the script to try and hide the identity of the mutant cat for as long as possible, and that’s where some scripts break down in the transition from script to screen. How do we engage the mutant cat in the visual world and not reveal it? Because of this, there were many difficult scenes to figure out and lots of discussion on how it could be done. It was a Jekyll & Hyde story basically and it brought all of that familiarity with it, so I‘m not surprised when you say that savvy viewers were ahead of the story. It happens. The shadow play and point of view approaches I used were only as effective as the design of the script in concealing the identity. Cheetor was a popular and much loved character, so I think the script walked a fine line to not be too dark. The fight with Megatron, as written, was an especially challenging scene to visualize. How could this shadow character defeat Megatron in a one-on-one fight without being seen? I brought in the idea of the whirling ’Tasmanian Devil’ gag and that ultimately sends Megatron spinning like a top off the edge of the cliff.
Q. 2. In ‘The Law of the Jungle’, how much of your own beliefs influenced the internal struggle in Tigatron and it’s eventual resolution? Do you believe that there are some things worth engaging in violence over?
JP: This is a two part question. ‘Law of the Jungle’ was a more serious episode dealing with the loss of a loved one, the moral choices one makes, and the internal struggle of those choices. It was an emotional episode and, as always, I had excellent creative help at every stage of the production. To direct any show I start out by loving all my characters and I try to put myself into each character and their situation as much as I can. It’s critical that I find something in every character and every line that I can relate to. As a director, I’m not writing the scripts - I interpret them. The second part of your question, without being too long-winded or philosophical, I believe that we should all make every effort to resolve any conflict in a reasonable, rational way before it escalates to violence. But in the world of Beast Wars - I like to see a good fight.
Q. 3. In ‘Double Dinobot’, we see Megatron create a clone, who then causes trouble for the Maximals. In ‘Law of the Jungle’, we see Tigatron doubt his own willingness to fight for either side in the Beast Wars. And in ‘Feral Scream’, Cheetor’s rebellion comes to a head, he almost dies for it, and in the ened he becomes a different character – physically and mentally. These plots all have to do with finding and solidifying one’s identity. Is that, then, one of the themes you prefer to write? What other concepts do you enjoy writing about?
JP: As a director for Beast Wars, I’m given a script. And I don’t really have a chance to select my scripts, it’s more a matter of getting paired with the material and then getting after it. I was pleased with all the scripts. Double Dinobot was my first show. I enjoyed the idea and the fun and chaos that the Dinobot clone caused. Eating the clone at the end was kind of edgy, but the comic tone prevailed. Currently I’m writing a feature horror script, ‘Demonhood.’ I also have a suspense-thriller feature, ‘Zipper’ that I’m trying to finance.
Q. 4. How did you first get involved with directing?
JP: I got involved with directing after many years in theatre and television as an actor. I went on to study film, television, theatre, and creative writing at university. Eventually I wrote, directed, produced and edited a low-budget feature film, “The Grocer’s Wife”, which opened the Cannes Film Festival Critic’s Week.
Q. 5. Were you aware of or did you even like Transformers before you worked on Beast Wars?
JP: I knew the toys. I wasn’t really familiar with the Transformers world. Luckily for me the show had a good ’bible’ - a term for the series backstory and character history - which was great to read. Also, before starting on the show I watched all the previously produced Beast Wars episodes.
Q. 6. How did you land the job of directing a Beast Wars episode?
JP: I got the job from Producer Jonathan Goodwill who had brought in live action directors to helm the episodes. This was a departure for the production company, Mainframe, which had another animated series going but only hired animators or people with previous animation experience. Jonathan’s decision brought a new dynamic to Beast Wars and in short time the show was a top favourite in numerous markets.
Q. 7. Did you storyboard the episode before the CGI work started?
JP: There’s always some pencil sketches going on whether it’s live action or animation. But I did bring a ‘storyboard artist’ in for an action scene in ‘Other Visits - Part One’. It was another one of my favourite scenes. I was brought in as the ‘hatchet man’. I had to ‘kill off’ two characters: Tigatron and Air Razor. I decided to kill them in the most dramatic and agonizing way that I could imagine. I also saw their blossoming romance as a chance to have the first Transformers kiss… they would kiss and then they would die! As the scene developed, just as they lean in to kiss, I had the alien plant life attack them. That was fun. So, yes, I did specifically storyboard some action scenes. Other times I would just do thumbnail sketches.
Q. 8. How would you go about the process of directing a show that is entirely CGI?
JP: Directing a show that’s entirely CGI was hard for me to imagine at first. Ultimately, over multiple episodes, I tried many different approaches. It’s hard to succinctly explain, but with any script, you hope that you’ll get some strong visual ideas from the first read. Then you have to fit your ideas into the production budget, structure and schedule. And then there’s the talent, experience and relationship you have with your animation team. With my first episode of Beast Wars we were set up in two rooms, one was the directing suite with myself, an editor, and a Supervising Animator. The second room was the animators suite with eight computers and a mix of senior, middle and junior animators. Before my first day on the job I’ve done a lot of work and prep. I usually have a pretty good idea of where I’m going style-wise and shot-wise before the episode formally starts up. I have about eight weeks to get the episode done. Day one is a mix of a read-through with the animators, each playing different parts. Then we start figuring out how to dole out the work. Some of the artists wanted to do certain scenes and we’d discuss their ideas for it. I also have my preliminary ideas sketched out, and the key is to get each animator working as quickly as possible on a shot. After that, the challenge is to keep all eight artists working steadily and getting the job done on time. All the episodes have a required length for broadcast, so we select each line of dialogue that we’ll use and assemble it like a radio show and see how it runs for timing. That’s another job for the first day. As we continue to build the ‘sound’ of each scene, and before any animation is done for a shot with dialogue, I like to sweeten the dialogue with little sound extras called walla. Walla is a bank of character sounds recorded in a voice session that we can add to a line or an action. There’s giggles and laughs and grunts, etc. In ’Other Visits - Part One’, I built the entire exchange of laughs between Megatron and Tarantulas using walla. Megatron starts it off with a giggle and Tarantulas giggles, too. Then they laugh. And they work themselves into hysterics before being interrupted by Optimus Primal. Again, these are additions that I’m doing independent of the script, and I start by building it in the sound track, then when we’re happy with it we assign it to one of the artists to animate it. Anywhere along the process things can change. But once you‘ve got an animator committed on a shot, it‘s not a good idea to change things up. The animators do tests and the work proceeds in stages. The shot is assigned, the test comes in from the animator, the test is adjusted or tweaked, then it’s reviewed again, and so on, until I approve it. Then it’s sent to be rendered with all the final textures. When we get the final render back, we might trim a few frames off the head or tail. It’s a long process, hopefully my answer gives you a rough idea.
Q. 9. Did you ever let the writers have any say in the final product or were you given free reign to do what you thought was best?
JP: It all starts with the script and then there are approvals for any changes along the way. There’s so much energy put into the writing of the episode, and that’s done before I even step in. But I see the whole process, ideally, as a collaboration. I’ve written several scripts and I always welcome a good idea to any story that makes it better, funnier, smarter, or whatever. So as Director, I’m part of the team and I’m throwing in my ideas after I‘ve read the script. In the episode “Other Visits - Part One,” I had to make a very convincing argument to change the alien technology into the plant form that it finally took. It was more an effort of winning over the Producer rather than the writers. Ultimately, I was very pleased with the way it all worked out. Another example is one of my all-time favourite fight scenes where Inferno and Rhinox punch it out like ‘rock’em sock’em robots’. It wasn’t scripted, I just pitched it and got the nod to go for it. BEAST WARS was a pretty unique situation and you really have to credit the Producers for creating an environment that got so much creative energy out of the teams. Jonathan was great with story and he also knew a good idea when he heard one.
Q. 10. Did you ever change anything within the script to make an episode better?
JP: Yes. Sometimes it was a subtle adjustment like minor additions or reductions. And sometimes it was more substantial. A few examples come to mind. First, the opening shot of ‘Laws of the Jungle’ was an add to the script that I created to set up the episode. You might recall it - a dragonfly buzzes into frame and gets snapped up by a frog, which is eaten by a snake, which is then grabbed and carried off by an eagle. It was a fun, effective addition that started the show off with a strong visual statement to set up the story we’re about to tell. I like that. Another fun change I made involved the introduction of the fire ant character, Inferno. Character intros are really important and it’s my responsibility as the director to bring the strongest, most memorable entrance to the show. Inferno was a hard one to solve. As the episode developed, the fight scenes weren’t working and the motivation for the fights seemed strained. I wanted something better, something more. It was kind of a fluke, but I went back to the original voice recordings and listened to everything - not just the dialogue but everything that was recorded - all the ’in-betweens’ where the actors talk candidly or discuss a delivery with the voice director. During this review, I found a great snippet where Jim Byrne, the voice of Inferno, was speaking right into the mic to the voice director. She wanted him to ‘attack’ one of the lines, and he said, jokingly, “Attack? Attack. AAATTAAACK!!”. I almost fell out of the chair. It was perfect. Total Berserker! It wasn’t scripted. It wasn’t a line of dialogue or part of the character build or back story, but it worked. Now he was dangerous, and I loved that. We cut that ‘lost’ bit of sound into the show and it just took off. Every show needs a good berserker. I always wished I was a fly on the wall when Jim Byrnes and the voice director saw the episode.
Q. 11. Do you prefer directing animation or working with actors on a set?
JP: Beast Wars episodes start with the actors doing their performance read. Most of these recording sessions were handled by one voice director, however I did have a chance to sit in occasionally. The actors establish the energy and intention for every line of dialogue in the episode. It’s only a voice performance so there’s no staging involved. I like directing actors on a set as I get the full control of the performance. For me, the composition of a frame is important for the emotional intention of the shot. It’s also fun to work out moves, poses, gestures and positions with actors. It’s a chance to figure out where a gesture may be strongest or a move might provide another layer to the scene. I began my career in the theatre as an actor, so I have an affinity for actors and working on a live set. However, and it is a BIG ’however’, I love the ‘acting’ skills that each animator brings to a character. In computer animation, or at least in Beast Wars, each animator was my ‘actor’ and ‘camera operator’. We’d basically ‘act the scenes out’ and discuss the shots we’d need to tell the story, so I found the ‘director/animator’ dialogue a really creative and fulfilling experience. A live set has different variables such as tighter time constraints, larger crews, difficult locations, technical challenges. Directing animation and live action are different situations with different appeal. In a perfect world, I’d do more of both!
Q. 12. Do you ever look back on the episodes you directed and think about things you would do differently now?
JP: Hmmm… Yes. It’s hard not to. At the early stages of CGI in the ‘90’s there were limitations in what could be done technically. And as well, Beast Wars used animators with a wide range of experience. There were some who were straight out of school and did their ‘first shots’ on my episodes. And then there were seasoned veterans who were pushing the boundaries of the medium. So, yeah, sometimes there’d be some things I’d like to change. In television production there’s a directorial responsibility and level of discipline that needs to be maintained in the work flow. A director or team can ‘tweak’ and ‘finesse’ a single shot for hours, days, or longer - but that kind of attention to detail is more suited for a feature production.
Q. 13. Would you like to get involved with another era of Transformers if the opportunity came along?
JP: Definitely! Working on the show was a tremendous creative experience, and I think a major reason for this was the freedom granted to the directors and animation teams. The conceptual continuity of the follow-up series, Beast Machines brought in some new advances in technology which allowed us greater visual possibilities, new textures, and more expressive lighting, etc. Now we’ve got James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ technology creating all sorts of new possibilities - so, yes, I see a future Transformers production as being something I would absolutely dive into. Whole-heartedly. The story-telling possibilities in computer animation just get better and better.
Q. 14. Out of all the Beast Wars episodes you directed, is there one that gave you more satisfaction than the others?
JP: Out of the Beast Wars episodes I directed, I guess the first one -‘Double Dinobot’ gave me the greatest pleasure. It was really exciting to jump into my first 100% CGI experience and my producer, Jonathan, was very supportive and encouraging. I was also fortunate to have a strong supervising animator, Adam Wood. A big part of the joy of any production, for me, is derived from the creative relationships with the people I’m working with and pulling together as a team to make the best show possible. That can be a demanding and difficult task at times, but Beast Wars was a consistently positive experience.
Q. 15. What else have you done directing wise since your work on Beast Wars?
JP: Since the Beast Wars series formally finished I’ve had the opportunity of directing various television shows including a wild and crazy MTV musical comedy series called ‘2Gether’ (which was a lot of fun), a Disney Channel paranormal series called ‘So Weird’ which was sort of cross between X-files and The Partridge Family starring MacKenzie Phillips (from American Graffiti fame), a cop show ‘Cold Squad’, ‘The Collector’ tv series, as well as ‘The Sausage Factory’ which was Adam Brody’s (The O.C.) first half-hour comedy series, plus I executive produced and edited the feature film “Kissed”, as well as consulting on and producing a couple of others. I also teach directing, writing, and give filmmaking lectures at various schools and production centers. I haven’t done any other CGI work, but I’d love to. And I’m available!
Q. 16. Where can anyone find more information about you and your work?
JP: Anyone can find more information about me at my new website - www.pozervision.com Hey, become a fan on the Pozervision Facebook page if you like! It’s a relatively new site. I plan to put up some more clips and tips on film and animation in the months ahead.
All the best,
John Pozer
Woops.
