Layout with James Williams

In the second of a series of production diaries, James Williams talks about creating the layout for Sony Pictures Animation's 3D-animated feature, Surf's Up.

by James Williams

Matte painting layer of island and sky. All artwork © 2007 Sony Pictures Animation.

Cinematically, Surf's Up was a unique and exciting challenge for the layout department. From the very beginning the directors were determine to make sure that every shot had the look and feel of a reality show or documentary. To achieve this type of organic spontaneity, and to maintain it throughout the movie, we knew we had to have a camera manipulation tool that was more intuitive and sensitive than the traditional keyboard and mouse. Fortunately, Sony has a great deal of experience with motion capture and they were able to draw upon an enormous technical talent pool to build a great tool that could fulfill our specific needs. Basically, our input device is a single point motion capture system mounted on an old Sony video camera. The camera itself is really just there for weight and balance, but Sony was able to hook up the eyepiece so that the operator could experience the shot just as if they were actually on set. Also, an additional device was attached to the side of the camera so that we could have a zoom lens. We also optimized the geometry in our shots so that we could play back the character animation and record the camera data in realtime. Not only did this system give us the ability to capture real camera movement, it also immersed the layout artist into the shot.

Render of fx white water elements, including white water, lip spray, white water mist, beach break white water and rock splashes; render of ocean/wave; final composite image showing matte painting, rendered island elements and foliage, rendered ocean/wave, fx lipspray, white water, white water mist, surfing penguins and beach penguins.

This relationship between the camera operator and the subject manifested itself in many ways. Primarily it made us aware of the actual distance between the camera and the character and how we operated the camera changed subtly because of this. Each character in the movie interacts with the camera in different ways. For instance, Cody, the young, enthusiastic protagonist loves the idea of being in a movie but he is so hyperactive and excitable that he is constantly running out of frame. In order to capture his performance, we tended to use a lens with a fairly wide angle so as not to lose him. Reggie, an ego-maniacal surf promoter, is constantly playing to the camera. In Reggie's case, we could be as intrusive with the camera as we wanted to be. The Geek, however, is a world-weary hermit who is suspicious of the camera and sometimes openly hostile to being filmed. Such a character would never allow us to film him consciously, so for much of the movie we positioned ourselves either as far away as possible and tried to shoot candid footage with a long lens or we found ourselves hiding behind rocks or foliage. Another benefit of this system was being able to capture the unintentional reaction of the camera operator to the character's performance. This meant that some of the most convincing camera shots were captured on the very first take. For example, there is a shot in the movie where Cody spontaneously grabs his surf's board and swings it around towards the camera in order to prevent the Geek from standing on it at which point he almost hits the camera and the camera operator instinctively jumps back. What these kind of shots lacked in compositional precision was more than made up for by the feeling of spontaneity and authenticity. We also became aware of the fact that by capturing a live camera performance we were also able to convey the mood of the camera operator to the audience. This allowed us to make the camera crew a true participant in the action and made the camera operator a real character in the movie. Again, David Schaub and his crew were extremely patient and understanding in these instances and would go back and fix the eye lines once the final camera was approved.

Render of fx white water elements including white water, lip spray, white water mist, beach break white water and rock splashes; Render of ocean/wave; final composite image showing matte painting, rendered island elements and foliage, rendered ocean/wave, fx lipspray, white water, white water mist, surfing penguins and beach penguins.

Incorporating the motion capture camera system into the pipeline required more flexibility and a greater degree of co-operation between the animation and layout departments than you would usually find on an animation production. The initial character and camera blocking was done in rough layout but for the more complex sequences David Schaub and his animation team would help to choreograph the action by performing the sequence live while synchronizing their performance to the recorded dialog. The layout crew would then shoot the action with real video cameras. This provided layout with invaluable reference as to how to block the shots but it also allowed animation and layout to really collaborate on ideas which more closely resembled the synergy that is achieved on a live-action set than anything I have ever done in animation before. The rough layout cameras were very simple and gave the animator a basic idea of where the camera would eventually be in the shot. Animation would then animate to these cameras but would wait for the final motion captured camera before polishing their performance. This was especially true when the character broke the fourth wall by addressing the camera directly or cast a furtive glance in the direction of the camera. In these instances the smallest adjustment to the camera position was enough to completely throw off the eye line of the character. Again David Schaub and his crew were extremely patient and understanding in these instances and would go back and fix the eye lines once the final camera was approved.

Render of ocean/wave; render of foliage and island elements; render of sand and island rocks.

Another issue with simulating a documentary camera style is deciding up front how many setups you intend to cover a sequence with and sticking to it. This was a rule that we decided to abide by from the very beginning of production. This made us very conscious of how we were going to cover the action but we also had to keep in mind that, on a real documentary shoot, the crew doesn't necessarily know what the subjects are going to do. There are many instances on Surf's Up where the action takes the characters away from the camera setup and makes it impossible for us to justify a close up or repositioning the camera to get ideal composition. But, ultimately, it was these very constraints that helped us find a style for the movie and allowed us to make choices that, I think, make Surf's Up stand out as a unique animation experience.

Final composite image showing matte painting, rendered island elements and foliage, rendered ocean/wave, fx lip spray and whitewater.

James Williams is a layout supervisor at Sony Pictures Animation who most recently served in that capacity on Surf's Up. Prior to Surf's Up, Williams worked on Open Season and The Polar Express. Before joining Sony Pictures Imageworks/Sony Pictures Animation, Williams worked on such projects as Space Jam, The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado. Williams is from Wales, U.K.