6 TIPS FROM PETER DOCTER FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO MAKE THEIR OWN FILM

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Pixar will undoubtedly be one of the first studios that comes to mind when "animated film" is mentioned. Pixar is one of the strongest brands in the industry with its successful productions and the characters that make these productions unforgettable. In this respect, it is also a success story that many new animators, animation directors and screenwriters dream of becoming partners with!

Pete Docter, the winner of 2 Oscars, who wrote and directed the big hit animated films such as Toy Story 1 – 2, Wall-E, Up, Monster Inc. and Inside Out; Undoubtedly, it is one of the names that make Pixar Pixar.

Let's learn the secret of this success from Docter and examine together Docter's 6 recommendations to those who want to make their own movie...

Don't Expect Perfection on Your First Try

Especially for film creators who are new to the industry, it can be frustrating to rework and rework things until they get it working. But as Docter pointed out at a fundraiser in 2011, reworking a movie several times is inevitable:

“Get rid of the idea that you're going to do everything right the first time, because animation is a complex and organic process.”

Keep Practicing

As with any art, mastering filmmaking takes years of experience. In an interview with KTCS9 in 2015, Docter states that the most important thing that anyone who wants to improve their art needs is practice:

“The first thing I'm going to say is get things done. You no longer have excuses. You can even make movies with your iPhone. With your Mac, you can cut scenes and do something with just a small investment. You can start by making your own projects. Think of it this way; Would you go to someone who has never played the guitar before and say, 'Okay, you're giving a concert now'? That would be silly. This also applies to filmmaking. What you need to do is practice a lot… The more you do; the better, the more you learn, the more you understand.”

When Docter was asked to give advice to young film creators in an interview with DVDizzy in 2009, he points to this item and makes a similar statement:

“Many people say to me, 'I'm thinking of making an animated movie. Don't think, do it! DO! Today's technology has made filmmaking from home easier than ever before. I had a teacher who said to me, 'You have ten thousand drawings to make until you reach the good ones. So start drawing as soon as possible,' he would say. This is also true for movies (although you do each of them thinking they are works of genius).

In a 2009 letter to a middle school teacher seeking advice for his students, Docter states the importance of hard work as well as loving what you do:

“Dear middle schooler, do what you love to do! And keep doing it and work hard! Eventually, you'll find that passion and hard work beat natural talent. When you do what you love anyway, you won't see it as 'work'."

The following words, spoken by Docter to the Daily Bruin in 2015, sum up the matter:

“What I would say would be to say 'Do it'. There is always a way to do something. I mean, I used to think that some people are talented in some subjects and others are not. But the real truth is that everyone needs to practice. We don't give a boy a violin and say, 'See you tonight at your big concert at Carnagie Hall. It takes years of practice to do something well. This is true in all arts. The more you do something, the better you do it. Although this is stressful, the more you show up in front of people and show them what you do, the better you will understand how to communicate with people, in fact, the basis of this work is communication itself.”

Make a List

When it comes to creative work like writing and filmmaking, something as practical as making a list is unlikely to be inspiring. However, at the Oscar dinner in 2016, Docter gives the following advice on ensuring originality in your work:

“Know that the key is to dig deeper and make lists. I know this is strange, but it is important to find many alternatives to a solution to a problem. E.g; How can I save my character from this pit? I can climb it. OK, but that would be boring. I can use the stairs. But there are no stairs around… By asking questions in this way, reduce your list to 20 solutions. That way, you'll eventually find the solution where you'll say, 'Wow, that would be interesting!'"

Docter also recommends making a list when you have a creativity shortage, and explains this in the book “Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration”:

“One of the tricks I've learned over the years has been to force myself to make a list of fixing what went wrong. I have found that by doing so I can usually reduce many minor problems to two or three main groups of problems. This showed me that things weren't really that bad after all. It's so much better to have a few major problems that have an obvious end than to have that irrational feeling that makes you think everything is a mess.”

Challenge Yourself

One of the ways Docter has used to overcome his creative ups and downs is to push himself. In an interview with Ad Age in 2015, Docter states that this substance doesn't necessarily have to play a role in coming up with good ideas, but it's quite effective at sending the message to your brain that you need good ideas:

“People sometimes call it 'writer's block', but for me, a drop in creativity is like someone laughing at my new haircut. It's a demoralizing force for me: I lose confidence and all my ideas seem silly. My approach to this situation is to force myself to weed out the good ideas. Most of the time this doesn't come up with anything, but it sends the message 'Damn, this is important' to my brain, forcing it to work harder, and good ideas come when I don't look for them anyway. I'm trying to skip the 'banging my head on the wall' part of this phase, but unfortunately that too is a necessary element of the process.”

Take Care of Your Characters

Pixar is undoubtedly one of the most successful studios in creating characters whose adventures and journeys leave an unforgettable impression on the audience. In an interview published in Artella in 2015, Docter gives a lot of advice on story development, sets character relationships apart and explains the importance of relationships between characters in connecting with the audience with these words:

“If there is one thing I would like to highlight for you, it would be this: focus on the relationships of your characters! This is the main thing we care about as humans. Could there be another reason why we like gossip so much? Or the fact that we spend the majority of our lives around other people… Whether you have as many great jokes as you want, you create as wonderful a world as you want, or you have a great subject and message, your film will only make an impact on the audience through the evolving and changing relationships between your characters.”

Be Specific

When you're making a movie, you usually want it to somehow resonate with everyone. In an interview that took place at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, Docter touches on this issue and explains that his desire to balance work and fatherhood is Monster's Inc. While describing how he inspired himself in the story of his movie (Monsters Inc.), he states that the main thing to do is to be specific rather than creating a general story:

“The more specific you are in your storytelling, the greater the impact you will have. While no one gets anything out of your story when you try to generalize, the more you make your story specific and personal, the more impact you will have on the audience.”

Source: Film School Rejects