{"id":37523,"date":"2019-12-17T13:31:40","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T13:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/?p=37523"},"modified":"2019-12-17T13:47:54","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T13:47:54","slug":"evolution-laika-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/evolution-laika-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of LAIKA – Q&A with Chris Butler and Oliver Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday 8th December LAIKA and Picturehouse Central came together to present the special event Missing Link and the Evolution of LAIKA<\/a>, a Retrospective of the studio\u2019s films to date. As well as screening all of its major feature film releases \u2013 <\/strong><\/em>Coraline<\/a><\/strong> (2009), <\/strong><\/em>ParaNorman<\/a><\/strong> (2012), <\/strong><\/em>The Boxtrolls<\/a><\/strong> (2014), <\/strong><\/em>Kubo and the Two Strings<\/a><\/strong> (2016) and <\/strong><\/em>Missing Link<\/a><\/strong> (2019) \u2013\u00a0the event also featured onstage Q&As with Chris Butler<\/a> (writer\/director of <\/strong><\/em>Missing Link<\/strong> and <\/strong><\/em>ParaNorman<\/strong>) and Oliver Jones<\/a> (Director of Practical Effects at LAIKA) as well as an exhibition of LAIKA puppets and dioramas at the venue.
\nOn top of recently receiving eight Annie Award<\/a> nominations, the studio’s latest stop-motion feature <\/strong><\/em>Missing Link<\/strong> is among the nominees for the 77th Golden Globe Awards<\/a> in the Best Motion Picture \u2013 Animated category.
\n<\/strong><\/em>This lucky writer was able to catch up with Chris and Oliver to talk about <\/strong><\/em>Missing Link<\/strong>, their professional collaboration and LAIKA\u2019s work in general.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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L-R: Julia Young, ‘Susan’, Chris Butler & Oliver Jones (Image courtesy of WDW)<\/p><\/div>\n

You guys have worked together a long time, haven\u2019t you? I think Corpse Bride<\/em> might have been the first film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oliver Jones:<\/strong> That was the first moment, right? When our eyes locked? What was it, Sugar Lane?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chris Butler:<\/strong> No, it was 3 Mills<\/a>. Yeah, that was a long time ago! I think the interesting thing about that project was that there hadn\u2019t been a stop-motion movie made in a long time. Certainly not where the studio was built from scratch, essentially. So there were a lot of young people who came together on that one project, and they\u2019d never really done a feature before. We were kind of figuring it out as we went along and it was a fun project in many senses but it was also\u2026You know, when I look back now I\u2019m surprised that movie got made! (Laughs)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

OJ:<\/strong> It was super exciting! I remember those artists – because it hadn\u2019t been around at that scale before – were really coming together from TV shows, and from college and stuff like that. They came from around the world. I think it almost set a tone for what LAIKA started to become with Coraline<\/em>. Because a lot of us met on Corpse Bride <\/em>and came to Coraline<\/em>. That was a really good foundation, I think.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CB:<\/strong> Yeah, there\u2019s definitely a core group of us that have been together since then and I think that you learn a shorthand with each other. You\u2019re constantly evolving, you\u2019re constantly improving on your own craft. I had no idea back then, but the heights to which some of that group of people have gotten to in their own vocations is amazing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Oliver Jones (Image courtesy of WDW)<\/p><\/div>\n

Now Ollie, you\u2019ve got a very cool job title. Do you what to explain exactly what it is and what it means?<\/strong><\/p>\n

OJ:<\/strong> So my title right now is \u2018Director of Practical Effects\u2019. At LAIKA I get to work with a number of different functions, in different configurations of leadership. So I\u2019m working with the rigging team, which are producing the external apparatus that move the puppets around, I\u2019m working with the machinists that are making the internal structures of the puppets, and now I\u2019m working with the actual puppet department as well. Every day is fulfilling the challenges that Chris would give us. How to rig 200 tassels within a stagecoach! I like it when we get to really commit to detail at the studio. That\u2019s a rare thing in stop-motion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CB:<\/strong> I\u2019ve got to say, what makes cinema truly great is thoughtful and specific mise-en-sc\u00e8ne<\/em>. As an example, what Ollie\u2019s talking about may seem a little frivolous, for me to ask for all these moving tassels, but the dynamic between these characters in the movie\u2026I set all their conversations in situations where they were on rocky ground. So they\u2019re on a stagecoach, they\u2019re literally on rocky ground. Another time they\u2019re having a conversation in a ship that\u2019s constantly moving and I wanted that because they\u2019re not on the same level, they\u2019re not coming together as a group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Chris Butler (Image courtesy of WDW)<\/p><\/div>\n

So it\u2019s thematically important?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CB:<\/strong> Exactly! The tassels were one way to really sell the motion of this stagecoach. And people might not notice it, but they\u2019ll feel it. And I think that\u2019s the most important thing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

OJ<\/strong>: I think with stop motion it\u2019s very important to put those environmental pieces in, because they do take a lot of time, but we get so much out of it. You don\u2019t get anything for free, they\u2019re not going to just blow in the wind, there’s an animator’s work there to make them move. LAIKA is one of the only places that really indulges in that and gives you the inclusion in that world for the audience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CB:<\/strong> A case-in-point is when the group starts to gel more, I wanted that to be in a really exotic location. All the different sequences in the movie, every location, has a different colour theme. So as the group are starting to empathise and become friendlier with each other they then have a conversation. I could have, really, staged that conversation anywhere. I could have staged it in a room in a hotel. But I thought What is the most beautiful visual that I can think of to make this play? Riding on the back of an elephant in the Indian jungle!<\/em> And they did it!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n