Project Type: Interviews

Ryan J. Woodward

With a filmography of over 20 blockbuster and all time classic titles and a reputation for extraordinary conceptual skills and an acute sense of motion and special effects, Ryan J Woodward acts and lives like the down-to-earth fella who breathes and transpires a never-ending passion for art and creation in all its forms.

Charismatic, hardworking and a self-described eternal student, despite the fact that he is a master in more than one artistic discipline, Woodward is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets.

That is, until Google discovered Thought Of You…

SRM: Ryan, it’s a pleasure to interview you, thank you very much for your time.  Please, tell us a bit about your background, when did you start developing an interest in the arts?  Do you come from an artistic family?

RYAN J WOODWARD: Thank you. I am honoured to participate. I’ve always been a drawer of sorts. Ever since I was a little kid, I drew superheroes, read comic books, and created sci-fi adventures that only my little wild imagination would go on. My early teachers would always get me to paint still life’s and other forms of more “refined” art, but I seemed to always put a twist to my drawings like adding in some demon horns, super powers or glowing eyes to my projects.

I always knew I’d do something with drawing and animation, but didn’t really know how or if I could even make any money at it. In fact, when I met my wife at college, I told her I was going to be a poor starving artist for the rest of my life because I didn’t care about how much I was going to make, I just wanted to draw and create stories. Luckily she still married me (going on 17 years now!) and while I’m not the richest guy on the block, I’m not a starving artist either. My family isn’t very artistic.  My mom appreciates it and actually draws well, but I think I worried my father quite a bit when I expressed my early artistic interests. I think he’s still worried about me. 🙂

SRM: He really shouldn’t… One of your works that most captivated my imagination was the original and enchanting Thought of You, which I discovered by following your also fantastic animation work for the Google Doodle logo on Martha Graham. By the way, did Google commission you this project or was it already made due to your interest in dance?

RYAN J WOODWARD: The Doodle team at Google.com saw my film, Thought of You, and they felt that it would be a good fit for the upcoming birthday of Martha Graham. I was flattered and honoured to accept the invitation to be able to work with the Martha Graham Dance Company to create this little animation.  I learned a lot about Martha Graham from doing this and feel like we really worked hard to capture iconic dance moves that represent her and her works of art.

SRM: Well, needless to say that your hard work paid off, you did exceedingly well at capturing the essence of her dance art. Had you always done figurative animation?

RYAN J WOODWARD: Yes. I’ve been figure drawing since I was 16 and have never really stopped. It’s one of those practices that animators do for their entire lives. We never really get “great” at it, but the experience of trying to capture so much beauty, design, and form in a single drawing is very challenging and humbling. I’ve also been teaching figure drawing for about 8 years and the desire to put some of these drawings in motion has been picking at me slowly but I never really could figure out the context to do it until Thought of You.

SRM: Thought of You is about idealising a romantic interest, about chasing them in that idealisation, longing for them and finally realising their own humanity and frailty. It’s almost unbelievable the wonderful skill you have for imbuing the drawings’ movement and expression with this range of feelings and all the emotions in between. You have trained, as you have just mentioned, and are, in fact, a master at figure drawing and animation but, and as I also mentioned earlier, you have also been inspired by dance.

What type of dance does inspire you the most? What other disciplines can help, by observation, in the intuitive capture of the human expression when re-creating it in drawing and animation?

RYAN J WOODWARD: I absolutely LOVE dance. I wish I was a better dancer myself. I dance with my little girls and my wife at times when we have our own little dance parties at the house but I embarrass them terribly. My wife says I just “jog awkwardly” when I dance. I agree, I’m terrible; maybe that’s why I love to watch it so much. In my opinion, dance is the most powerful art form when communicating an emotion. I stand in reverence and awe at highly disciplined dancers and what they can achieve. I’m not too fond of highly technical dance, rather I like the raw styles like contemporary and modern. I love the emotion in Krumping and especially in an agonizing Spanish flamenco dance.

SRM: Flamenco is intense, oh yes. What else would you recommend any artist trying to emulate the Conte Animation style?

RYAN J WOODWARD: My approach is a little different than most figurative styles. I like to include a lot of exaggeration and creativity to the figures. Getting the basics of proportion, light and shadow, etc. are great, but then when you add in a little bit of creative personality, that’s when I feel like I own the drawing and I’m not just replicating what my eyes are seeing. So use some creativity and enjoy the process!

SRM: Perfect advice. You have been working for characters and blockbuster movies such as The Avengers, Cowboys & Aliens or hit sagas such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, and classics such as Where The Wild Things Are, The Scarecrow or The Iron Giant. Please, Ryan, I would love if you could tell us a bit about your work in Cowboys & Aliens.

RYAN J WOODWARD: Awesome movie.  When they first called me, I was wondering if it was a comedy or some kind of goofy kid’s movie. But then after getting into the script and meeting with the director, I realized this was going to be a VERY COOL and dynamic movie. The idea of placing the audience in a western, filming it like a western, and then introducing aliens….can you think of anything more fun to create? I helped to develop some of the action moments when the cowboys fight the aliens. It was really challenging to keep my mind in the film-making approach of a Western, but throw in some space ships and aliens.

SRM: It really was very cool. You’ve also written and directed three shorts: TheTurtle and the Shark, Aliens and The Loch, which received great reviews in the festivals circuit. Do you think artists such as story-boarding artists and animators have an inherent tendency to create a full story, from scratch, and hence become writers and directors? Is it very difficult to keep oneself compartmentalised in one particular role?

RYAN J WOODWARD: Every artist has their long term goals and what they want to do with their craft. I’ve always liked to learn as much as I can about the entire production process because I do see myself creating and animating my own stories one day. I can’t speak for all artists because I know some artists are very satisfied becoming the best at their particular skill and they become masters of that. For me, it seems after I’ve learned and have become successful at one skill, I then start to yearn to learn another. So I’ve gone from animation to EFX animation, to digital EFX, to animatics, to compositing, to story-boarding, and now to directing. Who knows what’s next.

SRM: You also worked on the neat title design for Osmosis Jones and one I love, too, is the main title sequence you did for Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, which was sadly cut. Is it true it only took you two weeks to make? Do you have any special techniques to keep track of the overall visual effect when working on each separate frame?

RYAN J WOODWARD: Yeah, I drink a lot of caffeine 🙂 Production deadlines are never long enough to do the job you really want to do on a project. They always want things faster and cheaper and high quality which is a formula of three. Even though this is an impossible formula, I can’t help but strive to give each scene all I have. Not because I’m getting paid extra or anything, but because I really want it to be AWESOME! That passion can really kill me at times because I’ll invest all I have, and then a director may not like what he/she sees.  Then I go home and sob in my pillow for an hour 🙂

SRM: Ah, the secret tortured life of the artist… What other blockbusters have you worked on?

RYAN J WOODWARD: I’ve done story-boarding for Captain America: The First Avenger and concept animation for Snow White and The Huntsman.

SRM: And what about your own projects? What’s new? Do you ever rest?

RYAN J WOODWARD: My latest monster of a project, Bottom of the Ninth started as a fun idea and snowballed into an animated graphic novel for the iPad and iPhone. It got the BEST ENTERTAINMENT APP OF 2012 Award. I’m also enjoying traveling to festivals lecturing about this stuff. The people I’m meeting all over the world is really inspiring to me.

SRM: Bottom of the Ninth, looks awesome! Thank you so much again for collaborating in this interview. I look forward to watching your phenomenal work in all upcoming projects!

RYAN J WOODWARD: Thanks.  I really appreciate it.

RELATED LINKS:
RYAN J WOODWARD on Imdb >

Having worked closely with directors such as Carlos Saura and Guillermo del Toro, amongst many others, designing and assisting in the art direction of Oscar and GOYA-winning (also Bafta nominated) films such as ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’, we can say that CARLOS ZARAGOZA has, without a doubt, plenty of talent, knowledge and experience to inspire the new generations aiming to work in the fields of Art Direction and Visual Development for the film industry. His most popular credits include, in chronological order, from oldest to newest:

Buñuel and King Solomon´s Table (2001, directed by Carlos Saura), No Somos Nadie (2002, directed by Jordi Mollà), Mortadelo & Filemón: the Big Adventure (2003, directed by Javier Fesser), Pan´s Labyrinth (2006, directed by Guillermo del Toro), Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008, directed by F.Forestier & T.Langmann), The Tale of Despereaux (2008, directed by Sam Fell, Gary Ross & Robert Stevenhagen), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011, directed by Kelly Asbury), Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012, directed by Eric Darnell), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014, Directed by Rob Minkoff), and Madagascar 3 (2014, directed by Eric Darnell).

He has also worked extensively as Visual Development artist for the upcoming Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves, to be released in 2018.  Carlos is currently Production Designer at Sony Animation.

In theatre he was the set designer for The Sound of Music and in commercial art direction he has worked with high profile brands such as Coca-Cola and governmental institutions such as the Ministry of Culture of Spain.

Awarded in Excellence by the ADG (Art Directors Guild) this outstanding professional, who started his career in Spain and has lived and worked in London and Toronto, is now based in Los Angeles, California, from where he responded to this interview.

SRM: Carlos, tell us a bit about your background, where you are from and whether your environment supported you in your pursuit of a career in the arts, please.

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: I am originally from Madrid, Spain. My family was very supportive when I decided to start my career in arts and began my studies in Fine arts at the University in Madrid. My wife works as a designer too, and that‘s great whenever we need mutual support.

SRM: Support is a key factor in the development of an artist’s career, indeed. At what moment did you decide on your art specialisation and how did you start in the film industry?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: After I graduated from Fine Arts, I worked on my own projects in painting and photography. I had always been passionate about movies and scenography, and I was looking for a way of conveying my artistic ideas through audio-visual media, but I needed specific training. I studied Art Direction for Film & TV, at ECAM (Madrid Film School) during 3 years. That gave me a great background in filmmaking. Even though I didn’t attend architecture school, studying at ECAM gave me a great base in History of Architecture and a solid training in architectural design and set construction of physical scenery.

When I finished at the Film school, I started arranging interviews with Production designers in Spain, and in a few weeks I was working as assistant art director in the fantasy film ‘Buñuel and King Solomon´s Table’. After that, I have been developing my career in different roles within the art department, like assistant art director, set designer, art director and visual development artist.

I moved from Spain to London to start working in animation movies. I like the set design work; it allows me to be part of interesting animation and live-action projects while combining my traditional and digital design skills, and where my wide background is a great asset.

SRM: It will be very interesting for those readers who do not know much about this field if you could explain what the set designer and art director roles involve…

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: Both are specific roles within the art department.

The Head of the art department is the Production Designer, who creates and develops the overall look of a movie, working closely with the director, cinematographer and visual effects supervisor.

The Art Director coordinates all aspects in the design of a movie. That person has to keep the balance between artistic and creative issues and production facts. This role demands that you have to be very flexible, creative and hardworking, and have social skills.

Sometimes, in small projects, the Production Designer assumes the Art direction work (I did it in several movies, like ‘Listening to Gabriel’, ‘Otros días vendrán’…).

The Set Designer works closely with the Production designer and AD, and is responsible for defining in detail and precisely the elements of the scenery, using traditional or digital tools, and for providing all the departments involved in the filmmaking with the information needed to make that scenery work.

You have to render beautiful drawings and models, but keeping in mind that those can change at any time, while the projects are being developed.

  

This role demands to be a very practical designer and have a wide knowledge of the different construction processes and techniques to build scenery.

SRM: Since you have worked in Animation and in Live-action movies, what are the challenges in each of these types of projects and how do you approach each?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: Both share the same premise: telling a story. The differences are mostly in the techniques used to tell that story and the characteristics and limitations of each one. Actually, the pre-production and design processes are becoming more and more similar in animation and live-action movies.

In animation, compared with most live-action movies, the greatest challenge is to create entire worlds from scratch, even the characters. And that’s really cool! The characters never complain about the decoration of their houses or costumes.

In live-action, sometimes I had to work in real locations (not in a studio stage) and try to make them work for the film. It means that you could have elements that you cannot control entirely, like the weather conditions, the changing sun light, nasty neighbours who complain while shooting…

SRM: Comes to mind ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’. It would be great if you could share about your experience working for this beautiful film, also, what other projects have been the ones you have enjoyed working on the most and why?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: I am glad you like it. It was a great experience working in that project. Guillermo del Toro is one of the most creative minds in the film industry now, and he was totally involved with the art department – In pre-production, he had his office in the art department space-, so he was aware of our progress at any time, and we had very fresh information from him. I like how Eugenio Caballero, the production designer, developed the look and atmosphere of the film, and how Pilar Revuelta, the set decorator cared for the detail. Compared with most Hollywood productions, it was a small budget project ($19M).

We were three assistant art directors, and with no art directors we assumed many of art direction responsibilities. First I was involved in the location scouting, travelling to different places within Spain. At the same time we were set designing everything: those sets need to be built in a studio and those to need to be shoot on location, adapting the initial designs to the requirements of every specific location. We also overviewed the construction of the physical scenery. I was in charge of the sets located in San Rafael (a mountainous area north of Madrid): the main house, the Mill, the exterior of the Labyrinth, Ofelia’s tree, the train and the forest scenes. Everything was fake, but it looks very real, even to the people from San Rafael, who were shocked when they discovered the sets in the forest.

Pan’s Labyrinth Asterix at the Olympic Games Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

I enjoyed working in ‘Asterix at the Olympic Games’, a French comedy where we recreated Uderzo & Goscinny’s funny world. The plot was located in classic Rome and Greece, and we designed and built huge sets like the Olympic Stadium or the Caesar’s palace in Rome. The production designer was Aline Bonetto (‘Amelie’, ‘Delicatessen’…).

Also the 3D Animated comedy ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’, directed by Kelly Asbury and produced by Disney and Sir Elton John. We developed the project in London, and then moved to Toronto, Canada, for the actual production of the movie.

My trip continued, I moved to California, and joined DreamWorks Animation Studios. I did ‘Madagascar 3’, ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’, ‘Puss in Boots 2’, and collaborated in other projects like ‘Penguins of Madagascar’, and an earlier version of the upcoming ‘Trolls’.

It was an incredible experience to be part of that artistic community, share ideas and learn a lot about the production process. Dreamworks in one of the few Hollywood animation studios that still do the whole production process in-house. After Dreamworks, I partnered with Aurora Jimenez to create Tale Twins Studio, the platform to develop our own ideas and stories, and collaborate with another studios and independent producers to develop the visual aspect of their projects.

I have worked with other studios, like Paramount Animation and, currently, at Sony Animation, where I am production designer in one of their upcoming features.

SRM: Carlos, how has the design process changed, within the film industry, since you started, and where do you see it heading towards?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: Basically, it’s heading towards being faster and cheaper (!). The designer’s work as storyteller (in all kind of media) remains the same from the baroque – I recommend you to watch ‘Vatel’ a very interesting movie about a “production designer” in the XVII century in France-. They pre-visualise the scenery, building scale models for every opera performance.  

What is changing every day are the tools we use to conceptualize and develop any project, not the essence of the job. Digital tools have opened the limits to how and what can be the elements in the scene. Since I started, Visual Effects have become more involved in pre-production, not only in post-production, and designers have to understand and use the language and technique of VFX because they are visual elements that affect the look of a film.

SRM: Handcraft/hand drawing vs. CG tools: Do you see the latter taking completely over the former at some point or the traditional ways will always be desirable and necessary to count on?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: Both types of tools are necessary. Our work is about communicating ideas through images, from sketches to concept art, scale models or CGI imagery. It depends of the nature of any specific project.

The greatest ideas begin with a pencil and a paper. A strong foundation in traditional arts is key for a good designer. More important than which tool you use is to express your ideas. Computers cannot substitute your imagination and creativity.

Digital tools offer new possibilities to visualize and conceptualize the look of a film. Pre-visualization (previz) allows you to have a very accurate idea of how any scenery will look through the camera with a specific lens and movement, building it with a 3D software before doing it physically.

New technologies give you more versatility in designing, and to make changes easier. Digital data can be accessible to the all the departments within a production.

SRM: You know this question was coming… Your three favourite movies of all time?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: That is a tough decision, but those could be the films by Terry Gilliam, Kubrick, Kurosawa, Fellini, Pasolini, Willy Wilder or Miyazaki.

SRM: Your array of different artistic skills is impressive. As you have mentioned, you worked as a photographer in the past and as a visual artist your artwork has been exhibited in both collective and solo exhibits. You have designed for theatre and have been art director for events and commercials too.

Theatre and Film are two very different beasts but where would you say their main differences lay from your unique perspective?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: There are many differences in terms of production, narrative and stylization.

When you are designing for Film you are designing for the camera, which guides the audience through the story. Everything in the scene has to work only for any specific shot, while the camera is on, within the camera frame.

When you are designing for theatre, you have to be aware of the audience because they are the camera. Every performance is unique, and a direct connection with the audience. Is a real-time experience, so the scenography has to work perfectly for the performance.

SRM: What piece of advice would you give to those readers who are just starting in the industry?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: I recommend a very strong foundation in visual arts, and training in traditional and digital tools.

Be sure you are passionate about your work, it is very demanding and you need a lot of energy to develop your career. Do not be lazy and update your skills constantly, but don’t forget to nurture your imagination and creativity with real life experiences, not only from visual media.

And let your Ego at home. Listen.

SRM: About ‘Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves’, set to be released in 2018. What was your main job in this movie and what can you tell us about it?

CARLOS ZARAGOZA: I did plenty of visual development artwork for that project, and it looks amazing. The film is still in development. I would love to, but cannot give any other detail yet.

SRM: No worries, I get it. Thank you very much again for sharing your expertise and your wonderful art with us, Carlos, I can’t wait to see more of it!

RELATED LINKS:
Carlos Zaragoza * Official Website >