Wednesday, September 21, 2011

More Scar

Here are a few more pencil tests of Scar rough animation.
I am also adding some leftover drawings. I remember enjoying animating the scene below, where Scar responds to Mufasa's warning. "I shall practice my curtsey."
Jeremy Irons said it in such a character rich way, it seemed to animate itself.
There was hate and cynicism in the reading, just perfect.

I tell you about a scene that I wished I could redo, because it bugs me so much.
At the end of the film, during the duel between Scar and Simba, at one point Simba has the upper hand (ok...paw). Scar fakes a peace offer and says something like:
" I'll do anything (if you let me go), just tell me, anything."
During that line I have Scar lift up one of his front legs, and he moves it sideways.
It's a very human gesture. And it doesn't work. Maybe in a close up it might have looked ok, but this is a long shot. Ugghhhh.....

Anyway, thanks for taking such an interest in this footage. Here is a bit more.












45 comments:

  1. I think I'm going to have a bellyful of drawings with so much LK celebration!!! Love the "piano-movement-like" hands. Thanks so much Mr. View, can't wait to see the Chanticleer project explanation.

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  2. These are so great. It seems like you took most of the scar acting stuff and skipped over a lot of scars big musical number. Your old stuff is really cool but I would like to see something a bit more recent. Have you done any tests since you left Disney? Something else that would be amazing is if you took one of your shots and then talk about your thought process, and how you approach a shot. Not that I am demanding anything. Just a suggestion of something I think would be really great to see.

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  3. Andreas, I'm surprised at your rough pass, very simple but gets the point across really well. How long does it take for those?

    Also, do you go back and forth in scenes where Scar's sharing the scene with someone else?

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  4. Amazing drawing! I love how the gestures perfectly fit the effete' tones in Scars vocal performance, but still show the mass and power of the animal underneath. Reminds me of Thomas's Captain Hook, in the scene where he shouts "Get on with it!" to Tinkerbell. He's trying so hard to be a gentleman, but you can see the mask slipping and just know he's a brute underneath, for all his supposed gentility. Great acting!

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  5. I just wondered how many frames you can draw every day. It looks like Scar was a complex character and when I think of my animations with much easier figures who take me ten minutes to complete (a frog for example)... okay, one can't compare me to you, but it would be interesting to know.

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  6. This is so amazing. I've always been amazed and captivated by the animation in The Lion King and Scar was one of my favorite animated characters — he was animated so perfectly for the character. That sideways hand motion you mentioned is a particular movement I actually always liked! But the lion characters in the film generally don't make very human motions, so it does stand out. I'd love to see some character/expression sheets for Scar. He's amazingly expressive.

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  7. That part when he says "theyre not going anyware" is so strong. I love the expression in his face and the gesture. Those are really strong drawings.

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  8. I'd lowe to see more of your work! It's amazing! For anything that you could post, I would be more than greatful!
    Scar is the real king! >:D

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  9. Scar is one of my favorite Disney characters ever. Great design and amazing animation as well.
    Beautiful work Mr Deja.

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  10. Thank you so much for posting this, its so great and help full to see your first rough keys filmed in I think 4s and some 5s, thank you so much Andreas. You did such a great job making Scar act, he really is convincing.

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  11. Aacckkk!!! I love it. This is why traditional animation will always be my favorite. Even the rough animation is beautiful to watch. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. thank you so much for sharing this! its so inspiring :)

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  13. Beautiful work!!! I love that little "anticipation" breath he takes in between saying Simba I'm a little surprised to see you,breath, Alive.

    Very inspirational as usual.

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  15. My friends and I just got back from seeing this movie. Many people from all ages whet to see it. All the way from 2 years of age, college students and parents went. Everyone was singing the song and repeating the lines. At the end of the movie everyone clapped. That filled my heart with joy. I thought you would like to know that people enjoyed the movie just as if it was the first time!

    My friends say they didn't remember Scar being such an evil person. Now that my friends are older they see how evil he really was. But I always remembered.

    I heard you in a podcast where you said that the Jungle Book changed your life(I think it was The Jungle Book)and since then you wanted to become an animator. Well When I was little and I saw this movie for the first time I cried when Scar killed Mufasa. So I guess you made a little girl cry, Shame on you! Kidding. Well my auntie explained to me that this was not real and that someone drew this. Since then Iv'e always wanted to become an animator, The Lion King changed my life for ever and I thank you for that. Thank you for posts and please keep posting more!

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  16. Yesterday I saw your work again, in 3D...
    Amazing Deejazz! I really love your work! :)

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  17. Very neat as always! And so fun to see the WIP stuff!

    I was wondering, for the rough passes, are those the drawings that later become your keys? How do you use them? Are they for getting the timing right before tying them down, or do you use them as keys more loosely and then animate straight ahead using them as a guide?

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  18. Your pencil tests get me so excited about animation - about watching it, studying, getting better at drawing, etc. etc. And also of course, they get me so excited to see The Lion King again! Thank you for these wonderful posts.

    Reading the examples of things you would like to redo, I was wondering if there any specific shots or aspects to Scar that have really stood up over time for you? I remember hearing your conversation on the Animation Podcast about the rarity of shots that you remain uncritical and proud of, and I've always wondered what some of those shots are.

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  19. Wow! Thanks for sharing these.......Your mouth shapes are so wonderful....I think that is such an art in itself....wonderful, defintely takes that acting to the next step! Would love to hear about your approaches to mouth shapes and their designs.

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  20. I feel like I noticed the beautiful way Aurora's hair moved in a pencil test you posted here previously and the way you have Scar's mane moving at times.

    Scar is like a combination between your Jafar in Aladdin and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty - gorgeous AND evil. Watching him is such a rich experience of conflicting emotion.

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  21. Can you zap me yer email address? I have some more in depth animation questions for you. bconstantine@soe.sony.com

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  22. Scar's gesture with "I shall practice my curtsey" is a wonderful example of how animators inbetween life and fantasy in richly caricatured ways. So human a response from a lion and yet we don't doubt for a moment what we are seeing. We immediately and easily accept it and it sinks deeply into our enjoyment of the characters and film. I'm inspired by how you do that.

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  23. Here are two Scars from Disneyland Paris. Hope this is your cup of tea...

    http://t.co/D6ymV6Pb

    and Scar is part of a huge villain wagon in the main parade, together with chernabog, ursula, hades and others
    here in High Def

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJ1J6KpQ9g

    enjoy, we had so much pleasure in the magic kingdom just this week

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  24. I was wondering this maybe someone can answer, the rough keys are in blue, but in the video they come out as black or grey, is the blue pencil not non photo but just blue colored pencil, and does the video test camera just pic up black and white. Ok thanks, again this is awesome, this is really how you learn and get inspired. I wish we could all work on a new film together. I'm really looking forward to seeing the rough animation of the new Tiger project, Ok thanks.

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  25. Beautiful stuff again Andreas! Out of interest, do people who know you well see you in your animation?

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  26. Sheila,
    the first rough pass goes really fast. A few seconds per drawing. After I film this version to see if it's going to work,
    tying the drawings down takes much longer.
    When I share a scene with another animator, it's a bit back and forth. Usually the agressive character is done first and the reacting character second.

    Matthias,
    it's hard to say how many drawings I do per day. You're right, Scar is a bit more complex than, let's say, Jafar.
    But if the acting or action is planned out in advance and very clear to you, the animation happens very quickly.

    Julie,
    I usually use the rough blue drawings if they work. I just go over them with pencil to finalize the pose, expr. etc.

    Courtney,
    I still like the sequence with Scar and Simba before the stampede. The story material had good acting potential.
    I think did ok on that one.

    Salem,
    the pencil tests are usually shot in black and white.

    Andy,
    sometimes. I did a scene where Gaston is scratching his cheek with his finger as he is talking to Belle. Somebody told me that only I would do a gesture like that (in real life).

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  27. Andreas,

    This is probably not the format to ask such a question, but here goes....
    I've been collecting animation drawings of the Disney villains for 25 years. I have most of them in my collection, but no Scar. Do you ever sell any of your production art?

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  28. Hi Andreas!! You're such an inspiration and your pencil test videos are incredible! I want to start practicing pencil test too. Your blog has been very helpful. :D

    By the way, I put up my website yesterday and I was wondering if I could upload your pencil test videos on my website as inspirations too? If you don't mind. Thank you very much. :D

    Cheers
    Nins

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  29. Andreas,

    Thanks so much for sharing your work on Scar. The rough pose tests in particular are a nice insight into how you approached your scenes. A great performance and one of my favorite Disney villains. It was a pleasure to see Lion King on the big screen again with the recent re-release.

    All the best,

    Dave

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  30. Andreas,
    I'm very pleased to tell you that you've made it on my countdown at number 11 and my post on you is up. You can read the post at the linkhttp://50mostinfluentialdisneyanimators.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/11-andr and I really hope you're pleased with it. I'd love to hear your comments and send an email to zoograyson@aol.com if you wish to give a more personal response to this message. I hope you enjoy and thank you for your contributions to Disney Animation.
    All the best,
    Grayson Ponti

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  31. Thanks for this post. Absolutely beautiful and inspiring!

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  32. Man that blog is incredible! I wonder who will come up first! I'd love to see a list that includes all animators, not only disney. That is quite a challenge to make.

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  33. FABULOUS! I thought of you the whole time I went to watch it in theaters last week. Excellent!!

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  34. Why can't Disney produce films like that anymore? ;___; It's the best I've seen in my life! Thank you for the files, Andreas!

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  35. When I first saw LK I was in 2nd years of Animation school. I was blown away. Now with a few years of animation under my belt and seeing it again, I'm still blown away. Great story, music and amazing animation!
    Btw, LK made $61 million and still #1 in the second week! :)
    Congrats Andreas and all who worked on the film.

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  36. Andreas it was wonderful meeting you yesterday at the Disney lot and I am fascinated by your drawing and talent. I briefly mentioned I use to draw when I was in young and you have ignited the passion in me to want to learn more.

    Thank you for the wonderful gift of the personal drawing of Scar I plan on framing it. It was a pleasure meeting such a talented artist.

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  37. Andreas,

    One of my personal favorite scenes in animation is definitely the scene in The Lion King where Scar is talking to Simba in the gorge. Everything was so smooth and subtle. Everything about Scar is the reason that I wanted to go into animation as a career (hasn't quite happened yet!)

    --Monica

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  39. Hello Mr. Deja, first of all, I want to thank you for creating this blog and share your amazing talent, skills and vast experience with us. I'm sure for everyone who can go through here, enjoy it and learn a lot.

    For me, the best animated movie for its message, warmth, and lively beauty, is undoubtedly The Lion King. And Scar, is definitely my favorite villain, he is sarcastic, ruthless and very envious, these are all characteristics of malevolent beings, and you have given them life brilliantly in your animation work to this character, I really admire a lot the work made in the expressions and body language of Scar, this is give life to a character! Congratulations!!

    Greetings from Venezuela,

    EE

    P.S. My little niece loves Lilo. :)

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  40. I really liked your animating skill and more of your designs of Scar, Keep doing what you're doing Mr. Andreas.

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