And Another Thing…

The main problem with the fourth entry is finding the right story. Many franchises will instead opt for a prequel, spin-off or even a full reboot, rather than a fourth chapter. A reboot is often the preferred option if the last instalment wasn’t well received. After the poor reception to Spider-Man 3, director Sam Raimi was more determined than ever to make the next entry as good as it could be. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite crack it in time to meet the release date set by Sony, leading them to reboot the franchise instead.

Another popular option is the legacy sequel or a “rebootquel”. Often arriving a few years after the original trilogy has ended, these types of sequels often introduce new characters, interacting with the old guard who eventually “pass the torch” onto the next generation. These sometimes lead to other trilogies of their own such as the Jurassic World series (even if the original characters didn’t meet until the third film). Alternatively, the fourth film can be used to shake up the existing formula if things are beginning to grow stale. Fast & Furious took this approach, focusing on heists rather than street racing, and transforming the franchise into the behemoth it is today, at a time when the studio was considering making any sequels direct to DVD.

One Last Ride

Of course, for some franchises, each entry is its own adventure, with little to no ongoing story. Making fourth entries in the Mission Impossible or Star Trek series is in theory simpler, as each film is often mostly standalone. However, this is not always easier. As seen with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was released 19 years after the third entry, finding a story can still be a problem. The extended wait can also lead to dissapointment from fans as they build up unrealistic expectations. Especially when it turns out to be more of the same.

An extended hiatus of the franchise often leads to a rethink. Actors get older and the industry moves on, meaning that any new entries can’t just do the same thing again. The Matrix Resurrections, has a slightly meta approach, acknowledging that audiences want to be amazed like they were with the original but that doing the same thing is boring and unfulfilling. Instead, the film tries to do something different, while it achieved mixed results, it is certainly not a rehash of the previous three. It acts as a look back on the franchise as well as an update. Toy Story 4 acts as an epilogue to the franchise, closing out Woody’s story and introducing new characters. Shrek Forever After offers an ending where Shrek looks at how much he has grown since the first film. Being trapped in an alternate reality where he was never born, and a look at a different outcome for the characters. While not the best in the franchise, it was a step up from the third entry, and a fitting ending.

Epilogue

Fourth films offer a chance to reboot an ailing series, offer a closing chapter to beloved characters, or even make up for a disappointing third film. However, there is a danger that the film is just a retread, or steers too far from what was great about the series in the first place. It’s important for any fourth instalment to look at what works and what doesn’t about the series, and think about the journey of the characters. A fourth entry is always risky, but can be exactly what the series needs.

Also Read: Top 5 Movies That Don’t Need a Sequel, Reboot or Remake

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Why The 4th Film In A Series Is Always A Gamble appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

In the late 1970s, Lucas gave us Star Wars, which turned out to be a very special space fantasy. Star Wars – A New Hope was released at around the same time that George Lucas’ company (Lucasfilm) was beginning to focus on computer technology. Lucas gave us the Indiana Jones franchise in the early 1980s, and during that time, Lucasfilm also developed the first computer-animated sequence in a feature film. This was for the movie Star Trek II.

Star Command

In 1986, Steve Jobs (the founder of Apple Computers) bought the Computer Division, a subsidiary of Lucasfilm, and re-established it as Pixar. This is when the collaboration with Disney began, resulting in the revolutionary Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) technology. 1988 saw the usage of Pixar’s rendering software (RenderMan). The 3 short films they released utilising their cutting-edge animation technology had been critically acclaimed. Tin Toy went on to win the Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated). Lucasfilm movies dominated my childhood in the late 1980s. This George Lucas influence was set to sail into the 1990s, but with a new captain and with a whole new way of telling stories.

Reach for the Sky

Toy Story is the world’s first computer-animated feature film. This ground-breaking film became the highest-grossing movie of the year (1995), making $362m. With numbers like that, it’s needless to say the movie was a resounding success. It gathered several Oscar nominations and took home the prize for Special Achievement. Several Pixar movies followed Toy Story’s formula and everything Pixar touched turned to gold.

Everything about Toy Story was special. The main characters were played by A-List actors (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen). It was the directional debut of John Lasseter (also Director of A Bugs Life and Cars), who was a Senior Creative at Disney, that went on to become one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.

Lasseter was involved in writing the story for the movie that captured the hearts of children and adults alike. It was innovative, funny and endearing. A true landmark in cinema, which became the blueprint for how to make animated movies. Another notable thing about this movie is that one of the greatest minds of the time, Steve Jobs, was one of the Executive Producers.

In the year 2000, Pixar moved to a new building in Emeryville, California. By 2006, Disney decided to buy out Pixar Animation Studios. In 2018, The Incredibles 2 marked their 20^th Computer Animated Feature Film, which has grossed over $1.2bn worldwide. With Toy Story 4 due to be released in 2019, Disney/Pixar looks set to have another big year on the horizon.

You are a child’s plaything

So now that we’ve got an appreciation for what Pixar has accomplished, let’s take a brief look at how they did it. These are the Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) basics that go into in every Pixar movie:

Storytelling, Illustration, editing, colouring, modelling, rigging, set building, animation, simulation, texturing, surfaces, lighting and rendering. It’s not easy being an animator. Watch this short video for a cool explanation on how these movies get made.

A big help to the animators is Pixar’s Render Man. This rendering software has been at the forefront of CGI in movies since its inception in 1988. Key features include 3D modelling, animation, lighting and of course rendering. The latest incarnation is version 22, which boasts a redesigned architecture, improved workflow and various tech that allows for creating more photorealistic graphics, amongst other things.

In 2D animation, you must draw every frame. So if you draw a character and you want it to move, you then have to draw every single movement. Like drawing a flipbook.

The difference with 3D animation is that you would draw your character, rig it and record it moving. Rigging a character is like creating a skeleton with joints in CGI software. This is a tedious process that needs an understanding of geometry, physics and anatomy to pull it off. But when a character is properly rigged, it enables an animator to move a character like a puppet, which gives it an amazing sense of realism.

Although rigging may seem like you get one up on 2D animation because you don’t have to draw every frame, one of the challenges in 3D animation is controlling what happens when a character isn’t in motion. This is known as a moving hold; when a 3D character looks completely dead if it isn’t moving. There’s definitely a lot of skill involved in 3D animation, and an animator will need some good tools to achieve a polished end product.

Let’s go home and play

Thankfully, there are a number of 3D animation software packages out there, and animators may use something like 3DS Max or Blender to do their character rigging. All3DP have a pretty cool list, which shows some of the many options available.

Pixar’s own RenderMan software is now available for non-commercial use. This is exciting news because so many of those incredible-looking movies that we all know and love are made using this software, and we can now get our hands on it for free! If anyone ever wanted to get into Visual Effects, the Khan Academy has partnered with Pixar and is offering a free online training course, too. George Lucas and his team of pioneers didn’t have it this good! It’s amazing to see how far the animation industry has come over the years. Maybe you’ll be the one to take it further? How much further can it go? To infinity and beyond.

The post Pixar and the Story of Toys appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.