Dealing with Directors Who Keep Changing Their Mind
How animators can survive this shot and move on to the next one.
I got a question from an animator asking “How can I balance directors who keep changing their mind on my shot with doing a great job in the time I have left after all the re-directs?” Very specific question, right?
SIDE NOTE: if you aren’t an animator, and never plan to be one, there still may be some wisdom in here you can apply to yourself.
OTHER SIDE NOTE FOR NON-ANIMATORS: The stages of animating a shot in CG are:
1. BLOCKING: Posing the character(s) in the most basic of timing to indicate the action and acting that will happen in a shot. This is usually “stepped,” meaning a pose is held on screen until the next storytelling pose appears. This stage can happen a few times until the action is approved.
2. DIALOG: This is more than just dialog, but as the dialog poses are added in, so is most of the more detailed acting and motion. This is usually beyond the “stepped” mode and all the frames are playing. The shot can be shown at this stage more than once, depending on notes and ideas from the room.
3. POLISH: This is where the shot is finished. All the bumps are smoothed out and the fine details are put in. There better not be any changes suggested at this stage unless they will brilliantly make the shot better. Otherwise, it’s too late for that now and the shot’s almost done.
For an animator, one of the most frustrating things is directors who don't know what they want, or they want something SO specific but don't know how to explain what that is. I've seen (and survived) both and either situation will suck your soul dry.
As a director who has animated, I know with almost exact certainty how hard any given shot is, because I’ve done them all. Many directors who have never animated have no clue what a shot takes, except for when they ask, “This is a hard shot, right?” so often the struggle you go through can mean nothing to them.
Animating is the hardest thing I have ever done and most people who don't animate don't always appreciate that. The problem is, as the question points out, there will be many directors out there who DON'T know what they want or how to explain it, and they will treat your time like it's a fishing expedition. After you’ve pulled up five or six exceptional fish, it’s the seventh one where they say “That’s it!” This is criminal in my opinion, and yes, I am biased.
Here’s my hope for you: when a director doesn't know what they want, they should be more open to accepting what you come up with. If you're solving the problems for them, they should be more flexible, and anything they add should elevate and push you in the direction you're already going.
That isn't always the case.
I have only known one animator who would NOT do what was asked for, AND got their shots approved. But their instincts were SO GOOD and they were SO FAST and what they delivered was SO IMPRESSIVE on first showing it made it almost impossible to deny approval. Not to name names, but I’m thinking of Zach Parrish (Hi, Zach). But he's one of only a few animators I know who can pull that off. The rest of us mortals can learn from him, though.
Something animators can do to tip the scales in their favor is to focus on presentation.
‘Dailies’ is where animators meet with directors for shot feedback. Sometimes Dailies is set up so that the shot loads up and the first frame is held on screen before it plays. I can tell if the shot is going to be good or bad based on that frame. This is why a certain level of polish in the blocking stage can go a long way. You need to find the balance between putting too much work into a shot, and not enough.
Here are some things to ask yourself:
Do the eyes have life? Or do they at least look like they are looking at something? Do the hands have some sort of pose or are they the default un-posed paddles? Is the pose worked out so it feels alive or is it a thoughtless indication of where the body might be?
Any or all of these things can make or break your shot - from the first frame.
The less you put in, the more the director has to fill in with their mind and that can be a huge trap with the wrong director. But what’s an animator to do? You can't polish your shot before showing it. That would be a waste of time if you’re on the wrong track and possibly misinterpreted as hubris, and then you might really suffer at the ego of a director.
But get to that first clean blocking stage as fast as you can, and that's where you can make up ground.
Focus on making a great first impression and find ways - any ways - to get there as fast as possible. This is THE MOST CRUCIAL stage of your shot. Not only is it the foundation of the final product, but it's the first thing the director will react to.
If you can get as fast as possible to good blocking - and you can get very fast with proper workflows, shortcuts, video reference, whatever it takes - you will also get fast at revisions of your blocking, when there are inevitable changes (and there always will be, sorry).
It's all about presenting an idea that is better than the director imagines. I can't stress this enough. You have to beat them at their game and they will love you for it. From a director’s point of view, when an animator delivers something even better than the story boards or, heaven forbid, the director thought of, you will be a hero.
But… some directors are assholes, selfish, and never wrong. That's why they became directors - to feed the bottomless pits inside their souls. And you won't be able to make them happy.
BUT if you get as skilled and fast as possible in getting STRONG, CLEAR, COMPELLING ideas on screen, it won't matter.
This is almost an impossible challenge: Clay says "just be great!" and all your problems will be solved. But it's true and it is obtainable. The speed, the clarity, the great ideas - you can cultivate all of these.
As far as balancing the notes with the time you have for the shot, you have to be honest with yourself and your supervisors. If a note is going to add three days work to your shot, you have to say say something. If you don’t, you’re not being responsible to the production or yourself. If the director knows their note will make the shot fall out for this week, they might decide it’s not worth their change (not likely, though). The biggest issue I can see is if you don't get payed for the extra time these changes will take. That's bullshit. If you’re in a situation where they have you over a barrel and there is no recourse, meaning you won’t get paid for extra hours - DON’T DO THEM. Value yourself and do what your time and talent is worth. Get paid. When you will only work hours that you are paid for, the production can be a partner in saying to the director, these notes are too much. It’s not all up to you.
But when you are getting paid for all that work, and it is limitless in how much you can toil on a shot, and the director isn’t giving good direction, you're screwed. I don't know how to fix that without some serious talks with everyone in charge.
Maybe, mercifully, the shot will get recast. I’ve seen animators hold onto a shot they just weren’t getting, and I get it. It feels like failure to give up a shot. One shot will not make or break your career. But let me give you this advice when it happens - forget the past. You've done this for years. You've done harder shots. Take whatever time you can find and center yourself. Seriously. Meditate. Shake that fucker off (I’m talking about the shot, but you can apply that term to whomever you wish).
If it doesn’t get recast, here’s what you do:
Don't forget your support. Your supervisors, your peers, your notes from Dailies (you ARE taking your own notes, right?). Double check your work with them and make sure you're hitting the intention and make your support team hold you to it. This means you must find people you trust. People who want to be great like you will tear each other's shit apart. Brutal honesty from a place of support is gold.
Talk to your supervisor. Tell them you're going to nail it. Get their perspective. Then put on your fucking game face and go to battle against that director. Don't go from a place of servitude - go in there to destroy their shitty criticisms. In other words, blow them away. Take away all their doubt. Over-address their notes. If they say make the character point here, make them POINT with intention. They want the character to slump? Give them the most defeated slump they’ve ever seen. I’m telling you, you can do it. In the end it may be your toughest shot in a while, but why not let this be the one where you step up? Be confident.
What does the shot need? What does the shot want to say? What is the shot you would pay money to go see again? Don't let them win.
I reanimated a shot in Bolt 14 times. I offered to give it up. They declined. It turned out okay. Oh well. I survived. I still don't like that shot. But it made me a better animator and I learned what it's like to get dragged, so I could write this. It also gave me a mental shift. It taught me to avoid any of those choices I made that didn't get it approved on the first pass. Not a great story, but shit happens and we are better for it if we are willing to be humble and willing to not get beat by this game.
That's why I tell people you have to love this business because it's not for the faint of heart.
This kind of thing happens everywhere. More in VFX where there is so little respect for artists at all. It's really sad over there because the culture in VFX is that there is NO limit to how many times a shot can be redone. I had that power on Christmas Chronicles and it was really unsettling. I never wielded that power, I think because I knew what I needed but I also knew the limitations of the young crew who was doing the work, and I still feel the pain of when it happened to me.
I’d love to hear if what I’m writing is hitting anyone. Leave a comment below, even a short one, and let me know. Thanks.
This advice is gold!