Q&A with RISE OF THE GUARDIANS Director Peter Ramsey

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Category: Interviews

Created: Wednesday, 14 November 2012 09:51

Published: Wednesday, 14 November 2012 09:51

Written by Ethan Falk

Cinemovie chats one-on-one with director Peter Ramsey about his directorial debut for the upcoming DreamWorks animated film, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS. The story board artist turned director talks about why Alec Baldwin had the crew laughing in the sound booth and why Hugh Jackman is the nicest guy in Hollywood.

Peter Ramsey started out wanting to be the next Orson Wells, but he reveals his plans sidetracked until now.  

Cinemovie: What was the coolest thing about directing a full length feature film for your first time?

Peter Ramsey: Well just getting to do it is number one. I got to work with amazing people across the board. The cast was astonishing as well as the people at Dreamworks. To be able to work on a massive project like that and get to run with it with people you really trust and admire was just incredible. I got to know and become friends with Bill Joyce, Roger Deakins, Alexander Desplat, Guillermo Del Toro. It’s incredible to be on a crew with guys all trying to do the same thing. It’s just amazing.

CM: Peter, there aren't many people of color directing Hollywood animated films. We have to give big kudos to Dreamworks for making advancements to diversify. They did it with Kung Fu Panda 2 & now with this film. What are your thoughts on that & did you bring any of that sensibility to the project?

PR: You know, its never been or felt like any kind of issue. I came to Dreamworks from live action. I had worked with Aaron Warner in live action. He was the guy who produced the Shrek movies. He ended up bringing me over because he knew me as a storyboard artist and a second unit director. That’s what I had done on Tank Girl, The movie I produced. He thought that I would be a great fit and a possibility to direct one of these big CG movies at some point and it was purely because of my qualifications that Dreamworks was interested in me at all. If you’ve ever been to the campus at Dreamworks its like the United Colors of Benetton. Everybody from all over the world are working there. The animation industry in the upper strata just like Hollywood as a whole, it’s not that diverse. Dreamworks is making those strides and not really thinking about it, which is the way it should be.

CM: What was it like working with so much voice talent and who had the most fun in the sound booth?

PR: Its funny. That’s a hard one. No one has quite asked me that.  Chris Pine probably dug the deepest because his character had the most emotional territory to kind of mind. I don’t think he had the most fun because his character is the main anchor of the movie and he carries the emotional story. The others are kind of crazy and get to do showier things. Alec Baldwin. That dude is like the funniest guy alive. During the recording sessions if we had him booked for 3 hours, within the first 45 minutes we’d be rolling around on the floor laughing because he told us what he had just done in the Woody Allen movie he was on. He was imitating Woody Allen as if he was like doing SNL skits. Then he had that fun in the booth with his character ad-libbing.

CM: What was your experience like working with Hugh Jackman?

PR: You know what. He’s the nicest, friendliest guy in the world. He just seems happy all the time.  He was totally committed to the performance he was giving in the booth. He would really dig in. The guy is a master showman. He loves doing it. He started Les Mis probably half way through our production. We end up going back and forth over and over again over the course of production to record these guys. Even when he was tired from a full day of Les Mis, he would come to us and bring 110% energy and imagination to it. It was a joy working with him. Nobody made me feel like, “Oh here comes Mr. first-time-animation-director.” They were all very open, fun and collaborative. It was great.


CM: Which of the Guardians were you most familiar with, and which required the least amount of research for you?

PR: Santa Clause is the one that’s obviously the most familiar. When it comes to all of them, it’s like the thing we discovered. You think you know all about them, but you start to realize that you never really thought about what kind of personality he has or what it would actually take to deliver toys all around the world in one night. It’s those kinds of details and figuring out the logic of it that was sort of the real work for all of them. Then, we had to think about what they represent. What qualities do they teach to children and bring to the world? It was identifying those things that were also a big deal in designing their personalities.

CM: Do you have a personal favorite Guardian?

PR: I love all of them. I have a very big soft spot for Jack because it’s his story. I also really wanted to have a super fun, memorable Santa Clause. But honestly, I wanted all of them to have moments where they steal the movie for themselves and I think they all do.

CM: What are a few tips to remember when directing an animated film?

PR: I feel like I’m still learning myself after going through this. In the performances, just don’t think of them as any different from live action performances. I talked to the animators the same way you’re trained to talk to real actors, which is, make the characters listen and respond to each other. Keep them in the moment. Even if they’re animated characters, you have to feel like they have an intent in everything they’re doing. It’s really the same rules of traditional live action drama that you have to apply to these characters.

CM: What about William Joyce’s novel really inspired you to do this film?

PR: The brilliant thing that Bill did was to shock you a little bit with new versions and histories of these characters, which really made you open to how you used to feel about them emotionally when you were a kid. The other genius part of the idea was that when you’re a kid, these guys are really real to you. When you write a letter to Santa Clause, you are expecting an answer and then you get it on Christmas morning. That’s teaching you that your imagination can make things really happen in the real world. It gives you something that lasts with you your whole life even after you claim to stop believing in those characters. There’s some of that left inside you and it leaves a mark.

CM: Do you think children might find this movie to be a bit scary?

PR:  No, I don’t think so. I think kids experience fear all the time.  What we wanted to do was say that just like you’re right that you believe in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, we’re saying you’re right when you’re scared of things sometimes. We’re going to take that seriously, but we’re going to show you that there’s ways to fight against that. There are lessons you can learn from these characters that will help you fight against that fear and find out who you really are. I think that’s the core of the movie. For the characters to have any weight or any real purpose in the world, you have to show what they’re up against. You have to show the stakes of what they’re here to protect. That’s why it was important to have a little bit of darkness in the movie.

CM: Do you have any words of advice for the struggling animator or filmmaker out there?

PR: Keep going. That’s the only thing that kept me going. I tried to scrape together money and make short films when I could. I got a job as a storyboard artist and worked that as best as I could always with intention of becoming a director. I thought I was going to be Orson Welles by doing it all before I was 26. That didn’t happen. I kept going. You bang your head against a wall, you keep writing scripts and you make your films. Today it’s different then it ever was. You can make a movie on your iPhone. Back when I was trying, I had to spend ten thousand dollars on film processing and renting equipment. Now you can just whip out your thing and grab a couple of friends together and do a story. The important thing is just don’t stop. Persistence will pay off.

CM:  Peter, what can we look forward from you in the future?

PR: Hopefully I’ll get to do something again. I love these characters and if anything else is going to happen with them I’d love to tell some more stories. I’ve fallen in love with animation. I love all the people that I worked with and had a great time. At the same time, I came from live action and someday I want to achieve my holy grail by doing a live action movie hopefully in the future. We will see.

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS is in movie theaters November 21, 2012.

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