Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529871
WINTER 2024 35 the train, giving the viewer a glimpse of upper-class Cybertron with its gold-and-glass architecture. Finally, the train bursts through to the surface, showing off a painterly background style and some truly mesmerizing lighting cues. "It was kind of a poking the bear moment, asking: does this work?" says de Jesus. Once they knew that all of the elements of the train sequence fit together, they built the movie around this dynamism of movement. Scheier wanted a cinematic feeling, for the camera to be a character. To do this, for example, the art department built sets that were ready for layout. These models were used for the process called VSR (virtual story reel). Shots were tested, with camera blocking to create references for animation and production. In addition, motion capture was used for specific sequences, then replaced with traditional hand-keyed anima- tion by real animators using Maya, so that the animated shots still felt like a human holding a camera. Throughout their process, Scheier and de Jesus wanted to make sure that everyone on the team had the tools they needed to work freely. That meant having an asset library that everyone had access to so that they could all work autonomously and end at a congruous point. They had multiple process touch- bases every week, as well as an open-door policy for the whole team. If anyone had a question, they could find an answer. This extended beyond the design team—story artists had access to the 3D backgrounds so that nobody had to draw in the dark. "That way it made the feedback loop very short," says Scheier. "That's something I fear is being lost in animation, it gets very closed off and very siloed." In Transformers One, the miner bots are forced to toil away in shift after shift to produce Energon for a purpose unknown to them. They work not out of enjoyment or passion or dedica- tion to a common goal, but because they have to. Scheier and de Jesus never wanted the same to be true behind the scenes. At every step of the way, their team knew what they were working toward and why—and felt appreciated for it. "It takes no time to say thank you," says Scheier. By establishing a vision for their project at the beginning, Scheier and de Jesus were able to build a better Cybertron— both on screen and behind it. The broken friendship between Megatron (top) and Optimus Prime underscores the fi lm's bigger good- versus-evil storyline. WINTER 2024 35 Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.