Hey guys, I was able to score a short little interview with the director of the upcoming movie Igor, Anthony "Tony" Leonidis. Here is the trailer for those who haven't seen it. We talked about many things, including inspiration, design, and comics.Victory Gin: For those who don't know, what exactly is Igor?
Tony: Igor is an independent CGI animated movie coming out Sept 19th about a guy who isn't allowed to follow his dreams of becoming a mad scientist because he was born different- born with a hunch on his back. In this world a hunch on your back makes you an IGOR and you're treated like garbage. And when he finally gets the chance to build a horrible vicious monster, the monster doesn't want to be evil...she wants to be an actress.
VG: What was your inspiration that made you want to work in the animation business?
Tony: I grew up obsessed with comic books and much of my childhood was spent lost in my imagination. I filled hundreds, if not thousands of sketchbooks filled with fantastical beings who lived in magical worlds- and they all had their own stories. So as I got older I was naturally drawn to film-making, and doing it for a living. Best job in the world.
VG: Where did you learn to animate?
Tony: I went to film school part time in Boston and then went to Cal Arts. I thought I wanted to be an animator until I did my first bouncing ball test. I was like "OK....REALLY BORED NOW!" Design and Storyboarding were the most exciting parts for me so I focused on those two areas. I had two incredible teachers: Sue Nichols and Brenda Chapman. They both taught me so much about telling the story and telling the story visually. I will always be grateful to them for the extra time they spent answering my questions, going over my work, and really inspiring me with their passion for film-making. I also had a great mentor on The Prince of Egypt, (my first storyboarding job) her name is Lorna Cook. The education she gave me on the job was priceless!! People are very generous in the animated industry, if you are passionate they will share their time and talents with you graciously. It's like a family.
VG: How was it working with all the big names in your movie (John Cusack, John Cleese, Jay Leno)?
Tony: I get a little nervous before I meet the talent because so much of animation depends on the voice work. I want the actors to be comfortable with me so they know they can try different things and make interesting choices. Because we storyboard everything first in animation, before the voices, I need to make choices on how the character would deliver a line. But that has to be adjusted in the records because I want the actors to bring 'themselves' to the table, make choices that I wouldn't have thought of so the characters feel real and diverse. I hate it when all the characters in an animated movie speak with the same voice, usually the director's. (I mean that figuratively of course, not literally).
It's really all about getting what I need before the session is over- so I don't have time to be star-struck. But every once in a while I'll look up and think...is that John Cusack I'm directing? Or... Did John Cleese just record lines for MY MOVIE? Or wasn't Jay Leno just on TV like 10 minutes ago? CRAZY!
VG: What do you enjoy doing on your spare time?
Tony: I'm kind of boring actually. Besides reading and playing video games l love to create characters and their stories. For movies, comic-books, TV... I LOVE it! I'll never have time to MAKE all of them, but I just love coming up with them and creating characters. I love exploring the human condition. I guess I'm still that same kid who loves to gets lost in his imagination.
VG: Igor is obviously based off of a character from the classic movie Frankenstein. What is your favorite horror movie?
Tony: I love James Whale's Frankenstein, but my favorite would have to be The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. We had a screening of it in Cal Arts and I remember it BLOWING MY MIND! I grew up in a religious family, Greek Orthodox, so icons were always in my life. Icons are filled with symbolism: every mark, every color, EVERYTHING represents something. It's visual STORY-TELLING, and so, as I discovered, was Caligari! I was so inspired seeing visual interpretations of abstract ideas, it's what I grew up with. So that's why I'm drawn to expressionistic art and films I think, they're familiar to me. Everything is designed to convey a story or an emotion in an expressionistic way. I do that with Igor. I've talked about this before so if you've heard me say it, feel free to skip this part.
All the costumes in Igor are symbols and tell the story of the characters. Igor is a slave in his world, a prisoner, his hands are tied (again figuratively) so I put him in a kind of 'straight jacket' with prison bars on it. He has a cuff on his arm representing hand-cuffs. All the characters have their own story.
The world does the same. Malaria is a country without sunlight and it is filled with hopelessness. In our story Eva, the monster, brings hope to the world, like the rising sun. So I stripped the movie of oranges (the color of the sun) until we see Eva. She's dressed ALL in orange, and she has a collar that looks like angel wings. The movie gets more and more orange and saturated with warm colors as Eva becomes more and more a part of the story. Each set, character, everything says something. These are things the audience won't know, but will feel.
VG: How does working on a CGI animated movie differ from working on a traditionally animated movie?
Tony: The creative process is not very different at all actually, it's just the technical differences. Painting a cel vs. rendering a 3D character in textures...they each have their own challenges, but in the end it's all about telling a great story with great characters.
VG: What was your favorite moment during this movie's production?
Tony: My favorite moment of the production was when I saw the characters in finished full color models. Seeing all these crazy textures and shapes we put together come to life was so satisfying. During the process I kept expecting someone to say- 'this is too way out' or 'we need to pull back,' but it never happened. So everything in my crazy head, from Byzantine Icons to Caligari to my wacky sketches became real! It was like I knew them, they were friends. That said...I would NEVER presume to think I did it all on my own. My character designer Valerie Hadida, and Art Director Olivier Besson were my creative partners and brought so much of themselves to the project as well. But they were helping me find my vision, and seeing it was one of the best moments of my life.
I'd like to thank Tony for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this little Q&A with me. Igor hits theaters September 19th. Check it out!
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