Monday, February 18, 2019

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT - DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY NOTES

To look for more information on my essay points, I decided to look into the filmmaker's commentary, headed by director Robert Zemeckis, screenplay writers Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, and Ken Ralston, Frank Marshall, Steve Starkey from various departments of the film. The commentary is originally from the 2003 rerelease of the film for home media, but was included in the 25th anniversary 2013 Blu-Ray release.

During the commentary, I took notes on what I found  interesting and, more importantly, what could relate back to my essay points.

- Chaplin-esque
- Overacting is key to toon performance
- Frank - "Tex Avery style"
- Transition shot causes audience to suspend their disbelief to believe toons could walk around the 3D world
- First time "all the studios who own cartoon characters allowed them to be in a competing studio's movie"
- Hollywood segregated by humans and cartoons
- "actually about civil rights"
- "only be made if animators understand Tex Avery style"
- red car: "there has to be a real story"
- brother death is the *reason* eddie hates toons
- cartoons swearing was a "big disney problem"
- stage of club built 8ft in the air to accomodate puppeteers
- first and last time donald and daffy will ever be together
- "hungarian rhapsody"
- acme has direct link to roadrunner (YISS)
- animators included their own inside jokes
- homages / inside jokes to old animators
- jessica doesn't have a nose? or waist. not meant to seem like rotoscoping
- roger has no shoulders
- scene shot with dancer, then again without
- people were "tittering", "shocked and nervous"; breast movements, "so exaggerated as a woman it'd blow everyone's mind"
- jessica meant to look both "sexy and toony" - rz
- reverse anatomical movements; normal breasts down, jessica breasts up
- moves "very impossibly"
- richard williams "followed women"?
- ROGER FLIPPING THE PICTURES!!!
- roger animated on top of robotic arms and rigs
- toons drinking was a major discussion
- leaving imprint in the window
- combines toon music with overall score
- sober detective was the rebel that darth vader strangled in star wars. i thought that was cool.
- "[toontown was] supposed to be nuts"
- "how do you kill a toon" considered
- 2nd act starts 28 mins in
- "toon effects do physical things"
- shot like a regular movie
- judge doom's toon characteristics; chin, fake teeth, cape flapping
- doom never blinks
- originally, weasels were "mutant seven dwarfs"
- dip is made of components used to clean cels (acetone, benzine)
- not blood, red paint on doom's glove
- williams insisted on animating baby herman
- cigar was debated to be made animated or live action; the latter was chosen
- baby herman originally the villain
- jessica also the villain at one point
- acme's will is the macguffin
- squash and stretch achieved with an elastic bungee when roger's being pulled off the doorframe
- live action filming done before animation
- roger enters bottom drawer, reappears from top drawer
- lighting effects on toons would "look cool"
- toon rules
- toons always cast shadows to "make scenes a little bit better"
- articulated suction cups picked up plates and broke them
- exposure changed on roger's cels depending on lighting
- "quite a looney selection for a bunch of drunken reprobates"
- weasels *always* laugh at anyone's misfortune
- toon can't resist finishing "shave and a haircut, two bits"
- theatre shot is the longest continuous animation shot in the whole film
- moving the camera made animation easier; reverse was a myth
- collected animation cels
- cameraman knew principles of animation
- squash and stretch
- gun reflection matches poster
- never got the rights to animate felix the cat
- yosemite sam gave valiant a pistol
- drive through toontown tunnel was all miniature
- toontown is all bluescreen w/ eddie
- cartoon physics affect humans once you're in toontown
- when holding onto bar, bob hoskins was actually horizontal
- falling shot was just camera moving away really quickly
- characters stay true to their personalities; mickey wouldn't pull a cruel trick, but bugs would
- toon rule: toons will follow lines on road, smack bang into the wall
- night falls very quickly in toontown
- shadow talks to valiant
- multiplane camera used in toontown to add depth for valiant
- 3rd act begins 1hr 17mins in
- 3 films at once; 48 animated movie, a serial piece, and a special effects movie
- "understated absurdity"
- blend of looney tunes and film noir music
- toon props had to figure into the solution to the story
- doom throws valiant in "quite a toony way"
- flat doom was a stop motion puppet??? nice
- add things to make audience believe the toon stuff is in frame
- miniature doom machine going through "baby brick" wall
- debated ending with porky pig, a WB character; until tinkerbell was added


So they talked a lot more about the making of the film, over the themes of it. However, a lot of what they talk about related back to my points about certain characters, specifically Jessica Rabbit. This commentary also gave me a lot to work with in terms of talking about the film's antagonist, Judge Doom. There was a lot of things the team pointed out that I'd never noticed before; so much so I think it could be worth dedicating a paragraph to him.

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