Anna: Hello, I'm Anna Jones and this is London Life.

Now have you ever wondered where those characters you see in films
like Toy Story and The Incredibles come from? Well now’s your
chance to find out. The Pixar exhibition celebrating 20 years of
animation recently opened at the Science Museum here in London. An
animated film is one in which drawings of people and animals seem to
move – such as the characters like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story or
Elastagirl in The Incredibles. In its exhibiton, the animation company
Pixar decided it wanted to take people behind the scenes to reveal the
process of how these animated characters appear on our cinema screens.
Rob Warren is the curator of the exhibition and he explains one of the
ways in which Pixar aimed to show the link between its artwork and
the finished animated film. What does Rob say happens to the artworks?

They’ve actually taken the art works on display in all the galleries, the rough un-
finished artworks, put them in the computer, chopped them up in the computer and
actually made a loop of film with them and using the sound effects from each
particular movie. And the way they tell the story of these art pieces is by pretending
it’s a gallery wall so each picture is on a gallery wall, and the camera dips in and out
of each one, and as the camera dips in, the image comes to life and they tell a little
story within it.

Anna: Rob says that Pixar has taken the rough or the unfinished artworks and
put them in the computer, chopped or cut them and made them into a
loop of film with sound effects from the film. Sound effects are usually,
but not always, sounds that are made artificially – they are not real but
sound very realistic. For example here’s a sound effect of water which
may or may not have been made at the sea:

Anna: Now here’s Rob again - this time try to listen out for how these art
pieces tell a story.

They’ve actually taken the art works on display in all the galleries, the rough un-
finished artworks, put them in the computer, chopped them up in the computer and
actually made a loop of film with them and using the sound effects from each
particular movie. And the way they tell the story of these art pieces is by pretending
it’s a gallery wall so each picture is on a gallery wall, and the camera dips in and out
of each one, and as the camera dips in, the image comes to life and they tell a little
story within it.

Anna: Rob tell us that each picture is placed on a gallery wall and the camera
“dips in and out” of each one. As the camera does this, the image
comes to life and it tells a story. The verb to “dip into” something
means to have a quick look at something. You can dip into a film or a
book which means that you only read small parts of it

She meant to read the whole book but only managed to dip in and out of it when she
found the time.
I have only had time to dip into the report

Anna: Rob goes on to talk about the visitors to the Pixar exhibition. As you
listen try to answer this question. Does he think the exhibition allow
children to interact or work with the exhibits? Usually at museums
there are some areas which are very interactive – children can press
buttons or work with exhibits to learn more about them? Is the Pixar
exhibition interactive?

Because of the nature of the material being flat art work or 3-D sculptures I really felt
it didn’t lend itself to whizz bang interactives. So it’s a little bit less interactive than
some exhibitions. But what we’ve also done – we’re entertaining the children – but
we’re also bringing in a new audience and I’m quite pleased about that – we’re
bringing in a lot of art and design students as well as older adult groups.

Anna: Well Rob says that the material or exhibits in the exhibition are flat art
work or 3 dimensional sculptures – if something is 3 dimensional then
it appears to have length, width and depth. Because they are flat art
work or 3-D then he felt the exhibition was not appropriate for lots of
interactivity – he says the exhibition “did not lend itself to to whizz
 bang interactives. If something is described as “whizz bang” then it
means that it is very exciting and fun to work with. But even though
the exhibition is not very interactive Rob is pleased with it for a
different reason. What is he pleased about? Listen again .

Because of the nature of the material being flat art work or 3-D sculptures I really felt
it didn’t lend itself to whizz bang interactives. So it’s a little bit less interactive than
some exhibitions. But what we’ve also done – we’re entertaining the children – but
we’re also bringing in a new audience and I’m quite pleased about that – we’re
bringing in a lot of art and design students as well as older adult groups.

Anna: Well Rob is pleased because the exhibition has brought in or attracted a
new audience including students of art and design. Well, that’s all for
today - join us next time.