Mark Kennedy: The Disney Story Process
Over on Instagram, Disney story artist Mark Kennedy has shared a presentation he gave at the studio about the story process. You hopefully know Mark from his amazing blog, The Temple of the Seven Golden Camels. On this blog he (used to?) share what he learned about the art of storyboarding. I would study his posts for hours, I stil go back to some of them on a regular basis. In many ways that blog is an example for what I'm doing with my blog here.
Mark's insta-thread (is that a thing?) gives very valuable insight in the story proces at a major studio. Something I occasionally run into when working on smaller productions is that some producers don't seem to be aware of how things are done at the big studios. They assume that the studio process won't work for them because they lack the money to make it work. But I often feel that some parts of the process would actually work really great to save money. Storyboards are relatively cheap, if a smaller production takes the time to extensively board out their film's story the rest of the production will go a lot smoother and faster! (This doesn't just go for animation, live-action films could also really benefit from thorough storyboarded sequences)
I've compiled Marks instagram posts below:
At work, they’ve asked me to put together a talk about how our story process works. I’m drawing some visuals to help explain things. So here’s an incredibly unexciting drawing to explain how development works.
Development is basically everything that you have to do to know enough so you can write a script. The studio and the directors have to find a story, theme and characters that they agree will make a movie that we ought to be making.
Basically we spend years (yes, years) talking about the theme, the characters and the story. We do a ton of research into every topic we can think of to help make the movie feel authentic and real.
(Not pictured: the most important part...the production people who take notes, help us keep organized and sane and often offer better ideas than anyone. I will add them.)
It’s not easy.
The next stage in the Disney Story process is when the Story Artist boards the sequence (you know, the sexy part).
Sometimes they get script pages. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you get a general idea to go explore. Sometimes it’s just story beats. Sometimes you get a song to board, sometimes it’s pieces or fragments of a song, and sometimes it’s boarding a song that doesn’t exist yet.
The part that’s least understood about boarding at Disney is that it’s very blue sky. You need to take the story ideas and visualize them. Usually, early on, there’s only a vague idea (or no idea) of what the environment looks like. There may be no idea of what the character looks like or just some vague rough thoughts. The job of a story artist, more than anything, is to infuse the basic ideas that they’re given with the richness that fleshing out the world and personalities of the characters brings to a story. A story artist needs to understand where to put the camera to tell the story. How to pace the scene. How to set the tone and mood. What to emphasize and what to minimize. They have to make choices about all of the acting. What is going on in all of the character’s heads at each turn of the story?
Most of the criticisms I hear about story artists and their work is because sometimes people don’t realize how much of a blank page story artists are given. When I was an animator, I was given character designs, layouts, an x-sheet (so I even knew how long the scene was), a recording of the final track and an understanding of the scene before and after mine. When I got into story, I realized story artists have none of that, and everything is in flux all at once. The script changes every day, affecting your work. New ideas about the characters and environments happen every day, affecting your work. A good story artist has to be resilient, flexible and collaborative or else the work quickly becomes impossibly frustrating.
So the next stage in the story process is when the story artist pitches their work. This is what it looks like these days: pitching on a big screen in front of the directors, producers, writers, story crew and sometimes other departments. It’s a big room.
The story artist pitches their finished sequence to the room, and the crew gets to see the sequence realized (in a way). Then we discuss. What worked? What didn’t? What was confusing? Is the tone correct? Do the characters feel consistent with other sequences? Do the characters feel alive, or merely as puppets of the plot? Is it clear what they’re thinking and feeling? Will this sequence fit with what comes before and after? How could the sequence be funnier? Or more dramatic? Or more suspenseful? Or more exciting? Or simply more entertaining?
Ideally, the room has an open and honest discussion where everyone feels they can speak up and be heard and there’s a healthy debate and discussion. The end result, hopefully, is that the story is strengthened and improved by new ideas and suggested refinements. If something isn’t working, or the sequence isn’t conceived right, or doesn’t belong in the movie, hopefully the room will have the ability to recognize that and discuss how to move forward.
Typically, schedule wise, we have a week to do a sequence at Disney and then a week to address all the notes and rework the scene as much as is called for. Next stop: editorial.
Once the Story Artist has a version of the sequence that the directors approve of, the sequence goes to the editor.
The directors, editor, writer and Head of Story will adjust the script to reflect changes made as the sequence went through the story process...adding lines, cutting others and rearranging as needed. Those lines are recorded with actors (sometimes people available in the studio, sometimes hired voice actors and sometimes the actual actors who will be in the finished film). Anything that isn’t the final actors we usually refer to as “scratch”. Since we iterate and change so much, we don’t bring in the actual actors until we’re somewhat sure that what we’re recording is somewhat close to final, and even then, they record the script over and over during many sessions. Often in the early stages we don’t even know who the characters are yet, so we don’t have a clear idea of what actor to even cast.
The editor takes all these lines of dialogue, adds music (taken from existing film soundtracks as needed), and sound effects and puts it all together. The editor has to wrestle with the pacing, transitions between scenes, getting the tone and mood right for each sequence and finding the correct music (or absence of music) to complement the story.
When the editor is ready to show, they’ll typically call the directors, head of story, and producer down to their room. We all sit around a table and watch the sequence.
Some of the same story problems that were discussed in the script stage, and later in story room, inevitably come up and some will always be a source of discussion until the film is done. Other problems will become apparent for the first time as the sequence is realized in a different state. Often editorial offers the chance to look at several sequences in continuity, which can be more revealing than just seeing one at a time. Problems like pacing, having two sequences in a row that feel similar in mood or contain the same information are flagged. Is the overall pacing too slow? That will make the film boring. If the pacing is too fast the audience may be confused or may not have enough time to process emotional moments.
The next step is to figure out how to move forward. Do major rewrites need to be done? Then the team will have to discuss and the writer will have to rewrite the sequence, and it will need to be re-boarded and pitched to the room again. Do the sequences need to be re-ordered? Can trims and adjustments fix the sequences? Then the editor can take another pass. Or if storyboard changes are needed, the team will talk a story artist through what notes need to be done.
Eventually, the whole film is assembled in this way and you have a rough approximation of the film with storyboards, dialogue and rough soundtrack. At that point, the next step is to have a screening where it is shown to the studio in order to get feedback about how to improve the film. Next up: the screening.
Once we have the movie built in story reels (meaning about 90 minutes of storyboards, temp music and temp dialogue), we are ready to show it to the studio and get everyone’s input.
The studio gathers in the screening room (an in-house theater that seats about 150 people) and we watch the reels. Before the screening begins, the director and producer will always get up and speak for a few minutes, usually thanking everyone that worked on the story reels and listing their “caveats”...acknowledging the things that they know are missing from the reels or not working and could be confusing.
We watch the reels and it can be excruciating. For story artists, seeing your rushed scribbles projected on a movie screen in front of a room full of your co-workers can make you shrink down in your seat a little. Also, seeing that your sequence has been heavily edited, with the drawings perhaps re-arranged or even cut and pasted together in a way you didn’t intend can feel like an unwelcome surprise!
Sometimes I think our co-workers look at the screening and think, “...you guys thought THAT was good?” But that’s not really how directors, writers or the story team feel. The studio policy is for every movie to have a screening every 12-16 weeks, so that no film gets off track or goes too long without getting input. You always have areas that you wanted to fix and just couldn’t. Sometimes you simply ran out of time. Sometimes it’s for other reasons. As you work on the story, there are always big parts in flux, and sometimes even though you’re screening the film for the studio, the version you’re showing is already obsolete. Usually the team has strong ideas about where to go and thoughts about how to make the film stronger. And nobody in story is ever satisfied....even when the film comes out in theaters, it’s only because you ran out of time. Vance Gerry said, “story is never finished...only abandoned”.
After the screening, the filmmakers and story crew go into a meeting with other directors, writers from other movies, development people and others for a (typically) two hour notes session.
The screening is discussed...what worked? What didn’t? Is the core idea the right one or is an alternate theme emerging? What parts of the movie support the theme and which parts seem counter to the theme? How well do the characters relate to your theme and illustrate what you’re trying to say with their attitudes, actions and growth?
A supportive yet open and honest environment is best. Ideally, the people giving notes are trying to help the film makers find the best version of the film they’re trying to make. At times, some people seem to be picturing a different version of the movie and can’t seem to wrap their heads around what the directors are trying to do. That’s okay! Not every movie speaks to every person and individual taste has to be accounted for.
The story crew is typically seated in chairs around the outside of the room to allow the “fresh eyed” people to sit at the table. The story crew has been giving notes for weeks and/or years, so it’s always interesting to hear what the new viewers are thinking and feeling. Inevitably, much of what the story crew, writers and directors have been wrestling with will come up, as well as new thoughts and ideas. Usually, there are simply too many ideas in the film, and the new perspective of the people in the room can be very helpful in figuring out what to eliminate and simplify.
Obviously, in earlier screenings there’s much more open discussion and in later screenings the notes need to be more focused on the overall idea of the film as it has been solidified over time. I don’t think it’s necessary to arrive at solutions right away, to me it’s better to talk holistically about the strengths and weaknesses. That way the filmmakers can process what they just worked very hard to put on the screen and begin to form the new version in their heads over the next few days and weeks, finding solutions that will address all of the problems as a whole.
Next stop: start all over again!
What happens after a screening and gathering all the notes? The process begins all over again.
The biggest difference between Story and other departments is the amount of iteration. We re-do our work over and over so other departments won’t have to. We need to make sure we figure out things as much as possible, because re-doing storyboards is much cheaper than, say, building a digital set and throwing it out, building a character that ends up cut out of the movie, or animating a sequence and then throwing it out.
We typically do 7 screenings in total, with the 8th screening being a preview we do for the public (in pre-COVID times, anyway). After a screening, we spend a few days absorbing and digesting all the notes. Then we start to brainstorm about what to change and decide what the next steps are. The writer starts re-writing new pages...the board artist starts to board them...and the editor gets them after that, with the goal being to do another full screening in 12-16 weeks, so for story artists, the process of making a film is a cycle of screenings every 16 weeks over the course of 2-3 years.
Some sequences will disappear from the movie after a screening, or the order of sequences might change. Some characters will go away, or they might have their parts trimmed or expanded. Maybe a new character is added, or a character’s personality changes to accommodate a new idea. After a few screenings, parts will start to go into production. So as the film goes on, certain areas are unable to be changed anymore as they move out of Story into other departments. The first stop after Story is layout, where layout artists start laying out the movie on the built sets.
As time goes on, the film becomes less and less the responsibility of the story crew. Every good story artist has a vision of what they think the film should be, and part of being in story is seeing that vision go away a little (or a lot) as the film grows, changes and is touched by more and more hands.
