Brad Bird | On Directing
Brad Bird is the director of the 2004 Pixar hit The Incredibles and its 2018 sequel. Here, he discusses the rules of filmmaking, the challenges of bringing a second iteration of The Incredibles to screens + the filmmakers (from Buster Keaton to the Coen Brothers) who had an influence on his work. Take a look below for five things we learned about the director from our interview.
Transcript
1. Why Bird went into filmmaking
Turns out Brad Bird got into directing because it's a mix of loads of different artforms. Because he's passionate about lots of different things - from music to costume design to photography + more - having the opportunity to put all of these elements together resulted in his chosen career path.
It's kind of a salad bar of the arts, and you get to have everything
2. He's been animating since he was a child
Bird reveals that when he made drawings as a child, he would put them into sequential order - and he's had animation on the brain ever since. He started out making films young and fooling the eye with cuts and editing. These early lessons taught him some of the fundamental rules of filmmaking, helping to inform his understanding of editing.
There's a lot of rules that are not necessarily logic rules but film logic rules
3. He made lots of changes adapting The Iron Giant
Brad Bird's heartwrenching 1999 animated film The Iron Giant is adapted from Ted Hughes' novel of the same name, and although Bird loved the original story, he made a lot of changes - some in the name of logic, and some for story. He explains that these small changes led to the interpretation he brought to the film - one that differs from the book, but still honours its central relationship.
What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun? That's a pretty different take than the book... things like that occur to you along the way, and they're never the same thing twice.
4. He worked on The Simpsons
Back when he was trying to make his start in the industry, Bird worked on the first eight seasons of The Simpsons. He explains that often lines of improv spawned entire character arcs.
It was a delight
5. He has a LOT of influences
Whilst Bird taking inspiration from classic comedic creatives like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin might not be so surprising, influences like Spielberg, David Lean and more Alfred Hitchcock are a little more considering Bird's background in children's animation.
The Coen brothers - if they make anything, if they do a film about pudding, I'll go see that on opening day.