For this analysis, the pair of directors/animators chosen to be compared and reviewed are Vicky Jenson and Chris Landreth. Both of these directors work mostly in the aspect of 3D, but have proficiencies in other aspects of the film and cartoon industry as well.
Vicky Jenson is a director with background in not just animation, but live action fieldwork as well – more than twenty years of experience! According to acmefilmworks.com, some of Jenson’s accomplishments include directing on both the first Shrek (2001) film and Shark Tale (2004). She’s earned a plethora of awards, which – among countless others – include a nomination for the Cannes, receiving of the BAFTA, Golden Globes, and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. She even has claim to being the only female director Anonymous Content represented for some time!
Clearly, this is a director with chops enough to work on major projects. Currently, she’s directing an animated feature for DreamWorks, and preparing work for a live-action fantasy-genre feature she plans to work on right after.
Jenson’s work can easily be summed up with one word: variety. This is a director that didn’t specialize herself to just one category in the film industry – and this made her highly accessible. Her work includes 3D/2D animation, storyboarding, story directing and development, directing, background art, and even acting! Her style of work is simple, with a very ‘cartoony’ but bright and colorful aesthetic in her films – like The Road to El Dorado (2000), Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992), and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) – which are packed full of adventure and engaging story. Other films she has under her belt, such as Shrek (2001) and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) bring that style into a 3-Dimensional setup, but still maintain the same playful, exaggerated, and intriguing aesthetics.
This is obviously a director to keep an eye on. Her work is truly inspiring, and provides a good goal that other aspiring animators or directors can attempt to reach in their own areas of work – to have influence in so many areas of the film industry is an amazing feat.
However, not to be outdone, the next director to be viewed – Chris Landreth – has an equally unique career and history. Before becoming an animator/director, Chris was an engineer. But somewhere in his life, he decided to exchange one job for another, and gradually became a computer animator. Before actually creating any films though, he was often hired to ‘break’ top-of-the-line software, pushing it to its limit and abusing it in different forms of testing. Autodesk Maya was one of these top-quality programs subjected to this.
These tests actually resulted in some experimental short films, one of which actually got a nomination for an Academy Award. The film was called The End, and it received its nomination for Best Animated Short Film in 1996.
Shortly after this, Landreth was introduced to an animator named Ryan Larkin – known in the 60s and 70s for his own work. Larkin was a man in a spiral, fallen into the habits of drug and alcohol abuse, and repeatedly becoming homeless. Somehow, one man’s decline became another’s opportunity. Landreth used Larkin’s plight as a source of inspiration, and created Ryan (2004), a production that actually won an Oscar the following year.
After this success, Chris’ work started growing. His style maintained a very in-your-face approach, using a brilliant combination of 3D modeling and visual effects to create abstract imagery while still getting an intriguing story across. Landreth himself calls this style “Psychorealism”. For example, in Ryan, he uses twisting colors, gaping holes and other deformations to portray what’ going on with characters’ mentalities. It goes as far as making viewers almost uncomfortable, while also keeping thoroughly invested while they watch – without pushing his films into horror territory.
Now, Landreth works as an animator in Canada, creating more intriguing works of art such as The Spine (2009) and Subconscious Password (2013).
When comparing both of these directors, it’s obvious that the only things they really have in common is experience in the world of 3D animation, and they’ve both directed their own works at one or multiple points in time. Aside from this, they differ quite drastically. Jenson’s work is heavily geared for the younger mind – although adults can enjoy her films and animations as well, her style is light and colorful and the films have a more adventurous and energetic spirit. In great contrast, Landreth’s work plays very much to the subconscious, presenting warped and deformed characters, dark environments and characters that speak to the more mature audience.
Jenson also works for larger scale corporations – which, although they are great experiences to have under the belt, don’t provide too much opportunity to have full creative control. Landreth, however, works for smaller companies and focuses more on creating animated shorts – which grants him a level of control that Jenson doesn’t seem to experience. This allows Chris to really show himself as an artist, and get the messages across that he wants. Jenson can do this as well, but she has teams and other directors to consult with and discuss such things over with, which eventually leads to a multi-faceted story and theme.
When all is said and done though, one can easily see that both too these directors have great knowledge and capability as animators. Both are gifted in their particular areas, and their shared proficiency in the 3D animation aspect of the film industry. Their works speak loudly to their creativity and dedication to their areas. It’s exciting to see such powerful and wondrous pieces of art being produced, and just knowing directors like Vicky Jenson and Chris Landreth are working on some amazing films brings forth an enthusiasm and anticipation to see what they might create next.