Interview: Neil Burns on Edison and Leo
Perfect Circle Films, Téléfilm Canada, Corus Stop-Motion Film
Oct 2, 2008
Neil Burns got into animation by accident. After graduating from the Emily Carr School of Art, he was introduced to animation when someone recommended him to animate a dancing skeleton in the music video for Colin James’ “Saviour.”
Twelve years later, he catapulted into the director’s chair for Edison and Leo, the first stop-motion film produced in Canada. Suite 101 chatted with Neil during the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
How did you get involved with Edison and Leo?
“I’d done a couple of shorts, and I’d been an animation director on a couple of series: Disney’s Jo-Jo’s Circus and CBC’s What It’s Like Being Alone.
“I was originally hired as an animation director, and the original director had to leave for personal reasons. So they were in a pinch. I’m a huge fan of screenwriter George Toles, who often works with Guy Madden. So it was this complete dream project to walk into.”
What was that like, coming in so late in the game?
“It was definitely tough, I came in at the end of the first week of shooting. By that point, the production had a couple of hiatuses already and they couldn’t take another break. It was pretty much ‘we’re shooting this tomorrow and get on top of it when you can.’ The voice stuff was done already so we had to work with what was there. You can cut lines out, you can move around but you can’t really add things.
“I don’t mind that situation because I end up doing things that I wouldn't have done before. It was tough as well just cause it was the first stop-motion feature in Canada. For most of the crew, except for the animators, it was new to them. So it was a huge learning curve for a lot of people.
“I’m amazed the producers were able to do this, starting from a dead stop. It's like putting on an opera when you’ve never had a rehearsal. So I give them huge credit for having pulled it off. And the schedule was so tight; we shot for 10 months, which sounds like a lot when you’re coming from live-action. But when you’re talking stop-motion, it’s like you’re doing a sprint except you’re sprinting for 10 months.”
Stop-motion is very labour-intensive. How much time and footage goes into 90 minutes of film?
“On average, an animator would shoot about 8 seconds a day, and we had 10 animators shooting at once, so you’re looking at 80 seconds per day. But it depends on the shot as well: if it’s just head-shots and dialogue, you can go fairly quick. If it’s more elaborate things involving set pieces, your time is lost not in the animation but in the setup. The animation is quick, but you have to build all the stuff and set it up. That's you burn a lot of your time.”
Coming in as late as you did, you couldn’t assemble your own team, you had to trust the people already on the project. What was that like?
“It was great. Even if I had come on earlier, I probably would have had a hard time getting my own team together, because they’re all in Ontario and it was a BC production. But the crew was great. Although they hadn't had any stop-motion experience, some people had 20 or 30 years in live-action production, so I could really trust them, once they learned the specific requirements for animation. The other thing was they were really excited. Everyone could see it was a really unusual project.
“I really like working with other people. I’d always viewed art as a solitary pursuit, and as an artist, your vision is like the final word. And you have to give that up when you're working on a film.
“If I try to be too specific and say ‘I want it exactly like this’ I always go, ‘Ooh yeah, that wasn’t what I had in my head’ but if I say, ‘These are the essentials, everything else I leave up to you’ they always do more than I expect, or do a better job, because they’re invested in it.
”If you give your people some freedom, they’re gonna step up.”
What was your budget for Edison and Leo?
“It was about $10 million. It’s big for a Canadian film, but compared to something like Coraline . . . I’m not sure what their budget is, but a year ago I heard it was $60 million, and I’ve heard since then that they’ve extended their shoot by about six months. We had 50 people, while I’ve heard that (Laika’s) puppet department alone is 40 people. Our puppet department had maybe 8 people at its height.”
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having such a small crew?
“It gave us this real frantic energy that I think contributed to the film. If we didn’t get that 30-second shot, I had to cut 30 seconds out of the film. But those compromises force you to think more creatively, to come up with better solutions. Ninety percent of those cuts were an advantage because they helped streamline the story. Not that I wouldn’t like to have a bigger budget, (laughs) but there’s something to be said for having a small budget.”
(In Part #2, Neil talks about some more problems with the production, and his artistic influences.)
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