It's like a Christmas present when everything comes together: 'Incredibles 2' art director Bryn Imagire

Incredibles 2 has already made history by making the best debut of all time for an animated film. The Parr family returned after more than a decade in the times when superheroes are all one can read about with a new story that is delighting one and all. Director Brad Bird reversed the roles of Helen Parr aka Elastigirl and Bob Parr aka Mr Incredibles that ensured the fun and entertaining times for the eager fans. That's not all, Edna and baby Jack-Jack added massive numbers to their fan following by being their pure selves on screen.

It looks oh so sleek and glamorous with a touch of family emotions on the big screen. But what goes on behind the scenes? How do these small lines on paper gradually become an animated movie that rakes in millions at the box office? 

I got an opportunity to talk to Bryn Imagire, the Shading Art Director at Pixar Animation Studios. As a shading director, she has to experiment with different materials to help form the overall look of the film through the colours and textures of characters, sets, and objects. For Incredibles 2, she worked closely with production designer Ralph Eggleston and director Brad Bird to make thousands of decisions of day-to-day basis to maintain the consistency of the story and keep the global look.

She walked me through the process of bringing a story alive, ease of working with advanced technology in animation, and Edna Mode's perspective behind designing the clothes fit for superheroes. Over to her...

Since animation movies take longer to make, how do you make sure that the story doesn't get lost from the beginning of first illustrations until it reaches the theatres?

The most important thing is making sure that the character arc always goes along with what Brad needs in the story. How the characters need to feel in each sequence, the way they look should be relatable. An example would be the character of Bob Parr in this movie. He has to fill in for Helen. Stay home with the kids while Helen is out there helping supers come back. Therefore we had to have him start out looking very fresh and calm. As the days go by, he gets tired, his eyes are bloodshot, his hair is crazy messy, and his clothes are all wrinkly. Once he figures out how to deal with this role reversal, he goes back to his strong self. We have to track that arc in every sequence.

What changed since you did the first Incredible movie?

I think technology is so much more sophisticated now. It is easier to make things look fabulous very quickly. There are changes in lighting because of global illumination. It helps everything look very grounded and connected to each other. In the past, lighting sets made things look very separate. Now with Global illumination, things shadow each other and everything looks much more cohesive. Things like hair, muscles, skin and clothing on characters look better now. 

Because this movie is picking up where the last one left off, we did have to bring back all of the old things like Incredi-bil, what was Frozone wearing in the first movie, we had to be very conscious of bringing the connection. Until the Underminer scene, we kept everything very similar. After that, we had to things up several notches with the ability of the technology we have now. 

What was the most challenging part?

Challenging part was the compressed production schedule because we didn't have that long to make this movie. Apart from that, it's pretty fun all the time. Because I love colours so much, I can have the time to plan the movie based on textures and colours. It's kind of luxurious. I feel it's something easy to control in design and in CGI. I worked with Brad and Ralph on the first movie, therefore, I feel like we know each other and have a really good relationship. That made this movie really fun for me. There is always hard work but I was happy to be able to be in this world again. It's like a Christmas present when that fine balance between real and unreal was translated on the screen.

Incredibles 2 is really glamorous and that sets is apart from the Pixar roster. So how do you make it possible?

The one thing Brad wanted to set this movie apart from the superhero movies was the family aspect. Being able to make the family when they are in their Incredibles outfits, super glamorous. But when they are at home, he wanted to keep them looking like normal kids, and parents. That grounded feeling really helps the audience stay connected. That's what makes the movie super fresh, relatable, and interesting.

Can we talk about Edna Mode, please? Edna is OTT. How do you get her perspective to design the outfits for the Parr family and other supers?

Edna is all of us women at Pixar. She is the perfect character. Edna is flamboyant, a great designer, and completely outrageous. So she is kind of a role model and we all want to be her. If not, live vicariously through her. 

When you are designing through someone else's mind, you just have to set up what her underlying personality is. Then the decisions come pretty easily. Once the stakes of 'who Edna is' are set up in the ground, it gets easy. Her standards of design are very high since she has designed for gods in the first movie. Also, there is practicality that she uses in her designs. Her designs don't just have to look fabulous, they also have to be practical. These characters have to be able to move around and be able to fight. So I like that delicate balance. I don't believe in design for design's sake. I feel like it has to be functional and I feel that is one of the key elements of Edna's philosophy.