London Life

Anna: Hello, I'm Anna Jones and this is London Life.
　　Now have you ever wondered where those characters you seein films like Toy Story and The Incredibles come from? Wellnow’s your chance to find out. The Pixar exhibitioncelebrating 20 years of animation 1 recently opened at theScience Museum here in London.  An animated 2 film is one inwhich drawings of people and animals seem to move – suchas the characters like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story orElastagirl in The Incredibles. In its exhibiton, theanimation company Pixar decided 3 it wanted to take peoplebehind the scenes to reveal theprocess of how these animated characters appear on ourcinema screens. Rob Warren is the curator of the exhibitionand he explains one of the ways in which Pixar aimed toshow the link between its artwork andthe finished animated film. What does Rob say happens tothe artworks?
　　They’ve actually taken the art works on display in all thegalleries, the rough un- finished artworks, put them in thecomputer, chopped them up in the computer and actually madea loop of film with them and using the sound effects fromeach particular movie. And the way they tell the story ofthese art pieces is by pretending it’s a gallery wall soeach picture is on a gallery wall, and the camera dips inand out of each one, and as the camera dips in, the imagecomes to life and they tell a little story within it.
　　Anna: Rob says that Pixar has taken the rough or theunfinished artworks and put them in the computer, choppedor cut them and made them into a loop of film with soundeffects from the film. Sound effects are usually, but notalways, sounds that are made artificially – they are notreal but sound very realistic. For example here’s a soundeffect of water which may or may not have been made at thesea:
　　Anna: Now here’s Rob again - this time try to listen outfor how these art pieces tell a story.
　　They’ve actually taken the art works on display in all thegalleries, the rough un- finished artworks, put them in thecomputer, chopped them up in the computer andactually made a loop of film with them and using the soundeffects from each particular movie. And the way they tellthe story of these art pieces is by pretending it’s agallery wall so each picture is on a gallery wall, and thecamera dips in and out of each one, and as the camera dipsin, the image comes to life and they tell a little storywithin it.
　　Anna: Rob tell us that each picture is placed on agallery wall and the camera “dips in and out” of eachone. As the camera does this, the image comes to life andit tells a story. The verb to “dip into” something meansto have a quick look at something. You can dip into a filmor a book which means that you only read small parts of itShe meant to read the whole book but only managed to dip inand out of it when she found the time.
　　I have only had time to dip into the reportAnna: Rob goes on to talk about the visitors to the Pixarexhibition. As you listen try to answer this question.
　　Does he think the exhibition allow children to interact orwork with the exhibits? Usually at museums there are someareas which are very interactive 4 – children can pressbuttons or work with exhibits to learn more about them? Isthe Pixar exhibition interactive?
　　Because of the nature of the material being flat art workor 3-D sculptures I really felt it didn’t lend itself towhizz bang interactives. So it’s a little bit lessinteractive than some exhibitions. But what we’ve alsodone – we’re entertaining the children – but we’re alsobringing in a new audience and I’m quite pleased aboutthat – we’re bringing in a lot of art and design studentsas well as older adult groups.
　　Anna: Well Rob says that the material or exhibits in theexhibition are flat art work or 3 dimensional sculptures –if something is 3 dimensional then it appears to havelength, width and depth. Because they are flat art work or3-D then he felt the exhibition was not appropriate forlots of interactivity 5 – he says the exhibition “did notlend itself to to whizzbang interactives. If something is described as “whizzbang” then it means that it is very exciting and fun towork with.  But even though the exhibition is not veryinteractive Rob is pleased with it for a different reason.
　　What is he pleased about? Listen again .
　　Because of the nature of the material being flat art workor 3-D sculptures I really felt it didn’t lend itself towhizz bang interactives. So it’s a little bit lessinteractive than some exhibitions. But what we’ve alsodone – we’re entertaining the children – but we’re alsobringing in a new audience and I’m quite pleased aboutthat – we’re bringing in a lot of art and design studentsas well as older adult groups.
　　Anna: Well Rob is pleased because the exhibition hasbrought in or attracted a new audience including studentsof art and design. Well, that’s all for today - join usnext time.