Putting together a season Star Wars: Lower Decks It’s such a complex proposition that it might as well be built in the Utopia planet shipyards. But today, Comic Beat gives our readers a peek behind the scenes through an interview with the supervising director Barry J. Kelly.
The Beat caught up with Kelly via Zoom to learn more about his role on the show. We asked him about his first involvement, his day-to-day responsibilities and (of course) what he’d order from the food replicator.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
AVERY KAPLAN: Can you take us through the history of your involvement with the show? How did you get involved?
Barry J. Kelly: I worked at Titmouse Cartoons for about thirteen years. I’m researching Venture Brothers., Moonlight City And some Adult Swim stuff. I’m researching Star Wars Galactic Adventures Two or three years.
I rested for a while and heard that there was a StarCraft The show is about to pass. My directing partner, Juno Lee – he’s been directing that show pantheon Recently aired on Netflix. But he was my directing partner for many years, and he became supervisor on the first season and had to quit. I was his episode director.
The supervising director oversees the entire season and is then deputized for each episode by the showrunner. Each show director has three or four artists working under him who are just trying to figure out the episode, while the supervising director makes sure the season stays on track.
But Lee had to quit early and I commanded the pilot – I was a huge StarCraft fan. first scene lower deck In the first episode, “Second Contact,” I was surprised by the clarity of the characters; Sailor and Boimler. I see. I, like many viewers, was unsure whether this show would be a success. When I read the first scene, and then the whole pilot, I was like, “Oh, I get it 100 percent.”
The beauty of the script Mike McMahan The writers made them interesting before they were animated. The thing is, I read a script and I feel like I’ve already seen the episode and I’m like, “Oh crap, now I have to make this thing. Now I have to make it feel like the first time I read it It’s as fun as I imagined.
When I directed four episodes of the first season as showrunner, Juno had to quit and I took over midway through. COVID-19 hits. So we’re all stuck at home and we have to figure out how to keep the show on schedule during a global pandemic. I almost became the de facto artist of the show. “What do you need for a show?” Just here to provide services.
When the first season ended, the second season had already begun. I started out as supervising director, which meant I had to act as my own episode director; the new storyboard artist for the season. Once we get into season two… from season two to season five, it’s the same for everyone. After that everyone wanted to get back to the show. We found the key players.
I’ve been on the show ever since; 50 episodes later.
Kaplan: What do your day-to-day responsibilities look like?
Kelly: I can simply complete my schedule. Since I’m the supervising director, I’m responsible for the entire season.
We do build the show in a linear fashion, from one to ten. But once the departments start…for example, we go through the board, then design, then animation, then compositing.
We create boards and animations, and once we feel like the episode is working, we have a blueprint for it and we break it down into all these parts. Then once all those pieces are out and distributed to different artists to work on, we have to put the puzzle back together again.
For my day job, I usually start by just looking at motherboards. Once we finish the first episode, the design will be triggered. Then while the second episode was being produced, the first episode was also being designed. And then when we got to episodes three, four, and five, the designs for episodes one and two came out. So it’s a waterfall effect where each department starts after the next department.
So my schedule ended up being: The director had a bunch of storyboards that the storyboard artist needed to review; I would sit with them for two hours in the morning. I just take notes and we just talk about the scene. I’d say, “Something is unclear in this scene. We’re missing a part of the script where a character is supposed to be hiding in a room; we don’t really get that. I’ll give them these notes, and then they go back and talk with their Storyboard artist chat.
I spend the next two hours working on the design with our art director. These will be sessions with background artists and character artists. That would be from a completely different episode. Sometimes, there will be more than one happening at the same time because they are all in different stages.
Then the next two hours of the day might be compositing or animation. Animation only looks at the camera. There was no order to them, everything was fragmented; I was just trying to make a mental map of what was going on from this episode to the next. These are just figures on a black and white background. The background is not finished yet, departmental matters are happening at the same time.
Then maybe the last two hours of the day will be compound. Compositing means placing the characters into the final background, adding effects, and moving the camera. When all the pieces of the puzzle come together and the editorial brings it back.
Maybe on those days – every day is different too. It could be a remix of different episodes. But usually every hour, every two hours, I’m looking at a different stage of production. I’m trying to keep it all in my head.
But there’s a group of talented artists that keep me going. I’m just a thing that comes in and annoys them for two hours. “Is it necessary? Is it necessary? They say, ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right,’ or they prove me wrong and I say, ‘Oh, you guys are right.’ I’m so happy that you guys are great artists working for me. I made the wrong call and you guys figured it out and fixed it, making it better and making me look like a genius.
Kaplan: What would you order from a food replicator?
Kelly: I absolutely love macaroni and cheese. I just love fried chicken and mac and cheese.
And fruit roll-ups. I’ll probably order a lot of fruit snacks – artificial fruit chews. I’d ask, “Can you make a ’90s shark fruit snack? But make sure it has those white ones in it, like…yoghurt, marshmallows, I don’t know what they are.
It’s like, “Shark Bite, circa 1993, coming up.”
I’d say, “Make sure they’re foil-wrapped so I can open it with satisfaction. But maybe instead of 8, put 16. Just give me some more. If I could do fruit Snacks, I’ll make them.
new episodes Star Wars: Lower Decks Available to watch Thursday on Paramount+.
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