Creating the World and Characters of Inside Out {Exclusive Look}

There are two words that have become part of my daily vocabulary over the past month. I’ve said them to friends in chat, to the dental assistant cleaning my teeth, to the doctor giving the twins shots, and even the kiddos at the elementary school when picking up my son. Nope, it’s not “Save Me!”…although some days that is said. Those two words are….Inside Out!

Creating the World and Characters of Inside Out {Exclusive Look}

Disney Pixar’s Inside Out will be hitting theaters on June 19th and you may remember that I visited Pixar Animation Studios in April to get the inside scoop on the film. We watched the first 56 minutes of the must see movie of the Summer, and it’s been really freaking hard not to talk about the movie. I get to spill the beans today, a little bit, as I take you Inside the Mind of Inside Out!

Creating the world and characters of Inside Out wasn’t all about the animation and lightning, (which I will be sharing in the weeks to come) it was also about the physics. I got the chance to chat with Inside Out Production Designer Ralph Eggleston, who was one of the first people on the film, and one of the last people off. His job was to create the physics of the film and figure out how to best visually tell the story. The textures and how they react to light. Why is this so important with Inside Out…?

“Lighting, then sound, then story, is how the audience responds.” – Ralph Eggleston

Inside Out was pretty much like making two films at once. The “Mind World” of Inside Out, and the “Real World” of Inside Out.

Mind World: The emotions (characters) inside Riley’s mind.

Real World: The world outside of Riley’s mind.

Originally the movie focused more on the mind world. But you couldn’t care about the emotions of Riley without knowing her. So we venture more into the real world.

Lets watch a little clip so you can see the difference between Mind World and Real World.

Okay, so the Real World. Did you notice how unsaturated it is? It looks how I feel on a balmy, dreary, rainy day for the most part. Hard textures with surfaces that reflect light, and while there are a lot of colors, there are not a lot of dark shadows.

Now the Mind World. A lot more colorful isn’t it? Lots of saturation, higher contrast, and translucent surfaces like grains of sand and flower petals that reflect light. The Mind World, also known as Headquarters, is filled with safe colors and round shapes that make us feel comfortable. It’s the anchor of the film but as the story changes, you will see Mind World change as well.

See, I’m even happier talking about Mind World, after all how can Joy, who is made up of little particles like a sparkler, not make you happy?!

“It’s easy to get lost in the mind, so fast.” – Ralph Eggleston

A few other interesting things we learned from Inside Out Production Designer Ralp Eggleston:

The Abstract Thought Scene, one of my favs, was a difficult one. They had to figure out how to do Picasso in 3D! Trust me, you are going to love it – just writing about it makes me giggle!
If you look off in the distance, beyond the Imagination Islands, you will see little lights, almost like cities off in the distance. Maybe the world is bigger than we realized?!
The Dreamland Scene, another one of my favorites, is not a replay of memories, but actual skits by characters inside the mind. I was curious as to why it was written this way and it’s because replaying memories would have taken us away from the characters, and nobody wants that. Acting out skits kept us involved with them and I’m really glad they went that route. It’s rather hilarious!
Concept Art was used to help design the Inside Out Characters. How amazing are these pieces? There were tons of them and man do I wish I could have snapped some pictures and purchased some to display at home! I may even considering replacing my POP! Collection if that was an option. 😉