Directing the Invisible Art

Characters are at the heart of all great stories and at Framestore we pride ourselves on crafting animated performances that engage audiences across genres.  The directors we work with demand the same from these characters as they do from human actors: emotionally driven, captivating and authentic performances that just feel real.

In Directing the Invisible Art we sat down with six very different directors that have collaborated with the Framestore team.  We asked them about their approach to marrying live-action worlds and on-set actors with the animated characters that inhabit them.  From the importance of light, the search for a feeling to the significance of doing very little and why great is better than good, each tells us what it takes to bring characters like Paddington, the Wild Things, Rocket, Groot, Cosmo, Toothless, King Shark, the Hippogriff, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger to life. 

At Framestore, we have immense admiration for the Directors with whom we work and would like to share a special thanks to Alfonso Cuarón, Dean DeBlois, James Gunn, Marc Forster, Paul King and Spike Jonze for giving their time to us.  We’ve collaborated with each on the following projects:

• Gravity, Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Alfonso Cuarón
• How to Train Your Dragon (2025 film) - Dean DeBlois
• Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1, 2 & 3, Suicide Squad, Superman (2025 film) - James Gunn
• Christopher Robin - Marc Forster
• Paddington 1 & 2, Wonka - Paul King
• Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze

Watch Directing the Invisible Art and interviews with Spike Jonze and James Gunn, or revisit The Invisible Art, on our YouTube channel now.