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Local News Peter Ramsey: The ‘Rise of the Guardians’ Interview R ise of the Guardians is Peter Ramsey’s first feature film after directing the hit DreamWorks Animation Hal- loween special, “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space.” This project fol- lowed the feature film, “Monsters vs. Aliens” on which Ramsey served as Head of Story. While at DreamWorks Animation, Ramsey also served as a story artist on “Shrek the Third,” and as a story board artist on “Shark Tale.” Before joining DreamWorks Animation in 2004, Ramsey’s tal- ent as a storyboard artist was on display while working on a notable number of live action fea- ture films, including “Adapta- tion,” “Minority Report,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “Cast Away”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Fight Club,” “Godzilla,” “Men in Black,” “Independence Day,” “Batman Forever,” “Far and Away,” “Back- draft,” and “Predator 2” amongst others. Ramsey’s directing skills were also honed early, as he served as Second Unit Director on live action feature films including “Godzilla,” “Tank Girl,” “Higher Learning,” and “Poetic Justice.” A lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California, Peter grew-up in Cren- shaw, and graduated from Pal- isades High School before attending UCLA. Here, he talks about his life and career, and about being the first African-American to direct a full- length, animated feature. Kam Williams: Hi Peter, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you. Peter Ramsey: Oh, the plea- sure’s all mine, Kam. The plea- sure’s all mine. KW: I really enjoyed Rise of the Guardians. Let me start by asking C O C ELEBRITY I NTERVIEW by Kam Williams you what it meant to make history as the first African-American hired by a big studio to direct a full-length, animated feature? PR: I thought about it a little bit when I first got the job, but then rapidly got lost in the work. It wasn’t until later, when my mom and dad read that fact about me in the newspaper, and I saw how it affected them, that it came back to me. Since I talk to a lot of groups at schools, one good thing is that kids can look at me and have direct knowledge of someone who’s doing something they might be dreaming of doing themselves. KW: How did you get the gig? Judging from your bio, it seems like you’ve been a storyboard artist most of your career until now. PR: Right. I got into film as a storyboard artist, but my dream was always to be a director. The way I was able to get into the industry was through drawing. As a storyboard artist, you basically pre-visualize the whole film through drawing. So, I spent a lot of my career doing that with many different directors. That was really film school for me, my training ground, because I got to work with so many great people. KW: So, what was your aca- demic background? Did you study art? PR: I’m pretty much self-taught. I took a couple of art classes in high school, and I entered college M M U N with the intention of major- ing in art. But I was a little too young when I started at UCLA at 17, and I wasn’t ready for the concept of art that was being taught there. I was intimidated by Art History, and didn’t get it. All I was interested in was drawing. I wish I had been able to hang tough, but I dropped out after a couple years. Of course, I did learn a bunch of that stuff later on. KW: Editor/Legist Patri- cia Turnier was wondering whether the film is faithful to the book series it’s based upon. PR: An interesting thing about the movie and the books is that they were both being developed at the same time. The books’ author, Bill Joyce, in his talks with the studio, said, “It would be really cool, if I could do a series of books about the origins of these charac- ters, how they came to be and their backs stories while you guys were simultaneously developing a movie about the first time they all came together.” So, they’re all the same characters and they share the same mythology, but the movie and the books are pretty different. KW: Patricia also asks: What message do you want children to take away from your movie? PR: The main message of the film is that you have the power to create magic through your imagi- nation and to bring it into the world, whether that’s in the form of the Guardian characters who represent a lot of things we need, or whether it’s just anybody creat- ing something. That is the best way to fight fear. That’s probably the central idea of the movie. KW: Why did you tweak these familiar characters, like giving I T Y C Peter Ramsey Santa a Russian accent and mak- ing him look a little different from what we’ve come to expect? PR: The basic idea behind the books was to suggest that you grew up with a made-up version of all these characters, as if there’s a secret world alongside our world, and we’ve never known the whole truth about it. What you see in the movie and the books is the real truth about what these guys are. And it’s pretty cool, more like a Lord of the Rings kind of epic, fantasy world they all operate in as opposed to the cute, fluffy image you get from greeting cards. That was the central idea of the books. We thought that was pretty inter- esting and a really fresh way to get people to take another look at these characters. KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Where were some “Guardians” when the hunters shot Bambi’s mother? I can still hear the shot ring out all those A L E N D many years ago. How much trauma-less support can ani- mation/fable offer young children without some need of a degree of reality check? PR: Wow! I’m not sure what to do with that ques- tion. I can’t answer for Bambi. We have a mom in our movie. Some form of reality check? Yeah, I don’t know what to do with that one. KW: Film student Jamaal Green asks: What is your favorite film, and is there a filmmaker whose work inspired you to make the move to becoming a direc- tor? PR: Omigosh, I literally have too many favorite movies to name them all. But I can throw a few out there: Kurosawa… Coppo- la… David Lean… I’m a huge fan of Ang Lee. And there are tons of French films I love. Like I said, way too many to men- tion. KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid? PR: Of course! Are you kid- ding? [LOL] But you have to real- ize that fear is something that lives in your mind, just like all the pos- itive things that reside there. The key is to try to find a balance or a way for the positive to at least can- cel out what the fear is telling you. Most of the time, fear is taking something that sounds very ration- al and blowing it out of propor- tion, and letting your mind run away with it. KW: Will you next film be live- action or animated? PR: I don’t know. So much depends on how this one is received and how well it does? I’d love to make another animated See GUARDIANS on page 8 A R S EATTLE 2012 raise funds for the Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank. $10 suggested donation. 5 – 8:30 p.m. Westlake Center & Pine Street Between 4th Ave. & 7th Ave. Saturday December 8 If you have an event you want to share with the community, email it two weeks in advance to The Skanner at info@theskanner.com Thursday December 6 LEARN ABOUT RECENT CHANGES TO METRO TRANSIT BUS SERVICE. Learn about the recent changes to King County Metro Transit’s bus service that began Sept. 29. 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. The Seattle Public Library, Beacon Hill Branch, 2821 Beacon Ave. S. Friday December 7 26TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY CELEBRATION. great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition. 40 – teams compete in a caroling competition to Page 2 The Seattle Skanner December 5, 2012 GRRENLAKE PATHWAY OF LIGHTS. Please join us for the ting of luminary that light Green Lake for one magical evening each year. 5 – 8 p.m. Green Lake Park, 7201 E. Green Lake Dr. N. Seattle, WA HOLIDAY BOOK SALE. Come find the perfect holiday gift and support The Seattle Public Library. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Seattle Center, Lopez Room. Monday December 10 HOLIDAY GIFT WRAPPING. Help us wrap gifts that will be given to local children at Miller Community Center’s Holiday Party. Stop by to help anytime between 4 – 9 p.m. 330 19th Ave. E. For more info 206-684-4753. Tuesday December 11 HOW TO MAKE MONEY WORK FOR YOU. Learn some of the easiest ways to make money work for you. Tricks on how to make this holiday season benefit you and your family. 6 – 7 p.m. Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 S. Myrtle St. For more info call 206-386-1921. Wednesday December 12 HOLIDAY PARTY. The community event is designed to celebrate one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in Seattle: Van Asselt/New Holly/MLK. You are encouraged to bring potluck items as well as decorations from your culture. Free Holiday party! 6 – 8 p.m. Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 S. Myrtle St. More information 206-386-1921. Friday December 14 SEATTLE CIVIC CHRISTMAS SHIP – MEYDENBAUER BEACH PARK. Come with family and friends together to marvel at the parade of boats as they come by the beach. 8 p.m. Meydenbauer Beach Park, 419 98th Ave. NE.
