[UPBEAT MUSIC]
Adulting can be hard.
Sometimes you're nailing it and other times you're
just a stack of kids hiding in a trench
coat hoping no one notices.
[LAUGHS]
In the Pixar SparkShort "Twenty Something,"
Gia finds herself literally in this situation on the night
of her 21st birthday.
"Twenty Something" is a story about the insecurities
of adulting, and how we're all just faking it till we make it.
Before we talk to Aphton Corbin, director of "Twenty
Something," she's here to give us
an exclusive breakdown of a scene from her upcoming short.
Take a look.
Hi, I'm Aphton Corbin.
I'm the director of the Pixar SparksShort, "Twenty Something,"
and I'm here to break down a scene.
We picked this scene with Gia backing into the bathroom
and stumbling a bit haphazardly, kind of revealing there's
something else going on.
She's not all the way quite together.
We picked this one in particular because this was our test shot
and it was a great way to have all the departments,
with a test shot, kind of get their feet wet,
really will help us capture what the entire film is going
to look like and feel like.
Where you get so much about her.
You get that she's trying to pull it off, make it look easy,
and then completely loses it right before she goes inside.
I boarded the scene out and I thought
it would be an interesting touch just to have a little bit
of a stumble right before she went to the bathroom,
and then passed it off to our animator.
He really brought the motion for the character
and made it feel like something comical,
especially with that little bit at the end where she goes like,
haha, and then slips inside.
That was an added beat that he put in
and it felt so, like, juicy and entertaining.
From there we handed it off to Andy Jimenez, who
is our compositing sup. One of the things that I really
wanted to do on "Twenty Something"
is play around with pattern.
As you can see with my top, I love pattern.
Pattern's a huge part of, I guess,
my style and my art aesthetic, and it
would be so cool, I thought, if I could bring some of that
into the actual character design.
So as you can see, her plaid jacket has a pattern on it
that actually moves with her.
I didn't think we were going to be
able to do all that patterning.
Andy was determined and found ways to sync that up and give
so much character to this trench coat,
which is going to be a big part of the film going forward.
I wanted Gia to get a stick out like a sore thumb in this space
that she's not comfortable in.
Last but not least, what I love about this
is the background painting as well.
I wanted it to have a very, like, '60s, '70s look.
I'm a huge fan of those earlier set designs that they were
able to do in animated shorts.
They're very graphic and flat and stylized.
So we were able to really chase that down
and find a way to make these graphic background
styles feel modern.
When I first saw this shot completed,
I remember being so excited.
You work on this thing for quite a while,
and-- is this going to be a movie or is
this just a weird idea I had?
But when you see it all compiled together
you get this confidence of like, yeah, we're making something.
And so I remember seeing this and being motivated
to keep going and make this movie the amazing thing
that it turned out to be.
I can't wait.
Oh.
[RAP MUSIC]
Thank you for all your great insight,
Aphton, and welcome to the show.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
So what was the inspiration behind the Pixar
SparkShort, "Twenty Something?"
What made you want to tell this story?
When I was offered the SparkShort,
unlike a normal reaction that I think a person should have,
I was immediately horrified and panicked.
[LAUGHTER]
And I remember thinking, like, oh my God,
they've made a huge mistake.
I'm too new, too young to do this.
After the imposter syndrome died down,
and I got my bearings together and realized this is what
I wanted to do, I thought one of the entertaining and truthful
things to make a short about is that
feeling like you don't quite feel like an adult.
You feel like a fake.
What would you say is so special and unique
about being in your 20s?
You've kind of become an adult. And they prepped you,
but they kind of didn't, and like you're just--
[LAUGHTER]
--now you're just doing it.
That anybody trusts you to do anything is impressive.
And then you realize that everyone
else is doing the same thing.
Even though they're older, they were all just
kind of falling forward and learning
to be confident, and that is a very
interesting part of your 20s.
So how are you doing that?
How are you figuring out your 20s
and also figuring out your career as an artist?
Was that challenging or did you already
know what your path was going to be and just went for it?
I think, more than anything, remembering that I'm not alone.
I have so many talented people to like reach out and help me.
And even though I'm a first-time director,
I have people on my team that were
hugely successful already and more
than willing to like offer up help.
And this is like a group effort.
Life is a group effort as well, you know?
I feel like it's something that people assume you have to know
and, like, no one expects that out of you
is something that I'm continuing to learn.
Yes.
Yeah, it definitely feels like there's a course missing
that you're like, wait, wait.
[LAUGHTER]
I would love to know just what your career path was
like leading up to being a story artist at Pixar
and then eventually doing the Pixar SparkShort?
I went into Pixar in 2016 and did the internship,
so that was my first introduction into the studio.
And so from there I was hired on and I worked on "Toy Story 4,"
and that was my first film.
And then after that I worked on "Soul" with Pete Docter.
And then from there I went and did a SparkShort.
And any advice for artists who are trying
to break into the industry?
I feel like it's so cheesy but it's very truthful.
Like, the whole "be yourself" kind of a thing and share
that with the world.
I think that's what made my work stand out to studios,
was my ability to tell my own perspective.
And the better you get at that the more you
can share that with others and people really relate to things
that are truthful to yourself.
I can see that just in the clip you know,
that we were just playing.
I'm like, that's you.
Like, I feel like you brought so much of yourself.
Even what you're wearing right now, the patterns and like--
This wasn't an accident.
I came to work prepared.
[LAUGHTER]
You'd think like it's so specific that no one's going
to relate, but it's like so many people
relate and are going to relate and feel
so glad to see this out there.
Yeah, it's really fun, too.
I think the more you do it, the more you realize, like, why was
I trying to do anything else?
This is the story I know the best.
This is my own story.
Yeah.
Speaking of putting yourself into something,
did you feel like there is a difference
in your personal involvement when it was working
on "Toy Story 4" then working on "Soul" and now working on this?
Like, just your personal experiences are input
into each of those projects.
Yeah.
Well, each one, even though I wasn't directing those things,
it was still me finding a way to put myself into the work.
Because you get scenes as a story artist and you
board them out.
The first, or gut instinct, I guess,
is just to board exactly what's on the page.
The thing that you'll learn is how to put your own charm
and your own personality into it, humor,
to make it come to life in a specific way.
And for me on "Toy Story 4," it was like, how can I bring
personality to Bo Peep, and like, what's something that's
entertaining and truthful that I've experienced that I can add
in there to make it sing and make
these characters feel like actual people as opposed to you
know, just toys?
And the same thing with "Soul" working on 22 quite a bit.
And I also worked on interaction between Joe
and his mother, and just, what are
life experiences that I know that I
can add into those scenes.
And then you just learn from all these amazing artists
who do that kind of thing on the daily and see how they do it,
and then that encourages you.
And just gaining so much experience on different ways
to tell stories.
And I'm curious to just how you would feel
as a woman of color to be able to create something
like "Twenty Something," and also just
be able to put more of that voice into the industry.
What do you hope that comes from that?
APHTON CORBIN: Growing up I never
really got a chance to see a whole lot of characters
that look like me on screen.
And so the opportunity to do so is extremely exciting
and I just hope people watch this
and find something that they can relate to
and an excitement there.
That was the one thing I wasn't panicking about.
I knew that that character was, whoever it is,
was going to be a Black woman just because it's, once again,
once you're learning to tell your own story
you can't back away from that.
And my experience is a shared universal experience that
deserves to be told, so it's so exciting
to get a chance to do that and I'm
so excited to see all the people that watch it
and find a connection to it.
I am glad that you put your imposter syndrome aside.
[LAUGHS] - Yeah.
Yeah.
[LAUGHS]
I know it's terrifying and scary,
but I think that applies to any age.
I know people that are older than me and they still
think they don't know what they're
doing but they're doing it.
They're not letting it stop them.
Right.
What do you hope audiences will take away from Pixar
SparkShort "Twenty Something"?
It's OK to feel uncomfortable.
It's OK to feel like a little kid
trying to figure out life because other people feel
the same way too.
Well, thank you so much, Aphton, for being here talking
with us today and congratulations on your Pixar
SparkShort, "Twenty Something."
Make sure to stream the Pixar SparkShort "Twenty
Something," now on Disney+.
Also, watch how these two new Pixar SparkShorts came to life
in the documentary, "A Spark Story," launching exclusively
on Disney+ this September.
[DISNEY THEME]
[WHIMSICAL MUSIC]