Interview with Shrek Animator

I recently interviewed Ethan Hurd, an animator of characters in feature films such as "Shrek" and "Shrek 2."

Bell: For what company do you work and how long have you worked for them?

Hurd: I currently work for Sony Imageworks, I'm working on the animated feature film Open Season, I have been working here for about six months now. Before that I worked at PDI/Dreamworks in Redwood City California, that is where I worked on Shrek, Shrek 2 and Madagascar. I worked for PDI/Dreamworks for 4 1/2 years. Before that I worked at Pixar on Toy Story 2:I worked on that firm for 7 months.

Bell: What was your special effects contribution for "Shrek 2" and what was the process involved?

Hurd: I worked as a Character Animator. I animated several shots in the film. When you animate a shot in a film at Dreamworks, you animate all the characters in that shot. This means I animated all the main characters as well as some of the minor ones in the shots that I was assigned.

Hurd: I especially liked animating Donkey. Eddie Murphy has a great voice to animate to; he's very funny and has a very staccato way of talking, which makes your animation very staccato like as well. I like animating in that style, I like animating fast acting. Also, Donkey is not a bright character. I like animating dumb characters because it gives you a lot of opportunities to animate them thinking. When you ask them a question or they reach a situation they spend a lot of time thinking and trying to sort things out in their head. This is a lot of fun to do.

Bell: Did you become acquainted with any of the actors?

Hurd: No we never met any of the voice actors. The actors were recorded months before we started animation. We did receive video reference of the actors when they were reading the lines. Sometimes this proved useful.

Bell: How long have you been involved in special effects?

Hurd: I've been a character animator for about 12 years now. I've never done any effects work. It has all been character animation.

Bell: For what other movies have you contributed your knowledge of special effects?

Hurd: "Toy Story 2," "Shrek," "Shrek 2," "Madagascar," and "Open Season."

Bell: What type of equipment/supplies do you utilize for special effects?

Hurd: A computer, a drawing pad with lots of pencils, a video camera, animation books, web access and an X-sheet. That and lots of Coffee.

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I would like to thank Ethan Hurd for allowing me to interview him.