Video:Despicable Me Director Chris Renaud Interview
with Rebecca MurrayDirector Chris Renaud tackles his first animated feature film with Universal Pictures' 'Despicable Me.' Featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Jason Segel, the film follows a villain who has a change of heart after encountering three orphan girls.See Transcript
Transcript:Despicable Me Director Chris Renaud Interview
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the World Premiere of Universal Pictures' Despicable Me.
Despicable Me Director Chris Renaud
This is your first feature film that you've directed. How was it tackling that, and especially being that it's in 3-D?Chris Renaud: "You know, I guess for a feature...I did a short previously and it's a lot more complicated in the sense that you just have so many different character storylines to interweave. I think that's the hardest part. Also because these are new characters and finding their appeal and really finding what's going to make people come and see them. So I think that's the hardest part, and I learned a lot about that process. The 3-D aspect was something that when we went in we sort of didn't think about a lot but as it went along, we sort of went, 'You know what? This would be cool.' We did some special things in the end credits and like, 'How can we make the most out of it?' So there are actually certain gags and certain moments that really play well to the idea of 3-D. So we sort of started not thinking about it and then by the end we were thinking about it a lot."
So it wasn't really an extra pressure then, being your first film and trying to do it in 3-D?
Chris Renaud: "Not really, not really. I do think that you always have to serve the story and the characters, that's first and then the 3-D is a great plus but it comes after that. So I think once you hopefully get those worked out, everything else will fall into place."
And this cast...could you have gotten a better cast?
Chris Renaud: "I don't think so. I mean that is absolutely one of the things that most excited me about the project as we were moving forward and talking about who could be even characters that don't have huge roles just getting the best voice, the best talent. They always added something great to the character and made it their own, so that's what was cool."
When you're talking about adding great, did they do a lot of ad-libbing when they were in the booth?
Chris Renaud: "Yes. And we would always encourage that. We'd always, 'Well, maybe we could try something,' and we'd say, 'Hey, do you have any ideas?' And they'd always end up saying it in their own voice which inevitably is a bit better because it has a natural quality and it sort of takes advantage of their comedic timing, which is excellent."
This one is told from the villain's point of view. Was that one of the major selling points for you?
Chris Renaud: "Absolutely. I always say I only had the Darth Vader/storm trooper action figures. The Luke, he never was taken out. Get those good guys out of here! So, yeah, absolutely. I mean that was a key part that had me interested in it. It's funny. You talk to people and they're always interested in the villain and very often those are everyone's favorite characters."
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