Production Notes & Screen Credits - SYE Publicity

“Pierre works very quickly to present his ideas visually,
and not just in a still form. He’s much more
comfortable communicating an idea by bringing it to
life with some limited animation. From the very first
time we were introduced to the idea of these characters,
they were immediately appealing. We had a
sense from day one that the minions were slowly
going to try to take over the movie; they’re irresistible
in their combination of innocence and mischief.”
Adds Cohen: “They’ve created this incredibly
unique language for the minions, where a lot of times
it sounds like it’s gibberish. You hear all kinds of
languages being incorporated into the way they
speak. Then occasionally, you hear a word or two of
English, and that gives you a sense of what the
minions are actually saying.”
While the comic actors improvised certain lines in
the film, it was Steve Carell who actually helped to
name the minions. During vocal sessions as Gru, he
would throw out a name to the minions, such as Dave
or Tim. Though there were tons of them, and many
look the same, Carell was certain that Gru would know
each of his happy workers. Once the directors heard
Carell calling them out by name, they thought it was a
terrific idea to give several other of the minions names
that would match their unique personalities.
Not only is Despicable
Me Illumination’s first film,
it is also the first project
that the Meledandri team
has produced in 3-D.
Before the layout began,
the producers and directors
knew that Gru’s world would be further
embraced by audiences if an extra dimension was
added. They requested that Paul and Daurio look for
opportunities to utilize 3-D as they crafted their
script, but only when it made logical sense. The
screenwriters were guided in their decision making
to insert 3-D suggestions in such scenes as when Gru
and Vector fire their array of missiles, when airships
fly past or when smoke trails from a vehicle float out
across the audience.
Whether it be during the death-defying shrink-ray
heist, explosions in midair from errant missiles or on
the rollercoaster ride on which Gru takes the three
girls, the animators aimed to bring the audience into
the journey with the characters of the movie. The
filmmakers also discovered that they could use the
space as an opportunity to create comedic effect.
Since this was a relatively new domain for them, it
gave them the chance to deliver laughs that come at
very unexpected times.
Meledandri was adamant that the team consciously
used the space appropriately, as opposed to a
simple 3-D transfer of a 2-D look. He reflects: “The
utilization of the dimensional space helps to define
the visual look of the film. There are many sequences
in the film where we simply take advantage of the
Space for
Comedy:
Shooting
in 3-D
Gru sits miserably through the girls’ ballet class.
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