Hi, I am Gary Rydstrom.
This was my first film at Pixar as a director.
I have been responsible for the sound in Pixar films for years now.
So this film is part of my early career.
That was my opportunity to use visual gags
to tell a story without dialog.
I grew up in lllinois and I know a lot about farming.
Ernie is a farmer who lives in a remote rural area.
It happens that this is the perfect landing spot
for alien ships from outer space.
In the spot light you can see real dust particles.
The particles are moving in sync with the animation.
They even collide with Ernie and continue
when he is floating toward the window.
I tried to alter the lighting during the film drastically.
The opening sequence was supposed to look like
an expensive SciFi film à la Spielberg,
whereas the inside of the space ship should look like a "car admission office"
That's Stu, the alien student,
a brat who's not quite up to his task yet.
The teacher is called Mr. B. I had a teacher in high school
who graded every student, good or bad,
a "B" no matter what.
This is why at the end of the film Stu gets a B.
It's amazing that Ernie never wakes up, but I guess that is all for the better.
Stu's voice is mainly recorded off my dog Chester
Chester was cheap, he didn't ask for a salary.
During all the years while mixing the sound
I used to sit behind a huge mixer with many buttons and controls
nobody other than me could operate.
My whole career consisted of operating this device
and that's all that everybody saw in me.
This console is said to be the worst user interface in the whole world.
This here reflects my urge to beat up my own mixer from time to time.
The user manual is the worst thing ever.
Every page shows the exact same arrangement of black dots.
If you look to the left, you can see
Tinny from Tin Toy sitting under Ernie's bed,
One of the most difficult decisions for me was
how much butt I should show
Had I got more time, I would have repeated this gag 20, 30 times to make it perfect.
Stu's helmet is several sizes too large for him, and he tries to look cool,
but it's constantly sliding back into an uncool position.
I like using sounds for things you cannot actually see.
If you don't see but only hear something,
you have to use your imagination to know how terrifying it could be.
The antenna on top of Stu's helmet speaks volumes, too.
Stu's emotions
are mirrored in the form of his antenna.
In this film you could focus on the antenna alone and still get the whole picture.
When Ernie falls, the precise timing of the fall is exactly the same
as that of Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons.
With really well made animation you forget that it is animation you are watching,
and you could swear that these are real and living creatures.
For this shot every animator made two arms,
which were then put on top of each other in layers.
For the computer there is no differnece between fabric in motion and an acting character.
I wanted the quilt pulled over Ernie in the same way
an invisible loving mother would tuck him in.
Stu and Mr B consist of a gelly.
There are air bubbles in side their bodies that are visible under the surface.
They divert the light that shines through.
We wanted to express the whole range of Stu's emotions on his face
by stretching him a lot
because he is made of this flexible material.
My goal with this film was
putting Stu through all kinds of emotions in five minutes.
While this story is about a crash landing of a space ship,
the most crucial moment is when the red flag on the mailbox goes down.
Nobody found that funny but me.
Michael Giacchino created the musical score.
It's a terrific music that reminds me of classic Hollywood Science Fiction.
He never finished the theme melody,
because in the film it is cut short.
This film has been a fantastic and instructive experience for me.
These end credits are way too fast.
They all did a wonderful and creative job.
Except that guy maybe.