Hello pod! Today is Day 10 of Black History Month and we’re continuing our series giving our flowers to Black Directors.

Tonight’s episode is about Peter Ramsey, the director behind Rise of the Guardians and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While awards and accolades are nice, we don’t center them as a reference to validate and instead look to filmmakers as the artists that they are, the deeper messages and takeaways that come through the characterization, direction, writing, and overall structure, the way that Black folks are portrayed onscreen, and the thought and effort with which they approach storytelling. This, for us, is what makes a filmmaker stand out, and it’s why we wanted to talk about Peter Ramsey – the storyboard artist-director.

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Next week continues our series on Black filmmakers –their stories and contributions to cinema. We’re handing flowers to filmmakers that we should be talking about—some you may have heard of and some you may not have heard of. Either way, you won’t know until the show premieres so make sure you subscribe!

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Hello pod.

It is day 10 of black history Month and we're continuing our series giving our flowers to Black Directors.

I'm your host Jackie McGriff and if this is your first time listening or watching, welcome to Representation in Cinema.

We talk about the films that center Black, Brown and Indigenous voices, as well as on the film industry itself.

I'm not only your host, but also the founder, director and co producer of Our Voices Project, a production company that shares the stories and lived experiences of Black, Brown Indigenous Peoples through visual storytelling and truth telling.

We are community engaged filmmakers who firmly believe that you can't center films on these communities without being in community and in solidarity with them.

If you're watching this on YouTube, hit that subscribe button and the little bell to get notified about new episodes.

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Rate us five stars and leave a comment to share your thoughts about any of the things that we bring up in this or any other episodes.

Tonight's episode is about Peter Ramsey, the director behind Rise of the Guardians and Spider man into the Spider Verse.

And let's get into some background about Peter Ramsey.

Peter Ramsey didn't grow up believing he could be a director.

Growing up in Crenshaw, he didn't think making movies was something regular people did.

He thought films were made by these extraordinary people.

He was someone who instead focused a lot on his drawing.

For a long time he thought he'd be a comic book artist.

He but then he discovered storyboards.

Looking at them, something clicked.

These weren't just drawings, they were movies before the movie existed.

And for the first time, filmmaking felt reachable.

Not a dream job, a craft.

Working as a storyboard artist put him in rooms with directors on massive productions.

He watched how they spoke to departments, how they shaped tone, how they made decisions under pressure.

It became his film school.

Not theory, but observation.

He learned filmmaking by watching filmmakers solve problems.

So when he eventually stepped into directing, he didn't approach it like an auteur with a megaphone.

He approached it like a collaborator.

That shows up clearly in the kinds of stories Ramsey gravitates towards.

Stories about belonging, identity and the emotional interior life of characters navigating worlds bigger than themselves.

While he and his co directors were developing the story for Spider man into the Spider Verse, he fell in love with Miles Morales and his family, his parents, his, his uncle, his environment and wanted audiences to feel that authenticity.

The goal wasn't just to watch a hero succeed, it was also to root for him.

Ramsey isn't interested in characters who are powerful because they're perfect.

He's interested in characters who are powerful because they're figuring it out.

That motivation feels personal.

For much of his career, he didn't see himself as a pioneer, even after becoming the first black filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature or.

Or the first African American to direct an animated feature after Rise of the Guardians.

To him, the job was simply to do good work and honor the people behind it.

The crew, the artists, the hundreds of collaborators animation depends on.

That attitude carries into how people describe him on a production.

Calm, focused on tone and style, generous with credit.

Less a commander, more a conductor, making sure every piece harmonizes.

And maybe that's why his films resonate the way that they do.

Peter Ramsey makes stories about finding your place in a world that feels predetermined because his own path into filmmaking wasn't obvious either.

He didn't kick the door down.

He discovered the door was unlocked all along, and then he held it open for others.

So tonight, we are giving Peter Ramsey his flowers.

If you haven't already watched his films, we highly recommend that you do so.

All right, so on to Rise of the Guardians and Spider man into the Spider Verse.

And actually, before I move on, there was.

As I was doing research for this, there were people who had said that he had done both the Spider Verse films.

And just to make the clarification, it's Spider man into the Spider Verse that he directed.

He was the executive producer for Spider man across the Spider Verse.

So we will just be talking about, or I will just be going over Rise of the Guardians in Spider Man Is the Spider Verse, two incredibly well made animated films.

And so for those of you who don't know.

So I'll start with Rise of the Guardians.

Can I throw you off base for a second, Jack?

Sure.

You mentioned the storyboard stuff and how many directors he worked with.

Yeah, that list is something else.

He worked with Francis Ford Coppola for the.

Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I know.

Worked with Spielberg multiple times.

Spike Jones.

And why am I forgetting the guy who was actually driving those movies as well?

Charlie Kaufman worked with Roland Emmerich multiple times.

Yeah, I mean, the list is absolutely crazy.

It's Independence Day.

Tank Girl, being Malkovich.

Yeah, Independence Day, like, threw me.

I was like.

You worked on Independence Day?

Yeah, he worked with Fincher twice.

Fight Club.

He worked on Panic Room, like Spielberg, multiple times.

Like, this is like just the storyboard artist part is like.

Like legendary.

Like legendary stuff, for sure.

And then his second Unit directing stuff.

He worked with John Singleton twice.

Yeah.

As second unit director.

I mean, those are like legendary films.

But Tank Girl as well.

But these are like, these are movies that are so, like, important to all these different directors that he was a core part of.

Not before getting to be in the director seat.

That's.

We're talking almost, you know, 15 years.

Yeah.

Of 15, 20 years before that.

Yeah.

Of storyboarding.

Like.

Yeah.

The way that he describes it in interviews, I mean, he's just like, dropping name after name.

I mean, think the interviews that I watched, he was talking about having worked with David Fincher and.

And Spike.

Spike Jones.

Yeah.

Like in Francis Ford Coppola.

Just really.

Just like.

Because I was just like, you know, because he.

He also talks about, like, having watched these just masterful films.

I mean, Apocalypse now, you have the Godfather movies.

And he just remembers, like, just being in awe and that this is why he thought that he couldn't be a director or didn't know that it was a career, because he thought, like, these were just, like, films that kind of, like, fell out of the sky.

And, like, there are these incredible directors.

Like, how do you even get to that level?

And so he, for the longest time, didn't think that it was a possibility for him until he started storyboarding and started learning, you know, how to direct, basically.

I mean, essentially, when you're storyboarding, you're working a lot with a director.

And so that's how he learned all the tricks of the trade.

And of course, I.

Being a storyboard artist, you know, for what, like, 15 years, you learn a lot.

And especially when you're talking about the greats, like, you know, these directors have been doing it for a long time and have been doing it well.

You know, you take a lot from that.

And so it's.

It's.

It's interesting to me that for so long, you know, he didn't think that he would be able to do it.

But then when you watch his films and, you know, and it's, you know, it's the two films, and he's also worked on the Mandalorian.

You know, he's done some.

Some episodes with that, and he's done a number of other things.

But for him to only, like, have, like, two films under his belt where he is the director, I mean, he technically co directed Spider man into the Spider Verse.

But even so, like, that's.

That's to his credit, but they are.

They are incredibly made films.

And I just.

Peter Ramsey because of course you're listening to the podcast Direct More.

Please direct more films.

Direct more films.

Which is why I wanted to again center an episode on him because his story is very fascinating.

It resonates with me too because listening to multiple interviews where he talks about again not feeling like he, like it was filmmaking was at all a career.

That's what I thought growing up.

I remember the first time I went to go look up a film on IMDb and it was for the movie Holes, that film, like really I just, that was.

I remember that being a film where I, I looked, I looked up, you know, actors and you know, who was working on the film and stuff like for the first time and, and ever since then, like I had been doing that since and just figuring out more about it and I started to work on sets here locally and I thought that you had much like.

He states like, I thought you had to like build, you know, you know, go up the ladder just as far as becoming a director.

I didn't know you could just be a director.

And then also too like growing up, he also talks about how he's coming from South Central in LA and back then you didn't have the access to, you know, all the technology that we do now.

He also just, he didn't have money to go to film school.

Like he took a few video like video production classes which again I'm also like yeah, I took a couple classes in college but like I didn't think that again directing was something that I could just do.

So that really resonated with me.

And then also just to hear him like in interviews, like he's just so like humble and like down to earth and it's any clearly, I mean he clearly knows like what he's doing.

So again, Peter Ramsey make more films.

But that he was also 37, his first time as a story story part artist.

Like that's.

He's not a 23 year old.

He's somebody who'd already lived a life.

Right.

Yeah.

And that is, that's a thing like you can, you can tell a story better because you've lived.

You're not, you're not out of just out of college.

You only have that kind of experience.

Yeah, it wasn't until his twenties where he thought can, like that might, might be a possibility or.

Yeah.

So yeah, it's just cool stuff.

It's cool stuff and.

But yeah, like I, I feel like, you know, if when I mentioned Peter Ramsey, people don't Know who I'm talking about?

And I'm like, okay, Spider man, into the spider verse you've definitely heard of, right?

Well, he was the co director for that.

And Rise of the Guardians.

If you haven't watched it, what are you even doing with your life?

Speaking of which, Rise of the Guardians.

So just a brief synopsis.

So Santa, or as he's called in the film north, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Sandy or the Sandman, who team up with a reluctant new recruit, Jack Frost, voiced by Chris Pine, to stop the evil spirit Pitch Black from destroying children's belief and plunging the world into darkness.

So in this film, the Guardians, that's what they call them, that, that's what they're called.

Their, their mission, their lifelong mission is to bring joy to children all over the world, to also protect them.

And you know, they have each, of course, like, each of them have their duties to, to the children, everything.

And the man in the Moon is like who they take their direction from.

And so they're told, the Guardians are told, you know, they need to.

Or the man in the Moon has found a new recruit.

And so that new recruit is Jack Frost.

And they knowing Jack Frost's character because Jack Frost in this film looks like a.

He, he, he looks, he's a teenager.

Like, he looks like a teenager.

And so they're like, he's like obnoxious, he's rambunctious, he's arrogant.

Like there's no way that he's the new Guardian.

I think I went late.

I think it was like late at night because I.

With a friend.

Because we were like, we know it's going to be a bunch of kids.

Like if we go in an earlier show.

We don't want none of those kids.

We don't want those kids.

Like, we just want, we, we don't want like, you know, random talking and yelling and stuff.

Like during the film, we were like, okay, if we go late enough, right?

I think it was like at 9 o' clock at night or something, I don't know.

But we were like, okay, the kids are home in bed.

Like, okay, we'll, you know, this is, this is the adult.

The adult's going to go watch an animated film.

We're like, yeah, we just want like less, like less of that, like happening.

And so I just remember going watching Rise of the Guardians and Being like, this is the coolest thing ever, because, like, it's a bunch of.

It's.

It's a bunch of, like, fairy tale characters, right?

I think we know everything, right, About.

These are stories that we've grown up with and everything.

But, like, I. I telling.

I was telling, like, Chris before this.

Like, it is like, you take your fairy tale characters and basically make them badass.

So, like, Santa, or again, he's called North Santa, has a Russian accent.

He has.

He has tattoo and snarky, and he's just, like.

He's just fun.

And then, like, Sandy is like this cute little, like.

Like, like, small character who doesn't say anything.

He.

But, like, there's a.

There's a kind of like a noise, like he makes.

It kind of sounds like jingle bells, almost a noise that he makes, right?

And all of the characters, right, understand him.

And of course, like, the audience, as we.

Audience, we don't.

So it's kind of like that dynamic Easter Bunny voiced by Hugh Jackman.

Has an full Australian accent.

Also, like, super cool.

He's not like this cute little bunny.

He's like, Like, Like Easter Bunny is kind of jacked.

Like, it's.

It's just funny.

I'm like, okay.

It's like Hugh Jackman.

It's in his contract.

He has to be.

Every character, animated or not, has to be fat.

Yeah, there you go.

It's mandated.

My P.T.

barnum.

Cut.

Vascular.

P.T.

Barnum.

Like, he needs the vascularity or what?

The vascularity is crazy.

And then, like.

And then you have the Tooth Fairy, and she has, like, her little, like, kind of, like minions or whatever, but she kind of, like, moves like a hummingbird.

And it's like.

It's just like these really, like.

This is like a cute character, and they're all, like, really cool characters.

And you have Jack Frost, who had.

Carries his cane, and, like, Kane is what helps him, like, wield his powers and stuff like that.

And he's flying around and he's just this.

Again, he's a teen, you know, who.

Who folks can't see at first because, you know, there aren't any kids who necessarily believe in him.

Like, the Guardians know who he is, but kids don't know who he is.

And that's actually what adds to the Guardian's power, is that, you know, the more kids believe in you, right?

The more.

The more power you have, the more strength you have.

So here comes along.

He's always really good at playing a villain.

Pitch Black, who is voiced by Jude Law.

Again, very Good.

Like, he's always so good at playing those characters.

And so Pitch Black is determined, of course, to take all the, like, the belief.

Like, he wants to weaken the Guardian, so he wants to take, you know, essentially, like, fill the kids, like, dreams with, like, not.

Not dreams, but, like, nightmares.

Like, he is a piece of work.

I'm like, first of all, what the kids do to you to, like.

Like, why do you want it?

Why do you want to give them all nightmares?

It's crazy.

But, like, yeah, so.

So that's.

That's.

That's his whole mission.

And so, of course, like, with adding Jack Frost as, like, you know, onto the Guardians, like, the whole time, Jack.

Jack is trying to figure out, like, where he comes from, what his backstory is.

He's trying to find his identity.

He finds out that each of the.

Each of the Guardians kind of has their center.

So their center is essentially, like, their purpose.

Like, what is their.

What is their purpose?

And so the whole time, he's, like, trying to figure out who that is, and he's reluctant to become a Guardian and stuff because he doesn't feel like he quite fits in.

But all in all the while, like, you know, he wants to be known right?

By the kids.

You know, he's constantly creating all of these opportunities, like, for the kids to, you know, to play games, have fun, especially in the snow.

And so it's about really him finding his identity, finding, like, what makes him.

Him finding his purpose at the same time being recognized right, by the kids.

And eventually, like, I guess, like in this.

In the story, Pitch Black kind of takes that.

That strength away from the Guardians, right?

Getting more and more kids to not believe, right, that each of these fairy tale characters exists the way in which the film is done.

Like I said, like, when I was sitting there watching the film, I.

The two.

The few things.

A few thoughts came through my head was like, one is just how cool the animation is.

There's all these, like, little details that you notice throughout the film.

It's very.

It's very colorful, very vibrant.

You know, it has that, again, the kind of animation that's there.

You know, the.

The design is very much like what you would expect if you've seen other DreamWorks Animation films.

Like, you can kind of picture, you know, what that.

What that'll look like.

But again, it's all in, like, the.

In all the details and how meticulous it is and how each character has their own, like, thing.

You know, it's a very.

It's a very beautiful looking film.

It's also a very, like, heartwarming film.

Again, I went as a.

Because I also appreciate animation.

And I'm going in, like, it just, you know, full grown adult just watching this animated film.

And it is still something that very much, like, resonates because we were all people who have needed to find.

Been wanting to find, you know, what our center is essentially, you know, what our purpose is, and, you know, really knowing who we are and our identity and how we serve.

Right.

Other people, how.

What our relation is to, like, humanity and our community.

And so that really.

That's something else that really resonated.

And it was also just like, it's a fun film.

It makes, like, again, fairy tale characters just look badass.

It was like.

It was awesome.

And.

And I just remember feeling like a kid watching it.

I. I get the sense of that, like, from Rise of the Guardians, from Spider man is the Spider Verse, which I'll talk about in a little bit.

But yeah, just, like, as far as the impact, I remember.

So I.

When I was doing research for this film, apparent.

So technically, this was actually a flop.

I'll never forgive y', all, by the way, for sleeping on this movie.

And I like how a flop is.

It made $300 million.

Yes.

On $150 million budget.

Right.

Which is like, oh, that's not enough.

Like, because it's all.

It's all fake numbers.

They're like, oh, you have to make twice the money, Mike.

Right.

Just tell us how much the damn thing costs.

No.

Yeah.

Well, because it was projected.

So when it.

When they first started, like, screening the film to see how audiences would take it, they, like, it was projected to make, like, so much money.

People were really responding to it in a positive way.

So they figured, okay, this is great.

You know, we'll release it.

We'll make so much more money.

And it made way less than what they projected.

So then.

Then you get media outlets already reporting it as a flop.

And so now Peter Ramsey is feeling like, well, they're never going to hire me again because, like, I couldn't make back, like, the money that it was supposed to make, the money that it was supposed to.

And I'm just like, that's crazy to hear, because I don't think before doing research for this, I don't think I was aware.

I just remember loving the heck out of the film.

And then anyone else who.

Who mentions Rise of the Guardians, I'm immediately like, oh, my God, yes, let's talk about it.

Let's geek out about it.

Because it's such a well made film.

Well, it also has, like, the expertise of other, like, legendary people, like cinematography.

Roger Deakins was consulting on the cinematography.

The great visual consultant Guillermo del Toro was executive producing because he believed in the concept and helped massage that.

Like, yeah, you're getting all these people who have such unique visions.

But that goes back to what made more money than this boss baby worldwide made $525 million.

Why?

Like, just like straight garbage.

And then you have something with like a vision that is trying to do something.

But that's the frustrating stuff when you see somebody trying to do something and tell a story that means something to them, and then you just see that and you're like, all right, right.

Like, I.

It boggles the mind, like, what ends up doing well and what crashes.

Like another example, which has nothing to do with Peter Ramsey, but it's.

The thing that popped into my head just now was that Scott Pilgrim versus the World was also a box office flop.

And I.

Every single person, like, and of course, I. I mean, I don't talk to, you know, millions of people, but, like, I do talk to quite a few people.

And any time that I've brought up, I've brought up Scott Pilgrim versus the World, people are like, oh, my God, let's talk about it like this.

It's such a great film.

And they also talk.

And the comic book people, the comic book nerds shout out to y' all will constantly be like, yeah, the movie was so much better than the comic book.

The comic book sucks.

Like, and I'm just going, well, why did y' all sleep on this movie?

It's crazy.

Like, I'm just like, you know, you think.

And you never quite know.

Like, of course you can do your projections.

You can screen it before audiences and you just.

It just goes to show, like, you just don't know what people are going to respond to, like, in the general audience.

Yeah.

Like, how did they know that, like, the Dragon movie was going to do so much more than this?

Like, Dragon made so much.

And Dragon's a great.

It's a great example of a DreamWorks movie.

Right.

But, like, it seems like this one was crafted as that was.

Yeah.

And then apparently, I think so in an interview, because he talks about bouncing back from that.

It was also, I think two big films had been out for at least a couple weeks beforehand.

It was like the.

Whatever the new James Bond movie was.

And Twilight, I think, or one of a part of the Twilight Saga, which I haven't paid attention.

Just bury You.

So it's like, so you didn't have a shot in hell, which is unfortunate because again, incredible film.

Yeah.

I just, I, and, and, and you know, because of that, like, people were like, after that thinking about or wondering if we were going to get a sequel to Rise of the Guardians and that didn't end up happening.

I remember, I remember hearing that and going, oh my God, I would love a sequel.

And then it just never, it just never happened.

Yeah.

Which is a shame because I would have loved to see them develop that more.

Do they bring in another recruit?

You know, like, yeah.

And you know, where does the story go from there?

Is it still following the same kids?

Are we seeing the kids get grow older and like dealing with that or like there's like so many different avenues that, you know, a sequel could take it, but we will never know.

So if you haven't seen Rise of the Guardians, I highly, highly recommend that you go watch it.

Unfortunately, it's not on any, not in any like, streaming services that I've seen.

I know that you can rent it through like YouTube and others.

I think it's like $4 on YouTube.

But yeah, as far as I know, it's not on any streaming services.

You can rent or just go buy the film.

Go buy the film.

Physical media is king.

Please go buy it.

So, but I would highly recommend for any of those who are watching and listening, it is an animated feature that you can absolutely show to your kids.

I would highly recommend it.

Actually.

It's a really heartwarming film, really made a well made film.

And, and yeah, after this film, Peter Ramsey was recognized as.

And again, like, it's, it's a sad thing that it's, you know, even then it's still, we're still accounting firsts, but he was the first African American to direct an animated feature.

At first, I just, that that, that could be a whole other video or, you know, podcast episode, but, you know, I digress.

Peter Ramsey was the co director for Spider man into the Spider Verse and it follows Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales who's bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway and suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider Man.

When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special high flying skills.

Miles must now use his newfound talents to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider man into our world.

Okay.

So when this movie came out, I was high key, obsessed.

I'm not even gonna say low key, because that.

That would not be doing my obsession with this film justice.

It.

Oh, gosh.

I'm trying to remember how many times I saw it in theaters.

I think it was like three.

Three or four times.

I can't remember.

So I.

There's a clarification I have to ask, Jackie.

Do you like this movie?

No, not at all.

Not at all.

I can't.

I can't remember how many times you and I have talked about it, but also, how many times have.

Has everybody watched it?

This is one of the single most rewatchable movies of the last decade.

Right?

By the way.

By the way, shout out to Michael Huntone, who thinks that he is the biggest fan of this film.

I don't think so.

And thank you, Michael.

By the way, you have.

Mike, you have 24 hours to respond.

Shout out to punches and popcorn.

But no, come on.

Come on, Mike.

Because we did that.

It was over Twitter.

We're like, I highly doubt that you're the biggest.

Because we would go back and forth about that.

Who's the biggest fan?

And I'm like, absolutely not.

I will.

Yeah.

No, I know this film like the back of my hand.

No questions.

Will be crazy.

For real.

Okay, so for those of you who are.

I gotta say this, for anyone who is not like a big Marvel fan, not a big comic book fan, not a big, big animated fam or fan, this film is for you.

I really don't think that you have to be any one of those to truly appreciate, like, what this story is about.

I mean, it's.

It.

There's.

There's so many things that this film touches.

Right?

You know, we.

Again, we talked about how Peter Ramsey is very drawn to stories where you're having to find one's identity, one's purpose, one's way in the world.

And this is a.

This is a teenage boy who, again, I mean, regardless of whether or not you're familiar with the Spider man films, is very much, again, about finding your purpose in life and adjusting to changes.

Right.

You know, as teens, you know, you go.

Your body's going through a lot of changes, right?

Your mind is going through a lot of things.

You're having to deal with so much that is going at.

Going on at home with those changes.

You're also having to deal with that at school.

And so many other, like, kids and, like, trying to fit in, right?

Because sticking out would mean that you're being bullied, you're being targeted, like, all these different things.

So you're constantly dealing with all of that just as a regular teenager.

And then you add on, like, the added layer that is having superhuman abilities.

And so he's having to navigate all of this.

There's also the fact that, you know, there's.

There's now all these other, like, characters coming into view.

So now he's recognizing that there.

There are other people that are like them.

So now he is.

Is in a way, finding people that also understand what he's been through.

And so each of them sort of kind of, like, play as, like, mentors to him, but there's still that kind of that.

That feeling of, like, being.

Being the other, being the one who hasn't fully embraced their abilities or taken control of, like, those abilities.

So all at the same time, while he's wanting to feel.

He's wanting to feel like he belongs, right, to this.

This group of supers, right?

Like, he still is.

He's still having a hard time with.

With feeling as though he can fully be accepted or fully be with them, especially in their mission, you know, to stop Kingpin and everything like that.

So it's him constantly having to prove himself to himself.

You know, he doesn't want to stick out.

He's going to this.

He's going to the school for gifted students, right?

So everyone that he goes to school with is also.

Right.

Someone who is seen in our society as extraordinary, right?

There's someone who is like a prodigy, someone who's smarter, right.

You know, and so, like, all.

All, like, in that case, like, he just wants to be seen as normal.

And, you know, that's, like.

That's proven difficult.

But the.

The film does a.

A fantastic job.

And, like, weaving all of that, he also has his.

His black and Puerto Rican, like, identity, right?

And so there's a lot of talks, especially outside of the film, about, like, what that means, because traditionally, too, when we.

We were talking about Spider man, you know, we're talking about Peter Parker.

Peter Parker is a white.

Is a white kid, right?

Like, from New York City.

Like, so.

So we're now focused on someone who has a different identity.

So there's also other things, I think, more outside of the film rather than inside the film.

But it's, again, just another, like, dynamic, right, to throw into the film and not just throw into the film.

I mean, it's part of canon.

It's part of comic book lore, especially.

Since it is such a New York too.

Yes.

And I think the Miles Morales version is so entrenched in, you know, into the Spider versus so entrenched in New York.

Yes, yes, yes.

Like, not to bring this too into current events, but I just, I didn't watch the super bowl, but I watched the Bad Bunny performance.

I mean, we all come on yesterday who didn't watch the Bonito Bowl.

All right, but what, like when we're thinking about representation.

Yes.

When we're thinking about Puerto Rican representation, like, and I see that and like, I just get emotional thinking about how, how beautiful of representation that was.

Because it wasn't one thing, it was everything.

Oh, yeah, it was, you know, the ups, the downs, the, you know, the sexy, the, you know, the, you know, the struggle and all the stuff from, you know, culture to community.

And I think that's what this also accomplishes so well is that it never loses the fact that this is a real New York story.

It's not just Peter Parker lives in New York.

Like, this is more of a New York story, the real New York in many ways than any other Spider man story ever has been.

And that like, that representation is so present in the story, but it's never, it's never force fed.

It's so.

It just is.

And I'm also thinking too about, I mean, there's, there's moments where, you know, it's, it, him and his mom, like, they're speaking in Spanish.

That's not translated.

There's like little, there's little bits and pieces here and there.

It's not translated.

And I think that, you know, of course that's on purpose because, you know, they, these, this is the way that, you know, mother and son, like, they talk to one another.

And we don't necessarily need to be.

I mean, of course, if you're someone who understands Spanish, then, you know, that's just another like a bonus or like just something that again, speaks to that experience.

Right.

And that there's also the fact that, and again, when you're saying we were talking about it being uniquely New York story, I'm also thinking about how there's also too, a lot of hip hop, right.

Like that's infused into the, the score of the, you know, the soundtrack playing in the back.

And I mean, Brooklyn being the birthplace of hip hop.

And I'm thinking about that scene with him and his uncle, voiced by Mahershala Ali, on when they're going down and they're going into like the subway.

This is where he gets bitten.

There's actually a funny, like, thing that happens.

Like, well, when he's getting bit, you think.

You think that it's.

This going to be this big thing.

It's literally just him, like, flicking the spider off of his hand.

Like, it's just.

It's just funny.

But, like, when he's down there, like, it's a way for him to bond with his uncle.

There's also hip hop playing in the.

Like, he's got his boot, his.

His.

His beatbox and like.

Or the.

Not beatbox.

What am I?

Boombox?

Gosh, I can't get talking.

Tomorrow is boombox.

And he's, you know, he's playing hip hop and there.

There he's drawing, you know, graffiti, like, on the walls and stuff with his uncle.

And, like, it's just like, this way to bond.

It's again, underneath Brooklyn.

Brooklyn being the birthplace of hip hop, like, all these different things coming together also, too.

Just the way.

Again, obsessed.

Oh, the way that this film.

The way that it's animated.

There were so many other films afterwards that took that same thing.

I know the.

The newest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also took that same style.

And they made it their own, but they took the same sort of style that you see in into the Spider Verse and made it their own.

There.

There's other films, you know, that.

That sort of, like, took that same look.

But it looks as though you are literally taking pages from the comic book, right?

So you can see, like, lines are defined.

It's sharper.

It.

It.

You have sharper edges.

There's so many things.

Like, it's.

It's like you're looking at a moving comic book.

And that's what I absolutely appreciate.

And I also have to talk about this moment because this, for me, just, like, put the cherry on top was like.

So the what's up Danger?

Sequence and the leap of faith and taking a leap of faith.

So this is when he finally, like, is more in control of his powers, right?

He started to take on his purpose.

He knows, you know, he's fully embraced his whole identity.

And so there's what's Up Danger that's playing in the background.

And, you know, he's.

He's.

He's got his costume he's, like, making into his own.

And he's getting ready to join, right, the other, you know, Spider man or Spider people, you know, on their mission to stop Kingpin.

And that entire sequence, I just remember, like, tearing up because, like, it had to have been like, a Number of different factors.

But like, how I became obsessed with films as a kid was very much like the spectacle and it felt.

It felt larger than life.

And like, I felt in that moment, I felt like I was six years old again.

Watching Star wars for the first time, like, that hit me like, so hard.

And I do.

I remember, like, watching the film the first time in theaters and tearing up because I was like, this is literally like how I became obsessed with films like in the first place.

Like, it captured that same moment.

And I just felt like I was a six year old kid again.

And I just adore that.

And so when you can do that, like as a director for so many people, you know, regardless of what age you are, I think it's just.

It speaks so well to the incredible artists because directors are artists that you are.

So.

Yeah.

Oh, I'm about to get emotional right now.

I think that's.

I think that's the thing, right.

Where it's hard.

There's a moment in there for anybody.

Yes.

And not.

Not just.

Not anyone can wear the mask.

Anyone can wear the mask, but it's anybody.

Anybody has a moment in there.

When you.

If you're watching it, really engaging with it, there's a moment in there for you that is gonna hit you in a way that you didn't expect.

Right, Exactly.

If you love the craft of animation, this is one of the single best crafted animated movies ever.

Ever.

Yeah.

If not the best crafted animated movie ever.

I mean, it won an Oscar.

It won an Oscar.

This is what got Peter Ramsey again, talking about firsts.

First African American to win an Oscar for best animated feature.

And it could not be more deserved because it's also a revolutionary animated movie.

It changed the game of animated movies in many ways.

Yeah.

For sure.

And it also might be the best Spider man story ever made.

The best Spider man movie.

It is the best Spiderman.

Argue with your mama.

I will go toe to toe.

This is the hill.

I will forever die.

Well, and I think this is.

This speaks to the comic book nerds in our world, the Mike Hunt tones of the world, if you will.

Where I.

It's all love.

We.

We love Mike over here.

I can very confidently say that the Batman animated series is the best Batman ever.

So good.

And the best Joker ever.

Yeah.

It's hard.

It's hard not to say that this was the best Spider man movie ever made.

The best Spider man story ever told, because it's.

It broke so many barriers.

And not.

Not the race barriers, not just the.

Race barriers, but that Too, but that too.

Yes, for sure.

But the crafting and the story are perfect.

It's just, it's a perfect film.

Like, yeah, it's.

It's hard.

It's hard not to say amazing things like the cast alone, but this is where when you look at some of the other animated movies, like, oh, we just jammed as many celebrities in as possible.

Yeah.

Every single person fit the roles, the casting and all the choices.

Like Leif Schreiber as kingpin.

Oh, my God.

It's not the best kingpin ever because that's always going to be Vincent d' Onofrio in the new one.

But it's a great kingpin because it has emotional pathos.

It has emotional ties.

You know our girl Hailee Steinfeld from Sinners.

Yes, yes.

You know, as in there.

And Shamik.

More.

Yeah.

Oh, and he's so good.

He does an incredible, incredible job.

Jake Johnson, Mahershal Le.

I mean, the best looking man like, of the last 20 years.

Like, oh my gosh.

But Jake, first of all, Jake Johnson.

Oh, speaking of which.

Also too, the first Pier.

The Peter.

Oh my God.

Parker.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I almost said Peter Pan.

I don't know why.

I mean, you know, but like the first, the first Peter Parker in the film is Chris Pine.

So Chris Pine comes back, you know, to feature in another, another Peter Ramsey film.

But then we get Jake Johnson and the gift that Jake Johnson is Peter Parker is.

I can't imagine anyone else playing.

He's so over it.

He's hilarious.

He's so over it.

Oh, my gosh.

You know, getting strong.

Like, I'm like just his, his performance, his performance is everything.

Like, everything.

Like, as much as I like, I, I love, you know, who's playing, you know, who's voicing Miles Morales.

I also enjoy like his, his parents, his uncle, like, they're all like heavy.

Hitters because his dad is Brian Tyree Henry, who's awesome.

And I think he's so dad.

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

In this, he's like, say say I love you back.

Say I love you back.

Say I love you, Lauren Velez.

You know, people watch Dexter, that's Detective laguerta or Sergeant laguerta.

You know, like, the voice is so identifiably, identifiably Puerto Rican.

But it's like a career actor, like, who's so good and it's not a huge part, but every part had deepness and richness to it.

Minus maybe John Mulaney as Spider Pig, which I'm not sure had depth and other things.

But.

No, but it was fun.

It was fun.

It was a fun.

Nick Cage.

Nick Cage.

Oh, my gosh.

Is Spider man noir?

Oh, my God.

It's.

And it's all those.

It's all those things.

The tonal shifts, the.

The complication.

Like this is why.

Coloring.

The coloring.

So, yeah.

I. I want to do the nerd thing for one second and talk about the frames, the frame rates.

They did.

Because this.

This was the thing.

It's every so often you see these little things about movies.

Yes.

That bring the magic and you don't re.

When you don't realize that they've happened.

And then you see it after you're.

When you're talking about that experience of going to the movies and you are inspired.

Absolutely.

That they started it off at a lower frame rate.

And as he became confident and became Spider man, it became smoother and higher frame rate.

Oh, I didn't even.

I didn't even realize that it's.

It's a complete choice.

Oh, my God.

So they changed the frame rate.

Watch it again.

Of the movie.

Yeah.

As he became Spider Man.

When you watch it again.

Can't not see it.

No.

I know it will be something that I am absolutely like tune into.

There's always, like, with every watch, there's always some detail that I notice and especially like the.

The background.

So there is because.

Because Donald Glover, childish came, you know, was someone who had been begging.

Like there was this whole campaign for him to be in the Spider man because he was.

He's that obsessed, you know, with the film or with.

With the comic book and the character.

And he had been wanting to be it and of course, I think, like aged out of it or, you know, there was just like something about that.

But like they're watching.

So when he's over his uncle's apartment, they're in the background, is playing an episode from Community.

But it's the animated.

Like an animated version of Community.

So good.

And I'm just like.

That little detail right there is just.

Yeah.

So the frame rate, things started 12 frames a second.

It got up to film rate towards the end.

Okay, okay, okay.

So next time you watch it, you're going to see it and you're just going to be like, you're gonna nerd out so hard about it.

Oh, for sure.

It's like.

So there's one recently I saw, because he also worked on Castaway.

It brought its back up.

Castaway.

The entire audio on the island was ADR'd.

Wait, what?

All of it was ADR.

Every voice, every background, every single thing was ADR'd.

What in the world?

I saw it recently on a video.

And these are the things you know.

Explain also to explain.

Explain adr.

Okay, so adr.

So if you watch a, if you think of like the old, like martial arts movies where you see the mouse moving and you get the voice at a different cadence or you hear a voice that doesn't sound like it was filmed where it was filmed.

Right.

You're in a car and you hear it perfectly clearly with no audio in the background or it's jarring.

That's like recorded audio after.

It's not recorded in the moment of filming.

Right, right.

I forget the actual acronym of adr, but it's recording the audio after.

And this movie, so Castaway, you know the Tom Hanks movie where he shipwrecked down an island.

Right, right, right.

They did every bit of audio after.

And it's so perfect that nobody knew and they did all the work and nobody noticed that it was done because it was done so perfectly and that they, they didn't get the credit for like a decade after because of how perfect it was.

But that's, that's that thing, like you've seen that how many times?

Spider verse.

Yeah.

And you didn't, you didn't notice because it's meant not to be noticed.

It's meant to be felt and you feel it, but you didn't know it was there.

My gosh.

Okay.

And every so often that magic.

Yeah, we get to experience that magic.

And now as a, as a film nerd and as a director, you're gonna see that and you're gonna be like, oh, they created a magic with technical.

Choices, which just insane.

So, okay, so ADR is automated dialogue replacement.

So it's a post production process where actors re record dialogue in a quiet studio to replace on set recordings with better audio quality, fix technical issues or update lines.

It's also known as looping.

So this essential technique ensures clear, perfectly synced sound for movies, TV and games.

So that's adr.

Yeah.

And it's.

This is also the joy of watching a great movie like into the Spider Verse with a director that made choices.

Yeah.

And when the choices work out like these do all of the choices.

Yeah.

Like it's hard.

There's almost no flaws.

Yeah.

In the movie.

And he talks too about like, because afterwards they, they had wanted to bring him on as director for across the Spider Verse.

And this was while they were still making into the Spider Verse.

And he was just like, it was, it's a very like, we're all pleased, very pleased with the work, like with, you know, with the finished film.

But it was a very difficult process.

And he talks about like how, especially for animation, I mean you're, especially when you're going with like a different kind of animation, you know, one that we haven't seen before.

There's a lot of talks about like for instance, how lighting, you know, hits her character in the morning versus at night.

You know, what, what are the shadows?

What are the shadows looking like?

You know, what does it, there's all, what is the water like?

How does the water move?

Like, there's all these very things that you would normally take for granted.

You're having to consider now in animation because it's not something that you've seen before.

So now they're having to, to really create this world and so starting it like the basic levels because again, they don't have any reference, you know, with what to reference to, like how they light certain things and constantly talks about, oh, it's too dark, it's too light, you know, this needs to be changed and everything like that.

So it's a very long and difficult process because there's just like so much to review, so many things to consider.

So of course like I think he likens it to like if you asked a pregnant woman if she, you know, who's having triplets, if she wants to have another kid and she'd throw something at you.

So like, so, so like he, he, he says this in an interview and it just made me laugh.

But like I, I'm like, yeah, it, like it had to be.

He's like, I don't know if I like, like have the spoons like to be able to take on that big of a commitment and so soon.

So, but not wanting to of course come away from like be away from it entirely, he then decides to be an executive producer on across the Spider Verse.

So he's still involved it.

The day to day sort of thing that he had to be as a director.

So, so there's so much.

And then you know, when you're talking about things like, you know, across the Spider Verse, you know, there's a lot of, there were a lot of conversations too about.

And I know this was happening quite a bit, you know, with what's going on with like animators and the, and the people who are, who are designing, you know, for, for the film and stuff and, and the, just the amount of hours that it takes Right.

And so, like, you know, when we're talking about Enter the Spider Verse, you know, especially when you're creating something that hasn't been done before, it's a ton of work that people are not aware of, unless, of course, you're working, you know, on the film.

So I just give him and so many of the people, you know, so many of the animators, you know, just all the credit for putting together just an incredible film, an amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing story.

And it's just fun and it's heartwarming.

And again, it's like a familiar story, but there's.

There's so many.

Like, there's so many layers.

So, again, if you haven't watched into the Spider Verse, if you have Netflix.

I know it's on Netflix right now because I play it on in the background.

Because, of course I play it in the background whenever I'm working on stuff, because I have memorized that film at this point.

Yeah, it's my.

It's one of my comfort movies.

So, yeah, if you have not watched it, do so.

And you don't have to have watched every single Marvel film, like, you have to do with, like, every other film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to understand what's going on.

We really don't have to be that.

You don't have to be a comic book fan necessarily, or even a superhero fan.

It's just a great.

It's a great film.

It's a heartwarming film, you know, filled with themes of, again, identity, of finding your purpose of family, finding family, belonging.

All of the things, right, that just, like, make you feel, like, inspired.

And it's.

Yeah.

Complicated family, too.

Yeah, Complicated family.

Because it's not.

It's not.

It's not a soft movie.

Right.

But it's not a hard movie.

It's a movie that carries some weight with those relationships.

And I think that's where great animated movies that kids can love.

I don't.

I don't know if kids can love the things that have no depth.

And this isn't just for kids.

This is for everybody.

This is for everyone, for sure.

But if you're.

If you were the right kid that saw this, you might see something that might resonate with you.

You might not know it then, but something's gonna resonate with you.

Oh, yeah.

There were so many kids dressed up as Miles Morales for Halloween.

Like, swell.

They should be.

And it might be.

You might think some.

You might figure out something emotionally about how you're acting.

You might think of your parents differently.

You might think of adults differently.

You might think of, hey, you also might learn something about music.

Learn something about.

About something you're learning or loving something because there's so much to love about it.

Like, you're learning about heartbreak.

You're learning about all these things.

Yeah.

And that's also a great lesson.

And it's.

You're allowed to have depth in your movies that kids can love.

You're allowed to have that.

You really are.

You really are.

And then, you know, shout out to.

Shout out to the writing too, because Phil Lord, your Lord Miller are amazing writers.

I do want to shout out their.

Their follow on to not this, but they did the Lego Movie, which of course is one of the great, yes, you know, intro, you know, animation movies.

But like, the one that definitely made me cry sitting in the house during Pandemic was Mitchell's Versus the Machines.

Like, just.

I think they've hit such a beautiful mark.

Their writing is great, but I love that this was driven not by them.

It was driven by somebody who knew the culture that brought it so truly and authentically to the screen through amazing effort.

And that statement you said about I'm not sure I can do it again shows how much went into it.

But that's on every frame of the movie.

Yeah.

Is effort and passion.

Because you can't make this kind of perfect movie without that kind of passion and dedication.

You can't.

Absolutely, absolutely.

So Peter Ramsey, again, who's definitely listening to the podcast, please make more movies because you are absolutely needed.

He.

That was actually part of his speech that he made when he won the Oscar, you know, was to two other filmmakers.

You know, he was saying, we need you.

Keep going.

Well, Peter Ramsey, we need you.

Keep going.

So with that, I will absolutely close this out.

It's been.

Again, if you have not watched, you know, any of Peter Ramsey's films, I would highly, highly, highly recommend that you do so.

An incredible storyteller, an incredible filmmaker, and I really hope we see more from him.

But yeah, he absolutely deserves every single one of his flowers.

And so I was happy to give those to him tonight.

For real.

So, listeners, I appreciate if you would go ahead and, you know, share comments, you know, about, you know, Peter Ramsey's films.

You know, if you've watched into the Spider Verse, if you've watched Rise of the Guardians, I would love to see your comments.

You know, make sure you rate this episode 5 stars.

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Again, this has been Jackie McGriff, your host for this episode of Representation in Cinema.

As always, thank you again for listening.