A Ray Gunn panel at Gallery Nucleus will give animation fans a look inside Brad Bird’s new film. Netflix and the Alhambra gallery have announced a November 14 event featuring a signing, concept artwork and the film’s first seven minutes.
The event runs from 5 PM to 7 PM Pacific Time. Tickets are due to go on sale October 27 at 1 PM Pacific, according to the gallery’s official listing.
What the Ray Gunn panel will include
The organizer promises artists from the film, a preview and a signing. However, individual panelists remain listed as to be announced. Bird’s directing credit does not mean he is confirmed to attend.
The accompanying concept-art exhibition runs from November 14 to November 18. For visitors, this offers two different ways into the production: a scheduled conversation and a display of the visual development behind it.
Convention Scene’s October 25 report separately confirms the date, preview and ticket opening. This is an art event with a short film preview, rather than a screening of the complete movie.
Brad Bird’s animated detective story
AFI FEST’s film listing describes a science-fiction mystery set in Metropia, where humans and aliens share a city. Sam Rockwell voices private investigator Ray Gunn. Tom Waits plays his alien associate Eyera, while Scarlett Johansson voices pop star Venus Nova.
Bird directs from a screenplay co-written with Matthew Robbins. In addition, AFI credits John Lasseter, Bird, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg as producers, with music by Michael Giacchino. Its festival programme lists a running time of 119 minutes.
Those credits establish who made the film; they do not establish who will appear at the gallery. Likewise, a festival listing and a seven-minute preview should not be confused with a general streaming release.
Why this event is worth following
The useful angle here is the artwork. A finished animated scene can hide the many visual decisions that shaped it. Concept drawings and an artists’ discussion offer a different route into that process, without requiring us to call the film a success before watching it.
For more on how images and storytelling work together, browse our film analyses. Would you rather see the opening preview now or save it for the full film? Tell us in the comments.
Archive photograph of John Andrews, Brad Bird and Miles Flanagan at an Iron Giant screening during the LA Animation Festival; not the Ray Gunn event. Photo: The Conmunity – Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0. Display crop; original photo license applies.
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