Framestore - Director James Gunn is a frequent Framestore collaborator, entrusting characters like Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Cosmo, King Shark, Weasel and Rat Sebastian to our teams in London, Montreal and Mumbai. In the Oscar nominated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Rocket Raccoon was the de facto star with his origin story the film’s emotional heart.

We sat down with James and asked him about directing the invisible art of animation. Why creating emotion through animated characters is an artform and big action sequences only work if you care about them:

“Having worked with countless VFX companies and countless VFX artists, they all have the same tools available to them,” he says of his experience. “The difference is in the people. It's the craftsmanship. It's the time and effort they put into it. Those are the things that make the difference.”