When discussing clichés in animation, the neck rub — in which a character reaches behind its head either nervously or anxiously — is one such overused gesture that should either be changed or removed.

That piece of advice was one of many crammed in to an intensive two-day master class by Pixar animator Andrew Gordon. Teaching in front of a nearly full house this past weekend, this former student of the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts ran through a wide-ranging agenda on day one, from the basic principles of animation, studying the specifics of locomotion (from character’s neck to its walk), to the finer points of facial animation.

When working on eyes and eye darts, ‘Imagining something like a purple buffalo usually causes eyes to dart up and to the left,’ observes Gordon. ‘But drawing from an actual memory you already have, you tend to look up and to the right.’

Real life will more often than not serve as the best inspiration. In Ratatouille, there’s a scene where clumsy chef Linguini awkwardly attempts to fit his large bicycle through the front door of his tiny Parisian apartment. To figure out how to achieve this, Gordon actually set up a camera in front of his basement door and filmed himself acting out that same scenario.

Creating a digital collection of clips from YouTube, BBC motion gallery and other sources was another of Gordon’s valuable tips. ‘You’ll be able to use this over and over, so build this now for your own reference.’

Pixar story artist Matthew Luhn took over on day two, going through the intricacies of storyboarding, character development and gags, noting that his advice comes solely from his experience at Pixar and what’s worked for him there.

It all begins with an idea and Luhn asked class attendees to unlock memories by thinking about such things like their very first phone number. ‘That conjures up stories and characters that are unique only to you,’ he says. ‘What makes stories unique are the experiences you’ve experienced. Those images in your brain can help you create ideas.’

He adds: ‘It’s the telling of a tale that the emotional appeal takes hold. Good storytelling requires that you know where you’re going with your tale. In arriving there, it’s not so much what you say, but how you say it.’

Here, he shows the rough animation of the much-discussed, dialogue-free sequence from Up that goes through the emotional life of Carl and Ellie that shows, not tells.

Another piece of advice is to determine the best way to tell a story, rather than how it’s possible from a technological standpoint. There’s a scene in Finding Nemo in which the fish are escaping from the aquarium, and Luhn says it was his idea to to have the fish put in plastic bags, who then roll out the window and into the ocean. He wasn’t thinking about how the animators would achieve this, which at the time, was a challenge they eventually overcame.

When it comes to demo reels, Gordon’s advice is to keep it short. ‘It doesn’t need to be your life’s work, and put your best work first and last.’ It should also include locomotion, acting of your character (‘that can sell everything’) and he also believes in the importance of showing personal work, which he says he’s seen close a deal.

And most of all? Make sure it works. ‘One third to one half the reels that come in don’t work!’ he says. ‘So make sure to test your media.’