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On Monday, December 8th Dr. Ed Catmull, President of Walt Disney Pixar Animation Studios, gave a lecture at the University of Utah. He opened by screening two animated short films. The first was a Pixar production titled "Presto," the short film which was shown in theaters before Wall-E
Catmull stated that is very important for Pixar to be producing short films. According to Catmull, "it is a way for the animators to try new things, have fun, and be creative." Small teams of people who would normally only handle one element in a feature film now have the opportunity to cover more areas of production and the added experience helps them work with other teams on larger productions. It also gives people the opportunity to direct something who normally wouldn't be able to.
While at the University of Utah Catmull had the goal to produce a feature film with computers in 10 years, It actually took 20. During those years he tried to nail down what it is that makes a great movie. Originally, he thought it all came down to having a great story. After finding himself in the midst of Hollywood types he soon discovered that everybody would say that, even if they made crappy movies. He thought about it more and came to the realization that of course a great movie has to have a great story, because a movie is a story. Often we try to simplify movies by saying they are about "dinosaurs" for example, when really we should be appreciating the complexities that make up a movie. A great movie really comes down to good decision making at every level and on every small element of the production. In order to make good decisions you have to have the right kind of team.
Ed Catmull enjoys creative team-oriented environments. He remembers such environments while at the University of Utah, then when he moved to New York Institute of Technology, on to Lucasfilm's Computer Division, and of course finally he replicated that kind of environment at Pixar.
Over the years Catmull has seen companies rise and fall, especially in the computer industry. These companies had the best and brightest. They had the resources, so why did they fail? Often the case is that even if the boss has the best intentions, in a top down organization, bad decisions are made at the top while those lower down stand by and watch because they are too afraid to speak up. Intimidation is something that people who rise in power gain whether they are aware of it or not. Also, those in charge of subordinates are afraid when somebody below them shows more talent than they do so they micromanage to maintain control. Change is slow and the company will sooner or later fall.
The mindset at Pixar Animation Studios is completely the opposite. They have a policy for everybody, no matter their position, to give honest feedback. Problems are caught before they roll into an avalanche as a result. The way Pixar operates is through constant course corrections. The end goal is usually the same as when they started, but the the direction changes in order to get there. This isn't always easy. A few times halfway through a production they've had to completely restart, throwing away almost all their previous work. The story may be the same, but the execution was all wrong and thus a restart is required.
Most of the time artists are too afraid to show their work to anybody until they have it perfect. Imagine having to show an imperfect and far from completed piece of artwork to Brad Bird or John Lasseter, it's very intimidating. At Pixar the philosophy is "get over it!" Everybody is required to show everything at any stage in order to get that honest feedback. And it works both ways. When someone like John Lasseter directs a feature, the crew is required to go to dailies and take notes. All the notes are given to the director and the director reads through all of them, weighing their opinions and making changes as needed.
Big movie studios have a development department. The purpose of this department is to find great scripts to produce into movies. But good luck trying to send a script to the development department at Pixar. It won't make it past the reception desk. It's not because they believe nobody else has good ideas. It is because their development department's goal is not to find story ideas but to put together teams. They find the people who will work best together for a specific project. People who will be honest with each other. Teams are also broken up into smaller groups to help people who are afraid to look stupid in front of a large audience feel free to express themselves. Teams assemble for all sorts of Hollywood productions, but at Pixar the same people get to work together for years which allows them to improve their collaboration process. It is unlike the typical Hollywood system, where a crew is often brought together for one production and then sent their different ways. Maybe some of the same people will work together again, but that is often not the case.
This is the kind of methodology that makes Pixar so great. Now that they have merged with Disney, Disney Animation Studios has been able to observe Pixar and make necessary changes. Pixar also had the opportunity to learn from Disney. We all know the classics that have been produced by Disney, but in recent years Disney has not been up to par. Now with the Pixar influence Disney Animation Studios has been renewed. Bolt is the first production to be produced after the merge. Earlier it was mentioned that Pixar has had to completely restart during the middle of productions. It also happened with the recently released "Bolt." With 8 months before release it was clear that things weren't working. The Disney team was told to completely restart and also that the release date would not change. This forced them to stretch and grow and in the end they actually were finished ahead of schedule. But there were many problems to overcome including the rigging of the hamster character. After assessing what changes would need to be made they decided it would set them back 6 months. Two artists decided to go ahead and not tell anybody that they would take it upon themselves to rework the rigging. It took them four days, and it worked. The real problem was not how long it should actually take, but depending on a top to bottom work environment where employees are micromanaged. If you give the right person the job and trust them to do it you will see better results.
Disney Animation Studios has a new hand-drawing team of artists and for the first time in years will be releasing a hand-drawn animated feature, "The Princess and the Frog" which will come out during the holiday season of 2009.
All the points of Ed Catmull's lecture are not covered here. But the hope is that this is useful summation, and that it was written as accurately as possible.
Brad Olsen
www.clairinski.com
Dr. Ed Catmull Short Biography
Dr. Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. Previously, he was vice president of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm, Ltd., where he managed four development efforts in the areas of computer graphics, video editing, video games and digital audio. Dr. Catmull has been honored with three Scientific and Technical Engineering Awards, including an Oscar®, from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his work. He also won the Coons Award, the highest achievement in the computer graphics field, for his lifetime contributions and was awarded the animation industry's Ub Iwerks Award, given to individuals for technical advancements that make a significant impact on the art or industry of animation. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, Dr. Catmull earned B.S. degrees in computer science and physics and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Utah. (Source is from www.pixar.com)
Is anybody planning on attending this? Sounds like it would be a great lecture!