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kottke.org posts about Pixar

Vol Libre, an amazing CG film from 1980

In 1980, Boeing employee Loren Carpenter presented a film called Vol Libre at the SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference. It was the world’s first film using fractals to generate the graphics. Even now it’s impressive to watch:

That must have been absolutely mindblowing in 1980. The audience went nuts and Carpenter, the Boeing engineer from out of nowhere, was offered a job at Lucasfilm on the spot. He accepted immediately. This account comes from Droidmaker, a fascinating-looking book about George Lucas, Lucasfilm, and Pixar:

Fournier gave his talk on fractal math, and Loren gave his talk on all the different algorithms there were for generating fractals, and how some were better than others for making lightning bolts or boundaries. “All pretty technical stuff,” recalled Carpenter. “Then I showed the film.”

He stood before the thousand engineers crammed into the conference hall, all of whom had seen the image on the cover of the conference proceedings, many of whom had a hunch something cool was going to happen. He introduced his little film that would demonstrate that these algorithms were real. The hall darkened. And the Beatles began.

Vol Libre soared over rocky mountains with snowy peaks, banking and diving like a glider. It was utterly realistic, certainly more so than anything ever before created by a computer. After a minute there was a small interlude demonstrating some surrealistic floating objects, spheres with lightning bolts electrifying their insides. And then it ended with a climatic zooming flight through the landscape, finally coming to rest on a tiny teapot, Martin Newell’s infamous creation, sitting on the mountainside.

The audience erupted. The entire hall was on their feet and hollering. They wanted to see it again. “There had never been anything like it,” recalled Ed Catmull. Loren was beaming.

“There was strategy in this,” said Loren, “because I knew that Ed and Alvy were going to be in the front row of the room when I was giving this talk.” Everyone at Siggraph knew about Ed and Alvy and the aggregation at Lucasfilm. They were already rock stars. Ed and Alvy walked up to Loren Carpenter after the film and asked if he could start in October.

Carpenter’s fractal technique was used by the computer graphics department at ILM (a subsidiary of Lucasfilm) for their first feature film sequence and the first film sequence to be completely computer generated: the Genesis effect in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The sequence was intended to act as a commerical of sorts for the computer graphics group, aimed at an audience outside the company and for George Lucas himself. Lucas, it seems, wasn’t up to speed on what the ILM CG people were capable of. Again, from Droidmaker:

It was important to Alvy that the effects support the story, and not eclipse it. “No gratuitous 3-D graphics,” he told the team in their first production meeting. “This is our chance to tell George Lucas what it is we do.”

The commercial worked on Lucas but a few years later, the computer graphics group at ILM was sold by Lucas to Steve Jobs for $5 million and became Pixar. Loren Carpenter is still at Pixar today; he’s the company’s Chief Scientist. (via binary bonsai)


Wall-E end credits

The Art of the Title Sequence takes a look at the excellent ending credits for Wall-E and interviews the gentlemen responsible.

Jim Capobianco’s end credits to Andrew Stanton’s “WALL-E” are essential; they are the actual ending of the film, a perfect and fantastically optimistic conclusion to a grand, if imperfect idea. Humanity’s past and future evolution viewed through unspooling schools of art. Frame after frame sinks in as you smile self-consciously. It isn’t supposed to be this good but there it is. This is art in its own right. Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman’s song, “Down to Earth” indulges you with some incredibly thoughtful lyrics and, from the Stone Age to the Impressionists to the wonderful 8-bit pixel sprites, you are in the midst of something special.

(via quipsologies)


Pixar’s princess

Two movies from now, after Toy Story 3 and Newt, Pixar is *finally* releasing a movie with a female main character. The only problem? She’s a princess.

I have nothing against princesses. I have nothing against movies with princesses. But don’t the Disney princesses pretty much have us covered? If we had to wait for your thirteenth movie for you to make one with a girl at the center, couldn’t you have chosen something β€” something β€” for her to be that could compete with plucky robots and adventurous space toys?

Disney’s princesses do have us covered.


Pixar short: Partly Cloudy

Quick, before it gets taken down: Partly Cloudy, the Pixar short preceding Up is available on YouTube.


Toy Story 3 teaser trailer

Opens June 2010.


Pixar doesn’t care about Disney’s investors

Disney investors are getting a little antsy with Pixar and their irritating need to make movies that are good without worrying about their commercial success or how many action figures of the main characters can be sold. Says Disney’s CEO:

We seek to make great films first. If a great film gives birth to a franchise, we are the first company to leverage such success. A check-the-boxes approach to creativity is more likely to result in blandness and failure.

Invest in Dreamworks for that check-the-boxes creativity, why don’t you. (thx, kabir)


Pixar: no chicks allowed

We’ve been over this before, but with Wall-E’s recent win at the Oscars, it’s worth mentioning again: Pixar movies don’t have any good women characters.

Ratatouille: Male rat (Remy) dreams of becoming chef and achieves his goal even though movie sidetracks to cover ludicrous and unnecessary romance between humans part way through. This is the kind of shit that bothers me: Why is it important that the rat have a penis? Couldn’t Remy have been written for a female lead? Why not? Collette’s right β€” the restaurant business is tough for women, especially when even the fictional rat-as-chef barrier can only be broken by a male character. Female characters: Colette, that old lady with the gun, um… maybe some patrons?

More than a Token score: 1/10. ZOMG, we have one female character. We’d better make her fall inexplicably in love with the bumbling Linguini, stat!


Andrew Stanton interview

Video interview with Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Among other things, he talks about two things that enabled the success of Pixar: the creative egalitarian dictatorship of John Lasseter and the ability of Steve Jobs to protect everyone from any outside business pressures and just create.


How Pixar hires

In a 10-minute video, Randy Nelson, the Dean of Pixar University, talks about how Pixar hires. One thing they look for is people who are interested rather than interesting.


Pixar spoof video

Now that Luxo Jr. is 22 years old, he’s interested in more than just chasing beach balls around. NSFW if videos of animated masturbating household furnishings aren’t safe to view in your workplace. There are a bunch of other Pixar spoof videos featuring variations on the Pixar lamp…from “state of the art” in 1986 to “anyone with some 3-D animation software can upload to YouTube” in 2008.


Pixar’s Burn-E

Pixar presents the adventures of Burn-E, a robot contemporary of Wall-E.

The events in Burn-E’s short film take place concurrent with those in the feature film.

Update: YouTube just took the video down at Pixar’s request. If you missed it, check it out here. (thx, jose)


Trailer for Pixar’s Up

New trailer for Pixar’s Up. I hope I’m wrong, but this seems like the first Pixar movie that won’t appeal to adults and kids at the same time.


Presto, short film before Wall-E

HD version of Presto, the short film shown before Pixar’s Wall-E. The shorts shown before Pixar films seemingly have something to do with the next film in the company’s pipeline. Boundin’ preceded Cars (both were set in the desert Southwest), One Man Band came out before Ratatouille (the former set in Italy, the later in France, but with similar “set” design), and Lifted preceded Wall-E (both featured outer space and spaceships), but I can’t figure out what Presto has to do with Up (the teaser’s no help).


Wall-E animation techniques

An article from Animation World Magazine about the animation techniques used in Wall-E.

Life is nothing but imperfection and the computer likes perfection, so we spent probably 90% of our time putting in all of the imperfections, whether it’s in the design of something or just the unconscious stuff. How the camera lens works in [a real] housing is never perfect, and we tried to put those imperfections [into the virtual camera] so that everything looks like you’re in familiar [live-action] territory.


Wall-E

Wall-E was wonderful…best new film I’ve seen in a long time. With it, Andrew Stanton joins Brad Bird in Pixar’s top tier of directors, with the much-heralded John Lasseter in third place. But I can see where Tyler Cowen was coming from when he stated in his short review that the film was “not recommended for children” and that “some bold genius at Pixar will be fired”. Wall-E was funny, charming, and endearing but also subversive, disturbing, and dystopian. That combination that usually doesn’t play well at the box office but some of my favorite films ride that fine line between comedy and disconcerting drama.

Some other thoughts and observations:


Dumb Pixar ranking list

Vulture’s wrong, wrong, wrong list of the best Pixar films. Finding Nemo belongs in #1 with The Incredibles and Ratatouille close behind. Then Toy Story 2 followed by the rest. Putting The Incredibles in the #7 spot, that’s just plain irresponsible.


Tech details for Wall-E

Interesting article on the genesis, sound design, and cinematography of Wall-E.

“We wanted it to have the feeling that it had actually been filmed,” says Morris. Using subtle details such as barrel distortion and lens flare, gave Wall.E the feel of the 70mm sci-fi films of the Seventies. For the first time Pixar also brought Academy Award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins and special-effects don Dennis Muren onboard. “We wanted to get the nuance of a live action film, and actually put mistakes in with zooms and framing to give it a more immediate feel.”

Deakins is well-known for working with the Coen Brothers on many of their films. (thx, brian)


Pixar’s John Carter of Mars

An upcoming film from Pixar: Andrew “Finding Nemo” Stanton’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. As Binary Bonsai notes, this is a bit of a departure for Pixar, what with all the sexuality and violence.


The Pixar Story


Disney/Pixar progress

The NY Times has a look at the progress made by Disney since their 2006 acquisition of Pixar, a purchase some say Disney paid too much for.

“There is an assumption in the corporate world that you need to integrate swiftly,” Mr. Iger said. “My philosophy is exactly the opposite. You need to be respectful and patient.” Key to the successful integration, analysts say, has been Mr. Iger’s decision to give incoming talent added duties. Instead of just buying Pixar and moving on, Mr. Iger understood what made the acquisition valuable, said Mr. Price, the author. “If you are acquiring expertise,” he said, “then dispatch your newly purchased experts into other parts of the company and let them stretch their muscles.”

It also sounds as though Pixar has loosened their high standards since the acquisition…they’re outsourcing some animation, doing more sequels (Cars 2, presumably for the merchandising), and making several direct-to-DVD movies.


Brad Bird business advice

Lessons from Pixar’s Brad Bird on fostering innovation in the workplace.

In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget β€” but never shows up in a budget β€” is morale. If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale.


Talented people are leaving Pixar because very

Talented people are leaving Pixar because very few people get a shot at directing a film of their own.

For all the success, however, there’s very little room atop Pixar’s food chain. While live-action movie studios might crank out more than a dozen movies annually, the digital animation company built by Apple’s Steve Jobs barely makes a film a year β€” and had no features at all in 2005 or 2002. What’s more, all Pixar movies so far have been directed by an inner circle of animation all-stars: John Lasseter (“Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Cars”), Brad Bird (“The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille”), Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo” and summer’s forthcoming “Wall-E”) and Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.” and 2009’s “Up”).

Brad Bird is set to direct a live-action movie about the earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906.


A thoughtful memorandum from the archives of

A thoughtful memorandum from the archives of the RAND Corporation as they contemplated designing a new building for the optimal accomplishment of work in 1950.

This implies that it should be easy and painless to get from one point to another in the building; it should even promote chance meetings of people. A formal call by Mr. X on Mr. Y is the only way X and Y can develop such a tender thing as an idea β€” the social scientists have taught me to use X and Y in that bawdy manner. If the interoffice distances are to be kept reasonable, the building must be compact. It need not be circular; a square is often a good substitute for a circle, and even a rectangle is not bad, if the aspect ratio does not get out of hand.

The memo’s author even gets into lattice theory in attempting to keep inter-office travel times down. As a contemporary example, Pixar’s office in Emeryville was designed to bring the company’s employees randomly together during the day:

I was the first person from the group of journalists to arrive, giving me plenty of time to look around the lobby, which is actually a gigantic football-field length atrium, the centerpiece of the entire building.

As it was explained to me later, Steve Jobs originally proposed a building with one bathroom, something that would drive foot traffic to a central area all day long. Obviously, they’ve got more than one bathroom in the building, but just standing there and watching as everyone arrived to start their day, it was obvious that Jobs had managed the feat.

The mailboxes, the employee cafe, and the common room where all the games are all open into that atrium, and people lingered, talking, exchanging ideas and discussing the various projects they’re working on. It seemed like a fertile, creative environment, and I felt like Charlie Bucket holding a golden ticket as I examined the larger-than-life Incredibles statues in the center of the atrium and the concept paintings hung on the walls.

(thx, jean-paul)


Interview with Susan Bradley, who did some

Interview with Susan Bradley, who did some graphic design and designed a typeface for Pixar’s Ratatouille. I enjoyed her response when asked about “one thing everybody should do today”:

Something backwards or something analog you’d normally computerize.

You can find out more about Susan on her site. (via waxy)


New extended trailer for Pixar’s Wall-E that

New extended trailer for Pixar’s Wall-E that reveals a bit more of the story and a new character.

Update: The trailer is offline. Awaiting the official release.


Pixar’s Toy Story 3 will be produced in 3

Pixar’s Toy Story 3 will be produced in 3-D. I like Pixar a lot but 3-D has never been anything but a gimmick, so I don’t know. TS3 will be out in June 2010. (2010! We’ll go together in my hovercar!)


Hilariously bad knockoffs of Pixar’s Ratatouille and

Hilariously bad knockoffs of Pixar’s Ratatouille and Cars called Ratatoing and The Little Cars. (via waxy)


Pixar has released a new trailer for

Pixar has released a new trailer for Wall-E (HD version available). I want this movie and a robot now please.


A lengthy list of self-references and in-jokes

A lengthy list of self-references and in-jokes in Pixar’s movies, including the infamous Pizza Planet delivery truck. Mit pictures. (thx, x amount)


David Gallagher dings Beowulf for using digital

David Gallagher dings Beowulf for using digital actors, resulting in an uncanny valley problem for the movie.

It’s impossible to watch “Beowulf” without sensing that the “actors” are being pushed around by invisible forces, not living and breathing on their own.

I noticed the same thing when I saw the trailer in the theater a few weeks ago. I’m stunned that the filmmakers thought it was OK that the whole thing seems soulless and constantly reminds people that, hey, this is fake, you’re watching a movie! It’s a real testament to Pixar that they’re able to stop short of the uncanny valley (they’re still obviously cartoons) and still imbue their characters with life and emotion (see Anton Ego’s revelation in Ratatouille).

Update: I forgot that Zemeckis and company did the creepy Polar Express as well.