In the “Who Is Bud Luckey?” short (to be found on The Incredibles Special Edition DVD), there’s an (edited) interchange between John Lasseter and Bud Luckey that goes something along the lines of:
Lasseter: I think the one thing I’ll thank Bud for, more than anything else, is Bud is the one that made Woody a cowboy in Toy Story.
Luckey: John gives me credit for designing Woody, but I drew 200 cowboys and he picked the right one.
This is a great example of how producing a large quantity of variations on a theme lets you then choose the most appropriate for your project, and how someone with Luckey’s experience knows how vital that is to making something awesome.
-David (@dwlt)
If all were to think like that…
…then we’d probably have a lot more quality advertising, movies, games and comics
Indeed!
It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do, of course, but then if all this was easy everyone would be at it.
-D
What I take from this is the respect they clearly have for eachother. It makes a change from one person trying to steal all the credit someone elses work (which is what we see EVERY DAY at other companies).
True… True. I have to admit that nowadays, my mindset is a bit hardwired onto the efficiency subject.
….The pain….
It’s a great example of a creative group appreciating the value of preperation.
It’s very rare to come across creative people with Bud Luckey’s approach. Most do one or two variations of whatever they’re working on and believe they’ve explored all the possibilities.
I’ve learned from experience that even when my first attempt is the right one, it takes many, many more before I really understand *why* it’s right.
Colin.
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I agree… But then again, it all resumes to time constraints. Most of the time it’s impossible to whip out more thant 2-3 drawings…
Heck… for my past year or so, most of it had to be done in one shot, which I definitely know not a good option.
But still, whenever I get the chance, I like to let the ideas mature… But most of the time, I get the feeling that a good majority doesn’t understand that, and consider it a waste of time/resources…
@Badger: Very true. That was something Bud mentioned when I interviewed him last year. He said Pixar was the first place he’d ever worked where the priority was getting it *right*, rather than getting it *finished*.
Big difference.
So clearly it’s not yet the norm for creative industries. All the more reason for those who understand the importance of it to show why it needs to become the norm as soon as possible.
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@Denkicolin: Doing my bit for king and country sir! *salutes*