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RULE 4. REMEMBER WHY IT’S ANIMATED
The current state of special effects is so advanced that it’s become increasingly difficult to impress even the least theatrically experienced 8-year-old. But take heart, there are still things animation can do that can’t be matched by the even the most skilled effects wizards. The key is to know what those things are and use them as tools to make your story as fun as possible.
Good animation looks for an “animation hook” – essentially a reason why the movie is being animated in the first place: Toys coming to life after you leave the room is a hook that bursts with possibilities. The ascension of a rat to the pinnacle of Parisian gastronomy would probably lose a bit of its charm in live action, but Ratatouille stands out as one of my favorite animated films of all time. The key is to squeeze as much mileage out of that hook as is humanly possible.
Which leads me to…
RULE 5. SINK YOUR TEETH INTO THE WORLD
Animators will regularly spend months researching the world of the film. They’ll practically live at the zoo watching exotic animals prance around looking for the idiosyncrasies and personalities of various animals… it wouldn’t kill you to do the same.
On The Princess and the Frog, I was looking for a series of unique ways to show conflict and contrast between the fun-loving Prince Naveen and the hard-working Tiana. I ended up spending a lot of time – don’t laugh – pretending to be a frog. I finally came to the conclusion that Naveen, a world traveler and a man open to new experiences, would immediately enjoy his new frog body. He’d have no problem at all eating flies and hopping around in the swamp. Tiana, who wanted no part of this would try to walk upright (which would lend itself to physical comedy given the fact that it’s virtually impossible for a frog to stand on two feet), she’d resist eating flies and try to retain her dignity through the experience. But, in the end, her inherent resourcefulness would bail them out of a jam or two. Even when the two waltz in the middle of the film it’s filled with acrobatic jumps and underwater moves that only two frogs could do and it adds to the uniqueness and magic of the movie.
RULE 6. THINK VISUALLY
When I worked on situation comedies like “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “Roc”, we would write stuff like “He enters and sits on couch” followed by five pages of witty dialogue. Conversely, there’s nothing more boring in animation than two characters sitting around and talking. Keep your characters moving. Don’t let them talk about what they’re going to do, put them in action. And, when they speak, keep in mind that some poor animator is going to have to sit over a light table or a computer screen for two weeks bringing the sentence you’ve just written to live. Keep it short and make what’s there fun to play with.
RULE 7. REMEMBER TO BRING YOURSELF TO THE TABLE
Animation is a collaborative medium. An actor, (sometimes a singer) and a team of animators create a character. A team of background artists give the characters places to go. Dozens of sound engineers and composers work around the clock to create an auditory reality out of thin air. The process is as different from live action as the laws of nature allow. But, at its heart, good story telling is good story telling. The more outrageous and remarkable the world of your film is, the more it needs to be anchored with an emotional reality. Find the truth in the incredible, give your characters a beating heart, tell your stories as entertainingly as possible and have a ball doing it.
I can’t wait to see the films you make and I hope you’ll all enjoy mine this weekend!
# Love. Perhaps the most important. Fall in love, if you aren't already. If you have, fall in love with your partner all over again. Abandon caution and let your heart be broken. Or love family members, friends, anyone -- it doesn't have to be romantic love. Love all of humanity, one person at a time.
# Get outside. Don't let yourself be shut indoors. Go out when it's raining. Walk on the beach. Hike through the woods. Swim in a freezing lake. Bask in the sun. Play sports, or walk barefoot through grass. Pay close attention to nature.
# Savor food. Don't just eat your food, but really enjoy it. Feel the texture, the bursts of flavors. Savor every bite. If you limit your intake of sweets, it will make the small treats you give yourself (berries or dark chocolate are my favorites) even more enjoyable. And when you do have them, really, really savor them. Slowly.
# Create a morning ritual. Wake early and greet the day. Watch the sun rise. Out loud, tell yourself that you will not waste this day, which is a gift. You will be compassionate to your fellow human beings, and live every moment to its fullest. Stretch or meditate or exercise as part of your ritual. Enjoy some coffee.
# Take chances. We often live our lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all. Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan it out first!), or go up to that girl you've liked for a long time and ask her out. What do you have to lose?
# Follow excitement. Try to find the things in life that excite you, and then go after them. Make life one exciting adventure after another (with perhaps some quiet times in between).
# Find your passion. Similar to the above tip, this one asks you to find your calling. Make your living by doing the thing you love to do. First, think about what you really love to do. There may be many things. Find out how you can make a living doing it. It may be difficult, but you only live once.
# Get out of your cubicle. Do you sit all day in front of computer, shuffling papers an
Tapping Tricks for Your iPhone
05.01.09
The Ultimate iPhone Home Screens
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# Tap the Status bar at the top of the screen (where the clock usually is) to return instantly to the top of long pages.
# Hold a finger on a link in Safari to get a pop-up saying where the link goes.
# Tap the bottom left or right corner to scroll left or right.
# Tap with two fingers to zoom out in Maps.
# Drag inside text boxes with two fingers to scroll without scrolling the whole page.
# Double-click the Power/Lock button to send incoming calls to your voice mail.
# Double-click the Home button in any app to bring up the iPod controls.
05.01.09
MIKE NICHOLS, the subject of a two-week retrospective starting Tuesday at the Museum of Modern Art, is not an obvious choice for a place as artsy and highbrow as the MoMA film department. MoMA retrospectives tend to be awarded to brooding European auteurs — Bernardo Bertolucci and Milos Forman were the last two — and not to commercial Hollywood directors who include on their résumé pop hits like “Working Girl,” “The Birdcage” and, just recently, “Charlie Wilson’s War.”
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Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
The director Mike Nichols is the focus of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
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Video Mike Nichols Trailers Charlie Wilson's War (2007) Closer (2004) Primary Colors (1998) The Birdcage (1996) Postcards From the Edge (1990) Working Girl (1988) Filmography: Mike Nichols MoMA Schedule: Mike Nichols
From top: Courtesy MoMA Film Stills Archive, Universal Pictures/Photofest via MoMA, MoMA Film Stills Archive, Photofest via MoMA
A Mike Nichols sampler, from top: Candice Bergen and Jack Nicholson in “Carnal Knowledge” (1971), Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007), Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in “The Graduate” (1967) and Al Pacino and Meryl Streep in “Angels in America” (2003).
Except for a puzzling string of duds in the mid-’70s, almost all of Mr. Nichols’s movies have made money, and a few, like “The Graduate” and “Carnal Knowledge,” have been recognized as cultural landmarks. But because of their commercial shimmer, their way of eliciting exceptional performances by top-of-the-line stars, it’s sometimes hard to say what makes a Nichols movie a Nichols movie. They seem like vehicles for actors, not the director, whose stamp is in leaving almost no trace of himself.
“If you want to be a legend, God help you, it’s so easy,” Mr. Nichols said the other day over coffee in his Times Square office. “You just do one thing. You can be the master of suspense, say. But if you want to be as invisible as is practical, then it’s fun to do a
Below are 5 different traveling lessons I have picked up in the past few months that will hopefully help you get the most out of your journeys. They’re not sexy, but they work.
1) Wash Your Clothes Whenever You Get a Chance -
2) Develop a Hotel Room Exercise Routine -
3) Carry Lots of Cash -
4) "Thank You" is Universal, Tipping is Not -
5) Try to Speak the Language
October 17th, 2008 | Flourishing
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Are you in the right line of work? Should you be doing something else? Ask yourself the following questions:
I recognize that some of the questions seem the same, but sometimes asking the question differently yields different answers. Please share some of your answers or thoughts if you’re up for it.
With dozens of new travel sites appearing every year, it's hard to keep track of which ones really deliver. William J. McGee, a former editor at Consumer Reports, has put hundreds of them to the test for Condé Nast Traveler to reveal the best online sources that will help you save money, travel smarter and enjoy your journeys more.
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