1 00:00:09,331 --> 00:00:12,048 I am Ricky Nierva and I am an artist. 2 00:00:12,048 --> 00:00:14,459 I am very very lucky to say that I am 3 00:00:14,459 --> 00:00:16,655 a production designer at Pixar Animation Studios, 4 00:00:16,655 --> 00:00:19,937 which is one of the best animation studios in the world. 5 00:00:20,675 --> 00:00:23,832 It is hard to believe, but I've been in the industry, 6 00:00:23,832 --> 00:00:26,606 animation industry, for almost 20 years now. 7 00:00:26,606 --> 00:00:30,140 And one thing that really terrifies me, 8 00:00:30,140 --> 00:00:31,981 other that being on the stage right now, 9 00:00:32,627 --> 00:00:34,602 is this. Right here. 10 00:00:35,355 --> 00:00:37,972 This blank sheet of paper. 11 00:00:37,990 --> 00:00:41,719 This is very very intimidating to an artist, I think. 12 00:00:41,719 --> 00:00:45,968 Its emptiness could be very intimidating. 13 00:00:45,968 --> 00:00:48,247 There is so many opportunities, 14 00:00:48,247 --> 00:00:52,323 so many possibilities of what could be on this thing. 15 00:00:53,338 --> 00:00:55,367 You know, I have a little, a quick story 16 00:00:55,367 --> 00:01:00,334 about a theater and a director at a theater, 17 00:01:00,334 --> 00:01:04,490 where the director came to work, during rehearsals, 18 00:01:04,490 --> 00:01:07,098 the director opened the door to the theater 19 00:01:07,098 --> 00:01:08,563 and noticed, on the stage, 20 00:01:08,563 --> 00:01:12,161 that the dancers were basically doing nothing. 21 00:01:12,161 --> 00:01:16,334 Some dancers were stretching, some dancers were, 22 00:01:16,334 --> 00:01:18,876 you know, reading a book or something, 23 00:01:18,876 --> 00:01:21,215 but they were basically doing nothing. 24 00:01:21,215 --> 00:01:23,283 And the director, bewildered, 25 00:01:23,283 --> 00:01:25,290 walked down to the front of the stage 26 00:01:25,290 --> 00:01:30,810 and he noticed the choreographer had his head in his hands 27 00:01:30,810 --> 00:01:33,917 and he looks at the choreographer and angrily says: 28 00:01:33,917 --> 00:01:35,702 "What 's going on here?" 29 00:01:35,702 --> 00:01:37,818 And the choreographer looks at the director and goes: 30 00:01:37,818 --> 00:01:44,540 "Nothing is happening. It's nothing, you know, it's just not working. Nothing." 31 00:01:44,540 --> 00:01:46,938 And the director looks at the choreographer and says: 32 00:01:46,938 --> 00:01:49,163 "Well do something, so I can change it!" 33 00:01:49,163 --> 00:01:50,703 (Laughter) 34 00:01:50,703 --> 00:01:54,211 So, being a production designer 35 00:01:54,211 --> 00:01:56,619 is a very intimidating thing. 36 00:01:56,619 --> 00:02:00,540 A production designer is basically in charge 37 00:02:00,540 --> 00:02:02,291 of the overall look of the film. 38 00:02:02,291 --> 00:02:05,142 And that's very scary because 39 00:02:05,142 --> 00:02:07,328 at Pixar a colleague has said to me, 40 00:02:07,328 --> 00:02:10,541 his name is Jason Deamer, he's an art director at Pixar, 41 00:02:10,541 --> 00:02:15,793 has said: "Pain is temporary, suck is forever". 42 00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:17,493 (Laughter) 43 00:02:18,108 --> 00:02:23,078 So, I'm gonna do, the theme here is 44 00:02:23,108 --> 00:02:26,027 "Uncharted Waters" and do something crazy 45 00:02:26,027 --> 00:02:27,961 and I just said "suck", 46 00:02:27,961 --> 00:02:31,355 so I'm gonna do something that hopefully doesn't suck too badly 47 00:02:31,355 --> 00:02:34,722 and I'm gonna make this more relaxing to me. 48 00:02:34,722 --> 00:02:37,208 So I'm going to just-- 49 00:02:38,683 --> 00:02:41,251 OK, that sucked but, 50 00:02:41,251 --> 00:02:44,320 there's a point behind this. 51 00:02:46,749 --> 00:02:48,848 Basically, where do you begin, right? 52 00:02:50,601 --> 00:02:53,969 Apple and Pixar founder Steve Jobs 53 00:02:53,969 --> 00:03:00,990 has said, let's see here, 54 00:03:01,285 --> 00:03:04,586 "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like, 55 00:03:04,601 --> 00:03:06,804 design is how it works." 56 00:03:08,388 --> 00:03:10,529 Film making is a purely collaborative 57 00:03:10,529 --> 00:03:13,647 art form, and that's why I love it so much. 58 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,396 To make a film's design work, 59 00:03:17,396 --> 00:03:19,403 the art must support the story. 60 00:03:19,403 --> 00:03:22,899 and at Pixar we try to tell the best stories that we possibly can. 61 00:03:22,899 --> 00:03:26,130 You know, the first time I got to production design 62 00:03:26,130 --> 00:03:27,988 was on the movie "Up", 63 00:03:27,988 --> 00:03:31,156 and for those that have not seen it, 64 00:03:31,156 --> 00:03:33,282 you need to leave right now and watch it. 65 00:03:33,282 --> 00:03:34,898 (Laughter) 66 00:03:34,898 --> 00:03:37,317 But I apologize if I ruin the film for you, 67 00:03:37,317 --> 00:03:41,014 when I say, it's about a story, about a man 68 00:03:41,014 --> 00:03:42,907 named Carl Fredricksen. 69 00:03:42,907 --> 00:03:45,989 And Carl Fredricksen, in the beginning of the film, 70 00:03:45,989 --> 00:03:48,686 we meet him as a very young child 71 00:03:48,686 --> 00:03:53,652 and he meets the love of his life, her name is Ellie, 72 00:03:53,652 --> 00:03:57,564 they fall in love, they get married, 73 00:03:57,564 --> 00:04:01,398 they go through all the trials and tribulations of life. 74 00:04:01,398 --> 00:04:03,892 You get to a point were they get old 75 00:04:03,892 --> 00:04:05,904 and Ellie dies. 76 00:04:05,904 --> 00:04:07,606 Again, I'm sorry if i ruined it for you, 77 00:04:07,606 --> 00:04:11,205 but, that's in the first five minutes of the movie 78 00:04:11,205 --> 00:04:14,233 and I think it's the most beautiful five minutes of the movie. 79 00:04:14,233 --> 00:04:19,366 It's a really powerful setup 80 00:04:19,366 --> 00:04:22,218 to Carl Fredricksen's story. 81 00:04:22,218 --> 00:04:26,980 And then Carl, basically, at that point 82 00:04:26,980 --> 00:04:29,214 starts being boxed in, 83 00:04:29,214 --> 00:04:31,399 starts being stuck in his ways. 84 00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:34,172 He's basically unchanged man. 85 00:04:34,172 --> 00:04:38,290 So, the approach I took to designing that 86 00:04:38,290 --> 00:04:40,291 is all based upon that idea, 87 00:04:40,291 --> 00:04:44,443 and if you bear with me here, 88 00:04:44,443 --> 00:04:47,252 I'm gonna show you a bit about how I think 89 00:04:47,252 --> 00:04:53,425 about designing for that movie. 90 00:04:53,425 --> 00:04:55,827 And it all started with this. 91 00:04:58,282 --> 00:04:59,707 A simple square. 92 00:05:01,408 --> 00:05:02,960 Basically, I go to work, 93 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:04,279 I draw that, I show the director 94 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,560 and then I go home and 95 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:07,606 turn on the Internet. 96 00:05:07,606 --> 00:05:08,439 OK that was a joke. 97 00:05:08,439 --> 00:05:09,996 (Laughter) 98 00:05:09,996 --> 00:05:14,022 It takes some time to translate the jokes, I'm sure. 99 00:05:14,022 --> 00:05:18,551 No, it starts with a simple idea, 100 00:05:18,551 --> 00:05:19,470 the square. 101 00:05:19,470 --> 00:05:24,310 And the square to me, while I'm designing, 102 00:05:24,310 --> 00:05:28,163 it's static, it's not dynamic, 103 00:05:28,163 --> 00:05:31,155 it's solid and stable, 104 00:05:31,155 --> 00:05:35,799 but it's also basically boxed in. 105 00:05:35,799 --> 00:05:38,395 So, as I'm thinking of these things while I'm designing 106 00:05:38,395 --> 00:05:39,833 on the shape, 107 00:05:39,833 --> 00:05:41,915 things come together. 108 00:05:46,636 --> 00:05:50,241 And all of these ideas, 109 00:05:50,241 --> 00:05:53,237 and here's some square glasses, 110 00:05:53,237 --> 00:05:55,835 is supported by that square. 111 00:06:02,458 --> 00:06:05,240 He's got square ears, 112 00:06:06,570 --> 00:06:09,861 and this is basically Carl Fredricksen 113 00:06:09,861 --> 00:06:12,767 see, hold your applause, I'm not done yet. 114 00:06:12,767 --> 00:06:15,911 (Laughter) 115 00:06:16,722 --> 00:06:18,945 He's got a square body. 116 00:06:22,113 --> 00:06:26,490 Uncharted waters, I don't normally draw in front of people like this. 117 00:06:28,428 --> 00:06:32,449 So, you're getting first time stuff going on here. 118 00:06:32,449 --> 00:06:34,138 He's got square hands, 119 00:06:34,138 --> 00:06:36,248 a lot of squares to support that simple, 120 00:06:36,248 --> 00:06:38,069 simple idea. 121 00:06:47,417 --> 00:06:48,730 Carl Fredrickson. 122 00:06:48,730 --> 00:06:56,337 (Applause) 123 00:06:56,420 --> 00:07:01,734 So, another character that takes Carl through his journey 124 00:07:01,734 --> 00:07:03,695 and actually tries to change him 125 00:07:03,695 --> 00:07:05,811 and make him a more well-rounded character, 126 00:07:05,811 --> 00:07:08,788 is a character named Russel. 127 00:07:08,811 --> 00:07:14,743 And what's simpler shape that contrasts that square 128 00:07:14,743 --> 00:07:16,415 but a circle? 129 00:07:16,415 --> 00:07:18,865 So, I'll get here 130 00:07:21,889 --> 00:07:26,809 So, the circle symbolizes positivity and moving forward. 131 00:07:26,809 --> 00:07:28,409 It's a very dynamic thing, 132 00:07:28,409 --> 00:07:31,683 It's all of these things that 133 00:07:31,683 --> 00:07:36,409 need to help Carl get more well-rounded. 134 00:07:36,409 --> 00:07:38,610 So Russel was based upon this idea. 135 00:07:41,732 --> 00:07:43,901 It's kind of like a balloon shape. 136 00:07:44,266 --> 00:07:48,036 And Russel, is this wilderness explorer. 137 00:07:50,297 --> 00:07:55,487 A very positive kid. 138 00:07:55,487 --> 00:08:00,703 And he's got all these circular motifs all around his body. 139 00:08:11,361 --> 00:08:12,887 Like that. 140 00:08:12,887 --> 00:08:15,249 And he has, well, I'm not done yet. 141 00:08:15,249 --> 00:08:16,867 (Laughter) 142 00:08:16,883 --> 00:08:19,939 I wanted to show you all the details around his body, 143 00:08:19,939 --> 00:08:21,261 which are very circular. 144 00:08:21,261 --> 00:08:23,130 And we think about all theses things, 145 00:08:23,130 --> 00:08:25,562 you know, he's got this sash, 146 00:08:25,562 --> 00:08:28,118 and part of the story 147 00:08:28,118 --> 00:08:31,946 is that he's collecting all of these badges 148 00:08:31,946 --> 00:08:33,971 as a wilderness explorer 149 00:08:33,987 --> 00:08:35,465 and it's all these circular things 150 00:08:35,465 --> 00:08:38,313 and each badge has a story, 151 00:08:38,313 --> 00:08:40,532 but right here is this empty one. 152 00:08:40,532 --> 00:08:43,184 He's trying to get the "Assisting the elderly" badge, 153 00:08:43,184 --> 00:08:45,343 and by design it's over his heart. 154 00:08:45,343 --> 00:08:54,053 And one of these things is that they would work with each other. 155 00:08:54,053 --> 00:08:55,650 You have the square and the circle. 156 00:08:55,650 --> 00:08:57,780 But for Carl there's also a story point 157 00:08:57,780 --> 00:09:01,971 of this circular symbol right over his heart, 158 00:09:01,971 --> 00:09:04,148 and that's the Ellie badge. 159 00:09:04,148 --> 00:09:06,271 So you need to watch the movie in order to 160 00:09:06,271 --> 00:09:08,178 understand what's going on there. 161 00:09:08,329 --> 00:09:12,892 But, you know, we think about all of these things 162 00:09:12,892 --> 00:09:19,211 as we design and it's a very long process. 163 00:09:19,211 --> 00:09:21,036 You know, it takes an average of four years 164 00:09:21,036 --> 00:09:23,326 to make an animated film at Pixar. 165 00:09:25,602 --> 00:09:29,771 And we also, while we are thinking of making the movie, 166 00:09:29,771 --> 00:09:32,773 we have fun putting these simple shapes 167 00:09:32,773 --> 00:09:34,357 all over the movie. 168 00:09:34,357 --> 00:09:36,353 So you can see here, where Carl wakes up, 169 00:09:36,353 --> 00:09:39,852 on his side of the bed are the square symbology, 170 00:09:39,852 --> 00:09:42,601 and on her side is this circle symbology. 171 00:09:42,601 --> 00:09:46,409 And so, you know, it's fun to do this 172 00:09:46,409 --> 00:09:50,163 and we have kind of these ideas, 173 00:09:50,163 --> 00:09:53,857 but the main point is to not see it 174 00:09:53,857 --> 00:09:55,260 while you are watching the movie, 175 00:09:55,260 --> 00:09:57,430 but you should feel it. 176 00:09:57,430 --> 00:10:00,279 If we do our job right, you don't notice this stuff, 177 00:10:00,279 --> 00:10:02,270 but you feel it. 178 00:10:03,642 --> 00:10:05,240 It's also here, 179 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,938 in picture frames around the house. 180 00:10:07,938 --> 00:10:10,927 If Carl is by himself, he's in a square picture frame. 181 00:10:10,927 --> 00:10:13,948 If Ellie is in the picture frame by herself, she's in an oval picture frame. 182 00:10:13,948 --> 00:10:16,472 Someone asked: "What if they're in the picture together?" 183 00:10:16,472 --> 00:10:18,788 Well, it's a square frame with an oval mat. 184 00:10:18,788 --> 00:10:20,886 (Laughter) 185 00:10:22,196 --> 00:10:25,386 You can see in this image, Russel is literally 186 00:10:25,386 --> 00:10:28,666 separated from from Carl with lighting. 187 00:10:28,666 --> 00:10:31,296 It's just cut right through the shot. 188 00:10:31,310 --> 00:10:34,121 And all of these things support that simple idea, 189 00:10:34,121 --> 00:10:36,571 basing upon that simple idea of circle and squares. 190 00:10:36,571 --> 00:10:40,121 You can see the circular motif all around his design 191 00:10:40,121 --> 00:10:43,281 and his very colorful, very saturated color. 192 00:10:43,281 --> 00:10:44,650 And Carl's desaturated. 193 00:10:45,045 --> 00:10:47,422 So he's trying to get color back into Carl, 194 00:10:47,437 --> 00:10:50,200 he's trying to get him more well rounded. 195 00:10:51,754 --> 00:10:55,015 Very clearly it's in the prop design. 196 00:10:55,015 --> 00:10:56,345 Carl and Ellie's chair, 197 00:10:56,345 --> 00:10:57,544 you can see the circle and square 198 00:10:57,544 --> 00:11:01,747 shape vocabulary there, shape language. 199 00:11:01,747 --> 00:11:04,675 And at the end of the film, after Carl has gone through his adventure, 200 00:11:04,675 --> 00:11:08,272 you can see that he's a more softened character. 201 00:11:08,272 --> 00:11:09,703 He's more well rounded. 202 00:11:09,703 --> 00:11:10,756 You know, he's tanned, 203 00:11:10,756 --> 00:11:12,920 he has more life in him. 204 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,362 And the idea of this, is that 205 00:11:16,362 --> 00:11:19,294 it's a process of making things simple. 206 00:11:19,294 --> 00:11:21,842 But we all know that simple is 207 00:11:21,842 --> 00:11:23,382 not necessarily simpler. 208 00:11:25,572 --> 00:11:28,582 Pablo Picasso, the famous artist has said: 209 00:11:28,594 --> 00:11:32,034 "It has taken me four years to paint like Rafael, 210 00:11:32,034 --> 00:11:35,124 but a lifetime to paint like a child." 211 00:11:35,124 --> 00:11:36,844 You know, kids have an amazing 212 00:11:36,854 --> 00:11:41,854 directness to the way they draw and express themselves. 213 00:11:41,854 --> 00:11:45,457 This is a beautiful drawing by my daughter Olivia, 214 00:11:45,457 --> 00:11:47,781 who's actually in the audience right now. 215 00:11:47,781 --> 00:11:55,743 (Applause) 216 00:11:55,754 --> 00:11:56,974 Sleeping, bored. 217 00:11:56,974 --> 00:12:00,484 (Laughter) 218 00:12:00,484 --> 00:12:02,176 Uncharted waters, this is what it's all about. 219 00:12:02,176 --> 00:12:03,492 (Laughter) 220 00:12:03,492 --> 00:12:05,315 She's never gonna forget that. 221 00:12:05,336 --> 00:12:06,731 I'm never gonna forget it. 222 00:12:06,731 --> 00:12:08,821 Oh my gosh, this is amazing. 223 00:12:12,529 --> 00:12:17,459 Let me tell you about how amazingly full of life she is. 224 00:12:18,101 --> 00:12:19,888 (Laughter) 225 00:12:19,903 --> 00:12:23,279 No, she drew this drawing and, you know, 226 00:12:23,279 --> 00:12:25,996 young kids, they just jump in. 227 00:12:25,996 --> 00:12:28,022 They're joyful when they create. 228 00:12:28,022 --> 00:12:29,857 You know, Eugene was talking about that, 229 00:12:29,857 --> 00:12:31,699 about the kids, 230 00:12:31,699 --> 00:12:34,999 very young kids will just dive in. 231 00:12:34,999 --> 00:12:37,655 You know, they're not afraid of that blank piece of paper. 232 00:12:37,655 --> 00:12:40,740 They can't wait to fill that blank piece of paper. 233 00:12:40,740 --> 00:12:44,764 They simplify down to it's purest essence. 234 00:12:44,764 --> 00:12:47,768 You know, pure drawing comes from the soul. 235 00:12:47,768 --> 00:12:49,094 It comes from deep inside of you, 236 00:12:49,094 --> 00:12:50,798 and that's how you can communicate. 237 00:12:50,798 --> 00:12:52,835 You know, I've been drawing, 238 00:12:52,835 --> 00:12:54,074 my first drawings are when 239 00:12:54,074 --> 00:12:55,938 I think I was three years old. 240 00:12:55,938 --> 00:12:58,403 I asked my mom: "Who did these drawings on my bed?" 241 00:12:58,403 --> 00:13:00,143 and she said: "You did". 242 00:13:00,143 --> 00:13:01,539 "You found a permanent marker, 243 00:13:01,539 --> 00:13:02,696 you destroyed your bed, 244 00:13:02,696 --> 00:13:04,412 and then you went to the walls. 245 00:13:04,462 --> 00:13:05,904 You kept going around the house". 246 00:13:07,002 --> 00:13:09,706 And my mom, instead of getting angry, 247 00:13:09,721 --> 00:13:11,941 she brought home paper for me to draw 248 00:13:12,310 --> 00:13:14,662 on the paper instead of her walls. 249 00:13:14,662 --> 00:13:16,931 So I'm very very thankful and appreciate 250 00:13:16,931 --> 00:13:20,011 that she's an enabler and she supports my addiction, 251 00:13:20,065 --> 00:13:22,231 and, OK that was a joke. 252 00:13:22,231 --> 00:13:25,783 I love my mom for doing that, really. 253 00:13:25,783 --> 00:13:30,356 I would get completely lost when I was a child, 254 00:13:30,356 --> 00:13:32,864 and it's called "Getting in the zone" 255 00:13:32,864 --> 00:13:34,690 where the world would just disappear, 256 00:13:34,690 --> 00:13:37,688 and I would make sound effects and I would just 257 00:13:37,688 --> 00:13:40,861 completely lose myself and, you know, 258 00:13:40,861 --> 00:13:43,659 as an artist, that's the thing you try to strive for. 259 00:13:43,659 --> 00:13:45,261 You know, getting in that zone. 260 00:13:45,261 --> 00:13:49,923 Kids also, in terms of drawing, they get to the heart of it. 261 00:13:49,923 --> 00:13:53,458 My youngest daughter who's also in the audience, 262 00:13:53,458 --> 00:13:55,756 Lilly. She's not sleeping. Is she? 263 00:13:55,756 --> 00:14:06,492 (Laughter) (Applause) 264 00:14:06,492 --> 00:14:08,155 She's gonna kill me. 265 00:14:09,368 --> 00:14:12,127 Oh my gosh, my kids are gonna kill me. 266 00:14:12,127 --> 00:14:14,862 (Laughter) 267 00:14:14,862 --> 00:14:17,632 Lilly, when she was around four years old, 268 00:14:17,632 --> 00:14:18,461 she's about five, 269 00:14:18,461 --> 00:14:20,581 maybe actually when she was about three or four, 270 00:14:20,581 --> 00:14:25,597 she drew this amazing drawing of our pet dog right here. 271 00:14:25,597 --> 00:14:27,625 Our dog, Kika. 272 00:14:27,625 --> 00:14:29,922 Kika is a little Doxin, a little wiener dog. 273 00:14:29,922 --> 00:14:31,257 And I looked at the drawing, 274 00:14:31,257 --> 00:14:32,601 I loved it, but I said 275 00:14:32,601 --> 00:14:37,129 "Hey, Lilly, dogs only have four legs". 276 00:14:37,129 --> 00:14:40,316 And she said "She's running, papa". 277 00:14:40,316 --> 00:14:42,203 (Laughter) 278 00:14:42,203 --> 00:14:46,120 Isn't that amazing? That is so amazing to me. 279 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:47,796 And there's cave drawings, you know, 280 00:14:47,796 --> 00:14:51,517 where there's animals running, and there're multiple legs. 281 00:14:51,517 --> 00:14:54,829 It's like the first animation, in a cave. 282 00:14:54,829 --> 00:14:59,428 So, you know, it's just so inspirational. 283 00:14:59,428 --> 00:15:02,400 I look at kids' drawings and that pure, 284 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,551 that purity in this things that Ι just feed from. 285 00:15:06,551 --> 00:15:09,862 And the last thing is, 286 00:15:09,862 --> 00:15:12,596 ultimately kids are not afraid of making mistakes. 287 00:15:12,596 --> 00:15:16,830 My goal is to continue to draw 288 00:15:16,830 --> 00:15:20,143 so some day I will be able to draw like a child. 289 00:15:22,773 --> 00:15:29,446 So, my last point is, let's come back to this. 290 00:15:34,506 --> 00:15:38,252 I would say if anything you get out of this talk 291 00:15:38,542 --> 00:15:42,112 is- don't be intimidated by the blank sheet. 292 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,760 You know, start with something. 293 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,365 Start with a scribble, start with something. 294 00:15:48,365 --> 00:15:50,268 "Fail early, fail often" 295 00:15:50,268 --> 00:15:52,733 That's a saying that we have at the studio. 296 00:15:52,733 --> 00:15:59,003 But you need to be brave and take risks. 297 00:16:02,741 --> 00:16:04,531 I'm gonna create something out of this here. 298 00:16:06,481 --> 00:16:07,708 Lets see-- 299 00:16:23,828 --> 00:16:28,003 It's a duck holding its egg close to its body. 300 00:16:28,003 --> 00:16:31,596 (Laughter) 301 00:16:31,596 --> 00:16:51,179 (Applause) 302 00:16:51,179 --> 00:16:52,154 Thank you.