Don't be afraid of the blank sheets: Ricky Nierva at TEDxAthens 2013 "Uncharted Waters"
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0:09 - 0:12I am Ricky Nierva and I am an artist.
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0:12 - 0:14I am very very lucky to say that I am
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0:14 - 0:17a production designer at Pixar Animation Studios,
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0:17 - 0:20which is one of the best
animation studios in the world. -
0:21 - 0:24It is hard to believe, but I've been in the industry,
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0:24 - 0:27animation industry, for almost 20 years now.
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0:27 - 0:30And one thing that really terrifies me,
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0:30 - 0:32other that being on the stage right now,
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0:33 - 0:35is this. Right here.
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0:35 - 0:38This blank sheet of paper.
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0:38 - 0:42This is very very intimidating to an artist, I think.
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0:42 - 0:46Its emptiness could be very intimidating.
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0:46 - 0:48There is so many opportunities,
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0:48 - 0:52so many possibilities of what could be on this thing.
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0:53 - 0:55You know, I have a little, a quick story
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0:55 - 1:00about a theater and a director at a theater,
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1:00 - 1:04where the director came to work, during rehearsals,
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1:04 - 1:07the director opened the door to the theatre
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1:07 - 1:09and noticed, on the stage,
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1:09 - 1:12that the dancers were basically doing nothing.
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1:12 - 1:16Some dancers were stretching, some dancers were,
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1:16 - 1:19you know, reading a book or something,
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1:19 - 1:21but they were basically doing nothing.
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1:21 - 1:23And the director, bewildered,
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1:23 - 1:25walked down to the front of the stage
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1:25 - 1:31and he noticed the choreographer
had his head in his hands -
1:31 - 1:34and he looks at the choreographer and angrily says:
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1:34 - 1:36"What 's going on here?"
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1:36 - 1:38And the choreographer looks at the director and goes:
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1:38 - 1:45"Nothing is happening. Nothing. It's nothing, you know,
it's just not working. Nothing." -
1:45 - 1:47And the director looks at the choreographer and says:
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1:47 - 1:49"Well do something, so I can change it!"
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1:49 - 1:51(Laughs)
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1:51 - 1:54So, being a production designer
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1:54 - 1:57is a very intimidating thing.
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1:57 - 2:01A production designer is basically in charge
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2:01 - 2:02of the overall look of the film.
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2:02 - 2:05And that's very scary because
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2:05 - 2:07at Pixar a colleague has said to me,
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2:07 - 2:11his name is Jason Deamer,
he's an art director at Pixar, -
2:11 - 2:16has said: "Pain is temporary, suck is forever".
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2:16 - 2:17(Laughs)
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2:18 - 2:23So, I'm gonna do, the theme here is
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2:23 - 2:26"Uncharted Waters" and do something crazy
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2:26 - 2:28and I just said "suck",
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2:28 - 2:31so I'm gonna do something
that hopefully doesn't suck too badly -
2:31 - 2:35and I'm gonna make this more relaxing to me.
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2:35 - 2:37So I'm going to just--
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2:39 - 2:41OK, that sucked but,
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2:41 - 2:44there's a point behind this.
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2:47 - 2:49Basically, where do you begin, right?
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2:51 - 2:54Apple and Pixar founder Steve Jobs
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2:54 - 3:01has said, let's see here,
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3:01 - 3:05"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like,
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3:05 - 3:07design is how it works."
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3:08 - 3:11Film making is a purely collaborative
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3:11 - 3:14art form, and that's why I love it so much.
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3:15 - 3:17To make a film's design work,
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3:17 - 3:19the art must support the story.
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3:19 - 3:23and at Pixar we try to tell
the best stories that we possibly can. -
3:23 - 3:26You know, the first time I got to production design
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3:26 - 3:28was on the movie "Up",
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3:28 - 3:31and for those that have not seen it,
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3:31 - 3:33you need to leave right now and watch it.
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3:33 - 3:35(Laughs)
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3:35 - 3:37But I apologize if I ruin the film for you,
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3:37 - 3:41when I say, it's about a story, about a man
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3:41 - 3:43named Carl Fredricksen.
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3:43 - 3:46And Carl Fredricksen, in the beginning of the film,
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3:46 - 3:49we meet him as a very young child
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3:49 - 3:54and he meets the love of his life, her name is Ellie,
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3:54 - 3:58they fall in love, they get married,
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3:58 - 4:01they go through all the trials and tribulations of life.
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4:01 - 4:04You get to a point were they get old
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4:04 - 4:06and Ellie dies.
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4:06 - 4:08Again, I'm sorry if i ruined it for you,
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4:08 - 4:11but, that's in the first five minutes of the movie
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4:11 - 4:14and I think it's the most beautiful five minutes of the movie.
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4:14 - 4:19It's a really powerful setup
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4:19 - 4:22to Carl Fredricksen's story.
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4:22 - 4:27And then Carl, basically, at that point
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4:27 - 4:29starts being boxed in,
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4:29 - 4:31starts being stuck in his ways.
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4:31 - 4:34He's basically unchanged man.
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4:34 - 4:38So, the approach I took to designing that
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4:38 - 4:40is all based upon that idea,
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4:40 - 4:44and if you bear with me here,
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4:44 - 4:47I'm gonna show you a bit about how I think
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4:47 - 4:53about designing for that movie.
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4:53 - 4:56And it all started with this.
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4:58 - 5:00A simple square.
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5:01 - 5:03Basically, I go to work,
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5:03 - 5:04I draw that, I show the director
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5:04 - 5:07and then I go home and
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5:07 - 5:08turn on the Internet.
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5:08 - 5:08OK that was a joke.
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5:08 - 5:10(Laughs)
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5:10 - 5:14It takes some time to translate the jokes, I'm sure.
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5:14 - 5:19No, it starts with a simple idea,
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5:19 - 5:19the square.
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5:19 - 5:24And the square to me, while I'm designing,
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5:24 - 5:28it's static, it's not dynamic,
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5:28 - 5:31it's solid and stable,
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5:31 - 5:36but it's also basically boxed in.
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5:36 - 5:38So, as I'm thinking of these things while I'm designing
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5:38 - 5:40on the shape,
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5:40 - 5:42things come together.
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5:47 - 5:50And all of these ideas,
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5:50 - 5:53and here's some square glasses,
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5:53 - 5:56is supported by that square.
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6:02 - 6:05He's got square ears,
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6:07 - 6:10and this is basically Carl Fredricksen
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6:10 - 6:13see, hold your applause, I'm not done yet.
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6:13 - 6:16(Laughs)
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6:17 - 6:19He's got a square body.
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6:22 - 6:26Uncharted waters, I don't normally
draw in front of people like this. -
6:28 - 6:32So, you're getting first time stuff going on here.
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6:32 - 6:34He's got square hands,
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6:34 - 6:36a lot of squares to support that simple,
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6:36 - 6:38simple idea.
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6:47 - 6:49Carl Fredrickson.
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6:49 - 6:56(Applause)
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6:56 - 7:02So, another character that takes Carl through his journey
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7:02 - 7:04and actually tries to change him
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7:04 - 7:06and make him a more well-rounded character,
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7:06 - 7:09is a character named Russel.
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7:09 - 7:15And what's simpler shape that contrasts that square
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7:15 - 7:16but a circle?
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7:16 - 7:19So, I'll get here
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7:22 - 7:27So, the circle symbolizes positivity and moving forward.
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7:27 - 7:28It's a very dynamic thing,
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7:28 - 7:32It's all of these things that
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7:32 - 7:36need to help Carl get more well-rounded.
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7:36 - 7:39So Russel was based upon this idea.
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7:42 - 7:44It's kind of like a balloon shape.
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7:44 - 7:48And Russel, is this wilderness explorer.
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7:50 - 7:55A very positive kid.
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7:55 - 8:01And he's got all these circular motifs all around his body.
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8:11 - 8:13Like that.
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8:13 - 8:15And he has, well, I'm not done yet.
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8:15 - 8:17(Laughs)
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8:17 - 8:20I wanted to show you all the details around his body,
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8:20 - 8:21which are very circular.
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8:21 - 8:23And we think about all theses things,
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8:23 - 8:26you know, he's got this sash,
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8:26 - 8:28and part of the story
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8:28 - 8:32is that he's collecting all of these badges
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8:32 - 8:34as a wilderness explorer
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8:34 - 8:35and it's all these circular things
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8:35 - 8:38and each badge has a story,
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8:38 - 8:41but right here is this empty one.
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8:41 - 8:43He's trying to get the "Assisting the elderly" badge,
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8:43 - 8:45and by design it's over his heart.
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8:45 - 8:54And one of these things is that
they would work with each other. -
8:54 - 8:56You have the square and the circle.
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8:56 - 8:58But for Carl there's also a story point
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8:58 - 9:02of this circular symbol right over his heart,
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9:02 - 9:04and that's the Ellie badge.
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9:04 - 9:06So you need to watch the movie in order to
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9:06 - 9:08understand what's going on there.
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9:08 - 9:13But, you know, we think about all of these things
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9:13 - 9:19as we design and it's a very long process.
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9:19 - 9:21You know, it takes an average of four years
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9:21 - 9:23to make an animated film at Pixar.
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9:26 - 9:30And we also, while we are thinking of making the movie,
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9:30 - 9:33we have fun putting these simple shapes
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9:33 - 9:34all over the movie.
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9:34 - 9:36So you can see here, where Carl wakes up,
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9:36 - 9:40on his side of the bed are the square symbology,
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9:40 - 9:43and on her side is this circle symbology.
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9:43 - 9:46And so, you know, it's fun to do this
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9:46 - 9:50and we have kind of these ideas,
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9:50 - 9:54but the main point is to not see it
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9:54 - 9:55while you are watching the movie,
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9:55 - 9:57but you should feel it.
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9:57 - 10:00If we do our job right, you don't notice this stuff,
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10:00 - 10:02but you feel it.
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10:04 - 10:05It's also here,
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10:05 - 10:08in picture frames around the house.
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10:08 - 10:11If Carl is by himself, he's in a square picture frame.
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10:11 - 10:14If Ellie is in the picture frame by herself,
she's in an oval picture frame. -
10:14 - 10:16Someone asked: "What if they're in the picture together?"
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10:16 - 10:19Well, it's a square frame with an oval mat.
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10:19 - 10:21(Laughs)
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10:22 - 10:25You can see in this image, Russel is literally
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10:25 - 10:29separated from from Carl with lighting.
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10:29 - 10:31It's just cut right through the shot.
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10:31 - 10:34And all of these things support that simple idea,
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10:34 - 10:37basing upon that simple idea of circle and squares.
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10:37 - 10:40You can see the circular motif all around his design
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10:40 - 10:43and his very colorful, very saturated color.
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10:43 - 10:45And Carl's desaturated.
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10:45 - 10:47So he's trying to get color back into Carl,
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10:47 - 10:50he's trying to get him more well rounded.
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10:52 - 10:55Very clearly it's in the prop design.
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10:55 - 10:56Carl and Ellie's chair,
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10:56 - 10:58you can see the circle and square
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10:58 - 11:02shape vocabulary there, shape language.
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11:02 - 11:05And at the end of the film, after Carl
has gone through his adventure, -
11:05 - 11:08you can see that he's a more softened character.
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11:08 - 11:10He's more well rounded.
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11:10 - 11:11You know, he's tanned,
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11:11 - 11:13he has more life in him.
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11:13 - 11:16And the idea of this, is that
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11:16 - 11:19it's a process of making things simple.
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11:19 - 11:22But we all know that simple is
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11:22 - 11:23not necessarily simpler.
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11:26 - 11:29Pablo Picasso, the famous artist has said:
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11:29 - 11:32"It has taken me four years to paint like Rafael,
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11:32 - 11:35but a lifetime to paint like a child."
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11:35 - 11:37You know, kids have an amazing
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11:37 - 11:42directness to the way they draw and express themselves.
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11:42 - 11:45This is a beautiful drawing by my daughter Olivia,
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11:45 - 11:48who's actually in the audience right now.
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11:48 - 11:56(Applause)
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11:56 - 11:57Sleeping, bored.
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11:57 - 12:00(Laughs)
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12:00 - 12:02Uncharted waters, this is what it's all about.
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12:02 - 12:03(Laughs)
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12:03 - 12:05She's never gonna forget that.
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12:05 - 12:07I'm never gonna forget it.
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12:07 - 12:09Oh my gosh, this is amazing.
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12:13 - 12:17Let me tell you about how amazingly full of life she is.
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12:18 - 12:20(Laughs)
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12:20 - 12:23No, she drew this drawing and, you know,
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12:23 - 12:26young kids, they just jump in.
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12:26 - 12:28They're joyful when they create.
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12:28 - 12:30You know, Eugene was talking about that,
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12:30 - 12:32about the kids,
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12:32 - 12:35very young kids will just dive in.
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12:35 - 12:38You know, they're not afraid of that blank piece of paper.
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12:38 - 12:41They can't wait to fill that blank piece of paper.
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12:41 - 12:45They simplify down to it's purest essence.
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12:45 - 12:48You know, pure drawing comes from the soul.
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12:48 - 12:49It comes from deep inside of you,
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12:49 - 12:51and that's how you can communicate.
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12:51 - 12:53You know, I've been drawing,
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12:53 - 12:54my first drawings are when
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12:54 - 12:56I think I was three years old.
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12:56 - 12:58I asked my mom:
"Who did these drawings on my bed?" -
12:58 - 13:00and she said: "You did".
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13:00 - 13:02"You found a permanent marker,
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13:02 - 13:03you destroyed your bed,
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13:03 - 13:04and then you went to the walls.
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13:04 - 13:06You kept going around the house".
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13:07 - 13:10And my mom, instead of getting angry,
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13:10 - 13:12she brought home paper for me to draw
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13:12 - 13:15on the paper instead of her walls.
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13:15 - 13:17So I'm very very thankful and appreciate
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13:17 - 13:20that she's an enabler and she supports my addiction,
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13:20 - 13:22and, OK that was a joke.
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13:22 - 13:26I love my mom for doing that, really.
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13:26 - 13:30I would get completely lost when I was a child,
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13:30 - 13:33and it's called "Getting in the zone"
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13:33 - 13:35where the world would just disappear,
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13:35 - 13:38and I would make sound effects and I would just
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13:38 - 13:41completely lose myself and, you know,
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13:41 - 13:44as an artist, that's the thing you try to strive for.
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13:44 - 13:45You know, getting in that zone.
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13:45 - 13:50Kids also, in terms of drawing, they get to the heart of it.
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13:50 - 13:53My youngest daughter who's also in the audience,
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13:53 - 13:56Lilly. She's not sleeping. Is she?
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13:56 - 14:06(Laughs) (Applause)
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14:06 - 14:08She's gonna kill me.
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14:09 - 14:12Oh my gosh, my kids are gonna kill me.
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14:12 - 14:15(Laughs)
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14:15 - 14:18Lilly, when she was around four years old,
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14:18 - 14:18she's about five,
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14:18 - 14:21maybe actually when she was about three or four,
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14:21 - 14:26she drew this amazing drawing of our pet dog right here.
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14:26 - 14:28Our dog, Kika.
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14:28 - 14:30Kika is a little Doxin, a little wiener dog.
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14:30 - 14:31And I looked d at the drawing,
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14:31 - 14:33I loved it, but I said
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14:33 - 14:37"Hey, Lilly, dogs only have four legs".
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14:37 - 14:40And she said "She's running, papa".
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14:40 - 14:42(Laughs)
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14:42 - 14:46Isn't that amazing? That is so amazing to me.
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14:46 - 14:48And there's cave drawings, you know,
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14:48 - 14:52where there's animals running,
and there're multiple legs. -
14:52 - 14:55It's like the first animation, in a cave.
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14:55 - 14:59So, you know, it's just so inspirational.
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14:59 - 15:02I look at kids' drawings and that pure,
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15:02 - 15:07that purity in this things that i just feed from.
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15:07 - 15:10And the last thing is,
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15:10 - 15:13ultimately kids are not afraid of making mistakes.
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15:13 - 15:17My goal is to continue to draw
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15:17 - 15:20so some day I will be able to draw like a child.
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15:23 - 15:29So, my last point is, let's come back to this.
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15:35 - 15:38I would say if anything you get out of this talk
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15:39 - 15:42is- don't be intimidated by the blank sheet.
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15:42 - 15:46You know, start with something.
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15:46 - 15:48Start with a scribble, start with something.
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15:48 - 15:50"Fail early, fail often"
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15:50 - 15:53That's a saying that we have at the studio.
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15:53 - 15:59But you need to be brave and take risks.
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16:03 - 16:05I'm gonna create something out of this here.
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16:06 - 16:08Lets see--
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16:24 - 16:28It's a duck holding its egg close to its body.
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16:28 - 16:32(Laugh)
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16:32 - 16:51(Applause)
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16:51 - 16:52Thank you.
- Title:
- Don't be afraid of the blank sheets: Ricky Nierva at TEDxAthens 2013 "Uncharted Waters"
- Description:
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Ricky Nierva, art director at Pixar, spoke at TEDxAthens 2013 of the fear of white pages and how drawings generate feelings.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 17:10