Mar 18
Inside peek at Pixar!
2005 at 11.53 am posted by Veerle
Ever wondered how the inside of creative power house looks like? Well here is your chance in getting a behind the scene’s tour of Pixar Animation studios. Amazing is that the creative team gets a free card into how they design their working environment. It’s pretty hard to imagine such a thing for a firm here in Belgium.
Yes I know, the CEO is Steve Jobs, a kind of different thinker himself but still… If my memory serves me right even at Apple you have much freedom as an employee. For example it is allowed to bring your favorite pet to work. The philosophy is that a happy worker is a creative and productive one. I think there is a lot of truth in that. The guided picture tour is now open for viewing :-)
14served
1
Nice tour!
However, it does reek of “Hey-our-incredibles-dvd-is-coming-out-and -uhm-here’s-a-news-story-about-them!” (tm).
Not that I mind as I’m sure we’d all do the same :)
2
My studio is bigger. So I wish. Nice find.
3
Walhala
Seems so much close now. It exists
4
I’d say that it’s just as uncommon anywhere else in the states. Of course, like with Pixar and Apple there are other companies to treat their employees very well.
Google comes to mind. Especially after reading this one Googler’s story today
After a team meeting at work, I stopped by the laundry room to wash some undergarments. Yes, we have a laundry room at work.
I don’t even have a laundry room in my apartment. *sigh*
5
Yes - Google is definitely a company that has a relaxed, innovative atmosphere. They have some great graphic designers working for them, too, who do their Google logos - featured as I ‘m sure you’ve all seen on holidays, and other special days.
Other companies in the U.S. do give their teams a say in what their working space is like - I think if they are new companies, especially. They want to foster an environment where their employees can flourish, be happy, and of course, be creative. I guess they also have the space and money out there in California to build it all.
The Incredibles was a really creative movie - it was written up in The New York Times as a “should-have-been contender” for Best picture, not just best animated film. Of course it would never have won over a regular film, but I have to say, in terms of animation and storyline, it was really very clever, and the characters were terrific, they had very funny personalities. I think it was my favorite film, this year, and will definitely go down as a classic in the field of animation.
One of my Illustrator teachers was also an animator who worked at Hannah-Barbara in California. She animated Scooby-Doo. Although, that was a while ago, for her, of course, but she also received an Emmy Award for her animations of the Muppet Babies.
(in case anyone is interested...)
6
@ Jackie: Wow, then you have a very good Illustrator teacher! Must be exciting to learn from someone like that. I think I am going to watch The Incredibles on DVD, too busy to go to the cinema. It has been ages since I last went to see a movie.
7
Well, I’ve just got the dvd, and it’s g r e a t!
Haven’t even seen the JackJackAttack sequence yet, just the rest of the specials. If anything, they conjure up even a better and wilder image of Pixar studio’s than the vid from aintitcoolnews.
8
Hi again,
Yes, I just got the DVD too, and watched the movie for the second time. It was really silly - I love the woman who designed their Super Suits - and the animation was great, especially the island scenes, with the jet landing underwater, and so forth. Whoever thinks up this stuff, must be crazy, or really imaginative, or both.
Vreele - you should get the DVD, definitely, and I hope you find time to watch it soon.
Here’s something you might also be interested in. The school where I took my web design classes is called The Corcoran, and is a well-known museum and art school here in Wash., D.C. They have a website at: www.corcoran.org And their school of art and design is at: www.corcoran.edu/exhibitions/hemicycle.asp?bc=p4, where you can see some pictures of the school. They teach everything there from web design, to drawing and painting, to DVD production and movie-making. And yes, some of the instructors are very good designers themselves - another one of them apparently created a sequence that was used in one of the Star Wars movies.
Whatever, it is just a great place to take classes. I wasn’t a fine arts major, myself, but just went back and did a certificate program in web and graphic design there. I am also trying to learn more on the programming side, as the art school gives you all the graphic design foundation, but not so much instruction with programming languages, and I think in order to be good at the web stuff, you really have to have a thorough understanding of both.
You have some great logos you have done, though, Vreele. You must be very talented as an artist, as well as a web designer! I especially like the one you did with the cow and pig, for a company called Gowy.
My Illustrator teacher recommended a company called Landor.com - as a great logo design company. I don’t know if you have heard of them, or not.
9
That’s my dream job. I can do entry level janitorial work @ Pixar, and slowly but surely work my way up the ladder. :0D *dreams*
I just picked up the DVD on Thursday, and we watched it on my 20” iMac. It was heaven....
10
yes - I know what you mean! Entry-level janitorial work at Pixar sounds pretty good doesn’t it?
well, anyway. I guess I misspelled Veerle’s name in my last post. (just realized i spelled it “Vreele"- sorry!)
I’m glad to know so many people have seen The Incredibles. Some of my friends weren’t into it - I guess they’re not into the computer animation stuff, unfortunately, so it’s fun to talk about it here with other like-minded computer geeks.
11
@px: Entry-level janitorial work sounds good as a starting point. And you got to have dreams and goals to make life interesting.
@Jackie: Don’t worry about misspelling my name ;-) I can imagine that it is a great institute to learn things. Thanks for the compliments on my logos. Gowy is a classic already since I’ve designed it in 1993, so you could say it is timeless :-) Didn’t know Landor but their portfolio is impressive.
To be honest I am even not sure if The Incredibles are already available on DVD over here. We always are behind on that stuff. It’s on my watch-list ;-)
12
My Pixar janitorial resume would read:
“Comes equipped with a Swiffer.”
13
@px: You made my day with this comment! Thanks :-)
14
Wow, their work space is amazing. I like the room where the guy works standing. I would kill (exageration) to have my own little cottage at Pixar. I’ll be taking classes in that field in about 2 years at a school called Full Sail