It was great. I really liked the informal format, it did’t feel like just promotion of some new production. The answers to your questions seemed very genuine.
The zoom format is maybe a little awkward with you two interrupting each other occasionally but this is probably more due to the medium than your interviewer skills.
I was also very pleased to see a technical artist, and one that has experienced pretty much the entire history of computer animation at that. A very interesting lecture for sure.
There is a repeating pattern in these kinds of lectures and that is the always returning to the importance of story. This bothers me sometimes because story telling has become very much a formula. I attended a workshop with one of Pixar’s story people and we had to come up with a pitch in small groups and following the formula we were given we all came up with a movie that would be an emotional ride. Pixar is especially guilty of polishing a story until the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly, so perfectly I have lost interest. If I watch a movie like Soul it still moves me emotionally but I feel manipulated, it doesn’t really feel that genuine. It just all too ‘perfect’. And a other criticism I have is that the movies don’t feel that inspired, it feels more like they have a list of places and people and they feel obliged to go through that list. Pixar is a master at storytelling but not a master at coming up with interesting stories. My two cents 🙂 So when it comes to story telling discussions I would love to see pressure on this subject, why story choices are made and why these choices are often so focussed on doing the generic “right” thing.
Thanks again for the great talk!
Niels
Hey Johannes,
Thanks for your time and the invitation to this interview.
I liked the conversation!
Here is my feedback to do better next time:
– Having the time in the view
– know upfront how long you speak with the interviewed and having prepared ‚chapters‘ and how long you stay on this topic
– timewise – focus on the essential parts. If there’s is time in a chapter, fill it with questions or make a joke – if no time is left – skip the jokes and Notations skip to the next chapter you want to direct the conversation to
– be a moderator to the audience; sometimes I got the feeling that you have been his greatest fan, which annoyed me -> direct the conversation – speak slowly and settled – to me, it feels uncomfortable seeing you gasping for air, finding words while handling solid emotions into the conversation.
– bothering with questions, like the first question you asked Daniel was infamously compressed, and Daniel slipped with his answer away, not delivering the response and you both went on – hang on in this situation – be friendly and funny getting the answer of him\her
In my opinion, the introduction was not an introduction at all, and I didn’t get to know him from you. After talking so long about historical career stuff, I thought, ‚man, can we get to the point he is on\what he thoughts today?‘. You seemed well prepared to speak for hours with him, but you can deliver this historical part in 10-20 minutes, in my opinion.
Please don’t take it personally. You both had fun in the first place, and it was entertaining.
Next time you have a maestro like him in the interview, I am looking forward to your grounded way of managing\directing the conversation while being you.
Thanks Johannes,
Regards
Hi Johannes,
ich musste leider früher aus dem Meeting raus.
Aber mein Rat ist, gib der anderen Person etwas mehr Raum, Du hast gerade am Anfang sehr viel geredet und er kam kaum zu Wort, wollte etwas erzählen und Du hast das Wort wieder übernommen. Stelle Fragen eher prägnant, fokussiert und kurz und lasse den Partner sprechen. Ich hatte gestern das Gefühl, dass Du Dich immer wieder „reingedrängelt“ hast. 😊
Soll aber nur konstruktive Kritik sein, ich denke wir sind alle sehr froh, dass Du das überhaupt machst ! Ich sage es Dir auch nur, weil ich Dich sehr schätze, sonst würde ich einfach still sein.
Liebe Grüße
Chris
Hallo Johannes,
Ich fand den Talk mit Dan gestern echt super!
Das war glaube ich das erste mal, dass ich so jemand von Pixar ganz entspannt erzählen hörte, ohne das übliche ‘Marketing’ was man ja ansonsten in jedem Making-Of/Featurette usw. ganz stark vorfindet – das hat mir sehr gut gefallen.
Außerdem fand ich sein schlusswort sehr inspirierend, vielleicht sollte man sich als Artist wirklich mal nach dem “nächsten Pixar” umsehen 😀
Liebe Grüße,
Tim