Pixar

“We make the kind of movies we like to watch. There's lots of heart in our films.” (John Lasseter) Pixar is one of the most famous animation studios known. It was founded 1986 with the hope of making animations with computer graphics. Supporting each other, animator John Lasseter, computer graphics investigator Ed Catmull and main stockholder Steve Jobs make a perfect team for producing animated movies. Since their first movie Toy Story to Cars, all of the Pixar movies have got a great impact on cinemas. But the main question is what is the secret for Pixar success? The key for Pixar success is achieved thanks to the communication, environment and talent that exist on the company.

   

The first main key is the combination of talent of technology and arts. As it can be seen in Pixar Story movie, the people that work in the projects are from different disciplines and are experts in their work. The main example is the 3 main people of Pixar, as I mentioned before, Lasseter, Catmull and Steve Jobs worked together so they can combine their knowledge in their areas in order to achieve their goal, in this case make animated movies with the computer. They are experts in their areas, John Lasseter is one of the best animators and he has worked through all his life in animation, and Ed Catmull was one of the pioneers of computer graphics applied for animations. Also the blend of technology with art helps to achieve a perfect combination. John Lasster says: “The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art”. In the story of Pixar, the technology was seen as a limiting for art, but later on the challenge was great and the technology became a useful tool to create espectacular movies. An example for this is A Bug`s Life, when they had troubles creating millions of ants, in the end the result was great and they could achieve to be seen many ants on screen. Another important thing of this combination is that because of the challenges that exist both areas (technology and art) have to look for innovation. As it was mentioned, new ideas for production challenged what technology could achieved in the moment, so a constant innovation of techniques and technology tools are needed.    

The second aspect is communication. The freedom to communicate with anyone is something important for knowing all areas and the opinions of everyone over a certain topic. On Pixar anyone can give feedback, no matter in which position the person is, the ideas are always welcome no matter from who. Also working the ideas as a team, makes the process for creating a better product, in this case everyone has to participate to make a good idea become a great one. Feedback is an important media to make better ideas, as said before to achieve a good idea, the communication between peers and just expressing your thoughts about something would make the process easier and more enriching 

The third reason for Pixar having succes is that it has a great environment of work. One of the most important things that Pixar directors are always talking about is the trust that they have with each other. They feel like everyone in Pixar are friends, everyone trust in the work that the other is doing, also they know they can relay if they need something. As seen in the movie of Pixar Story, the mood in the company is great, like a "playground" everyone feels free to make what they want to in order to create better ideas. Also to be able to say what you think and want to, makes it feel like home.The animators got what they want, they got a personal office with the stuff they like and whit things they are comfortable with.  

So the combination of different disciplines, blending technology and arts and the constant innovation of this areas. Also having a great communication with everyone, and being able to express anything you think about and idea and having a nice environment of work makes Pixar a great company, that can have success in any of their movies.     

Run Lola Run

How many times have we asked ourselves what will happen next or in a near future?  Run Lola Run is a German film from 1998. This film is divided into 3 different plot lines, in which the main problem remains being the same, Lola`s boyfriend had lose a great amount of money and if he doesn`t have the money in time he will be a dead man. The 3 stories get to a different end so, what would be the element that unifies these 3 stories? I think that the main element is the dog, that appears at the moment that Lola runs out of her house, unifies and at the same time makes the difference in the 3 plot lines of the movie.

The dog modifies how does the events happen because of the change of timing, so the destiny is in function of the time. In the first plot line when Lola is running downstairs she encounters the dog and barks at her, so her reaction is to be scared and just run away from the dog. Because she ran away from the dog she is on time for everything. She makes the car crash happen, also she gets to meet her father before her girlfriend told him that the child that she is waiting is from another man, so she gets late to meet Manny and as a result Manny gets in the supermarket to take the money he needs. In the second plot line, the dog mocks at Lola because she fells in the stairs so she began to cry. Because she stop a little bit more than the first time she is a little bit late for the events. She makes the car crash in another point as a result she is a little bit more late with her father so she let the dad lover to tell that the child she is waiting for is from another man, at the end she gets the money and she get to meet with Manny, but still the van, that stops because of the glass, crushes Manny. And finally the last bunch of events change because Lola stops to bark back at the dog so she is later for the happenings. She doesn`t makes the two car to crash at the beginning, because of this the man in the car meets Lola`s father so she couldn`t ask for his help. The guy of the bicycle sells the bike to the almoner, so Manny meets again this guy and he gets back his money, also Lola gets to a Casino and she wins the money and she is on time to meet Manny. So the dog makes the events to happen in a different order because of the timing.

The decisions that Lola makes are according the impression the dog makes in Lola. In the first plot line, Lola is scared because the dog barked at her so all the actions she makes after this are full of fear. We can see this when Lola asks for help from her father and she hadn`t the strength to face him. Also when Manny is stealing money from the super market we can see a Lola full of fear. The second time, the dog mocks at Lola and she cries, so all of her actions are made being emotional. The actions that define this is when she gets to her father to ask for money and she just starts to yell and cry. The last plot line is when the dog barks at Lola and she barks back defeating the dog.  Lola this time is full of conviction and strength. The action that can be seen with this attitude is when she is at the casino full of conviction to win the money. So the impression the dog made in Lola determines Lola`s actions.

There are 3 things that some people think that are determined by destiny: Love, death and Luck. How Lola reacts to the dog problem is how each plot line manages these 3 concept. The first is that Lola is scared to dog, so she is scared to not be loved. Lola in the first segment she does everything for love. Also at the end Lola keeps asking Manny if he loves her. Secondly Lola gets hurt by the dog, so she doesn`t not want to be hurt by losing someone (to be dead) In the second segment she knows what will happen, so she tries to make everything different but at last she is hurt by losing Manny. At the end of second segment Manny asks Lola what would she do if he dies. And for the third segment Lola jumps and defeats the dog, so she makes a leap of faith so she trusts lucky will be present in her life. This can be seen in how Lola has faith in winning at the Cassino, also Manny has “luck” to find the almoner. So the reaction of Lola because of the dog determines how Love, death and luck would be seen. 

As we can see, the dog is the element that unifies and at the same time makes the difference in the 3 plot lines of the movie. Because the timing is changed, the actions that Lola makes through the story are changed in function of how does she feels and the reaction of Lola defines love, death and luck in each segment of time.