Signal to noise ratio. It’s important. It’s important generally but especially important when making work for children. Your key plot points, your key messages, must remain clear for your work to have impact.
Bury those key plot points in more information and you risk them getting lost. Have too many key plot points and it all becomes noise, competing for attention and stuff will get missed. If something is not clear, clarify that point or remove it altogether rather than adding explanations. Don’t add bulk. That’s more noise.
I’m often asked to help assess whether a project has value or not, whether it’s one to pursue. Sometimes this is done with just the bare minimum of actual content – just a concept or characters or a book that doesn’t really cover much. The expectation is that I review the materials and come back with either ‘this project is terrible’ or ‘this project is awesome’. The bad news is that it is rare that something is instantly awesome. The good news? It is even rarer that something is absolutely terrible.
The reality is that the true answer should look like this: ‘this project needs work here, here and here and then you could have something really great’. What differs from project to project is the amount of work needed and where it is directed.
Great ideas are exciting and such a wonderful place to start. But the execution and development is everything. If not developed well or with additions that don’t fit or with changes that strip the concept of what was fun to begin with, what started as a great idea can still end up turning into a terrible show. And conversely, ideas that initially might seem weak or misguided or derivative can be moulded into really great shows when handled well. Whether initially strong or weak, the idea is just the starting point.
What it comes down to is the execution. It comes down to the work YOU put in and what areas get your attention.
So where does that leave you when it comes to assessing your project? It will usually always depend on one crucial thing: how much you believe in the project. Is this the one? Whether a great idea or not, it’s going to take work. The question is: do you believe so strongly in this project that you want to put all your time into it and really commit to it?
If you don’t, let it go. There are other ideas, more exciting ideas that will push you to make them awesome. But if you do, if you’re sure this is the one, then get to work and turn it into something awesome.
I love creative surprises. I love the little moments of life people can add that I didn’t see coming. The smiles that a spontaneous idea can bring to a scene. Life is full of surprises and getting that across in a story is really important.
But when it comes to production aspects, I don’t like surprises. Not one little bit. This comes from many years of production – concepts to scripts to storyboards to layouts, backgrounds, animation, compositing, sound, music and post. So many processes and so many things to keep track of.
What a production needs is certainty.
In a production, you have to know what’s coming up, when things are expected and what has been planned for. You have to manage your resources carefully and often those resources will have been set down very early in the process. If the needs of the production don’t always match the resources, you need to see this coming from a very long distance so that you can adapt and amend plans – basically so it isn’t a surprise when it happens.
Surprises in a production lead to flusters, misuse of resources and wasted time. So when you’re entering into a production, get to know your production inside and out. Know what you have planned for. If you are lacking any of that information, find it out. Write it down so you can’t forget it. Make sure everyone is aware of what things need to happen and when. And do a regular review of where things are at so you are always kept informed. Avoid the surprises.
If you keep your production as clear as possible, you can save the surprises for where you really want them: in the creativity.
I found myself unusually busy approaching the Christmas break. I had a lot to do and so a lot of things I would normally do at this time (like sending out nice mails to people), I didn’t get to do. It’s unfortunate and I apologise for you missing out on my usual catch up message this time of year. But no matter how good you are at time management, there is a point at which there is not enough time to get everything done. At that point, we have to knock things off our to-do list not because they are done or because they are no longer important but instead because other tasks have a higher priority and you will only get through a certain amount of them.
Prioritising is hard. It’s hard because it can feel like a failure if interpreted the wrong way. You can focus on the things that you didn’t get done. But look at the alternative. I often think back to school when it comes to this sort of thing. Every teacher gives you homework blissfully unaware of what homework the other teachers are giving you. Now I was a good student but even I hit points in a school day when I realised that there was simply too much homework to get done to any reasonable standard.
Did I prioritise and do what I can well? I did not. Instead, the feeling that it was now an impossible task gave me the feeling that the entire endeavour was pointless. I was doomed to fail and so why even try if it just couldn’t be done? Having a lot to do can give us a kick and motivate us to get through it. Having what is obviously too much to do is a terrible motivator. Nobody feels good about starting something they know won’t end well.
Cut to years later and my approach is different. I carefully select tasks and the order I work through them to ensure that each one is done well. Once something goes on my list and is in the correct order, I work through one thing at a time and I don’t worry about the next thing on my list until the task I am on is complete. That focus is crucial. And when the list has to be evaluated because it is just too long, I have to look at what I can assign to others and, when things just get too much, what I will drop. Better to get what is achievable done well than fail at the whole lot.
Prioritising is hard. It involves making tough decisions and then being okay with those decisions. It takes consideration, evaluation and a sense of what each task involves. But there are times it just has to be done. It’s an important part of getting things done. So prioritise. Get things done and get them done well. And if they can’t be done, there is always next year.
