Flying on the Denver to San Francisco leg of a longer journey got me thinking about the west in general.
I started reading a book called “Botany of Desire”. It starts by talking about Johnny Appleseed and his movement west in front of the pioneers. He planted apple trees years in advance of his counterparts arrival so that his trees would be ready to sell when the pioneers arrived. The other person who has done that sort of visionary thinking recently also has ties to apples, the late Steve Jobs.
One of the most striking things I read over and over again about Steve Jobs was his foresight. What he saw the market would want fifteen years ago took passion, drive, baby steps, big steps, and alot of people to bear fruit.
How many people currently work and have worked at Apple over the last fifteen years? How many people made their livelihood on making products that moved the company where it is today?
I switched from Microsoft products in 2003 when I bought a seventeen inch Mac laptop. Having spent the 5 years previous learning and working in Silicon Graphics’ Unix based OS called Irix, I wanted something that could have the command line scripting and automation I had grown to love, but I needed something I could still run Photoshop on.
In 1999, I worked at Microsoft as an intern in the Encarta Online division. I attended the intern picnic at Bill Gates residence and marveled at the electronic picture frames, his personal movie theater, and his putting green. Mr. Gates eventually arrived and was swarmed by interns. Most people asked questions to try and impress him. Why? Is he really going to pick you to be his aire to the Microsoft throne? No. What was my question?
“What is your favorite car?”
Mr. Gates smiled. “My porsche.”
I smiled back, knowing exactly why.
Excellent engineering, excellent craftsmanship, and thousands of people who took pride in their work made Mr. Gates a beautiful car.
I couldn’t afford a Porsche in 2003, but I felt as I had just bought one: my Mac laptop. I knew after years of being a Microsoftie from Dos 4 to Windows 2000, that I had in my hands a Porsche class laptop. When comparing it to my father’s Toshiba laptop, I felt like I had the most beautiful, fast, and versatile machine that with my experience and training I could have. I was hooked.
I started editing my demo reel that year and took another baby step towards being a filmmaker. Working at Industrial Light and Magic was a huge step in that direction in 2001, but I was closer than ever with Final Cut Pro on my laptop!
A friend of mine in frustration once quipped: “There is only one filmmaker at ILM and that is George Lucas.” I think his frustration in being one of literally thousands of people working on a Star Wars movie was getting to him. In the end his work contributed to something much bigger and that we were all filmmakers, with our own part to play in bringing one man’s vision to life.
Filmmaking, like building computers and writing software is a collaborative process involving lots of really brilliant people on many levels and aspects. One person’s broad stroke visions have to be hammered out into reality and I really think that everyone should be honored in that process.
Watching the physical assets of Kerner Optical get sold was hard. I had hoped to collaborate with the practical and miniature effects geniuses who had shaped my backyard playground into the world of Hoth when the snow fell in Tennessee. But alas, the artists who brought these worlds to life are no longer under one roof, but I was happy to have worked along side with them during my tenure at ILM’s Kerner Loop Campus.
Maybe someday I will hear “Loud Bang on Slab” be announced over the paging system and watch playback from a Mac while filming a piece to the film “The Ranch”.
I salute those who make all the tiny pieces come together to make the the big visions become a reality.