Pixar's Magic Frameworks – Visualized
Episode 004
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Today at a Glance:
The Coolest Hardware/Software This Week
Pixar’s Crying Machine
Shower Thoughts
Cool Sh*t
Software
Uizard.
This dark horse just won Product Hunt’s AI and Machine Learning category. Think of this like if Figma and Softr had a baby… Then gave that baby steroids and hooked it up to the program downloading thing in the Matrix…
You can literally sketch out a wireframe. Give it to the program. And BOOM. You get the screen on the right.
Hardware
Mercedes AVTR.
This is Mercedes concept car Avtr. Yes, it’s a concept based off of the 2009 movie Avatar. Yes, it’s EV. Yes, it’s autonomous.
What I’ve been thinking about more and more is this concept of the Third Space.
Your home is the first space, the office is the second space; with advancement of autonomous driving, soon, we’ll arrive at the place where cars will be the third space.
I imagine center consol will increase in size to accomodate digital app integrations…
Enroute Tinder anyone?
Pixar’s Crying Machine
Everyone: “Nothing named Bing Bong could ever make anyone cry.”
Pixar: “Hold my beer.”
Go ahead. Watch this clip – I’ll wait.
If you don’t cry, then in the words of the gingerbread man… You’re a monster!
There is one and only one movie company who can without fail make me cry again and again.
Pixar uses a 22 point framework for effective productized storytelling. The beauty of these frameworks is they can also be applied to business and life as well.
Here are the top 5, visualized:
1. YOU ADMIRE CHARACTERS MORE FOR THEIR TRIALS THAN THEIR SUCCESS
Struggles, adversity, challenges are what make life worth living. Don’t shy away from them. Lean into them.
2. TRYING FOR THEME IS IMPORTANT, BUT YOU WON’T SEE WHAT THE STORY IS ACTUALLY ABOUT TILL YOU’RE AT THE END. NOW REWRITE.
In any project, A is the beginning and Z is the objective. You don’t have to know A,B,C,D… every single step.
You need to know A - where are you now
You need to know Z - what’s the dream
You need to know B - what’s the next thing I need to do
If you know these 3, then simply add time and you’ll figure out the rest.
3. NO WORK IS EVER WASTED. IF IT’S NOT WORKING, LET GO AND MOVE ON - IT’LL COME BACK AROUND AND BE USEFUL LATER.
I used to play this game called Portal. You could shoot things into one portal and it’d come out the other. It’s a good metaphor for this framework.
A major part of the creative process is destruction. Be comfortable destroying everything you built and start again from scratch.
It’s one of the most liberating experiences.
4. DISCOUNT THE 1ST THING THAT COMES TO MIND. AND THE 2ND, 3RD, 4TH, 5TH - GET THE OBVIOUS OUT OF THE WAY. SURPRISE YOURSELF.
I coach a group of students every year in preparation for a business case competition. One of the workshops I run is on ideation.
They come up with 10 ideas and I ask them to pick the top 3 and throw the rest away.
Protip: Only use ideas from the trash bin. Most of the time, they’re in the trash because of fear.
5. PUTTING IT ON PAPER LETS YOU START FIXING IT. IF IT STAYS IN YOUR HEAD, A PERFECT IDEA, YOU’LL NEVER SHARER IT WITH ANYONE.
Fire.
Calibrate.
Fire again.
This year, my mantra has been to just ship it. No matter how bad I think the MVP is, I ship it, take in feedback, adjust and ship it again. This is how FarPoint started.
If you liked these visualized frameworks and want the whole 22 framework visualized for your greedly little self, fear not, Nick’s got you.
Simply share our secret community with someone you know and send me an email with your request – Subject: Pixar!
Shower Thoughts:
Two vegans cannot have beef with each other
Someone’s probably gunned you down in their mind before
Seeing disasters in your lifetime gives you an underwhelming appreciation of historical disasters
It’s a strange thought that when someone dies, you’re the one left behind
Ice cubes float in their own blood
