Thank You, Danielle

In earlier projects of mine, I neglected the importance of mis-en-scene in film, particularly lighting and character/costume design. I would always focus on story, character development, editing etc. And I thought I would continue this way of thinking. That is, until I came across a Ted Talks starring Danielle Feinberg, the director of photography at Pixar Animation studios.


Within this Ted Talks, Danielle talks about her favorite part of her job: applying the lighting. Using her own examples from Pixar original films like Brave, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E(Those of you that have read my previous blog posts will know I have a soft spot for Wall-E and other films from my childhood). Danielle talks about how by simply applying different lighting to her scenes, she is able to create entirely new worlds, bending the animation to her will to create and develop her stories. 

Here,I was able to realize how the small bits of a film make up the larger picture, and are sometimes just as important as the story and characters themselves, as seen throughout all of the Pixar films. So, this fundamental lesson in filming or simply stories, was staring at me all along in my memories. So, I plan to apply this lesson learned to the film by bring setting and design to my attention, which will hopefully open my eyes to more opportunities in film, shaping how I go on in this project.

So thank you, Danielle. Thank you for this wonderful lesson in my life. I can only hope to apply this to the amazing art of film making.

Feinberg, D. (n.d.). The magic ingredient that brings Pixar movies to life. Retrieved March, from https://www.ted.com/talks/danielle_feinberg_the_magic_ingredient_that_brings_pixar_movies_to_life#t-553850