mykimchi.NET Blog

Brainstormers

IDEO is unique in its way of using brainstorming. and we are constantly evolving our technique.This section is a collection of ideas that came out of Alex Kazak’s Muse project and informal session with Denny, Rickson, and Brendan.

Know the five rules:

• Defer judgmentThis is the hardest rule to follow, in part because our cultural values usually steer us the other way – to make a quick judgment: “Will this fly or not?” The tendency to judge and prejudge tends to block our own flow of ideas. It also dampens the spirit of the session, making other people uncertain about bringing out an idea. Be open, for the duration of the brainstormer, to an attitude of unhesitating expression.
  
  
• Build on ideas of othersOne thing we learn after just a few brainstormers is that you don’t really need a whole idea to keep things going. Half an idea will work just fine, because someone else will pick up on what they thought you meant and turn it into something else.The secret of this rule is to be generous (even reckless, wanton, profligate) with your own ideas during the brainstormer and not be shy about picking up on half-baked – or even fully baked – ideas from someone else.
  
  
• One conversation at a timeYou can tell when somebody’s got an idea steaming in their head: they start squirming in their chair and can’t wait to get it out on the table. It’s exciting when this starts happening with more than one person. At this point the facilitator reminds everyone else to let the first one get their idea out before going on to the next one.This way nobody feels frustrated that they didn’t get heard and the energy keeps flowing. Write down a “headliner” and then sketch your idea while waiting.
  
  
• Stay focused on topicThe thrill of the chase can often lead far from the topic – the design problem at hand. Don’t hold back on an idea just because it seems off the topic (defer judgment about it!). Just be agile and turn it around into something that relates.These unplanned force-fits can be a surprise.
  
  
• Encourage wild ideasGet radical, improbable, unrealistic, impractical, dangerous, even primitive in your thinking.Wild ideas open up new avenues of thinking in a way nothing else can.They expose new territories where the seeds of invention wait to grab the shaggy mane of the traveller.

Rainmaker Ent.’s latest production, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, the animated sequel to the 1963 classic, debuted on November 25 from Genius Products, Rainmaker Ent. and The Weinstein Company.

Rainmaker, in association with producer George Paige, approached Jerry Lewis with the idea of animating the characters from his 1963 live action film, which Lewis wrote and directed, and he enthusiastically agreed. The Weinstein Company signed on for financing and distribution. Evan Spiliotopoulos was brought on to write the script.

“The Julius Kelp character has always meant so much to me,” Lewis said. “And the chance to introduce him and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR to a whole new generation of kids and their families, and in a completely new way through animation, was very exciting. I loved working with the team at Rainmaker and found them to be fun, creative and very adept at creating comedy.”

Director Logan McPherson, noted, “Julius Kelp is probably one of the most influential live action characters in cartoons. He is referenced daily on the front lines of animation by crews around the world. The short production schedule was a challenge, so with NUTTY, the goal was to utilize our experience and continue to build on the process to deliver more quality in the same amount of time as some of our previous direct to DVD films.”

Barbara Zelinski, Rainmaker’s producer, said, “In all, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR was an 18 month process. We used previs extensively, which allowed for greater execution in production in blocking, staging, choreography and camera angles. It also allowed the team to identify what shots would need visual effects to get them into production sooner.”

Development and pre-production began in January 2007, production in September 2007 and the film was delivered the end of June 2008. Rainmaker created a main cast of 11 characters, including many costume variations, unique environments and props, and a number of secondary and background characters. For the look of the film, Rainmaker spent a lot of time developing materials and textures to ensure that metal looked like metal and that reflections had a broken specularity, all of which maintains a world that makes sense but is more impressionistic than realistic.

“Taking this classic family film and reenergizing it for a new audience was a win-win for us in terms of our employees and our business plan,” said Warren Franklin, Rainmaker CEO. “Working with a comic icon was a dream come true for our artists and stepping up our animation pipeline was a challenge the entire team embraced.”

Zelinski added, “The crew loved working with Jerry Lewis. As he’s known for being a perfectionist, at first we were a bit nervous, but being a true professional he went into the Julius character as if he had just done it yesterday. Mr. Lewis did two characters — Julius Kelp and Buddy Love — just as in the 1963 version. He changed characters with ease and comedic style and kept the team laughing. We were honored to have been able to spend time and work with him.”

Execu produced by Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein and Eric Robinson; and Gregory R. Little, Paul Gertz and Rick Mischel, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR is based on the characters created by Jerry Lewis and Bill Richmond and on the 1963 motion picture THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR features the voice talents of the original Nutty Professor, Jerry Lewis as Julius Kelp, and three-time Kids’ Choice Award Winner Drake Bell.