Doug Twilleager's Weblog The Wonderful World of 3D

Star Wars: Vision, Passion, and Risk can change the world

Since this is my first post, I should intrduce myself. I am Doug Twilleager, the Chief Architect of the Game Technologies Group here at Sun. Not that the title really matters - it is just a formality. What really matters is what you can influence and what decisions can you make, but that is another blog topic for later.

Like any good Star Wars fan, I helped finance Episode III by picking up the DVD boxed set of Episodes IV, V, and VI yesterday. After watching the Episode III preview feature (not much there), I dove into the making of documentary "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy". It was very well done, and it got me to thinking about something that I have been mulling over for a while. That is the topic of Vision, Passion, and Risk. These three things, when combined together, really can change the world. I want to look at the three and gives examples of how it can happen.

First, let's look at Vision. George Lucas had a vision for Star Wars. He knew what he wanted the end result to look like. He just didn't quite know how to get there, but he figured it out along the way. As the one with the vision, he was the glue that kept all the parts together and heading in the right direction. It can be very difficult to have the vision, especially when you are pushing the envelope of innovation. When he was creating the original movie, he became increasingly frustrated with the given technology because it could not match the vision. Even though he has been highly criticized for changing his movies in the 1997 special editions, and now again with the DVD releases, people must realise that he is merely trying to complete the vision as it has been in his head for so many years.

Next up is Passion. This is a very strange concept, because it is easy to look at someone and see that they have passion, but it is impossible to tell someone how to get passion. Instead, let's look at some things that can drive passion. Accomplishment can drive passion. Many people get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing the end result, and that can be a powerfull driving force. Frustration can drive passion. When you see something that needs to change because it frustrates you - that can be very motivating. There is the famous story of how Walt Disney decided to build Disneyland. It was because there was no familty oriented amusement enterprises available to him and his daughters on Saturdays - frustration. But the most powerfull driving force behind passion seems to be expression. We are a species that needs to be heard. We want to tell stories. It is what drives almost all artists. They don't do it to make money - although that can drive passion as well. They do it to express themselves. Certainly, the need to tell his story was a big part of passion driving George Lucas.

You can have all the Vision and Passion in the world, but without Risk - it isn't likely to go anywhere. There are two forms of risk. Risk that is taken by you, and risk that someone must take in you. If you truly have a vision with the passion, you must be willing to take risks. George Lucas risked everything in Star Wars. He was a new director - with American Graffiti as his only commercial film (which hadn't been released when he got the Star Wars funding). He was willing to stake his career on the story. The Walt Disney company was continually on the verge of bankruptcy until after Disneyland had been operating for a few years. Walt Disney continually took many risks (ie: all the money he had) to create the stories that he wanted to tell. Even with that - someone needs to take a risk on you. One executive at 20th century fox took a risk on George Lucas - not because he believed in the story, but because he believed in the person. Finding someone to take a risk on you and your idea will be the hardest thing you will ever do - and it will be the ultimate test of your vision and passion.

If you have these three things, you can change the world - even if only a little at a time. George Lucas changed the way that films were made. It was because of Star Wars that Disney is no longer doing hand animation features (I'll let you make the connections there :^)). Finally, I'll give a couple of concrete examples related to things here at Sun - since this is a Sun blog.

Sun has had layoffs over the past few years, and one of the projects hit was Java 3D. It became apparent that we could not do everything we needed to do ourselves. I had the vision of community development for it, the passion in believing that it was a usefull technology for Java developers, and found some executives who were willing to take the risk. We now have a vibrantly growing community development site for Java 3D on java.net. Looking glass is another great example. Hideya had the vision. He also had the passion. In that case however, the risk was measured in time. He did all the work in his free time, so the risk was to his outside relationships. :^)

Well, this is already way too long, but I think you get my point. If you have a dream/vision and the passion, get ready to risk it all and pitch it to whoever will listen. Someday, someone will take the risk on you, and you will have changed the world - even if just a little.

Posted at 02:28PM Sep 22, 2004 by dtwilleager in General  |  Comments[2]