Bob Peterson@ONU and the Process of Interpellation

Last night, I had the privilege of listening to Bob Peterson speak at ONU. For those of you not familiar with Bob, he is the writer and co-director of the movie Up, which just won numerous awards. He is also the voice of the dog Dug. Besides Up, Bob was involved in the movies Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monster's Inc. Besides being an employee of Pixar, he is also an 1983 ONU grad in mechanical engineering.

For those of you who missed his presentation, you missed an opportunity of a lifetime. Not only is Bob one of the most engaging speakers I have ever heard, he is also quite personable, knowledgeable, and humble. It was simply an interesting presentation that took you through the process of creating a cg film. He also shared some of his voices, including Roz from Monster's Inc. and Dug the dog from Up.

Bob was also kind enough to stick around for autographs and pictures which he did for my wife and me (got an autographed copy of the movie!).

Part of what I want to touch on in this post was how Bob addressed the issue of making meaning through these cgi characters. One of the questions asked at the end of the presentation was about audience and whether Pixar tried to target certain segments of the market. Bob's answer was interesting in that he says that Pixar doesn't try to target audiences so much as tell a good story. In the end, the film ends up appealing to a number of people and each viewer takes away certain elements that touch them in some way. This is classic interpellation where the viewer feels a connection with the characters in a film (or images...) through a process of identification. For me, I particularly was affected by the opening sequence that traces Carl and Ellie's life from the moment of their first meeting to her death. I related to this sequence in quite an emotional way. Perhaps this is due to my realization of how fleeting life is and all the missed moments we have in our lives. I especially see this in my children, now teenagers, and wonder "Where did the time go?"

Images often speak to us in this way. One of my favorites is an image of an old man and a dog sitting on a bench (A larger version is displayed on my images page). We only see the back of the individual, which allows us to put our selves in his place. It gets me thinking about those quiet moments in life and this image captures one such moment amid the business of a day. I also like the way the photographer caught the layers of vertical lines - bench, fence, man, dog, trees, windows - that create a motif. In addition, I like the use of black and white, which simplifies the image and draws attention to these repeating elements. Take a look and see what you think. What images call to you?