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In a previous post I wrote about the uncompromising artistry of Stanley Kubrick, who produced …
Join the DZone community and get the full member experience. In a previous post I wrote about the uncompromising artistry of Stanley Kubrick, who produced film classics at the cost of wildly unpredictable schedules and budgets. You can reach for similar brilliance in programming, but you had better do it on your own time or with a generous CFO. There is a different, more workable, and healthier attitude towards our craft. Just keep at it, enjoy it, and don’t worry about making a dent in the universe. I’m reading Woody Allen’s autobiography over the holidays, so indulge me to draw another cinematic parallel with this veteran New York writer/director. Don’t worry, it will also be about coding. Woody Allen is one of the most consistently prolific cinematographers in the business. He has written and directed over fifty films over an equal number of years, almost like clockwork. At 85 he has no intention of stopping. He doesn’t approach his oeuvre as a project with a culmination. His business is about keeping busy. He is in it for the long run, if only to act as an antidote to the unavoidable spectre of death and oblivion. But let’s not get into his glum outlook on the meaning of life. Regular output matters more to Allen than consistent quality. For the stubborn perfectionist Kubrick, each project took as long as it had to, which meant they took longer and longer. Allen famously compared his livelihood to a convict weaving baskets. This sounds like false modesty at the very least, coming from a four-time Academy Award winner, but it’s obvious that he doesn’t strike gold each time.
