How this post was written
I didn’t sit down and write this post from beginning to end. I wrote the way most people write – they type something, then hit Backspace a few times then write something else, and repeat the process until they have something they’re relatively happy with.
Kubrick’s Secret
I recently watched “Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes“, an hour-long documentary about what a drooling fan (not myself) found in the late film director’s basement.
Kubrick wasn’t such a genuis after all. But he did have a brilliant method of achieving his brilliant results. He just did everything hundreds of times.
What they found in the basement were collections of photos of the same kind of scene shot in multiple locations. Thousands of gate photos. Thousands of street scenes. Thousands of hooker doorways (eek!).
It doesn’t stop there. Remember the classical music in many of Kubrick’s films? Well I think this was just an easy way to sample hundreds of different pieces to find out which one was most suitable. Certainly saved having to pay professional composers (well most of the time).
And recall how Kubrick would shoot a scene hundreds of times, to the chagrin of many an actor. He didn’t do this because the actors themselves were crap. He did it so he could sit down later in the editing room and hand-pick the best possible performance. Which also explains why he often took the editing upon himself.
Software development
There are a million people saying this in a million different ways (SCRUM being one of them), but basically, you don’t write a software program from beginning to end. It’s an iterative process. It’s more iterative than other comparably processes (such as building a house) because anything and everything can be changed instantly.
When you’re fiddling with bytes in computer memory, what better way to come up with the best solution than rewriting the program again and again until you get it right? This is called iterative development.
The point?
I guess what I have to say at the end of it all is, iteration is a very powerful tool for achieveing the best possible results. It can take time, but it’s going to save time if you want to build something that will last. That’s why, 30 years later, everyone still loves The Shining.
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