Entities

You can tell a story in ten seconds.

-Raoul Servais, legendary Belgian animator, to John Lasseter

When John Lasseter created his animated lamps, computer animation was in its infancy, and the computer processing power we now take for granted was a dream. These limitations forced him to think in the simplest terms about anthropomorphizing inanimate objects. As a mechanical, hard-geometry rig, the Luxos are pretty elementary. But their behavior, and the story they tell in two minutes, are where the magic actually is. It’s proof you don’t need an elaborate entity to develop a strong narrative, nor do you need the luxury of time.

Your job is to populate your environment with an entity: a simple rig that can tell a complex story.