本书简介：
皮克斯动画工作室创始人、总裁，首次全面披露，皮克斯20年不断创新、一直走在行业尖端的秘诀。
作者简介：
艾德·卡特姆，皮克斯动画工作室的联合创始人，皮克斯动画总裁。2006年皮克斯加入迪士尼后，同时担任皮克斯动画和迪士尼动画的总裁。他荣获过5次奥斯卡奖，他在犹他大学取得了计算机科学博士学位，现与夫人和孩子住在旧金山。
埃米·华莱士，记者，《纽约时报》周末版商业版块专栏作家，并为《纽约客》《连线》《洛杉矶时报》等供稿。现任《洛杉矶时报杂志》的州总编辑。
我和阿澈两个人会先后翻译本书的内容，每天一点先由我进行初步翻译，词汇查找，再由我们的阿澈（抱住她的大腿）进行校对与调整，分享我们翻译的过程给大家，希望能够碰撞出不一样的火花，因为一千个人可能对一段文字就会有一千种把握，我们并不是专业学习英文的人，一切只是因为爱好，如果有不对的地方还请指正。谢谢~，那么就开始吧(｀・ω・´)。蓝字是阿澈，绿字是英英释义
After the release of Toy Story 2, our production slate expanded rapidly. Suddenly, we had several projects going at once, which meant that we couldn’t have the same five people working exclusively on every film. We were not a little startup anymore. Pete was off working on Monsters, Inc., Andrew had started Finding Nemo, and Brad Bird had joined us to begin work on The Incredibles. The Braintrust had to evolve, then, from a tight, well-defined group that worked on one film together until it was done to a larger, more fluid group that assembled, as needed, to solve problems on all our films. While we still called it the Braintrust, there was no hard-and-fast membership list. Over the years, its ranks have grown to include a variety of people—directors, writers, and heads of story—whose only requirement is that they display a knack for storytelling. (Among those talented additions: Mary Coleman, the head of Pixar’s story department; development executives Kiel Murray and Karen Paik; and writers Michael Arndt, Meg LeFauve, and Victoria Strouse.) The one thing that has never changed is the demand for candor—which, while its value seems obvious, is harder to achieve than one might think.
在发行了《玩具总动员2》之后，我们的生产计划迅速扩大。突然，我们有几个计划在同时进行，这就意味着我们不能同时让同样的五个人在每一部电影都专门工作。我们不再是刚成立的公司了。皮特在致力于《怪兽电力公司》，安德鲁在筹备《海底总动员》，布拉德·伯德和我们一起开始拍摄《超人特工队》。智囊团开始成长，从一个整体，明确定义的团体一起制作一部电影直到它开始扩大，更有流动性的团队配合，根据需要，解决我们所有电影的问题。虽然我们还是以“智囊团”来称呼，但已经没有硬性的成员名单了。经过这么多年，它已经成长成为了一个成员众多的团体——导演、作家、故事负责人（有点奇怪）——他们唯一的要求就是讲述故事的技巧。（在这之中有这些人：皮克斯故事部负责人玛丽·科尔曼，开发主管基尔·默里和凯伦·派克，以及作家迈克尔·阿恩特、梅格·勒法夫和维多利亚·斯特劳斯。）唯一一件不变的事情从未变过就是要求他们坦白——这也是明显能够看出价值，却很难达到的事情。
在《玩具总动员2》发行后，我们的生产计划迅速扩大。一夜之间，我们就有好几个计划在同时进行，这意味着我们不能只让这五个人同时负责每部电影。我们不再是那个小小的初创公司。皮特去了《怪兽电力公司》（Monsters, Inc）【感觉带上原来的名字会比较好？不过也可以放在脚注啦】团队，安德鲁开启了《海底总动员》（Finding Nemo）的工作，布拉德·伯德加入了我们，开始着手于创作《超人总动员》（The Incredibles）。智能团需要发展，从专注于从头到尾地制作一部电影的紧密的、定义明确的小团队，发展为更大、更具流动性的团体，并按照需求进行集结，来解决我们所有电影的问题。虽然我们还将其称为智囊团，但它已经没有了固定的成员名单。多年以来，智囊团的队伍已经发展壮大，囊括了各种人【各种职能？】，包括导演、作家和故事负责人，对成员唯一的要求就是要有讲故事的才能。（这些才华横溢的新成员包括：皮克斯的剧情部门负责人玛丽·科尔曼，开发执行官基尔·默里和凯伦·派克，和作家迈克尔·阿恩特、梅格·勒弗沃和维多利亚·斯特罗兹。）对坦诚的要求从来未变——尽管坦诚的价值一目了然，却比想象中更难实现。
slate板岩; 石板; 石板瓦; 候选人名单; 批评，抨击; 预定; 计划; 安排; 推举; 选定hard-and-fast不可触犯的，非遵守不可的
Slate: 1. a list of people who are being considered for a particular job or position, especially in politics（尤指在政治活动中的）候选人名单 EG: Is there anyone in the current slate of candidates who could defeat the president? 2. 石板 3. 手写平板电脑
Hard-and-fast: strongly binding; not to be set aside or violated: hard-and-fast rules.
Knack: 1. A special talent or skill, especially one difficult to explain or teach: EG a knack for writing song lyrics.
Be off: 1. To leave a place or to depart to another one. Though formerly used as an imperative, this use is now rare. EG: I'm just off to the bar for a few drinks, I shouldn't be there long.
Let’s imagine that you just joined a Braintrust meeting for the first time and sat down in a room full of smart and experienced people to discuss a film that has just been screened. There are many good reasons to be careful about what you say, right? You want to be polite, you want to respect or defer to others, and you don’t want to embarrass yourself or come off as having all the answers. Before you speak up, no matter how self-assured you are, you will check yourself: Is this a good idea or a stupid one? How many times am I allowed to say something stupid before others begin to doubt me? Can I tell the director that his protagonist is unlikable or that his second act is incomprehensible? It’s not that you want to be dishonest or to withhold from others. At this stage, you aren’t even thinking about candor. You’re thinking about not looking like an idiot.
让我们想象你是第一次加入智囊团的会议，坐在一群聪明并且经验丰富的人们之中，讨论着刚刚上映的电影。有太多好的理由小心自己说出的话，你想要表现的礼貌，你想要尊敬或者尊重其他人，并且你不想要让自己尴尬或者说让你感觉你知道所有的答案。在你说话之前，无论你有多么的自信，你都会再一次的检查自己：这是不是一个好的想法或者是愚蠢的想法？在别人怀疑我之前我能说几次愚蠢的话？我能告诉导演他的主人公不讨人喜欢或者他的第二幕令人费解吗？这并不是你想不诚实或者说对别人隐瞒。在这个舞台，你甚至不会想要去坦白。你只想要看起来不像个傻瓜。
想象你是第一次参与智囊团会议的新人，坐在一间满是聪明人和老手的房间里，讨论刚上映的电影。保持谨言慎行有很多充分的理由，对吧？你想彬彬有礼，想表现出对其他成员的尊敬，不想因为感觉知道所有答案而脱口而出或让自己尴尬【这个come off我不知道怎么翻】。不论你有多自信，在发言之前你都会查问自己：这是个好主意还是个蠢主意？在别人开始怀疑我之前，我有几次机会说些愚蠢的话？我能告诉导演他的主角不讨人喜欢、第二幕令人费解吗？你不是想要不诚实或者欺瞒他人。这个阶段，你甚至都没有去想坦诚的事，你只是不想看起来像个傻瓜。
protagonist主要人物，主人公incomprehensible无法理解的;
Defer to (someone or something): to delay something until a later time使延期，使延缓，推迟; to submit or yield to someone or something. EG: I really need to defer to your mother on this one—she's in charge of all the Thanksgiving plans.
come off：2. To happen. EG: Now that the caterer has quit, I don't think the party will come off as scheduled.
Compounding matters is the fact that you aren’t the only one who’s struggling with these doubts. Everyone is; societal conditioning discourages telling the truth to those perceived to be in higher positions. Then there’s human nature. The more people there are in the room, the more pressure there is to perform well. Strong and confident people can intimidate their colleagues, subconsciously signaling that they aren’t interested in negative feedback or criticism that challenges their thinking. When the stakes are high and there is a sense that people in the room don’t understand a director’s project, it can feel to that director like everything they’ve worked so hard on is in jeopardy, under attack. Their brains go into overdrive, reading all of the subtexts and fighting off the perceived threats to what they’ve built. When so much is on the line, the barriers to truly candid discussions are formidable.
更严重的是事实上你不是唯一一个有这些犹疑的人。每个人都有；社会条件不鼓励对那些处于更高职位的人说实话。这就是人类的本性。越多的人在房间里面，越多的压力就会显现出来。强大且自信的人可以威胁到他们的同事，潜意识的释放出他们不喜欢批判性反馈的信号挑战到他们的想法。当风险很高并且当房间里面的人不明白导演的项目的时候会有一种氛围，你能感觉到导演像是每一件事情都处于被攻击的范围，在备受攻击。他们的大脑飞速运转，理解所有的暗示并且消除他们感受到的威胁。当这么多东西存在的时候，真正坦白讨论的障碍是巨大的。
更麻烦的是，你不是唯一一个为这些疑问而挣扎的人。每个人都是如此；社会条件并不鼓励向身处高位的人讲真话。另外这也是人性使然。房间里的人越多，表现好的压力就越大。强大而自信的人可能会对同事造成威吓，他们会下意识地暗示别人，他们对挑战自己思想的负面反馈和批评不感兴趣。假如风险很高，而且感觉到与会者并不了解导演的这个项目时，这位导演就会感到他们努力为之工作的一切受到了攻击，处于危险之中。他们的大脑超速运转，阅读所有潜台词，与那些可能威胁到他们作品的东西进行对抗。有这么多问题存在，进行真正坦率的讨论的障碍是巨大的。
Intimidate: to frighten or threaten someone, usually in order to persuade them to do something that you want them to do恫吓，恐吓They were intimidated into accepting a pay cut by the threat of losing their jobs.
Jeopardy： /ˈdʒep.ə.di/ in jeopardy： in danger of being damaged or destroyed处于危险之中 EG: The lives of thousands of birds are in jeopardy as a result of the oil spill.
Stake： 1. a share or a financial involvement in something such as a business股本，股份 EG: He holds (= owns) a 40 percent stake in/of the company. 2. 赌注
have a stake in sth： If you have a stake in something, it is important to you because you have a personal interest or involvement in it.对…有强烈的兴趣；与…有利害关系 EG: Employers have a stake in the training of their staff.
Formidable： causing you to have fear or respect for something or someone because that thing or person is large, powerful, or difficult可怕的；令人敬畏的；难对付的 EG: a formidable obstacle/task
And yet, candor could not be more crucial to our creative process. Why? Because early on, all of our movies suck. That’s a blunt assessment, I know, but I make a point of repeating it often, and I choose that phrasing because saying it in a softer way fails to convey how bad the first versions of our films really are. I’m not trying to be modest or self-effacing by saying this. Pixar films are not good at first, and our job is to make them so—to go, as I say, “from suck to not-suck.” This idea—that all the movies we now think of as brilliant were, at one time, terrible—is a hard concept for many to grasp. But think about how easy it would be for a movie about talking toys to feel derivative, sappy, or overtly merchandise-driven. Think about how off-putting a movie about rats preparing food could be, or how risky it must’ve seemed to start WALL-E with 39 dialogue-free minutes. We dare to attempt these stories, but we don’t get them right on the first pass. And this is as it should be. Creativity has to start somewhere, and we are true believers in the power of bracing, candid feedback and the iterative process—reworking, reworking, and reworking again, until a flawed story finds its throughline or a hollow character finds its soul.
坦率对我们的创造过程来说是至关重要的。为什么？因为早期的时候，我们所有的电影都很烂。这是一个直截了当的评论，我知道但我要经常重复，并且我选择这个句子因为婉转的说法并不能表达我们第一部电影的版本真的很差。我并不是因为谦虚或者自我激励才说这些的。皮克斯的电影最初并不好，并且我们的工作也仅仅是使他们从一般到好起来，就像我说的从不好到好。这个想法——我们现在思考的所有的好的电影在某一时刻都烂过——在这么多的想法之中很难抓住。但是现在想想看，一部会说话的玩具的电影是多么的让人觉得像是一部衍生产品，多愁善感或者公然受商品驱动显得俗气。想象将耗子用来准备食物将是多么令人讨厌的一部电影，或者在《瓦力》这部电影中刚开始的39分钟都没有台词是多么的冒险，我们敢于挑战这些故事，但在第一遍的时候我们并没有通过，事情就应该是这样的，创意开始于某地，我们真正相信振奋人心、坦诚反馈的力量，以及不断重复的过程——不断重复，重复，再重复，直到一个有缺陷的故事找到它的主线，或者一个空洞的角色找到它的灵魂。
但是，对我们的创作过程而言，坦诚是至关重要的。为什么？因为在早期，我们的所有电影都很烂。我知道这是一个直截了当的评价，但我还是会有意识地经常重复这句话。我选择了这样的措辞，是因为较柔和的说法并不能表达出我们电影的最初版本到底有多糟。这不是我在表示谦虚或收敛锋芒。皮克斯的电影最初并不好，而我们的工作是将他们做得——像我说的那样，“从糟透了到没那么糟”【so-to go是啥】。我们现在觉得绝佳的所有电影，都曾有一段时间非常糟糕，这个观点对于很多人来说都难以掌握。但是想想吧，一部关于会说话的玩具的电影，会有多容易被视为派生、多愁善感、或是露骨的商业化之作。想想，一部老鼠制作食物的电影是多么令人反感，在《瓦力》的前39分钟都没有台词又是多么冒险。我们敢于制作这些故事，但我们没有在一开始就把它们做对。本应如此。创造应该从某个地方开始，而我们也坚决相信开放、坦诚反馈和迭代的力量——不断地修改、修改、再修改，直到一个有缺陷的故事找到了主线，一个空洞的角色找到了灵魂。
blunt不锋利的; 钝的; 嘴直的
Make a point of (doing something)： to consciously and deliberately make an effort to do something.
Efface：to remove something intentionally抹去，擦掉；消除 EG: The whole country had tried to efface the memory of the old dictatorship.
Efface yourself： to behave in a modest way and treat the good things that you have achieved as if they are not important, often because you do not have much confidence保持低调；使自己不被人注意；不露锋芒
Derivative：衍生物，派生词，金融衍生产品
Sappy：多愁善感
Overtly： in a way that is done or shown publicly or in an obvious way and not secret: EG: It was an overtly sexual advertising campaign.
Off-putting: slightly unpleasant or worrying so that you do not want to get involved in any way
Iterative: doing something again and again, usually to improve it:iterative processes
To be continued~
