A sign of commitment to excellence in your work: taking care of details that elevate the experience, yet that no-one would exactly notice if they were gone.
I was watching a movie with my family a couple of nights ago, the film adaptation of the play “The Last Five Years.” In the movie, there is a very short scene that depicts the wedding of the couple who are the main (in fact only) characters. The camera swoops in and over them, taking in the Central Park location, just as their union is formalized. A second later, the couple is out of the frame as the camera tracks away, but we still hear the faint tinkle of glass as the groom crushes a wineglass at the end of the ceremony.
The filmmaker could have left this detail out and moved onto the next scene, and we wouldn’t have noticed its absence. We weren’t watching the couple any longer, and the director had effectively begun the transition to the next part of the story. But taking the time to include the sound effect fleshed out the story a bit, colored in another part of the picture of these two people and their relationship. The detail made the experience better, even if we didn’t know we needed it there.
What are the details that elevate your work, even if no one would remark on their absence?
