On restraint

The FX work I keep coming back to almost always does less than it could. One clear idea, executed cleanly, holds up longer than a shot stuffed with detail nobody can parse.

The urge to add is strongest right before a deadline — one more secondary sim, one more layer of debris. It usually reads as noise. The discipline is to stop, watch the shot at full speed, and ask whether the eye can even find the thing I just spent a day on.

A note to myself: the render that survives review is the one where every element has a reason to be there.