Make It Better
A visual effects panel at WonderCon 2018 left me with a creative philosophy that still influences my work today.
Note: This article was originally written in 2018.
At WonderCon 2018, I walked away with a simple but powerful idea: make it better. That make it better mindset came from a visual effects panel I hosted that weekend with veterans whose credits included Raiders of the Lost Ark, TRON, and Ghost. What started as a conversation about filmmaking quickly became something more personal. One story from that morning turned three words — make it better — into a creative idea I still use today.
The make it better mindset is not about perfection. Instead, it is about asking whether one more improvement is still possible.
The idea came from a story about visual effects work on Raiders of the Lost Ark. However, it applies to writing, art, fitness, work, and everyday life.
Sometimes the best creative advice is not complicated. Instead, it is simply: make it better.
Hosting a Make It Better Visual Effects Panel at WonderCon
When WonderCon offered me the chance to moderate a visual effects panel, I said yes immediately. I have always found the field fascinating. Visual effects artists bring impossible ideas to life. They build worlds, characters, and moments that audiences accept without ever realizing how much work went into them.
People often confuse visual effects with practical special effects, but the two serve different purposes. Crews create practical effects during filming, using stunts, pyrotechnics, prosthetics, and other physical techniques on set. Afterward, artists add visual effects in post-production, layering in digital work that enhances or changes what the camera originally captured.
To put the panel together, I reached out to three professionals whose work I respected: John Van Vliet, Roger Kupelian, and Eli Jarra. All three agreed to join. During the week before the convention, we spoke by phone several times to map out topics, review footage, and organize the presentation.
Because our panel was the very first event of the weekend, solid preparation felt essential.
Good panels rarely happen by accident. Instead, they depend on preparation, trust, timing, and the willingness of the guests to share the stories behind the finished work.
A Bigger Crowd Than Expected
On the morning of the panel, we arrived early to test the equipment and make sure everything worked. As we got set up, I noticed something unexpected: a line had already formed outside the room.
The convention had only just opened. Most attendees were still picking up badges or finding their way around the building. At first, we figured we would draw a modest crowd. If twenty-five or thirty people showed up, we would have been happy.
Instead, the crowd kept growing. Attendance had climbed toward 150 people by the time the panel began, and more kept filing in as the session continued. As a result, the discussion turned into one of the most engaging panels I have ever moderated.
That kind of audience energy is one reason I keep returning to convention programming and creative conversations. After all, live events can reshape the way people experience entertainment.
The Make It Better Moment from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Although the panel covered plenty of ground, one story from that morning stood out above everything else.
During the Q&A, someone asked John Van Vliet about his work on Raiders of the Lost Ark. He described working on the film’s famous Angel of Death sequence and shared a lesson from one of his supervisors. After reviewing a finished shot, the supervisor would offer a short, simple note: “Make it better.”
Watch: John Van Vliet Discusses the Angel of Death Sequence
The shot already worked. The effect already did its job. Yet that was not the point. The supervisor was not criticizing the work. Instead, he was pushing the artist to ask whether one more level of improvement was possible.
Could the timing be stronger? Would the illusion feel more real with one more adjustment? And, most importantly, could the moment land with more emotional impact?
Rather than settling for good enough, the artists kept refining until they found something even better. That idea stuck with John for the rest of his career. Later, on projects from TRON to Ghost, he kept asking himself the same question: how can I make it better?
The work may already be good. Even so, the question is whether one more pass can make it stronger.
Why the Make It Better Mindset Matters Beyond Filmmaking
As the panel went on, I found myself thinking less about visual effects and more about what those three words really meant. The lesson reached far beyond Hollywood.
In the days after WonderCon, I started finding ways to use the make it better mindset in my own life. At the gym, it pushed me to work a little harder on the next set. While writing, it sent me back to tighten a paragraph. Even doing chores around the house, I caught myself looking for small improvements that could lift the final result.
What appealed to me most was that the philosophy never demands perfection. Instead, it asks for steady improvement, and that difference matters.
Perfectionism traps people by setting an impossible standard. However, the make it better approach accepts that something can already be good while still having room to grow. It simply asks for one more pass, one more idea, or one more attempt to raise the quality of the work.
Perfectionism can freeze a project. Improvement, however, keeps it moving.
The Make It Better Mindset: Creativity Is a Process, Not a Destination
Many creative people spend years looking for a formula that will sharpen their skills. However, the real answer is usually much simpler.
The best artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, and designers rarely think they have reached their peak. Instead, they stay curious, keep learning, and continue improving their work.
This mindset captures that approach. As a result, it encourages growth without creating unnecessary pressure. It also aims for excellence without demanding perfection. Most importantly, it treats improvement as a process rather than a finish line.
That same idea connects to the way I think about creative work in general, from filmmaking to writing to the changing media landscape I explored in The Streaming Myth. Technology changes, platforms change, and audiences change. However, the basic creative challenge remains the same: keep looking for the stronger version of the idea.
The Real Lesson: Make It Better Every Time
Looking back, WonderCon 2018 taught me a great deal about visual effects. I loved hearing from industry veterans, talking about filmmaking, and connecting with an enthusiastic crowd.
Even so, none of those memories have stayed with me as clearly as the lesson inside one short story about a supervisor and a shot on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Years later, I still hear those words when I finish a project and ask myself whether it is truly done. The work has not failed. It is not bad. Instead, one more improvement might simply still be waiting to be found.
Sometimes the most valuable thing we bring home from a convention is not a collectible, a photo, or an autograph. Instead, it is an idea that stays with us. In my case, that idea was three words: make it better.
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