Adam Sadowsky: How to engineer a viral music video

Translator: Morten Juhl Reviewer: Morten Faigh

Hi there.

Hej.

I'm going to be talking a little bit about

Jeg vil fortælle lidt om

music, machines and life.

musik, maskiner og liv.

Or, more specifically,

Eller mere specifikt,

what we learned from the creation of a very large and complicated machine

hvad vi lærte ved at konstruere en meget stor og kompliceret maskine

for a music video.

til en musikvideo

Some of you may recognize this image.

Nogle af jer genkender måske dette billede.

This is the opening frame of the video that we created.

Det er det indledende billede fra videoen, som vi lavede.

We'll be showing the video at the end,

Jeg viser jer videoen til slut,

but before we do, I want to talk a little bit about

men før vi når så langt vil jeg fortælle lidt om

what it is that they wanted.

hvad det er de ville have.

Now, when we first started talking to OK Go --

Da vi først begyndte at snakke med OK Go..

the name of the song is "This Too Shall Pass" --

-- navnet på sangen er "This Too Shall Pass" --

we were really excited because

.. var vi virkelig begejstrede fordi

they expressed interest in building a machine that they could dance with.

de var interesserede i at bygge en maskine, som de kunne danse med.

And we were very excited about this

Og vi var virkelig begejstrede for ideen

because, of course,

fordi, som I måske ved,

they have a history of dancing with machines.

så har de en fortid i at danse med maskiner.

They're responsible for this video, "Here It Goes Again."

De er ansvarlige for denne vide, "Here It Goes Again."

50-million-plus views on YouTube.

over 50 millioner visninger på YouTube.

Four guys dancing on treadmills,

Fire fyre som danser på løbebånd,

no cuts, just a static camera.

ingen klip, bare et statisk kamera.

A fantastically viral and wonderful video.

En fantastisk viral og vidunderlig video.

So we were really excited about working with them.

Så vi var virkelig begejstrede for at arbejde med dem.

And we sort of started talking about what it is that they wanted.

Og vi begyndte løst at tale om, hvad det var de ønskede.

And they explained that they wanted

Og de forklarede at de ønskede

kind of a Rube Goldberg machine.

en slags Rube Goldberg maskine.

Now, for those of you who don't know,

For Jer som ikke kender til

a Rube Goldberg machine

en Rube Goldberg maskine,

is a complicated contraption,

så er det en kompliceret tingest,

an incredibly over-engineered piece of machinery

et utroligt overindviklet stykke maskineri

that accomplishes a relatively simple task.

som varetager en relativt simpel opgave.

So we were excited by this idea,

Så vi var begejstrede for ideen,

and we started talking about

og vi begyndte at diskutere

exactly what it would look like.

præcis hvordan den skulle se ud.

And we came up with some parameters, because,

Og vi fandt nogle parametre som --

you know, building a Rube Goldberg machine

du ved, at bygge en Rube Goldberg maskine

has limitations,

har begrænsninger

but it also is pretty wide open.

men rummer også store muligheder.

And we wanted to make sure that we did something

Og vi ville være sikre på at lave noget

that would work for a music video.

som ville fungere i en musikvideo.

So we came up with a list of requirements,

Så vi lavede en liste over krav som skulle opfyldes

the "10 commandments,"

"de ti bud",

and they were, in order of ascending difficulty:

og listede dem efter stigende sværhedsgrad:

The first is "No magic."

Det første bud er "Ingen Magi"

Everything that happened on screen had to be

Alt hvad der skete på skærmen skulle være

very easily understood by a typical viewer.

meget nemt at forstå for en typisk tilskuer.

The rule of thumb was that, if my mother couldn't understand it,

Tommelfingerreglen var, at hvis min mor ikke kunne forstå det,

then we couldn't use it in the video.

så kunne det ikke bruges i videoen.

They wanted band integration,

De ville have bandet integreret,

that is, the machine acting upon the band members,

at maskinen rettede sig efter medlemmerne i bandet,

specifically not the other way around.

og på ingen måde det modsatte.

They wanted the machine action to follow the song feeling.

De ville have maskinen til at følge sangens følelse.

So as the song picks up emotion,

Så mens sangen samler følelser

so should the machine

skulle maskinen gøre det samme

get grander in its process.

og blive større i processen.

They wanted us to make use of the space.

De ville have os til at bruge plads.

So we have this 10,000-square-foot warehouse we were using,

Så vi har dette knap 1000 m2 varehus som vi brugte

divided between two floors.

delt på to etager.

It included an exterior loading dock.

Det var inklusiv en udendørs pålæsningsrampe.

We used all of that, including a giant hole in the floor

Vi brugte alt dette, inklusiv et kæmpe hul i gulvet

that we actually descended the camera and cameraman through.

som vi rent faktisk sænkede kameraet og kameramanden gennem.

They wanted it messy, and we were happy to oblige.

De ville have det rodet, og det imødekom vi gerne.

The machine itself would start the music.

Maskinen skulle selv starte musikken.

So the machine would get started,

Så maskinen ville starte,

it would travel some distance,

den ville køre et stykke,

reacting along the way,

reagere med ting på vejen,

hit play on an iPod or a tape deck

trykke Play på en iPod eller båndafspiller

or something that would start playback.

eller noget som ville starte afspilningen.

And the machine would maintain synchronization throughout.

Og maskinen skulle forblive synkroniseret gennem hele forløbet.

And speaking of synchronization,

Og nu vi taler om synkronisering,

they wanted it to sync to the rhythm

de ville have den synkroniseret til rytmen

and to hit specific beats along the way.

og ramme specifikke takter hen ad vejen.

Okay. (Laughter)

Okay. (Latter)

They wanted it to end precisely on time.

De ville have den til at stoppe præcis til tiden.

Okay, so now the start to finish timing has to be perfect.

Okay, så nu skal tidsplanen fra start til slut være perfekt.

And they wanted the music to drop out

Og de ville have musikken til at forsvinde

at a certain point in the video

på et særligt tidspunkt i videoen

and actual live audio from the machine

og have de rigtige lyde fra maskinen

to play part of the song.

til at spille en del af sangen.

And as if that wasn't enough,

Og som om dét ikke var nok,

all of these incredibly complicating things, right,

alle disse utroligt komplicerede ting -

they wanted it in one shot.

de ville have det i en enkelt sammenhængende optagelse.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

(Applause)

(Klapsalver)

Okay.

Okay.

So, just some statistics

Så, lige nogle statistikker

about what we went through in the process.

over nogle af de ting vi var igennem i processen.

The machine itself has

Maskinen selv har

89 distinct interactions.

89 forskellige interaktioner.

It took us 85 takes

Det tog os 85 forsøg

to get it on film

at få det filmet

to our satisfaction.

før vi var tilfredse.

Of those 85 takes,

Af de 85 forsøg,

only three actually successfully completed their run.

var der kun tre som rent faktisk fuldendte hele turen.

We destroyed two pianos

Vi ødelagde to klaverer

and 10 televisions in the process.

og 10 fjernsyn undervejs.

We went to Home Depot well over a hundred times.

Vi tog til byggemarkedet langt over hundrede gange.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And we lost one high-heeled shoe

Og vi mistede en højhælet sko

when one of our engineers, Heather Knight,

da en af vores teknikere, Heather Knight,

left her high-heeled shoe -- after a nice dinner,

efterlod sin højhælede sko -- efter en god middag,

and returned back to the build --

og kom tilbage til konstruktionen --

and left it in a pile of stuff.

og efterlod den i en bunke af ting og sager.

And another engineer thought, "Well, that would be a really good thing to use"

Og en anden teknikker tænkte, "Jamen, det ville da være en rigtig god ting at bruge."

and ended up using it as a really nice trigger.

Og endte med at bruge den som en rigtig god udløser.

And it's actually in the machine.

Og den er faktisk med i maskinen.

So what did we learn from all of this?

Så, hvad lærte vi fra alt dette?

Well, having completed this,

Altså, efter at have færdiggjort dette

we have the opportunity to step back and reflect

har vi mulighed for at træde et skridt tilbage og reflektere

on some of the things.

på nogle af tingene.

And we learned that small stuff stinks.

Og vi lærte at alle små ting "stinker".

Little balls in wooden tracks

Små kugler i træspor

are really susceptible to

bliver virkelig påvirket af

humidity and temperature and a little bit of dust,

luftfugtighed og temperatur og små mængder støv,

and they fall out of the tracks,

og de falder ud af deres spor;

the exact angles makes it hard to get right.

de præcise sporvinkler gør det svært at få lavet rigtigt.

And yet, a bowling ball will always follow the same path.

Og alligevel følger en bowlingkugle altid den samme rute

It doesn't matter what temperature it is,

Den er ligeglad hvad temperaturen er,

doesn't matter what's in its way;

det er ligegyldigt hvad der ligger i vejen;

it will pretty much get where it needs to go.

den ender ganske simpelt hvor den skal.

But as much as the small stuff stinks, we needed somewhere to start,

Men uanset hvor meget de små ting "stinker", så var vi nødt til at starte et sted,

so that we would have somewhere to go.

så vi havde noget at arbejde ud fra.

And so you have to start with it. You have to focus on it.

Og så må man starte med det. Man må fokusere på det.

Small stuff stinks,

Små ting "stinker"

but, of course, it's essential, right?

men de er selvfølgelig essentielle, ikke?

What else? Planning is incredibly important.

Hvad ellers? Planlægning er utroligt vigtigt.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

You know, we spent a lot of time ideating

Du ved, vi brugte masser af tid på at få ideer

and even building some of these things.

og endda bygge nogle af disse ting.

It's been said that, "No battle plan

Det er blevet sagt at "Ingen krigsplan

survives contact with the enemy."

overlever kontakt med fjenden".

I think our enemy was physics --

Jeg tror vores fjende var fysikken,

(Laughter)

(Latter)

and she's a cruel mistress.

og hun er en ond lærerinde.

Often, we had to pull things out as a result

Ofte har vi været nødt til at fjerne ting som et resultat

because of timing or aesthetics or whatever.

af dårlig timing eller æstetik og hvad ved jeg.

And so while planning is important, so is flexibility.

Så mens planlægning er vigtig, så er fleksibilitet det også.

These are all things that ended up

Disse er alle de ting som i sidste ende

not making it into the final machine.

ikke blev en del af den færdige maskine.

So also, put reliable stuff last,

Desuden, put de driftsikre ting til sidst,

the stuff that's going to run every time.

de ting som virker hver gang.

Again, small to large is relevant here.

Igen, overgangen fra småt til stort er relevant her.

The little Lego car in the beginning of the video

Den lille Lego-bil i starten af videoen

references the big, real car

er en reference til den store, rigtige bil

near the end of the video.

nær slutningen af videoen.

The big, real car works every time; there's no problem about it.

Den store, rigtige bil virker hver gang; der er ingen problemer med den.

The little one had a tendency to try to run off the track

Den lille havde for vane at forsøge at hoppe af sporet

and that's a problem.

og det er et problem.

But you don't want to have to reset the whole machine

Men man vil ikke være nødt til at nulstille hele maskinen

because the Lego car at the end doesn't work, right.

fordi Lego-bilen i slutningen ikke virker, vel.

So you put that up front so that, if it fails,

Så sæt den allerførst, således at hvis den fejler,

at least you know

så ved du i det mindste

you don't have to reset the whole thing.

at du ikke skal stille hele maskinen op igen.

Life can be

Livet kan være

messy.

noget rod.

There were incredibly difficult moments in the building of this thing.

Der var utroligt svære øjeblikke under konstruktionen af denne ting.

Months were spent in this tiny, cold warehouse.

Måneder blev tilbragt i dette lillebitte kolde varehus.

And the wonderful elation that we had

Og så den vidunderlige glæde vi havde

when we finally completed it.

da vi endelig færdiggjorde det.

So it's important to remember that whether it's good or it's bad,

Så det er vigtigt at huske at uanset om det er god eller skidt,

"This Too Shall Pass."

"This Too Shall Pass"

Thank you very much.

Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Klapsalver)

And now to introduce

Og nu, for at introducere

their music video,

deres musikvideo

we have OK Go.

har vi OK Go

OK Go: An introduction. Hello TEDxUSC.

OK Go: En introduktion. Hej TEDxUSC.

We are OK Go.

Vi er OK Go.

What are we doing? Oh, just hanging out with our Grammy. What what!

Hvad vi laver? Ah, vi hænger bare ud med vores Grammy pris.

It think we can do better than this. Hello TEDxUSC.

Det tror jeg vi kan gøre bedre. Hej TEDxUSC.

We are OK Go. Have you read the "Natural Curiosity Cabinet?"

Vi er OK Go. Har I læst "Natural Curiosity Cabinet"?

I mean, "Curiosity" -- excuse me.

Jeg mener, "Curiosity" -- beklager.

Let me start again.

Lad mig prøve igen.

We need some more ridiculous things besides "The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities."

Vi har brug for flere åndsvage ting ud over "The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities."

Tim's sundial hat.

Tims hat med solur.

Have you seen the new work they've done to the Waltz Towers?

Har du set det nye arbejde de har lavet på Waltz Towers?

Sorry, start again.

Undskyld, start igen.

(Barking)

(Hundegøen)

Dogs.

Hunde.

Hello, TEDxUSC. We are OK Go,

Hej TEDxUSC. Vi er OK Go

and this our new video, "This Too Shall Pass."

og det her er vores nye video "This Too Shall Pass"

[unclear]

[Uklart]

Kay, we can still do one better I think, yeah.

Okay, vi kan stadig gøre den bedre tror jeg, ja..

That one's pretty good. It's getting better.

Den der var ret god. Det bliver bedre.

(Music)

(Musik)

♫ You know you can't keep letting it get you down ♫

♫ Du ved du ikke kan blive ved med at lade det trække dig ned ♫

♫ And you can't keep dragging that dead weight around ♫

♫ Og du kan ikke blive ved med at trække dødvægten rundt ♫

♫ If there ain't all that much to lug around ♫

♫ Hvis der ikke er meget at holde om ♫

♫ Better run like hell when you hit the ground ♫

♫ Du må hellere tage benene på nakken når du rammer jorden ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ You can't stop these kids from dancing ♫

♫ Du kan ikke stoppe børnenes dans ♫

♫ Why would you want to? ♫

♫ Hvorfor ville du gøre det? ♫

♫ Especially when you're already getting yours ♫

♫ Især når du allerede får dit ♫

♫ Cuz if your mind don't move and your knees don't bend ♫

♫ For hvis dit sind ikke bevæger og dine knæ ikke kan bøjes ♫

♫ Well don't go blaming the kids again ♫

♫ Så skal du ikke bebrejde børnene igen ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ Let it go ♫

♫ Giv slip ♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫ This too shall pass (Ordsprog) ♫

♫ Let it go ♫

♫ Giv slip ♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫ You know you can't keep letting it get you down ♫

♫ Du ved du ikke kan blive ved med at lade det trække dig ned ♫

♫ No, you can't keep letting it get you down ♫

♫ Nej, du kan ikke lade det blive ved med at trække dig ned ♫

♫ Let it go ♫

♫ Giv slip ♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫ Når morgenen kommer ♫

(Cheering)

(Jubel)