Adam Sadowsky: How to engineer a viral music video

Traducător: Maria Tancu Corector: Marius MUSTĂŢEA

Hi there.

Buna.

I'm going to be talking a little bit about

O sa va vorbesc un pic despre

music, machines and life.

muzica, masinarii si viata.

Or, more specifically,

Sau, mai exact,

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

ce am invatat din crearea unei masinarii foarte mari si complicate

for a music video.

pentru un videoclip.

Some of you may recognize this image.

Cativa dintre dumneavoastra poate recunosc aceasta imagine.

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

Aceasta este scena de inceput a videoclipului pe care l-am creat.

We'll be showing the video at the end,

O sa va aratam videoclipul la final,

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

dar inainte de asta, vreau sa va vorbesc un pic

what it is that they wanted.

despre ceea ce doreau sa obtina.

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

Acum, cand am inceput sa vorbim cu OK Go--

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

numele cantecului este "This Too Shall Pass"-- (n.t. "Si asta va trece")

we were really excited because

eram cu totii foarte incantati deoarece

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

si-au exprimat interesul in a construi o masinarie cu care ei sa poata dansa.

And we were very excited about this

Eram toti foarte incantati despre asta

because, of course,

pentru ca, evident,

they have a history of dancing with machines.

cei de la OK Go au mai dansat cu masinariile.

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

Ei sunt responsabili pentru acest videoclip, " Here it Goes Again".(n.t. "Iar o luam de la capat")

50-million-plus views on YouTube.

care a avut mai mult de 50 de milioame de vizionari pe YouTube.

Four guys dancing on treadmills,

Patru tipi dansand pe benzi de alergare,

no cuts, just a static camera.

fara taieturi, doar o camera statica.

A fantastically viral and wonderful video.

Un videoclip viral fantastic si minunat.

So we were really excited about working with them.

Asa incat eram foarte incantati sa lucram cu ei.

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

Si am inceput sa discutam despre ceea ce isi doreau.

And they explained that they wanted

Si ei au explicat ca isi doreau

kind of a Rube Goldberg machine.

un fel de masinarie Rube Goldberg.

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

Acum, pentru cei care nu stiu,

a Rube Goldberg machine

o masinarie Rube Goldberg

is a complicated contraption,

este o inventie complicata,

an incredibly over-engineered piece of machinery

o masinarie incredibil de supra-inginerita

that accomplishes a relatively simple task.

care realizeaza o operatiune relativ simpla.

So we were excited by this idea,

Asadar eram incantati de ideea aceasta,

and we started talking about

si am inceput sa vorbim depre ea

exactly what it would look like.

si cum va arata mai exact.

And we came up with some parameters, because,

Si am ajuns la niste perimetre care--

you know, building a Rube Goldberg machine

stiti, sa construiesti o masinarie Rube Goldberg

has limitations,

are limitarile ei,

but it also is pretty wide open.

dar este de asemenea si foarte permisiva.

And we wanted to make sure that we did something

Si am vrut sa ne asiguram ca facem ceva

that would work for a music video.

care o sa functioneze pentru un videoclip muzical.

So we came up with a list of requirements,

Asa incat am realizat o lista de cerinte,

the "10 commandments,"

cele "10 porunci",

and they were, in order of ascending difficulty:

si acestea erau, in ordinea crescatoare a dificultatii:

The first is "No magic."

Prima era" Fara magie".

Everything that happened on screen had to be

Tot ce se intampla pe ecran trebuia sa fie

very easily understood by a typical viewer.

foarte usor de inteles pentru privitorul obisnuit.

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

Regula de baza era ca, daca mama mea nu putea sa inteleaga asta,

then we couldn't use it in the video.

atunci nu puteam sa il folosim in videoclip.

They wanted band integration,

Ei doreau integrarea trupei,

that is, the machine acting upon the band members,

adica masinaria sa actioneze asupra membrilor trupei,

specifically not the other way around.

si nu invers.

They wanted the machine action to follow the song feeling.

Ei doreau ca actiunile masinariei sa urmareasca linia melodica.

So as the song picks up emotion,

Asa incat in timp ce melodia creste in emotii,

so should the machine

asa ar trebui sa faca si masinaria

get grander in its process.

sa creasca in procesele ei.

They wanted us to make use of the space.

Doreau sa folosim tot spatiul.

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

Asa incat avem acesti 929 metrii patrati de depozit pe care ii utilizam,

divided between two floors.

impartiti pe 2 etaje.

It included an exterior loading dock.

Includeau o rampa de incarcare exterioara.

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

Am utilizat tot acel spatiu, incluzand o gaura enorma din podea

that we actually descended the camera and cameraman through.

prin care am coborat camera si cameramanul.

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

Doreau ca masinaria sa faca mizerie, si noi am fost fericiti sa le facem pe plac.

The machine itself would start the music.

Masinaria insasi avea sa porneasca muzica.

So the machine would get started,

Asadar masinaria se pornea,

it would travel some distance,

parcurgea o anumita distanta,

reacting along the way,

reactionand pe parcursul drumului,

hit play on an iPod or a tape deck

si apasa pe pornire pe un iPod sau un casetofon

or something that would start playback.

sau ceva care ar porni muzica in fundal.

And the machine would maintain synchronization throughout.

Si masinaria ar mentine sincronizarea pe tot parcursul.

And speaking of synchronization,

Si ca tot vorbim de sincronizare,

they wanted it to sync to the rhythm

doreau sa se sincronizeze cu ritmul

and to hit specific beats along the way.

si sa nimereasca anumiti timpi pe parcurs.

Okay. (Laughter)

Bine, (rasete)

They wanted it to end precisely on time.

Doreau sa se termine exact la timp.

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

Bine, deci de inceput pana la final sincronizarea trebuie sa fie perfecta.

And they wanted the music to drop out

Si doreau ca muzica sa se opreasca

at a certain point in the video

la un anumit moment din videoclip

and actual live audio from the machine

si sunete "live" din masinarie

to play part of the song.

sa cante partea respectiva din melodie.

And as if that wasn't enough,

Si daca asta nu ar fi fost indeajuns,

all of these incredibly complicating things, right,

toate aceste lucruri incredibil de complicate,

they wanted it in one shot.

le doreau dintr-o singura filmare.

(Laughter)

(rasete)

(Applause)

(aplauze)

Okay.

Bine.

So, just some statistics

Asadar, cateva statistice

about what we went through in the process.

despre, prin ce a trebuit sa trecem pe parcursul procesului.

The machine itself has

Masinaria in sine are

89 distinct interactions.

89 de interactiuni distincte.

It took us 85 takes

Ne-a luat 85 de incercari

to get it on film

pentru a o filma

to our satisfaction.

spre satisfactia noastra.

Of those 85 takes,

Din aceste 85 de incercari,

only three actually successfully completed their run.

doar 3 au fost duse pana la capat.

We destroyed two pianos

Am distrus doua piane,

and 10 televisions in the process.

si 10 televizoare in acest proces.

We went to Home Depot well over a hundred times.

Ne-am dus la magazinul Home Depot de mai mult de 100 de ori,

(Laughter)

(rasete)

And we lost one high-heeled shoe

Si am pierdut un pantof cu toc,

when one of our engineers, Heather Knight,

al uneia dintre inginerii nostrii, Heather Knight,

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

care si-a lasat pantoful cu toc --dupa o masa frumoasa,

and returned back to the build --

s-a reintors la constructie--

and left it in a pile of stuff.

si l-a lasat intr-o gramada de lucruri.

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

Si un alt inginer s-a gandit, " ei bine, acesta ne-ar folosi cu adevarat".

and ended up using it as a really nice trigger.

Si l-a utilizat pe post de un tragaci foarte fain.

And it's actually in the machine.

Si chiar este parte din masinarie.

So what did we learn from all of this?

Deci ce am invatat din toate astea?

Well, having completed this,

Ei bine, dupa ce am terminat asta,

we have the opportunity to step back and reflect

avem oportunitatea sa facem un pas inapoi si sa reflectam

on some of the things.

asupra unora dintre lucruri.

And we learned that small stuff stinks.

Si am invatat ca: lucrurile mici sunt naspa.

Little balls in wooden tracks

Bilute mici in şine de lemn

are really susceptible to

sunt foarte suceptibile la

humidity and temperature and a little bit of dust,

umiditate si temperatura, si un pic de praf,

and they fall out of the tracks,

si cad de pe şine,

the exact angles makes it hard to get right.

unghiul bun este greu de gasit.

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

Si totusi, o minge de bowling va cadea mereu pe aceeasi traiectorie.

It doesn't matter what temperature it is,

Nu conteaza ce temperatura este,

doesn't matter what's in its way;

nu conteaza ce este in calea ei;

it will pretty much get where it needs to go.

va ajunge acolo unde trebuie.

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

Dar asa cum lucrurile mici sunt naspa, avem nevoie sa incepem de undeva,

so that we would have somewhere to go.

incat sa avem unde sa mergem.

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

Si trebuie sa incepi cu asta. Trebuie sa te focusezi pe asta.

Small stuff stinks,

Lucrurile mici sunt naspa,

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

dar, evident, sunt esentiale, corect.

What else? Planning is incredibly important.

Ce altceva? Planificarea este incredibil de importanta.

(Laughter)

(rasete)

You know, we spent a lot of time ideating

Stiti, am petrecut mult timp idealizand

and even building some of these things.

si chiar sa construim unele dintre lucrurile astea.

It's been said that, "No battle plan

S-a spus ca,"Nici un plan de bataie

survives contact with the enemy."

nu supravietuieste contactului cu inamicul".

I think our enemy was physics --

Cred ca inamicul nostru era fizica,

(Laughter)

(rasete)

and she's a cruel mistress.

si este o amanta fara suflet.

Often, we had to pull things out as a result

Adesea, a trebui sa scoatem chestii afara ca si rezultat

because of timing or aesthetics or whatever.

datorita sincronizarii sau esteticii sau ma rog.

And so while planning is important, so is flexibility.

Deci in timp ce planificarea este importanta, tot la fel este si flexibilitatea.

These are all things that ended up

Acestea sunt toate lucrurile care au ajuns

not making it into the final machine.

sa nu faca parte din masinaria finala.

So also, put reliable stuff last,

Deci de asemenea, puneti chestiile pe care va puteti baza la final,

the stuff that's going to run every time.

chestiile care vor functiona de fiecare data.

Again, small to large is relevant here.

Din nou, marimea conteaza si aici.

The little Lego car in the beginning of the video

Masinuta micuta de Lego de la inceputul videoclipului

references the big, real car

face referire la masina mare, reala

near the end of the video.

de la finalul videoclipului.

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

Masina mare, reala, functioneaza de fiecare data, nu avem nici o problema cu ea.

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

Cea mica insa are tendinta sa sara de pe sine

and that's a problem.

si asta e o problema.

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

Dar nu vrei sa trebuiasca sa resetezi intreaga masinarie

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

pentru ca nu functioneaza masinuta Lego la final, corect.

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

Asa incat o pui la inceput, si daca cade,

at least you know

cel putin stii

you don't have to reset the whole thing.

ca nu trebuie sa resetezi intreaga chestie.

Life can be

Viata poate sa fie

messy.

dezordonata.

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

Au fost momente incredibil de dificile in constructia acestei chestii

Months were spent in this tiny, cold warehouse.

Luni petrecute in acest depozit mic si rece.

And the wonderful elation that we had

Si ceea ce ne-a ridicat moralul a fost cand

when we finally completed it.

am reusit sa o finalizam in final

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

Asadar este important sa retineti ca fie ca e bine sau e rau,

"This Too Shall Pass."

"This Too Shall Pass." (n.t. "Si asta va trece")

Thank you very much.

Va multumesc foarte mult.

(Applause)

(aplauze)

And now to introduce

Si acum pentru a va prezenta

their music video,

videoclipul lor muzical,

we have OK Go.

avem formatia OK Go.

OK Go: An introduction. Hello TEDxUSC.

Ok Go: O introducere. Buna TEDxUSC.

We are OK Go.

Noi suntem OK Go.

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

Ce facem noi? Si noi pe aici cu premiul nostru Grammy. Ce ce?

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

Cred ca putem mai bine de atat. Buna TEDxUSC.

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

Suntem OK Go. Ati citit "Cabinetul de curiozitati naturale?"

I mean, "Curiosity" -- excuse me.

Vreau sa spun "curiozitati"-- ma scuzati.

Let me start again.

Sa incepem din nou.

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

Avem nevoie de mai multe lucruri haioase in afara de "Cabinetul de curiozitati naturale".

Tim's sundial hat.

Palaria ceas solar a lui Tim.

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

Ati vazut noua munca asupra Turnurilor Waltz?

Sorry, start again.

Scuze, sa incepem din nou.

(Barking)

(latrat)

Dogs.

Caini.

Hello, TEDxUSC. We are OK Go,

Buna, TEDxUSC. Noi suntem OK Go,

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

si acesta este noul nostru videoclip, "This Too shall Pass".

[unclear]

(neclar)

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

'Kay, putem totusi sa facem una mai buna cred, da.

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

Aceea e destul de buna. Devine mai buna.

(Music)

(muzica)

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

♫Stii ca nu poti sa il lasi sa te doboare♫

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

♫ Si stii ca nu poti sa tot cari aceasta greutate mare♫

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

♫Daca nu prea ai ce sa tragi dupa tine♫

♫ Better run like hell when you hit the ground ♫

♫Mai bine cand lovesti pamantul fugi cat te tine♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ You can't stop these kids from dancing ♫

♫Nu poti opri acesti copii sa danseze cu viata♫

♫ Why would you want to? ♫

♫De ce ti-ai dori asta oare?♫

♫ Especially when you're already getting yours ♫

♫Mai ales cand tu le primesti pe ale tale♫

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

♫Daca ai mintea inghetata si genunchii stau de piatra♫

♫ Well don't go blaming the kids again ♫

♫Nu te-apuca de dat vina pe copii inca o data♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ Let it go ♫

♫Las-o sa treaca♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫Si asta va trece♫

♫ Let it go ♫

♫Las-o sa treaca♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫Si asta va trece♫

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

♫Stii ca nu poti sa il lasi sa te doboare♫

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

♫Nu, nu poti sa il lasi sa te doboare♫

♫ Let it go ♫

♫Las-o sa treaca♫

♫ This too shall pass ♫

♫Si asta va trece♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

♫ When the morning comes ♫

♫Cand vine dimineata♫

(Cheering)

(aclamatii)