ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jakob Trollback - Designer
Jakob Trollback is a pioneering designer, whose work in video and motion graphics has helped define the industry -- always pushing the edges of technology and entertainment through design.

Why you should listen

Jakob Trollback is a designer and creative thinker -- and he's also a DJ, which becomes clear when you see the work of his firm, Trollback + Company, distinguished by an almost musical attention to rhythm, form and detail.

As creative director for R/GA in the 1990s, Jakob Trollback was among the earliest group of designers to understand and embrace the importance of digital media, and the effect it would have on culture at large. Working on film titles, TV commercials, interactive displays ... Trollback translated the sea changes in media for advertisers and marketers, as well as Hollywood.

His firm Trollback + Company speciaizes in motion graphics -- those often-overlooked elements that set the tone for film and TV titles, short-form video and TV ad campaigns. Recently, Trollback designed the low-key but perfect titles for Deborah Scranton's Frontline documentary Bad Voodoo's War. They've also designed the video wall at the Frank Gehry-designed IAC building in New York City.

More profile about the speaker
Jakob Trollback | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Jakob Trollback: A new kind of music video

Filmed:
536,395 views

What would a music video look like if it were directed by the music, purely as an expression of a great song, rather than driven by a filmmaker's concept? Designer Jakob Trollback shares the results of his experiment in the form.
- Designer
Jakob Trollback is a pioneering designer, whose work in video and motion graphics has helped define the industry -- always pushing the edges of technology and entertainment through design. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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I’m working a lot with motion and animation,
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and also I'm an old DJ and a musician.
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So, music videos are something that I always found interesting,
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but they always seem to be so reactive.
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So I was thinking, can you remove us as creators
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and try to make the music be the voice
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and have the animation following it?
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So with two designers, Tolga and Christina, at my office, we took a track --
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many of you probably know it. It’s about 25 years old,
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and it's David Byrne and Brian Eno --
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and we did this little animation.
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And I think that it's maybe interesting, also,
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that it deals with two problematic issues,
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which are rising waters and religion.
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Song: Before God destroyed the people on the Earth,
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he warned Noah to build an Ark.
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And after Noah built his Ark,
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I believe he told Noah to warn the people
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that they must change all their wicked ways
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before he come upon them and destroy them.
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And when Noah had done built his Ark,
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I understand that somebody began to rend a song.
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And the song began to move on I understand like this.
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And when Noah had done built his Ark ...
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Move on ... In fact ... Concern ...
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So they get tired, has come dark and rain; they get weary and tired.
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And then he went and knocked an old lady house.
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And old lady ran to the door and say, "Who is it?"
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Jack say, "Me, Mama-san, could we spend the night here?
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Because we’re far from home, we’re very tired."
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And the old lady said, "Oh yes, come on in."
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It was come dark and rain, will make you weary and tired.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jakob Trollback - Designer
Jakob Trollback is a pioneering designer, whose work in video and motion graphics has helped define the industry -- always pushing the edges of technology and entertainment through design.

Why you should listen

Jakob Trollback is a designer and creative thinker -- and he's also a DJ, which becomes clear when you see the work of his firm, Trollback + Company, distinguished by an almost musical attention to rhythm, form and detail.

As creative director for R/GA in the 1990s, Jakob Trollback was among the earliest group of designers to understand and embrace the importance of digital media, and the effect it would have on culture at large. Working on film titles, TV commercials, interactive displays ... Trollback translated the sea changes in media for advertisers and marketers, as well as Hollywood.

His firm Trollback + Company speciaizes in motion graphics -- those often-overlooked elements that set the tone for film and TV titles, short-form video and TV ad campaigns. Recently, Trollback designed the low-key but perfect titles for Deborah Scranton's Frontline documentary Bad Voodoo's War. They've also designed the video wall at the Frank Gehry-designed IAC building in New York City.

More profile about the speaker
Jakob Trollback | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM