ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Don Levy - Film executive
Don Levy has served on the frontlines of the digital transformation of entertainment. For 17 years, he led the communications efforts for top visual effects and digital animation studio, Sony Pictures Imageworks. He is fascinated by the magic of movies.

Why you should listen

Don Levy joined Sony Pictures Imageworks when it was “just 40 people and a dream” in 1995. Starting as an awards campaign consultant, he helped the studio grow in both size and reputation, beginning with its first Academy Award for the animated short “The ChubbChubbs” in 2003 and continuing with the 2005 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for “Spider-Man 2.” As the senior vice president of marketing and communications for Sony Pictures, he directed corporate communications, marketing and public relations for Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, as well as for Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Online Entertainment.

Levy left Sony Pictures in June of 2012 to develop a new family entertainment venture and found Smith Brook Farm, a media, entertainement and tech consultancy. At the same time, he is a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts' Entertainment Technology Center and is teaching entertainment marketing at Boston University's Los Angeles Internship Program.

Levy is also member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, on its feature animation nominating committee. The Academy helped tremendously in crafting the video montage in his talk, an exclusive for TED.

More profile about the speaker
Don Levy | Speaker | TED.com
TED2012

Don Levy: A cinematic journey through visual effects

Don Levy: Uma jornada cinematográfica através dos efeitos visuais

Filmed:
777,721 views

Faz 110 anos desde que Georges Méliès enviou uma espaço-nave batendo no olho do homem na Lua. Então, aonde os efeitos visuais chegaram desde então? Trabalhando em conjunto com a Academia de Artes e Ciências Cinematográficas, Don Levy nos leva em uma jornada através dos efeitos especiais, do "fingimento" das primeiras tecnologias às maravilhas contínuas da produção cinematográfica moderna.
- Film executive
Don Levy has served on the frontlines of the digital transformation of entertainment. For 17 years, he led the communications efforts for top visual effects and digital animation studio, Sony Pictures Imageworks. He is fascinated by the magic of movies. Full bio

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

00:16
The filmmaker Georges Méliès was first a magician.
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Primeiramente, o cineasta Georges Méliés era um mágico.
00:22
Now movies proved to be the ultimate medium for magic.
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Agora os filmes provaram ser um meio definitivo para mágica.
00:29
With complete control of everything the audience can see,
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Com controle total de tudo que a audiência consegue ver,
00:35
moviemakers had developed an arsenal of techniques
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cineastas desenvolveram um arsenal de técnicas
00:39
to further their deceptions.
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para levar adiante suas ilusões.
00:43
Motion pictures are themselves an illusion of life,
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Filmes são, por si próprios, uma ilusão da vida,
00:48
produced by the sequential projection of still frames,
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produzidos por uma projeção sequencial de imagens estáticas,
00:52
and they astonished the Lumière brothers' early audiences.
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e eles encantaram as primeiras platéias dos irmãos Lumière.
00:57
Even today's sophisticated moviegoers
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Até hoje os cinéfilos mais sofisticados
00:59
still lose themselves to the screen,
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ainda se perdem na tela,
01:02
and filmmakers leverage this separation from reality
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e cineastas alavancam essa separação da realidade
01:06
to great effect.
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para um grande efeito.
01:09
Now imaginative people have been having fun with this
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Ora, pessoas imaginativas tem se divertido com isso
01:13
for over 400 years.
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por mais de 400 anos.
01:15
Giambattista della Porta, a Neapolitan scholar
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Giambattista della Porta, um estudioso napolitano
01:19
in the 16th century, examined and studied the natural world
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do século XVI, examinou e estudou a natureza
01:24
and saw how it could be manipulated.
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e viu como ela poderia ser manipulada.
01:28
Playing with the world, and our perception of it,
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Brincando com o mundo e com nossa percepção dele
01:31
really is the essence of visual effects.
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é, realmente, a essência dos efeitos visuais.
01:35
So digging deeper into this
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Então indo mais fundo nisto
01:37
with the Science and Technology Council
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com o Conselho de Ciência e Tecnologia
01:39
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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da Academia de Artes e Ciências Cinematográficas
01:42
reveals some truth behind the trickery.
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revela algumas verdades por detrás dos truques.
01:47
Visual effects are based on the principles of all illusions:
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Efeitos visuais são baseados nos princípios de todas as ilusões:
01:52
assumption, things are as we know them;
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suposição, as coisas são como as conhecemos;
01:56
presumption, things will behave as we expect;
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presunção, as coisas irão se comportar como esperamos;
02:00
and context in reality,
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e o contexto na realidade,
02:02
our knowledge of the world as we know it,
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a compreensão do mundo como nós o conhecemos,
02:05
such as scale.
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assim como escala.
02:07
Now a fourth factor really becomes an obsession,
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Agora, um quarto fator de fato se torna uma obsessão,
02:11
which is, never betray the illusion.
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que é, nunca trair a ilusão.
02:15
And that last point has made visual effects
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E este último ponto tornou os efeitos visuais
02:18
a constant quest for perfection.
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uma busca constante pela perfeição.
02:21
So from the hand-cranked jump cut early days of cinema
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Então desde os cortes de cena a manivela dos primórdios do cinema
02:26
to last Sunday's Oscar winner, what follows are some steps
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ao último vencedor do Oscar, o que se segue são alguns passos
02:31
and a few repeats in the evolution of visual effects.
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e algumas repetições na evolução dos efeitos visuais.
02:36
I hope you will enjoy.
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Espero que vocês gostem.
02:40
Isabelle: "The filmmaker Georges Méliès
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Isabelle: "O cineasta Georges Méliès
02:45
was one of the first to realize that
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foi um dos primeiros a perceber que
02:49
films had the power
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os filmes tinham poder
02:52
to capture dreams."
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para capturar sonhos."
02:54
(Music) ["'A Trip to the Moon' (1902)"]
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(Música) ["Uma viagem a lua (1902)"]
02:58
["2011 Restoration of the Original Hand-Tinted Color"]
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["2011 Restauração do original pintado a mão"]
03:10
["'2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)"]
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["2001: Uma odisséia no Espaço (1968)"]
03:14
["Academy Award Winner for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
03:25
["'Avatar' (2009)"] First doctor: How are you feeling, Jake?
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["'Avatar' (2009)"] Médica: Como você está se sentindo, Jake?
03:27
Jake: Hey guys.
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Jake: E aí pessoal.
03:29
["Academy Award Winner for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
03:30
Second doctor: Welcome to your new body, Jake.First doctor: Good.
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Médico: Bem vindo ao seu novo corpo, Jake. Médica: Excelente.
03:33
Second doctor: We're gonna take this nice and easy, Jake.First doctor: Well, do you want to sit up? That's fine.
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Médico: Nós iremos levar isso de forma agradável e fácil, Jake. Médica: Bem, você quer se sentar? Tudo bem.
03:36
Second doctor: And good, just take it nice and slow, Jake.
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Médico: E bom, vá com calma, Jake.
03:38
Well, no truncal ataxia, that's good.First doctor: You feeling light-headed or dizzy at all?
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Bem, sem ataxia troncal, isso é bom. Médica: Você está com tonturas ou totalmente atordoado
03:42
Oh, you're wiggling your toes.
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Oh, você está mexendo os dedos dos pés
03:44
["'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' (1972)"]
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["As Aventuras de Alice no País das Maravilhas (1972)"]
03:46
Alice: What's happening to me?
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Alice: O que está acontecendo comigo?
03:54
["'Alice in Wonderland' (2010)"]
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["Alice no País das Maravilhas (2010)"]
03:58
["Academy Award Nominee for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
04:04
["'The Lost World' (1925)"]
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['O Mundo Perdido (1925)]
04:07
["Stop Motion Animation"]
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["Animação Stop Motion"]
04:10
["'Jurassic Park' (1993)"] [Dinosaur roars]
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["'Parque dos Dinossauros (1993)"] [Dinossauro rugindo]
04:14
["CG Animation"]
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["Animação CG"]
04:17
["Academy Award Winner for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
04:30
["'The Smurfs' (2011)"]
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["Os Smurfs (2011)"]
04:34
["Autodesk Maya Software - Key Frame Animation"]
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["Software Autodesk Maya - Animação Key Frame"]
04:38
["'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011)"]
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["Planeta dos Macacos: A Origem (2011)"]
04:41
Chimpanzee: No! ["Academy Award Nominee for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
04:43
["'Metropolis' (1927)"]
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["'Metrópolis' (1927)"]
04:47
(Music)
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(Música)
05:04
["'Blade Runner' (1982)"]
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["Blade Runner: O Caçador de Andróides (1982)"]
05:08
["Academy Award Nominee for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
05:16
["'The Rains Came' (1939)"] Rama Safti: Well, it's all over.
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["'The Rains Came' (1939)"] Rama Safti: Bem, está tudo acabado.
05:18
Maharaja: Nothing to worry about, not a thing.
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Naharaja: Nada com o que se preocupar, nadinha.
05:20
['Academy Award for Special Effects - (First Year of Category)"]
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Oscar de Efeitos Especiais - (Primeiro Ano da Categoria)
05:23
(Explosion)
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(Explosão)
05:31
["'2012' (2009)"]Governor: It seems to me that the worst is over.
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["'2012' (2009)"] Governador: Parece-me que o pior já passou.
05:37
["CG Destruction"]
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["Destruição em CG"]
05:48
["'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)"]
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["Senhor dos Anéis: O Retorno do Rei (2003)"]
05:51
["Massive Software - Crowd Generation"]
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["Massive Software - Geração de Multidão"]
05:55
["Academy Award Winner for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
05:58
["'Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ' (1925)"]
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["'Ben Hur (1925)"]
06:02
["Miniatures and Puppets Bring the Crowd to Life"]
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[ "Miniaturas e Fantoches dão vida à multidão"]
06:10
["'Gladiator' (2000)"]
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["Gladiador (2000)"]
06:13
["CG Coliseum and Digital Crowds"]
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["Coliseu em CG e Multidão Digital"]
06:17
["Academy Award Winner for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
06:22
["'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2' (2011)"]
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["'Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte Parte 2 (2011)"]
06:27
["Academy Award Nominee for Visual Effects"]
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["Vencedor do Oscar de Efeitos Visuais"]
06:39
["Produced in conjunction with the Academy's Science and Technology Council."]
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["Produzido em conjunto com o Conselho de Ciência e Tecnologia da Academia."]
06:42
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
06:43
["'It is today possible to realize the most impossible and improbable things.' — Georges Méliès"]
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"Hoje é possível realizar as coisas mais impossíveis e improváveis." - Georges Méliès
06:46
Don Levy: Thank you.
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Obrigado.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Don Levy - Film executive
Don Levy has served on the frontlines of the digital transformation of entertainment. For 17 years, he led the communications efforts for top visual effects and digital animation studio, Sony Pictures Imageworks. He is fascinated by the magic of movies.

Why you should listen

Don Levy joined Sony Pictures Imageworks when it was “just 40 people and a dream” in 1995. Starting as an awards campaign consultant, he helped the studio grow in both size and reputation, beginning with its first Academy Award for the animated short “The ChubbChubbs” in 2003 and continuing with the 2005 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for “Spider-Man 2.” As the senior vice president of marketing and communications for Sony Pictures, he directed corporate communications, marketing and public relations for Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, as well as for Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Online Entertainment.

Levy left Sony Pictures in June of 2012 to develop a new family entertainment venture and found Smith Brook Farm, a media, entertainement and tech consultancy. At the same time, he is a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts' Entertainment Technology Center and is teaching entertainment marketing at Boston University's Los Angeles Internship Program.

Levy is also member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, on its feature animation nominating committee. The Academy helped tremendously in crafting the video montage in his talk, an exclusive for TED.

More profile about the speaker
Don Levy | Speaker | TED.com