TED Talks Live
Danielle Feinberg: The magic ingredient that brings Pixar movies to life
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Danielle Feinberg, Pixar's director of photography, creates stories with soul and wonder using math, science and code. Go behind the scenes of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Brave, WALL-E and more, and discover how Pixar interweaves art and science to create fantastic worlds where the things you imagine can become real. This talk comes from the PBS special "TED Talks: Science & Wonder."
Danielle Feinberg - Director of photography, Pixar
At Pixar, Danielle Feinberg delights in bending the rules of light to her every whim. Full bio
At Pixar, Danielle Feinberg delights in bending the rules of light to her every whim. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
When I was seven years old,
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some well-meaning adult asked me
what I wanted to be when I grew up.
what I wanted to be when I grew up.
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Proudly, I said: "An artist."
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"No, you don't," he said,
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"You can't make a living being an artist!"
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My little seven-year-old
Picasso dreams were crushed.
Picasso dreams were crushed.
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But I gathered myself,
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went off in search of a new dream,
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eventually settling on being a scientist,
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perhaps something like
the next Albert Einstein.
the next Albert Einstein.
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(Laughter)
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I have always loved math and science,
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later, coding.
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And so I decided to study
computer programming in college.
computer programming in college.
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In my junior year,
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my computer graphics professor
showed us these wonderful short films.
showed us these wonderful short films.
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It was the first computer animation
any of us had ever seen.
any of us had ever seen.
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I watched these films
in wonder, transfixed,
in wonder, transfixed,
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fireworks going off in my head,
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thinking, "That is what
I want to do with my life."
I want to do with my life."
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The idea that all the math, science
and code I had been learning
and code I had been learning
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could come together to create
these worlds and characters
these worlds and characters
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and stories I connected with,
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was pure magic for me.
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Just two years later, I started working
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at the place that made those films,
Pixar Animation Studios.
Pixar Animation Studios.
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It was here I learned how
we actually execute those films.
we actually execute those films.
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To create our movies,
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we create a three-dimensional
world inside the computer.
world inside the computer.
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We start with a point that makes
a line that makes a face
a line that makes a face
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that creates characters,
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or trees and rocks
that eventually become a forest.
that eventually become a forest.
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And because it's
a three-dimensional world,
a three-dimensional world,
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we can move a camera
around inside that world.
around inside that world.
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I was fascinated by all of it.
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But then I got my first taste of lighting.
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Lighting in practice is placing lights
inside this three-dimensional world.
inside this three-dimensional world.
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I actually have icons of lights
I move around in there.
I move around in there.
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Here you can see I've added a light,
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I'm turning on the rough version
of lighting in our software,
of lighting in our software,
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turn on shadows
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and placing the light.
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As I place a light,
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I think about what it might
look like in real life,
look like in real life,
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but balance that out with what we need
artistically and for the story.
artistically and for the story.
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So it might look like this at first,
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but as we adjust this and move that
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in weeks of work,
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in rough form it might look like this,
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and in final form, like this.
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There's this moment in lighting
that made me fall utterly in love with it.
that made me fall utterly in love with it.
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It's where we go from this
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to this.
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It's the moment where
all the pieces come together,
all the pieces come together,
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and suddenly the world comes to life
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as if it's an actual place that exists.
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This moment never gets old,
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especially for that little seven-year-old
girl that wanted to be an artist.
girl that wanted to be an artist.
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As I learned to light,
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I learned about using light
to help tell story,
to help tell story,
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to set the time of day,
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to create the mood,
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to guide the audience's eye,
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how to make a character look appealing
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or stand out in a busy set.
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Did you see WALL-E?
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(Laughter)
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There he is.
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As you can see,
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we can create any world that we want
inside the computer.
inside the computer.
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We can make a world with monsters,
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with robots that fall in love,
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we can even make pigs fly.
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(Laughter)
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While this is an incredible thing,
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this untethered artistic freedom,
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it can create chaos.
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It can create unbelievable worlds,
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unbelievable movement,
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things that are jarring to the audience.
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So to combat this, we tether
ourselves with science.
ourselves with science.
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We use science and the world we know
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as a backbone,
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to ground ourselves in something
relatable and recognizable.
relatable and recognizable.
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"Finding Nemo" is an excellent
example of this.
example of this.
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A major portion of the movie
takes place underwater.
takes place underwater.
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But how do you make it look underwater?
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In early research and development,
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we took a clip of underwater footage
and recreated it in the computer.
and recreated it in the computer.
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Then we broke it back down
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to see which elements make up
that underwater look.
that underwater look.
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One of the most critical elements
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was how the light travels
through the water.
through the water.
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So we coded up a light
that mimics this physics --
that mimics this physics --
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first, the visibility of the water,
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and then what happens with the color.
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Objects close to the eye
have their full, rich colors.
have their full, rich colors.
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As light travels deeper into the water,
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we lose the red wavelengths,
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then the green wavelengths,
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leaving us with blue at the far depths.
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In this clip you can see
two other important elements.
two other important elements.
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The first is the surge and swell,
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or the invisible underwater current
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that pushes the bits of particulate
around in the water.
around in the water.
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The second is the caustics.
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These are the ribbons of light,
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like you might see
on the bottom of a pool,
on the bottom of a pool,
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that are created when the sun
bends through the crests
bends through the crests
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of the ripples and waves
on the ocean's surface.
on the ocean's surface.
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Here we have the fog beams.
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These give us color depth cues,
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but also tells which direction is up
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in shots where we don't
see the water surface.
see the water surface.
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The other really cool thing
you can see here
you can see here
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is that we lit that particulate
only with the caustics,
only with the caustics,
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so that as it goes in and out
of those ribbons of light,
of those ribbons of light,
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it appears and disappears,
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lending a subtle, magical
sparkle to the underwater.
sparkle to the underwater.
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You can see how we're using the science --
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the physics of water,
light and movement --
light and movement --
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to tether that artistic freedom.
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But we are not beholden to it.
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We considered each of these elements
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and which ones had to be
scientifically accurate
scientifically accurate
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and which ones we could push and pull
to suit the story and the mood.
to suit the story and the mood.
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We realized early on that color
was one we had some leeway with.
was one we had some leeway with.
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So here's a traditionally colored
underwater scene.
underwater scene.
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But here, we can take Sydney Harbor
and push it fairly green
and push it fairly green
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to suit the sad mood of what's happening.
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In this scene, it's really important
we see deep into the underwater,
we see deep into the underwater,
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so we understand what
the East Australian Current is,
the East Australian Current is,
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that the turtles are diving into
and going on this roller coaster ride.
and going on this roller coaster ride.
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So we pushed the visibility of the water
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well past anything you would
ever see in real life.
ever see in real life.
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Because in the end,
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we are not trying to recreate
the scientifically correct real world,
the scientifically correct real world,
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we're trying to create a believable world,
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one the audience can immerse
themselves in to experience the story.
themselves in to experience the story.
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We use science to create
something wonderful.
something wonderful.
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We use story and artistic touch
to get us to a place of wonder.
to get us to a place of wonder.
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This guy, WALL-E, is a great
example of that.
example of that.
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He finds beauty in the simplest things.
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But when he came in to lighting,
we knew we had a big problem.
we knew we had a big problem.
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We got so geeked-out on making
WALL-E this convincing robot,
WALL-E this convincing robot,
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that we made his binoculars
practically optically perfect.
practically optically perfect.
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(Laughter)
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His binoculars are one of the most
critical acting devices he has.
critical acting devices he has.
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He doesn't have a face or even
traditional dialogue, for that matter.
traditional dialogue, for that matter.
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So the animators were heavily
dependent on the binoculars
dependent on the binoculars
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to sell his acting and emotions.
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We started lighting and we realized
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the triple lenses inside his binoculars
were a mess of reflections.
were a mess of reflections.
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He was starting to look glassy-eyed.
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(Laughter)
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Now, glassy-eyed
is a fundamentally awful thing
is a fundamentally awful thing
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when you are trying
to convince an audience
to convince an audience
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that a robot has a personality
and he's capable of falling in love.
and he's capable of falling in love.
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So we went to work on these optically
perfect binoculars,
perfect binoculars,
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trying to find a solution that would
maintain his true robot materials
maintain his true robot materials
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but solve this reflection problem.
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So we started with the lenses.
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Here's the flat-front lens,
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we have a concave lens
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and a convex lens.
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And here you see all three together,
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showing us all these reflections.
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We tried turning them down,
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we tried blocking them,
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nothing was working.
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You can see here,
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sometimes we needed something specific
reflected in his eyes --
reflected in his eyes --
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usually Eve.
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So we couldn't just use some faked
abstract image on the lenses.
abstract image on the lenses.
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So here we have Eve on the first lens,
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we put Eve on the second lens,
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it's not working.
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We turn it down,
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it's still not working.
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And then we have our eureka moment.
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We add a light to WALL-E
that accidentally leaks into his eyes.
that accidentally leaks into his eyes.
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You can see it light up
these gray aperture blades.
these gray aperture blades.
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Suddenly, those aperture blades
are poking through that reflection
are poking through that reflection
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the way nothing else has.
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Now we recognize WALL-E as having an eye.
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As humans we have the white of our eye,
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the colored iris
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and the black pupil.
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Now WALL-E has the black of an eye,
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the gray aperture blades
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and the black pupil.
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Suddenly, WALL-E feels like he has a soul,
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like there's a character
with emotion inside.
with emotion inside.
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Later in the movie towards the end,
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WALL-E loses his personality,
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essentially going dead.
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This is the perfect time to bring back
that glassy-eyed look.
that glassy-eyed look.
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In the next scene,
WALL-E comes back to life.
WALL-E comes back to life.
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We bring that light back to bring
the aperture blades back,
the aperture blades back,
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and he returns to that sweet,
soulful robot we've come to love.
soulful robot we've come to love.
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09:02
(Video) WALL-E: Eva?
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Danielle Feinberg: There's a beauty
in these unexpected moments --
in these unexpected moments --
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when you find the key
to unlocking a robot's soul,
to unlocking a robot's soul,
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the moment when you discover
what you want to do with your life.
what you want to do with your life.
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The jellyfish in "Finding Nemo"
was one of those moments for me.
was one of those moments for me.
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There are scenes in every movie
that struggle to come together.
that struggle to come together.
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This was one of those scenes.
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The director had a vision for this scene
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based on some wonderful footage
of jellyfish in the South Pacific.
of jellyfish in the South Pacific.
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As we went along,
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we were floundering.
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The reviews with the director
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turned from the normal
look-and-feel conversation
look-and-feel conversation
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into more and more questions
about numbers and percentages.
about numbers and percentages.
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Maybe because unlike normal,
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we were basing it on
something in real life,
something in real life,
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or maybe just because we had lost our way.
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But it had become about using
our brain without our eyes,
our brain without our eyes,
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the science without the art.
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That scientific tether
was strangling the scene.
was strangling the scene.
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But even through all the frustrations,
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I still believed it could be beautiful.
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So when it came in to lighting,
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I dug in.
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As I worked to balance
the blues and the pinks,
the blues and the pinks,
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the caustics dancing
on the jellyfish bells,
on the jellyfish bells,
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the undulating fog beams,
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something promising began to appear.
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I came in one morning and checked
the previous night's work.
the previous night's work.
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And I got excited.
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And then I showed it
to the lighting director
to the lighting director
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and she got excited.
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Soon, I was showing to the director
in a dark room full of 50 people.
in a dark room full of 50 people.
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In director review,
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you hope you might get some nice words,
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then you get some notes
and fixes, generally.
and fixes, generally.
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And then, hopefully, you get a final,
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signaling to move on to the next stage.
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I gave my intro, and I played
the jellyfish scene.
the jellyfish scene.
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And the director was silent
for an uncomfortably long amount of time.
for an uncomfortably long amount of time.
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Just long enough for me to think,
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"Oh no, this is doomed."
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And then he started clapping.
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And then the production
designer started clapping.
designer started clapping.
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And then the whole room was clapping.
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This is the moment
that I live for in lighting.
that I live for in lighting.
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The moment where it all comes together
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and we get a world that we can believe in.
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We use math, science and code
to create these amazing worlds.
to create these amazing worlds.
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We use storytelling and art
to bring them to life.
to bring them to life.
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It's this interweaving of art and science
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that elevates the world
to a place of wonder,
to a place of wonder,
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a place with soul,
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a place we can believe in,
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a place where the things
you imagine can become real --
you imagine can become real --
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and a world where a girl suddenly realizes
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not only is she a scientist,
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but also an artist.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Danielle Feinberg - Director of photography, PixarAt Pixar, Danielle Feinberg delights in bending the rules of light to her every whim.
Why you should listen
Danielle Feinberg began her career at Pixar Animation Studios in 1997 on the feature film A Bug's Life. She quickly discovered her love for lighting and went on to light on many of Pixar's feature films including Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., the Academy Award®-winning Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Feinberg was the director of photography for lighting on Pixar’s Academy Award®-winning films WALL-E and Brave and is now working on Pixar's upcoming film, Coco.
Feinberg's love of combining computers and art began when she was eight years old and first programmed a Logo turtle to create images. This eventually led her to a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Harvard University. Now, in addition to her Pixar work, she mentors teenage girls, encouraging them to pursue code, math and science.
Danielle Feinberg | Speaker | TED.com