TED2013
Martin Villeneuve: How I made an impossible film
Martin Villeneuve: 如何拍摄一部不可能完成的电影
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电影人Martin Villeneuve讲述他用极低的预算拍摄加拿大科幻大片《三月与四月》的故事。为了展现他对未来独特又极具创意的幻想，他不得不克服经济和物料上的限制，在这个迷人的演讲中，Villeneuve介绍了他采取的各种手法。
Martin Villeneuve - Graphic artist, director
In his film "Mars et Avril," Martin Villeneuve brings his sci-fi romance graphic novel to glorious life. Full bio
In his film "Mars et Avril," Martin Villeneuve brings his sci-fi romance graphic novel to glorious life. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
I made a film that was impossible to make,
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我拍摄了一部不可能完成的电影，
00:15
but I didn't know it was impossible,
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但是一开始我并不知道有这么大的难度，
00:19
and that's how I was able to do it.
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不过，也正是因为不知道，我才得以完成这部影片。
00:22
"Mars et Avril" is a science fiction film.
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《三月和四月》是一部科幻电影。
00:24
It's set in Montreal some 50 years in the future.
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故事发生在50年之后的蒙特利尔。
00:29
No one had done that kind of movie in Quebec before
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以前没有人在魁北克拍摄过这样的电影
00:31
because it's expensive, it's set in the future,
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因为成本高，故事又发生在未来，
00:34
and it's got tons of visual effects,
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而且有大量的特效，
00:36
and it's shot on green screen.
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需要用绿屏拍摄。
00:39
Yet this is the kind of movie that I wanted to make
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然而我从童年
00:41
ever since I was a kid, really,
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看漫画书
00:43
back when I was reading some comic books
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憧憬未来的时候开始
00:45
and dreaming about what the future might be.
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就想拍摄一部这样的电影。
00:48
When American producers see my film,
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美国制作人看到这部电影时，
00:51
they think that I had a big budget to do it,
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他们以为我有很高的预算，
00:54
like 23 million.
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大概2300万。
00:57
But in fact I had 10 percent of that budget.
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然而事实上我的预算只有这个数字的十分之一。
01:00
I did "Mars et Avril" for only 2.3 million.
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我用230万拍摄了《三月和四月》。
01:03
So you might wonder, what's the deal here?
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你可能会想，这是怎么回事？
01:04
How did I do this?
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我是怎么做到的？
01:07
Well, it's two things. First, it's time.
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有两个因素不可或缺。第一是时间。
01:10
When you don't have money, you must take time,
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如果没有钱，就只能慢慢来了，
01:13
and it took me seven years to do "Mars et Avril."
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我花了7年时间才完成《三月与四月》。
01:17
The second aspect is love.
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第二是热爱。
01:20
I got tons and tons of generosity from everyone involved.
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所有参与这部影片制作的人对我都非常慷慨。
01:23
And it seems like every department had nothing,
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每个部门似乎都一贫如洗，
01:26
so they had to rely on our creativity
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所以我们只能依靠自己的创造力
01:29
and turn every problem into an opportunity.
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将遇到的每一个问题转化为机会。
01:31
And that brings me to the point of my talk, actually,
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事实上，这也就是我今天演讲的中心，
01:33
how constraints, big creative constraints, can boost creativity.
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限制，人在创作时面临的严重限制，可以激发人的创造力。
01:37
But let me go back in time a bit.
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不过，请允许我说一说以前的事情。
01:41
In my early 20s, I did some graphic novels,
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我二十出头的时候出版过一些图文小说，
01:44
but they weren't your usual graphic novels.
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它们和一般的图文小说不同，
01:46
They were books telling a science fiction story
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是用图片和文字
01:48
through images and text,
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讲述科幻故事的书籍，
01:51
and most of the actors who are now starring
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参与电影改编的演员
01:55
in the movie adaptation, they were already involved
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大多参与过图文小说的创作
01:57
in these books portraying characters
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他们以一种实验性的、戏剧性的、简单的方式
02:00
into a sort of experimental, theatrical, simplistic way.
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扮演不同的人物。
02:06
And one of these actors is the great stage director
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演员之一是优秀的舞台导演
02:10
and actor Robert Lepage.
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和演员Robert Lepage。
02:11
And I just love this guy.
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我非常喜欢他。
02:13
I've been in love with this guy since I was a kid.
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我从小就非常喜欢他。
02:16
His career I admire a lot.
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我很欣赏他的事业。
02:19
And I wanted this guy to be involved in my crazy project,
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我希望他能参与我的疯狂项目
02:22
and he was kind enough to lend his image
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他非常善良，愿意放下自己的形象去
02:26
to the character of Eugène Spaak,
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演绎Eugène Spaak这个角色
02:28
who is a cosmologist and artist who seeks relation
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Eugène Spaak是一位在时间、空间、爱、音乐和女人
02:32
in between time, space, love, music and women.
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中间寻找关联的宇宙学家和艺术家。
02:38
And he was a perfect fit for the part,
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他是诠释这个角色的完美人选，
02:41
and Robert is actually the one who gave me my first chance.
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事实上，Robert也是最早给我机会的人。
02:44
He was the one who believed in me
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他信任我
02:47
and encouraged me to do an adaptation of my books
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鼓励我把我的书改编为一部电影
02:50
into a film, and to write, direct,
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并且自己做电影的
02:53
and produce the film myself.
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编剧、导演和制片人。
02:55
And Robert is actually the very first example
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事实上，Robert参演这部电影的方式
02:59
of how constraints can boost creativity.
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是限制激发创意的第一个例子。
03:03
Because this guy is the busiest man on the planet.
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因为他是世界上最忙的人。
03:06
I mean, his agenda is booked until 2042,
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他的日程已经排到2042年了，
03:09
and he's really hard to get,
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想跟他取得联系很难，
03:13
and I wanted him to be in the movie,
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而我希望他参演电影，
03:16
to reprise his role in the movie.
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在电影中再度演绎他的角色。
03:17
But the thing is, had I waited
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但是问题是，如果
03:20
for him until 2042, my film wouldn't be
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我等到2042年，我的电影就不是发生在未来
03:23
a futuristic film anymore, so I just couldn't do that. Right?
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的科幻电影了，我不能这么做。
03:27
But that's kind of a big problem.
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这是一个很严重的问题。
03:28
How do you get somebody who is too busy
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怎么才能让一个超级大忙人
03:32
to star in a movie?
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来参演电影呢？
03:34
Well, I said as a joke in a production meeting --
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我在一次制作会议上半开玩笑的说——
03:38
and this is a true story, by the way —
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顺便一提，这是真的——
03:40
I said, "Why don't we turn this guy into a hologram?
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我说，“要不然我们把他变成全息图（hologram）吧？”
03:42
Because, you know, he is everywhere
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因为这个角色难觅踪迹
03:45
and nowhere on the planet at the same time,
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又无所不在，
03:46
and he's an illuminated being in my mind,
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在我脑海中他是一个发光的生物，
03:49
and he's in between reality and virtual reality,
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他身处现实和虚拟世界之间，
03:53
so it would make perfect sense
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所以用全息影像塑造这个角色
03:55
to turn this guy into a hologram."
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非常合理。“
03:58
Everybody around the table laughed,
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所有坐在桌边的人都笑了，
04:00
but the joke was kind of a good solution,
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但是这个玩笑是个不错的方法，
04:02
so that's what we ended up doing.
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所以我们最后真的实践了这个想法。
04:05
Here's how we did it. We shot Robert with six cameras.
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我们是这样做的。我们用6台摄影机拍摄Robert。
04:09
He was dressed in green and he was like
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他穿了绿色的衣服，好像身处
04:11
in a green aquarium.
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一个绿色的水族馆之中。
04:13
Each camera was covering 60 degrees of his head,
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每台摄像机拍摄60度。
04:15
so that in post-production we could use
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所以在后期制作时，
04:18
pretty much any angle we needed,
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我们可以使用我们需要的任何角度，
04:20
and we shot only his head.
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我们只拍摄了他头部的动作。
04:22
Six months later there was a guy on set,
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6个月之后，我们请一个人到片场
04:25
a mime portraying the body,
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饰演他的身体
04:27
the vehicle for the head.
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安插头的部件。
04:29
And he was wearing a green hood
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他戴着绿色的面罩
04:32
so that we could erase the green hood in postproduction
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后期制作时，我们可以抹掉这个面罩
04:36
and replace it with Robert Lepage's head.
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然后换上 Robert Lepage的头。
04:38
So he became like a renaissance man,
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这样他就成为了一个无所不能的人，
04:40
and here's what it looks like in the movie.
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这是最终电影中的效果。
04:42
(Music)
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（音乐）
04:54
(Video) Robert Lepage: [As usual, Arthur's drawing
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（视频） Robert Lepage:”和往常一样，Arthur的图纸
04:56
didn't account for the technical challenges.
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没有体现技术问题。
04:59
I welded the breech, but the valve is still gaping.
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我焊好了后膛，但阀门依然有裂缝。
05:03
I tried to lift the pallets to lower the pressure in the sound box,
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我尝试提起托架，降低共鸣箱的压力，
05:07
but I might have hit a heartstring.
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可能碰到了一根心弦。
05:11
It still sounds too low.]
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音色还是太低沉了。“
05:13
Jacques Languirand: [That's normal.
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Jacques Languirand: 【那很正常。
05:14
The instrument always ends up resembling its model.]
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最终的乐器总是类似最初的模型。】
05:17
(Music)
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（音乐）
05:38
Martin Villeneuve: Now these musical instruments
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Martin Villeneuve：大家在这个片段里看到的
05:41
that you see in this excerpt,
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这些乐器
05:43
they're my second example of how
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是限制激发创作力的
05:46
constraints can boost creativity,
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第二个例子。
05:48
because I desperately needed these objects in my movie.
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我的电影非常需要这些道具。
05:51
They are objects of desire.
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他们是我渴望的对象。
05:53
They are imaginary musical instruments.
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是现实中不存在的乐器。
05:56
And they carry a nice story with them.
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他们背后有有趣的背景故事。
05:58
Actually, I knew what these things would look like
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事实上，多年来，我脑中对这些乐器的外形
06:02
in my mind for many, many years.
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有清晰的构想。
06:04
But my problem was, I didn't have the money
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然而我的问题是，我没有
06:08
to pay for them. I couldn't afford them.
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资金，无法制造它们。
06:11
So that's kind of a big problem too.
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所以这也给我造成了不小的困扰。
06:14
How do you get something that you can't afford?
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如何得到你买不起的东西呢？
06:17
And, you know, I woke up one morning with a pretty good idea.
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然后，某天起床之后，我突然想到了一个好主意。
06:21
I said, "What if I have somebody else pay for them?"
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我想，“不如让别人来买单吧？”
06:25
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:28
But who on Earth would be interested
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但是在这世界上到底谁会对
06:32
by seven not-yet-built musical instruments
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7件以女性身体为灵感，
06:35
inspired by women's bodies?
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但是尚不存在的乐器感兴趣呢？
06:37
And I thought of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal,
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我想到了蒙特利尔的太阳马戏团（Cirque du Soleil），
06:40
because who better to understand the kind of
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因为没人会比太阳马戏团更理解
06:43
crazy poetry that I wanted to put on screen?
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我想在荧幕上呈现的疯狂诗篇。
06:46
So I found my way to Guy Laliberté, Cirque du Soleil's CEO,
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所以我找到了Guy Laliberté，太阳马戏团的CEO,
06:49
and I presented my crazy idea to him
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我用这样的草图和视觉参考，
06:52
with sketches like this and visual references,
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向他呈现了我的疯狂构想。
06:55
and something pretty amazing happened.
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然后一件奇妙的事情发生了。
06:58
Guy was interested by this idea
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Guy对这个想法很感兴趣。
07:00
not because I was asking for his money,
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不是因为我在向他寻求资金援助，
07:03
but because I came to him with a good idea
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而是因为我向他呈现了一个好想法，
07:07
in which everybody was happy.
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这样每个人都很开心。
07:08
It was kind of a perfect triangle
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这就像一个完美的三角形关系
07:11
in which the art buyer was happy
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购买这些艺术品的人高兴的原因是
07:14
because he got the instruments at a cheaper price,
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他可以以相对低廉的价格购入这些乐器
07:17
because they weren't even made.
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因为它们尚不存在，他冒了很大的风险。
07:19
He took a leap of faith.
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07:20
And the artist, Dominique Engel, brilliant guy,
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而才华横溢的艺术家Dominique Engel
也十分开心因为他可以花一年时间
07:24
he was happy too because he had a dream project
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完成他的梦寐以求的项目。
07:27
to work on for a year.
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我显然也很开心
07:29
And obviously I was happy because I got the instruments
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因为我免费得到了拍摄电影所需要的乐器
07:32
in my film for free, which was kind of what I tried to do.
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我达到了我的目标。
07:37
So here they are.
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这就是那些乐器。
07:39
And my last example of how constraints
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我的最后一个有关限制激发创造力了的例子
07:42
can boost creativity
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与绿屏有关，
07:44
comes from the green,
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绿色是一种奇怪的颜色，疯狂的颜色，
07:48
because this is a weird color, a crazy color,
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07:51
and you need to replace the green screens eventually
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最终必须去除绿屏
所以越早想出办法越好。
07:54
and you must figure that out sooner rather than later.
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这次有关电影中的世界是什么样的
07:57
And I had, again, pretty much, ideas in my mind
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我脑中又有很多想法
08:01
as to what the world would be,
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08:03
but then again I turned to my childhood imagination
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我再次求助于我童年的想象
08:09
and went to the work of Belgian comic book master
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然后借鉴了比利时漫画大师
François Schuiten的作品。
08:12
François Schuiten in Belgium.
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08:15
And this guy is another guy I admire a lot,
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我对他也十分仰慕
我希望它能作为制作设计师
08:18
and I wanted him to be involved in the movie
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参与到我的电影当中来。
08:21
as a production designer.
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但是别人都对我说，Martin，这是不可能的，
08:23
But people told me, you know, Martin, it's impossible,
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他太忙了，肯定会拒绝你。
08:25
the guy is too busy and he will say no.
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08:28
Well, I said, you know what, instead of mimicking his style,
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我就说，与其模仿他的风格
我不如给他本人打给电话，邀请他参与，
08:32
I might as well call the real guy and ask him,
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08:34
and I sent him my books,
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然后我把我的书寄给他，
他答复我，他有兴趣
08:36
and he answered that he was interested
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08:38
in working on the film with me
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和我一同制作这部电影
08:40
because he could be a big fish in a small aquarium.
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因为他愿意做小水缸里的大鱼。
换句话说，他看中了与我一起梦想的空间。
08:44
In other words, there was space for him to dream with me.
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所以我和我的儿时偶像一起
08:48
So here I was with one of my childhood heroes,
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一帧一帧的绘制
08:51
drawing every single frame that's in the film
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电影中未来蒙特利尔的样子。
08:54
to turn that into Montreal in the future.
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08:57
And it was an amazing collaboration
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和我所认识的最伟大的艺术家一同工作
08:59
to work with this great artist whom I admire.
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感觉很棒。
09:02
But then, you know, eventually you have to turn
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但是，最终你必须把
这些图纸变成现实。
09:06
all these drawings into reality.
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09:08
So, again, my solution was to aim
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这一次，我的策略依然是
去找我能想到的最优秀的艺术家。
09:11
for the best possible artist that I could think of.
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蒙特利尔有个魁北克人叫做Carlos Monzon
09:14
And there's this guy in Montreal, another Quebecois
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09:17
called Carlos Monzon, and he's a very good VFX artist.
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他是一位非常优秀的视觉特效艺术家。
09:21
This guy had been lead compositor on such films
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他曾领导过《阿凡达》、《星际迷航》、
09:25
as "Avatar" and "Star Trek" and "Transformers,"
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《变形金刚》等电影的特效制作，
09:28
and other unknown projects like this,
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也参与过一些类似《三月和四月》的小制作
09:30
and I knew he was the perfect fit for the job,
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我知道他是最佳人选
我必须说服他前来参与，
09:33
and I had to convince him,
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随后，他放弃了与斯皮尔伯格合作的机会
09:34
and, instead of working on the next Spielberg movie,
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加入了我的电影的制作。
09:38
he accepted to work on mine.
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09:40
Why? Because I offered him a space to dream.
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为什么？因为我为他提供了梦想的空间。
因此，如果你没法给人物质报酬
09:44
So if you don't have money to offer to people,
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你就要用其它你所能想到的最美好的事物
09:47
you must strike their imagination with something
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抓住他的心。
09:50
as nice as you can think of.
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这样的事情在拍摄这部电影时发生了一次又一次
09:53
So this is what happened on this movie,
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这部电影就是这样拍摄完成的，
09:55
and that's how it got made,
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09:57
and we went to this very nice postproduction company
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我们在蒙特利尔找到了一家名为“视觉全球（Vision Globale）”
10:00
in Montreal called Vision Globale,
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的优秀后期制作公司，
10:02
and they lent their 60 artists to work full time
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他们借给我60位艺术家
用半年时间全职为我的疯狂电影服务。
10:06
for six months to do this crazy film.
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10:09
So I want to tell you that, if you have some crazy ideas
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所以我想对大家说，如果你脑子里有
疯狂的想法，
10:14
in your mind, and that people tell you
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如果别人认为这想法根本不可能实现，
10:16
that it's impossible to make,
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10:17
well, that's an even better reason to want to do it,
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你就更有理由想做这件事情，
因为人们习惯于被问题蒙蔽双眼，
10:20
because people have a tendency
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10:22
to see the problems rather than the final result,
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看不到最终的结果
当你开始面对这些问题时，
10:25
whereas if you start to deal with problems
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把他们当做你的盟友，而非对手
10:28
as being your allies rather than your opponents,
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10:31
life will start to dance with you
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生活便会以最奇妙的方式
开始以你的节奏舞蹈。
10:33
in the most amazing way.
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10:35
I have experienced it.
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我亲身经历了这样的过程。
最终你可能会投身疯狂的事业
10:37
And you might end up doing some crazy projects,
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谁知道呢
10:40
and who knows, you might even end up
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说不定你还能去火星呢。
10:43
going to Mars.
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谢谢。
10:45
Thank you.
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（掌声）
10:47
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Martin Villeneuve - Graphic artist, directorIn his film "Mars et Avril," Martin Villeneuve brings his sci-fi romance graphic novel to glorious life.
Why you should listen
The musician who plays otherworldly music on one-of-a-kind instruments, the genius who designs the instruments inspired by a woman's body, and the photographer they both love. An old-fashioned love triangle is at the heart of Mars et Avril, a bold and dreamy sci-fi story set in a future Montreal where the Champ-de-Mars subway line takes you right out to Mars. While many sci-fi films have budgets exceeding $100 million, this incredible arthouse version was made for just $2 million thanks to the bold creativity of filmmaker Martin Villeneuve.
By taking his time on the project, asking the best creatives for favors and approaching problems as exciting challenges, Villeneuve has made a movie that seemed impossible. The film has shown at festivals, and is available on DVD. Villeneuve is currently working on securing international distribution for the work.
Villeneuve made the film based on his two graphic novels, also titled Mars et Avril. Villeneuve is the former artistic director for the ad agency Sid Lee that works with Cirque du Soleil. Among other projects, he's now working with comic book masters Benoît Sokal and François Schuiten on an animated fantasy feature film, Aquarica, and on a sci-fi movie with Pressman Film, tentatively titled The Other World.
Martin Villeneuve | Speaker | TED.com