ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Hoffman - Filmmaker
In David Hoffman's long film career, he's made documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from double-dutch jump-roping to F-15 fighter pilots. Lately he's been fascinated with the early space program and our mania for all things Sputnik.

Why you should listen

Documentary filmmaker David Hoffman has been capturing reality for almost 4 decades, following his wide-ranging interests and turning them into films for PBS, The Discovery Channel, A&E, National Geographic. Highlights from his career include the groundbreaking experimental doc King, Murray, which blurred boundaries between truth and fiction as it tracks its subject through a debauched weekend in Las Vegas; A Day With Filmmaker Timmy Page, about a 12-year-old auteur; and his series of films on American indigenous music.

Lately, he has become fascinated with the Atomic-era Space Race, turning out a feature-length documentary about the Sputnik era. Sputnik Mania was scored by Thomas Dolby and has played at festivals and theaters around the country.

Hoffman suffered a devastating setback in early 2008 when, nine days before TED2008, his home, containing a vast archive from his long and fascinating career, burnt to the ground. His next project: to reframe his life and rebuild.

More profile about the speaker
David Hoffman | Speaker | TED.com
TED2008

David Hoffman: What happens when you lose everything

大衛霍夫曼談失去所有

Filmed:
1,155,400 views

在Ted2008前九天,電影導演大衛霍夫曼在一場火災中失去了他所有家當, 他的家, 辦公室以及30年來的收藏。他回顧他的一生在一瞬間抹滅,但也同時展望未來。
- Filmmaker
In David Hoffman's long film career, he's made documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from double-dutch jump-roping to F-15 fighter pilots. Lately he's been fascinated with the early space program and our mania for all things Sputnik. Full bio

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

00:19
I had a fire nine days ago.
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九天前我經歷了一場火災
00:23
My archive檔案:
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我的存檔
00:25
175 films影片, my 16-millimeter-毫米 negative,
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175部電影 我的16釐米底片
00:28
all my books圖書, my dad's爸爸的 books圖書, my photographs照片.
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所有我的藏書以及我爸的藏書
00:31
I'd collected --
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我所收藏的
00:33
I was a collector集電極, major重大的, big-time重要時刻.
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我是個收藏家 重要的 一流的
00:35
It's gone走了.
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通通都沒了
00:38
I just looked看著 at it,
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我就只是看著一切發生
00:40
and I didn't know what to do.
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我不知道要做什麼
00:43
I mean, this was --
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我是指 這個是
00:45
was I my things?
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我的東西嗎???
00:48
I always live生活 in the present當下 -- I love the present當下.
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我總是活在當下--我喜歡當下
00:51
I cherish珍視 the future未來.
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我珍惜未來
00:54
And I was taught some strange奇怪 thing as a kid孩子,
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我小時候被教了一些奇怪的觀念
00:57
like, you've got to make something good out of something bad.
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像是:你必須從壞事中,創造出好的事情
00:59
You've got to make something good out of something bad.
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你必須從壞事之中,創造好的事情
01:01
This was bad! Man, I was --
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這真是壞事! 唉~ 我--
01:03
I cough咳嗽. I was sick生病.
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我咳嗽 我生病了
01:05
That's my camera相機 lens鏡片. The first one --
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那是我的相機鏡頭 我的第一個鏡頭
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the one I shot射擊 my Bob短發 Dylan迪倫 film電影 with 35 years年份 ago.
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三十五年前我拍攝鮑伯迪倫的那個鏡頭
01:10
That's my feature特徵 film電影. "King國王, Murray穆雷"
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這是我執導的電影King, Murray
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won韓元 Cannes戛納電影節 Film電影 Festival 1970 --
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在1970年贏得坎城電影獎座
01:14
the only print打印 I had.
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我僅有的拷貝
01:17
That's my papers文件.
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這是我的文件
01:19
That was in minutes分鐘 -- 20 minutes分鐘.
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就在短短幾分鐘之內 -- 20分鐘
01:21
Epiphany頓悟 hit擊中 me. Something hit擊中 me.
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靈光乍現,這念頭突然出現
01:23
"You've got to make something good out of something bad,"
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"你要從壞事中,創造出好的事情"
01:27
I started開始 to say to my friends朋友, neighbors鄰居, my sister妹妹.
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我開始跟朋友、鄰居、姐姐說
01:29
By the way, that's "Sputnik人造地球衛星." I ran it last year.
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還有,這是"人造衛星" 我去年做的
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"Sputnik人造地球衛星" was downtown市中心, the negative. It wasn't touched感動.
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人造衛星的底片放在市區,沒有被波及
01:35
These are some pieces of things I used in my Sputnik人造地球衛星 feature特徵 film電影,
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這些是一些我用在人造衛星影片中的東西
01:38
which哪一個 opens打開 in New York紐約 in two weeks
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電影二個禮拜內會在紐約上映
01:40
downtown市中心.
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在市區
01:44
I called my sister妹妹. I called my neighbors鄰居. I said, "Come dig."
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我打電話給我的姐姐、我的鄰居。我說:"過來一起挖吧!"
01:46
That's me at my desk.
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那是我在書桌旁
01:50
That was a desk took 40-some-一些 years年份 to build建立.
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這張書桌花了四十幾年才作好的
01:52
You know -- all the stuff東東.
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你知道的 所有的東西
01:54
That's my daughter女兒, Jean吉恩.
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這是我的女兒 Jean
01:56
She came來了. She's a nurse護士 in San Francisco弗朗西斯科.
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她在舊金山當護士,也過來了
01:58
"Dig it up," I said. "Pieces.
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"開挖吧!" 我說:"不要放過任何碎片,
02:00
I want pieces. Bits and pieces."
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"我要這些碎片"
02:02
I came來了 up with this idea理念: a life of bits and pieces,
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我想到一個點子:生命的浮光片羽
02:05
which哪一個 I'm just starting開始 to work on -- my next下一個 project項目.
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這就是我正著手進行的下一個計畫
02:07
That's my sister妹妹. She took care關心 of pictures圖片,
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這是我的姐姐。她在整理照片。
02:10
because I was a big collector集電極 of snapshot快照 photography攝影
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因為我是個即興攝影的大收藏家
02:13
that I believed相信 said a lot.
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我相信數量很多
02:15
And those are some of the pictures圖片 that --
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這些是部分的照片
02:17
something was good about the burnt pictures圖片.
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燒焦的照片有個好處
02:19
I didn't know. I looked看著 at that --
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我以前不知道的。我看著這張 --
02:21
I said, "Wow, is that better than the --"
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我說"哇 這樣好多了~"
02:23
That's my proposal提案 on Jimmy吉米 Doolittle杜利特爾. I made製作 that movie電影 for television電視.
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這是我關於Jimmy Doolittle的提案 我為電視台拍的影片
02:25
It's the only copy複製 I had. Pieces of it.
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這是我唯一擁有的版本 -- 部分殘骸
02:29
Idea理念 about women婦女.
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有關女人的創作
02:31
So I started開始 to say, "Hey, man, you are too much!
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因此我開始說 " 嘿~, 你太超過囉~"
02:34
You could cry about this." I really didn't.
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你可以哭喊,"我真的沒有..."
02:37
I just instead代替 said,
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我卻會說
02:39
"I'm going to make something out of it, and maybe next下一個 year ... "
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我要去完成某件事情,也許在明年
02:41
And I appreciate欣賞 this moment時刻
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同時,我感謝此時此刻
02:43
to come up on this stage階段 with so many許多 people
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能夠上台,遇到許多人
02:45
who've誰一直 already已經 given特定 me so much solace慰藉,
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給了我許多安慰
02:48
and just say to TEDstersTEDsters:
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而我只跟TED人說:
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I'm proud驕傲 of me. That I take something bad,
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我以我自己為榮。我碰上了壞事
02:53
I turn it, and I'm going to make something good out of this,
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我扭轉它,並且我會從中創造出好事
02:55
all these pieces.
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從這些碎片中。
02:57
That's Arthur亞瑟 Leipzig's萊比錫 original原版的 photograph照片 I loved喜愛.
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這是我喜愛的Arthur Leipzig原版照片
03:00
I was a big record記錄 collector集電極 --
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我是個唱片大收藏家
03:02
the records記錄 didn't make it. Boy男孩, I tell you,
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這唱片並未倖免於難。唉,我跟你說,
03:04
film電影 burns燒傷. Film電影 burns燒傷.
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底片燒了 底片燒了
03:07
I mean, this was 16-millimeter-毫米 safety安全 film電影.
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我是指 這是16厘米安全底片
03:09
The negatives底片 are gone走了.
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負片不見了
03:12
That's my father's父親的 letter to me, telling告訴 me to
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這是我爸寫的信,跟我說
03:14
marry結婚 the woman女人 I first married已婚 when I was 20.
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娶個老婆吧~我第一次的婚姻在我20歲的時候
03:18
That's my daughter女兒 and me.
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這是我女兒和我
03:22
She's still there. She's there this morning早上, actually其實.
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她還在這裡 事實上 她今天早上就在這裡
03:24
That's my house.
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這是我的房子
03:26
My family's家庭的 living活的 in the Hilton希爾頓 Hotel旅館 in Scotts斯科特 Valley.
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我家人現在住在史考特谷的希爾頓飯店
03:29
That's my wife妻子, Heidi海蒂,
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這是我的老婆 海蒂
03:31
who didn't take it as well as I did.
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沒有像我一樣接受這一切
03:34
My children孩子, Davey戴維 and Henry亨利.
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我的小孩 戴維和亨利
03:37
My son兒子, Davey戴維, in the hotel旅館 two nights ago.
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我的兒子戴維,攝於飯店,在兩天前的晚上
03:41
So, my message信息 to you folks鄉親,
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我要給諸位的訊息是:
03:43
from my three minutes分鐘, is that I appreciate欣賞 the chance機會
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在我的三分鐘裡,我感謝有這個機會
03:46
to share分享 this with you. I will be back. I love being存在 at TEDTED.
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跟大家分。 我會回來的,我愛來TED這裡
03:49
I came來了 to live生活 it, and I am living活的 it.
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我來過我的生活,而我現在就在過我的生活
03:52
That's my view視圖 from my window窗口 outside of Santa聖誕老人 Cruz克魯茲, in Bonny邦尼 Doon杜恩,
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這是在Bonny Doon從我的窗戶往外望Santa Cruz的景象
03:55
just 35 miles英里 from here.
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離這裡35哩遠
03:58
Thank you everybody每個人.
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謝謝大家
04:00
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Pauline YW Lin
Reviewed by Lucy Chang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Hoffman - Filmmaker
In David Hoffman's long film career, he's made documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from double-dutch jump-roping to F-15 fighter pilots. Lately he's been fascinated with the early space program and our mania for all things Sputnik.

Why you should listen

Documentary filmmaker David Hoffman has been capturing reality for almost 4 decades, following his wide-ranging interests and turning them into films for PBS, The Discovery Channel, A&E, National Geographic. Highlights from his career include the groundbreaking experimental doc King, Murray, which blurred boundaries between truth and fiction as it tracks its subject through a debauched weekend in Las Vegas; A Day With Filmmaker Timmy Page, about a 12-year-old auteur; and his series of films on American indigenous music.

Lately, he has become fascinated with the Atomic-era Space Race, turning out a feature-length documentary about the Sputnik era. Sputnik Mania was scored by Thomas Dolby and has played at festivals and theaters around the country.

Hoffman suffered a devastating setback in early 2008 when, nine days before TED2008, his home, containing a vast archive from his long and fascinating career, burnt to the ground. His next project: to reframe his life and rebuild.

More profile about the speaker
David Hoffman | Speaker | TED.com