Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge
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0:02 - 0:08(Music)
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0:08 - 0:12["Oedipus Rex"]
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0:15 - 0:19["The Lion King"]
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0:22 - 0:27["Titus"]
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0:38 - 0:44["Frida"]
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0:54 - 0:58["The Magic Flute"]
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1:00 - 1:06["Across The Universe"]
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1:16 - 1:20(Applause)
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1:20 - 1:22Julie Taymor: Thank you.
Thank you very much. -
1:22 - 1:25That's a few samples of the theater, opera
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1:25 - 1:29and films that I have done
over the last 20 years. -
1:29 - 1:31But what I'd like to begin with right now
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1:31 - 1:32is to take you back to a moment
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1:32 - 1:35that I went through in Indonesia,
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1:35 - 1:37which is a seminal moment in my life
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1:37 - 1:39and, like all myths,
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1:39 - 1:41these stories need to be retold
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1:41 - 1:44and told, lest we forget them.
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1:44 - 1:47And when I'm in the turbulent
times, as we know, -
1:47 - 1:49that I am right now, through the crucible
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1:49 - 1:51and the fire of transformation,
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1:52 - 1:54which is what all of you do, actually.
-
1:54 - 1:57Anybody who creates knows
there's that point where -
1:57 - 2:02it hasn't quite become
the phoenix or the burnt char. -
2:02 - 2:04(Laughter)
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2:04 - 2:07And I am right there on the edge,
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2:07 - 2:09which I'll tell you about, another story.
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2:09 - 2:11I want to go back to Indonesia
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2:11 - 2:14where I was about 21, 22
years, a long time ago, -
2:14 - 2:16on a fellowship.
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2:16 - 2:19And I found myself, after two years there
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2:19 - 2:22and performing and learning,
on the island of Bali, -
2:22 - 2:26on the edge of a crater, Gunung Batur.
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2:26 - 2:29And I was in a village where there was
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2:29 - 2:32an initiation ceremony for the young men,
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2:32 - 2:33a rite of passage.
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2:33 - 2:36Little did I know that it
was mine as well. -
2:36 - 2:38And as I sat in this temple square
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2:38 - 2:41under this gigantic beringin banyan tree,
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2:41 - 2:46in the dark, there was no
electricity, just the full moon, -
2:46 - 2:48down in this empty square,
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2:48 - 2:50and I heard the most beautiful sounds,
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2:50 - 2:52like a Charles Ives concert
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2:52 - 2:54as I listened to the gamelan music
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2:54 - 2:56from all the different villagers that came
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2:56 - 3:00for this once-every-five-years ceremony.
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3:00 - 3:03And I thought I was alone
in the dark under this tree. -
3:03 - 3:06And all of a sudden, out of the dark,
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3:06 - 3:08from the other end of the square,
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3:08 - 3:12I saw the glint of mirrors
lit by the moon. -
3:12 - 3:15And these 20 old men who I'd seen before
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3:15 - 3:21all of a sudden stood up in these
full warrior costumes -
3:21 - 3:23with the headdress and the spears,
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3:23 - 3:27and no one was in the square,
and I was hidden in the shadows. -
3:27 - 3:30No one was there, and they came out,
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3:30 - 3:33and they did this incredible dance.
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3:33 - 3:37"Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhahahahaha."
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3:37 - 3:40And they moved their bodies
and they came forward, -
3:40 - 3:43and the lights bounced off these costumes.
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3:43 - 3:47And I've been in theater
since I was 11 years old, -
3:47 - 3:50and performing, creating, and I went,
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3:50 - 3:52"Who are they performing for
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3:52 - 3:54with these elaborate costumes,
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3:54 - 3:56these extraordinary headdresses?"
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3:56 - 4:01And I realized that they were
performing for God, -
4:01 - 4:04whatever that means.
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4:04 - 4:07But somehow, it didn't
matter about the publicity. -
4:07 - 4:10There was no money involved.
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4:10 - 4:13It wasn't going to be written down.
It was no news. -
4:13 - 4:15And there were these incredible artists
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4:15 - 4:18that felt for me like an eternity
as they performed. -
4:18 - 4:21The next moment,
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4:21 - 4:25as soon as they finished
and disappeared into the shadows, -
4:25 - 4:27a young man with a propane
lantern came on, -
4:27 - 4:29hung it up on a tree, set up a curtain.
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4:29 - 4:33The village square was filled
with hundreds of people. -
4:33 - 4:35And they put on an opera all night long.
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4:35 - 4:38Human beings needed the light.
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4:38 - 4:40They needed the light to see.
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4:40 - 4:44So what I gained and gathered
from this incredible, -
4:44 - 4:47seminal moment in my life
as a young artist -
4:47 - 4:50was that you must be true
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4:50 - 4:54to what you believe as an artist
all the way through, -
4:54 - 4:57but you also have to be aware
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4:57 - 5:01that the audience is out there
in our lives at this time, -
5:01 - 5:02and they also need the light.
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5:02 - 5:05And it's this incredible balance
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5:05 - 5:06that I think that we walk
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5:06 - 5:10when we are creating something
that is breaking ground, -
5:10 - 5:12that's trying to do something
you've never seen before, -
5:12 - 5:14that imaginary world
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5:14 - 5:17where you actually don't know
where you're going to end up, -
5:17 - 5:20that's the fine line
on the edge of a crater -
5:20 - 5:23that I have walked my whole life.
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5:23 - 5:25What I would like to do now is to tell you
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5:25 - 5:27a little bit
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5:27 - 5:30about how I work.
Let's take "The Lion King." -
5:30 - 5:32You saw many examples of my work up there,
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5:32 - 5:34but it's one that people know.
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5:34 - 5:37I start with the notion of the ideograph.
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5:37 - 5:40An ideograph is like a brush
painting, a Japanese brush painting. -
5:40 - 5:44Three strokes, you get
the whole bamboo forest. -
5:44 - 5:46I go to the concept of "The Lion King"
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5:46 - 5:48and I say, "What is the essence of it?
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5:48 - 5:50What is the abstraction?
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5:50 - 5:53If I were to reduce this entire story
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5:53 - 5:56into one image, what would it be?"
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5:56 - 5:59The circle. The circle. It's so obvious.
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5:59 - 6:03The circle of life. The
circle of Mufasa's mask. -
6:03 - 6:07The circle that, when we come
to Act II and there's a drought, -
6:07 - 6:09how do you express drought?
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6:09 - 6:12It's a circle of silk on the floor
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6:12 - 6:16that disappears into the hole
in the stage floor. -
6:16 - 6:19The circle of life comes in the wheels
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6:19 - 6:21of the gazelles that leap.
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6:21 - 6:23And you see the mechanics.
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6:23 - 6:26And being a theater person, what I know
and love about the theater -
6:26 - 6:28is that when the audience comes in
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6:28 - 6:30and they suspend their disbelief,
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6:30 - 6:33when you see men walking or women walking
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6:33 - 6:35with a platter of grass on their heads,
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6:35 - 6:36you know it's the savanna.
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6:36 - 6:38You don't question that.
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6:38 - 6:40I love the apparent truth of theater.
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6:40 - 6:44I love that people are willing
to fill in the blanks. -
6:44 - 6:46The audience is willing to say,
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6:46 - 6:49"Oh, I know that's not a real sun.
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6:49 - 6:51You took pieces of sticks.
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6:51 - 6:53You added silk to the bottom.
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6:53 - 6:57You suspended these pieces. You
let it fall flat on the floor. -
6:57 - 7:01And as it rises with the strings,
I see that it's a sun. -
7:01 - 7:06But the beauty of it
is that it's just silk and sticks. -
7:06 - 7:10And in a way, that is what makes
it spiritual. -
7:10 - 7:12That's what moves you.
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7:12 - 7:16It's not the actual literal
sunrise that's coming. -
7:16 - 7:17It's the art of it.
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7:17 - 7:23So in the theater, as much
as the story is critical -
7:23 - 7:25and the book and the language,
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7:25 - 7:29the telling of the story, how it's told,
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7:29 - 7:33the mechanics, the methods that you use,
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7:33 - 7:36is equal to the story itself.
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7:36 - 7:39And I'm one who loves
high tech and low tech. -
7:39 - 7:41So I could go from --
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7:41 - 7:43For instance, I'll show you
some "Spider-Man" later, -
7:43 - 7:46these incredible machines
that move people along. -
7:46 - 7:48But the fact is, without the dancer
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7:48 - 7:51who knows how to use his body
and swing on those wires, -
7:51 - 7:53it's nothing.
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7:53 - 7:56So now I'm going to show you
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7:56 - 8:00some clips from the other big
project of my life this year, -
8:00 - 8:01"The Tempest."
-
8:01 - 8:05It's a movie. I did "The
Tempest" on a stage three times -
8:05 - 8:08in the theater since 1984, '86,
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8:08 - 8:10and I love the play.
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8:11 - 8:13I did it always with a male Prospero.
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8:13 - 8:15And all of a sudden, I thought,
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8:15 - 8:17"Well, who am I gonna
get to play Prospero? -
8:17 - 8:20Why not Helen Mirren?
She's a great actor. Why not?" -
8:21 - 8:24And this material really did work
for a woman equally as well. -
8:24 - 8:27So now, let's take a look
at some of the images -
8:27 - 8:29from "The Tempest."
-
8:29 - 8:34(Music)
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8:45 - 8:49(Video) Prospera: Hast thou, spirit, performed
to the point the tempest that I bade thee? -
8:49 - 8:55Ariel: I boarded the king's ship.
In every cabin, I flamed amazement. -
8:58 - 9:01Prospera: At first sight,
they have changed eyes. -
9:01 - 9:02Miranda: Do you love me?
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9:02 - 9:03Ferdinand: Beyond all limit.
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9:03 - 9:06HM: They are both in either's powers.
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9:06 - 9:11Trinculo: Misery acquaints
a man with strange bedfellows. -
9:11 - 9:14(Music)
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9:14 - 9:18Looking for business, governor?
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9:18 - 9:20Caliban: Hast thou not
dropped from heaven? -
9:20 - 9:22Stephano: Out of the moon,
I do assure thee. -
9:22 - 9:24Prospera: Caliban!
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9:24 - 9:26Caliban: This island is mine.
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9:26 - 9:30Prospera: For this, be sure,
tonight thou shalt have cramps. -
9:30 - 9:33Antonio: Here lies your brother no
better than the earth he lies upon. -
9:34 - 9:35Sebastian: Draw thy sword.
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9:35 - 9:39And I, the king, shall love thee.
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9:39 - 9:44Prospera: I will plague
them all, even to roaring. -
9:46 - 9:51Ariel: I have made you mad.
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9:57 - 10:00Prospera: We are such stuff
as dreams are made on. -
10:00 - 10:04and our little life
is rounded with a sleep. -
10:04 - 10:09(Music)
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10:09 - 10:12JT: Okay.
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10:12 - 10:16(Applause)
-
10:16 - 10:19So I went from theater,
doing "The Tempest" -
10:19 - 10:21on the stage in a very
low-budget production -
10:21 - 10:23many years ago,
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10:23 - 10:25and I love the play, and I also think
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10:25 - 10:27it's Shakespeare's last play,
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10:27 - 10:31and it really lends itself,
as you can see, to cinema. -
10:31 - 10:33But I'm just going to give
you a little example about -
10:33 - 10:35how one stages it in theater
-
10:35 - 10:39and then how one takes
that same idea or story -
10:39 - 10:42and moves it into cinema.
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10:42 - 10:45The ideograph that I talked
to you about before, -
10:45 - 10:48what is it for "The Tempest"?
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10:48 - 10:50What, if I were to boil it down,
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10:50 - 10:53would be the one image that I could
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10:53 - 10:55hang my hat on for this?
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10:55 - 10:57And it was the sand castle,
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10:57 - 11:00the idea of nurture versus nature,
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11:00 - 11:03that we build these civilizations --
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11:03 - 11:06she speaks about it at the end,
Helen Mirren's Prospera -- -
11:06 - 11:11we build them, but under nature,
under the grand tempest, -
11:11 - 11:17these cloud-capped towers, these
gorgeous palaces will fade -
11:17 - 11:21and there will -- leave not a rack behind.
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11:21 - 11:24So in the theater, I started the play,
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11:24 - 11:27it was a black sand rake, white cyc,
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11:27 - 11:30and there was a little girl,
Miranda, on the horizon, -
11:30 - 11:32building a drip castle, a sand castle.
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11:32 - 11:36And as she was there
on the edge of that stage, -
11:36 - 11:39two stagehands all in black
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11:39 - 11:44with watering cans ran along the top
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11:44 - 11:48and started to pour water
on the sand castle, -
11:48 - 11:51and the sand castle
started to drip and sink, -
11:51 - 11:52but before it did,
-
11:52 - 11:57the audience saw
the black-clad stagehands. -
11:57 - 12:01The medium was apparent. It was banal.
We saw it. -
12:01 - 12:04But as they started to pour the water,
-
12:04 - 12:08the light changed from showing
you the black-clad stagehands -
12:08 - 12:11to focusing, this rough magic
that we do in theater, -
12:11 - 12:15it focused right on the water itself.
-
12:15 - 12:19And all of a sudden,
the audience's perspective changes. -
12:19 - 12:22It becomes something magically large.
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12:22 - 12:25It becomes the rainstorm.
-
12:25 - 12:29The masked actors,
the puppeteers, they disappear, -
12:29 - 12:32and the audience makes
that leap into this world, -
12:32 - 12:36into this imaginary world of "The
Tempest" actually happening. -
12:36 - 12:38Now the difference
-
12:38 - 12:40when I went and did it in the cinema,
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12:40 - 12:43I started the actual movie
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12:43 - 12:48with a close-up of a sand
castle, a black sand castle, -
12:48 - 12:50and what cinema can do is,
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12:50 - 12:53by using camera, perspective,
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12:53 - 12:56and also long shots and close-ups,
-
12:56 - 12:58it started on a close-up
of the sand castle, -
12:58 - 13:00and as it pulled away,
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13:00 - 13:03you saw that it was a miniature
sitting in the palm -
13:03 - 13:05of the girl's hands.
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13:05 - 13:07And so I could play with the medium,
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13:07 - 13:10and why I move from one medium to another
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13:10 - 13:11is to be able to do this.
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13:11 - 13:14Now I'm going to take you to "Spider-Man."
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13:14 - 13:18(Music)
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13:45 - 13:48(Video) Peter Parker: ♪
Standing on the precipice, -
13:48 - 13:52I can soar away from this. ♪
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13:52 - 13:54JT: We're trying to do
everything in live theater -
13:54 - 13:56that you can't do in two dimensions
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13:56 - 13:59in film and television.
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13:59 - 14:03PP: ♪ Rise above yourself
and take control. ♪ -
14:03 - 14:06George Tsypin: We're looking at New
York from a Spider-Man point of view. -
14:06 - 14:08Spider Man is not bound by gravity.
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14:08 - 14:12Manhattan in the show is not
bound by gravity either. -
14:12 - 14:16PP: ♪ Be yourself and rise above it all. ♪
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14:16 - 14:20Ensemble: ♪ Sock! Pow! ♪
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14:20 - 14:23♪ Slam! Scratch! ♪
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14:23 - 14:25Danny Ezralow: I don't want you
to even think there's a choreographer. -
14:25 - 14:26It's real, what's happening.
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14:26 - 14:29I prefer you to see people moving,
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14:29 - 14:31and you're going, "Whoa, what was that?"
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14:31 - 14:43(Music)
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14:43 - 14:45JT: If I give enough movement
in the sculpture, -
14:45 - 14:48and the actor moves their head,
you feel like it's alive. -
14:48 - 14:51It's really comic book live.
It's a comic book coming alive. -
14:51 - 14:59(Music)
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14:59 - 15:00Bono: They're mythologies.
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15:00 - 15:03They're modern myths,
these comic book heroes. -
15:03 - 15:09PP: ♪ They believe. ♪
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15:09 - 15:13(Screams)
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15:13 - 15:19(Music)
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15:31 - 15:33(Applause)
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15:33 - 15:38JT: Ohhhh. What was that?
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15:38 - 15:40Circus, rock 'n' roll, drama.
-
15:40 - 15:43What the hell are we doing
up there on that stage? -
15:43 - 15:45Well, one last story, very quickly.
-
15:45 - 15:48After I was in that village,
I crossed the lake, -
15:48 - 15:51and I saw that the volcano was erupting
-
15:51 - 15:53on the other side, Gunung Batur,
-
15:53 - 15:56and there was a dead volcano
next to the live volcano. -
15:56 - 15:58I didn't think I'd be
swallowed by the volcano, -
15:58 - 16:00and I am here.
-
16:00 - 16:04But it's very easy to climb up, is it not?
-
16:04 - 16:05You hold on to the roots,
-
16:05 - 16:09you put your foot in the little rocks
-
16:09 - 16:11and climb up there,
and you get to the top, -
16:11 - 16:13and I was with a good
friend who was an actor, -
16:13 - 16:15and we said, "Let's go up there.
-
16:15 - 16:17Let's see if we can come close to the edge
-
16:17 - 16:20of that live volcano."
-
16:20 - 16:22And we climbed up and we got
to the very top, -
16:22 - 16:25and we're on the edge, on this precipice,
-
16:25 - 16:27Roland disappears into the sulfur smoke
-
16:27 - 16:29at the volcano at the other end,
-
16:29 - 16:31and I'm up there alone
-
16:31 - 16:34on this incredible precipice.
-
16:34 - 16:36Did you hear the lyrics?
-
16:36 - 16:38I'm on the precipice looking down
-
16:38 - 16:40into a dead volcano to my left.
-
16:40 - 16:44To my right is sheer shale.
It's coming off. -
16:44 - 16:48I'm in thongs and sarongs.
It was many years ago. -
16:48 - 16:49And no hiking boots.
-
16:49 - 16:53And he's disappeared, this
mad French gypsy actor, -
16:53 - 16:57off in the smoke, and I realize,
-
16:57 - 17:01I can't go back the way that I've come.
I can't. -
17:01 - 17:05So I throw away my camera.
I throw away my thongs, -
17:05 - 17:08and I looked at the line
straight in front of me, -
17:08 - 17:12and I got down on all fours like a cat,
-
17:12 - 17:15and I held with my knees to either side
-
17:15 - 17:18of this line in front of me,
-
17:18 - 17:21for 30 yards or 30 feet, I don't know.
-
17:21 - 17:23The wind was massively blowing,
-
17:23 - 17:27and the only way I could
get to the other side -
17:27 - 17:29was to look at the line
straight in front of me. -
17:29 - 17:31I know you've all been there.
-
17:31 - 17:33I'm in the crucible right now.
-
17:33 - 17:35It's my trial by fire.
-
17:35 - 17:37It's my company's trials by fire.
-
17:37 - 17:42We survive because our theme
song is "Rise Above." -
17:42 - 17:45Boy falls from the sky, rise above.
-
17:45 - 17:47It's right there in the palm
of both of our hands, -
17:47 - 17:49of all of my company's hands.
-
17:49 - 17:52I have beautiful collaborators,
and we as creators -
17:52 - 17:54only get there all together.
-
17:54 - 17:57I know you understand that.
-
17:57 - 17:59And you just stay going forward,
-
17:59 - 18:02and then you see this extraordinary thing
-
18:02 - 18:03in front of your eyes.
-
18:03 - 18:04Thank you.
-
18:04 - 18:10(Applause)
- Title:
- Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge
- Speaker:
- Julie Taymor
- Description:
-
Showing spectacular clips from productions such as Frida, The Tempest and The Lion King, director Julie Taymor describes a life spent immersed in theater and the movies. Filmed right as controversy over her Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was at its peak, she candidly describes the tensions inherent within her creative process, as she strives both to capture the essence of a story--and produce images and experiences unlike anything else.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 18:28
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Jenny Zurawell edited English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for Spider-Man, The Lion King and life on the creative edge |