05 June 2009

Q&A with Yann Arthus-Bertrand: The environmentalist behind the camera

Today, photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand launched his movie Home, an environmentally conscious tour of our planet through panoramic vistas that focuses on human impact -- our mistakes and possibilities for improvement. Yann took some time out of this busy day to answer a few questions for the TEDBlog by email, going beyond his recent TEDTalk to give us insight on his attempts to document and save our home and humanity.

How was your experience at TED? Did you enjoy giving a TEDTalk?

Wonderful experience, especially the audience and the people I met during the sessions. It would be great if we did something similar to TED in France.

As you can see and hear, even with a lot of rehearsals, I’m not a great speaker. I guess that’s why I take pictures and made a movie.

Have you seen your TEDTalk online? What did you think of it?

Not yet. The last few days have been hectic.

Today is Home’s world premiere. It’s happening in more than 100 countries, in 33 languages and on 65 TV channels from Nepal to Burkina Faso, from Russia to Argentina, and of course in the United States.

Is there anything you would have liked to say in your TEDTalk, but didn’t have time to?

Don’t tempt me. I never lose an opportunity to speak about my obsession: humankind and the environment.

Why the aerial photography? How did you come to decide that this was the perspective for you? Not scared of heights, we take it?

I learned to be a hot-air balloon pilot to take tourists over the Masaï Mara Reserve, in order to earn some money and finance the work I was doing with my wife Anne. We were studying the life of a family of lions for more than two years. Taking pictures was a way to capture information we could not put in words.

What are the mechanics behind getting your aerial shots? Your website says that helicopters are best, but what do use when one isn’t available? Do you use harnesses for safety?

I have the impression that I'm photographing life, not landscapes. For me an aerial picture is no different than a close-up portrait. It’s a question of framing and angle. Helicopters are great for that. But I’ve also used planes. Of course, I always have a harness.

Any close calls when leaning out of an aircraft to capture an amazing shot? Would you like to share the story?

After Hurricane Katrina, over New Orleans, my helicopter crashed and the pilot and I were only saved because we fell on the roof of a flooded house that absorbed the shock. When the helicopter was spiraling downward out of control, I didn’t expect to survive at all.

You’re a photographer, but also an environmentalist in many ways. Was there a particular experience or time in your life, maybe in your childhood, that sparked your commitment to building awareness of our environment and your fascination with nature?

My fondness for nature goes back to childhood, but it was as an adult that I became an advocate. Like a lot of people, it was in 1992, during the Earth Summit in Rio, that for the first time I heard expressions like climate change, biodiversity, sustainable development. I felt like an urgency to act -- or to put it in another way, to use my work for this cause.

READ MORE: Yann talks about more about Home and "6 billion Others," moving from photographs to film and projects still to come.

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23 February 2009

How Benjamin Button got his face: Ed Ulbrich on TED.com

In the latest release from TED2009, Ed Ulbrich, the digital-effects guru from Digital Domain, explains the Oscar-winning technology that allowed his team to digitally create older versions of Brad Pitt's face for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:08.)

Watch Ed Ulbrich's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 385+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about storytelling.

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07 April 2008

Pangea Day: film as passport, translator, olive branch

Can film erase borders? The people of Japan, Australia, Kenya and France sing the national anthems of Turkey, Lebanon, India and the United States in the latest sampling of inspiring -- if subversive -- videos released by Pangea Day. The series was produced by creative agency Johannes Leonardo.

Could this provoke peace? Watch Kenya sing for India, and decide for yourself:

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14 September 2007

10 May 2008: Pangea Day

When she was awarded the 2006 TED Prize, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim expressed a wish: a global acceptance of diversity, mediated through the power of film. (Watch her speech.)

The project is taking off, and its ambition level is spectacular. On May 10, 2008, Pangea Day, sites in New York City, Rio, London, Dharamsala, Cairo, Jerusalem, and Kigali will be video-conferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, supplemented by visionary speakers, and global musicians.

The purpose: to use the power of film to promote better understanding of our common humanity. A global audience will watch through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones. Yes, of course, movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can.

To start the process, a short Pangea Day trailer (2:30 min) has just been given front-page exposure on YouTube, inviting anyone to submit their films. Pangea is seeking films "that provoke, entertain and inspire". "Images are powerful to divide, but also to unite", says the trailer. Here it is:

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13 September 2007

Scenes from "The War Tapes": Deborah Scranton on TED.com

The director of the award-winning documentary The War Tapes, Deborah Scranton makes films that help people tell their own stories. She talks about making The War Tapes, her 2006 doc that put videocameras in the hands of Charlie Company, a unit of the National Guard stationed in Iraq, for one year. Their raw footage and diaries tell a powerful, unsettling story. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:49.)

Watch Deborah Scranton's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Read more about Deborah Scranton on TED.com.

NEW: Read the transcript >>

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24 August 2007

Bill McDonough, Reel to Reel

The information spread a few months ago: director Steven Spielberg is planning a movie (a theatrical documentary) about pioneering green architect William (Bill) McDonough, his work, and his "Cradle to Cradle" vision of absolute sustainability -- which Bill detailed in a 2002 book (written with Michael Braungart) and explained at TED2005 (watch his speech) and is now trying to apply everywhere, from the Googleplex to new Chinese cities.

But while Spielberg is thinking, actor Leo Di Caprio sped past, presumably in his Prius: inspired (like Spielberg) by Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", Di Caprio has produced "The 11th Hour", an eco-doc about humans creating the conditions for their own demise by destroying nature. The movie debuted at the last Cannes Film Festival; premiered in New York and Los Angeles a few days ago (read the NY Times review); and it's released across the US and Canada today (Europe and the rest of the world will have to wait). Among the academics, designers, entrepreneurs and other experts that appear in the film, narrated by Di Caprio, is Bill McDonough.

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23 August 2007

Making films to make change: Jeff Skoll on TED.com

Jeff Skoll made his fortune as the first president of eBay. Now he's spending it at the movies. His company, Participant Productions, makes entertaining, issues-driven films that inspire real change -- Murderball, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth ... Here, he talks about the people who've inspired him to do good, and about some upcoming films that will open your eyes. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 15:45.)

Watch Jeff Skoll's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Read more about Jeff Skoll on TED.com.

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