WHAT IS A COMPUTER AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Chelsea: OH MY GOD, A COMPUTER?
Win: THERE'S A GNOME.
HE HAS EITHER A WHEEL OR A TREADMILL,
KIND OF DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF CARDIO HE'S LOOKING FOR
Matthew: A COMPUTER ITSELF IS KIND OF A DUMB MACHINE...
Win: HE IN TURN THROWS A DART
Matthew: A COMPUTER CAN ONLY DO
THINGS THAT YOU TELL IT TO DO
Win: THAT DART THROWING AND THE RUNNING ON A TREADMILL
ALL OCCURS YOU KNOW FIFTY THOUSAND TIMES A MINUTE
Matthew: AND DOES SOME PRETTY FASCINATING THINGS
DEPENDING ON WHAT THE PERSON DREAMT UP IN THEIR HEAD.
Chelsea: I DON'T KNOW HOW A COMPUTER WORKS
Win: IT'S PRETTY AMAZING STUFF.
♪ MUSIC ♪
WELCOME TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF FAST FORWARD.
AND THE REASON YOU'RE WATCHING PEOPLE
TALK ABOUT MYSTERIOUS COMPUTER GNOMES IS BECAUSE
TODAY WE'RE VISITING A PLACE COMPLETELY POWERED BY
CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY--TURNER BROADCASTING IN MIDTOWN ATLANTA,
HOME OF TNT, TBS, CNN, CARTOON NETWORK,
ADULT SWIM, AND A WHOLE LOT MORE.
SO LET'S START BY MEETING SOME OF THE FOLKS WHO WORK HERE.
DeTag: I'M A SENIOR ANIMATOR SLASH ANIMATION DIRECTOR
HERE AT TURNER STUDIOS.
Chelsea: I'M A MEDIA MANAGER AT TURNER BROADCASTING.
Jim: I'M THE MUSICOLOGIST FOR TURNER STUDIOS.
Peter: I'M VICE PRESIDENT OF EMERGING MEDIA FOR TURNER SPORTS.
I THINK I HAVE THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD.
IT TURNS OUT THE TURNER NETWORKS DON'T JUST RUN BY MAGIC.
IT TAKES PEOPLE LIKE THESE,
AND A WHOLE LOT MORE
ALMOST 7,000 IN ATLANTA ALONE,
AND ANOTHER 4,000 AROUND THE WORLD.
AMAZINGLY CREATIVE PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS TECHNOLOGY KNOW HOW.
AND WITH THAT IN MIND, TODAY WE'RE GONNA BUST A FEW MYTHS.
SO LET'S GET STARTED!
TO BE A GREAT ANIMATOR, YOU JUST HAVE TO DRAW REALLY WELL.
DeTag: ANIMATORS HAVE TO LIVE AND BREATHE PHYSICS
TO MAKE ANYTHING LOOK REALISTIC.
DeTag: WHEN YOU WORK AS AN ANIMATOR
YOUR DRAFTSMANSHIP IS ONE PART OF IT,
BUT THEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF MOTION IS
THE WHOLE REST OF YOUR JOB.
DeTag:THERE'S JUST THE BASICS OF, WE MUST KNOW GRAVITY
THINGS HAVE TO SIT RIGHT.
YOU HAVE TO FEEL WEIGHT.
AND LIKE IF YOU THROW A BALL,
IT'S NOT GOING TO GO AS A STRAIGHT LINE
CAUSE WITH THE REALITY OF GRAVITY IT HAS TO ARC
THIS IS PROBABLY A GOOD TIME TO INTRODUCE A...
De Tag: TEACHABLE MOMENT!
LET'S GET A BETTER HANDLE ON GRAVITY.
WHILE WE GENERALLY THINK OF GRAVITY AS THE THING
THAT KEEPS US ON THE EARTH,
IT'S ACTUALLY A UNIVERSAL FORCE OF ATTRACTION
BETWEEN ALL PARTICLES.
ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT IS WITH THE FORMULA F EQUALS M TIMES G,
WHERE F IS THE WEIGHT OF AN OBJECT,
M IS ITS MASS,
AND G IS ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY.
WHILE AN OBJECT'S MASS DOESN'T CHANGE,
ITS WEIGHT WILL DEPEND ON M AND G.
THAT'S WHY THINGS WEIGH LESS ON THE MOON.
IT ALSO AFFECTS HOW ANIMATORS DRAW.
FOR EXAMPLE
DeTag: WHENEVER YOU HAVE TO DRAW SOMEONE
THROWING SOMETHING,
IF YOU DID A STRAIGHT LINE IT WOULD BE,
IT WOULDN'T BE BELIEVABLE AND LOOK FAKE
SO YOU HAVE TO PUT AN ARC TO IT TO SIMULATE GRAVITY'S FORCE
KNOCKING IT BACK DOWN TO EARTH.
SO GRAVITY COMES INTO PLAY ALL THE TIME IN ANIMATION.
SO... UNDERSTANDING PHYSICS HELPS ANIMATORS.
ODD... BUT TRUE.
LET'S MOVE ON.
WHEN YOU HEAR MUSIC IN MOVIES OR ON TV SHOWS,
THE MUSICIANS PLAYING HAVE TO PLAY IT EXACTLY RIGHT
EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Jim: IF YOU SEE A SCENE
THAT'S SUPPOSEDLY TAKING PLACE IN A NIGHTCLUB,
THERE'S REALLY NO MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND.
IT'S ADDED LATER.
THIS IS WHERE SOUND DESIGN AND EDITING COMES IN HANDY.
COOL JOB ALERT!
THAT'S JIM RICH, TURNER'S MUSICOLOGIST.
AND HIS JOB IS
Jim: KIND OF SIMILAR TO SHAZAM IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH.
AND THAT IS THE TRUTH.
JIM'S KINDA LIKE A HUMAN IPOD,
AND HIS BRAIN IS LIKE THE BIGGEST PLAYLIST EVER.
TELL US MORE, JIM!
Jim: IF WE'RE DOING MUSIC FOR SOME OF OUR
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES OR SOME OF OUR SHOWS,
WE'LL BE LOOKING FOR MUSIC THAT WILL GO UNDERNEATH A SCENE.
THEY'LL SEND ME DAILIES,
THEY'LL SEND ME ONE-OFFS,
AND I'LL KINDA MATCH MUSIC TO THOSE SCENES.
SOUNDS LIKE PURELY CREATIVE STUFF,
YES?
Jim: YOU NEED TO BE VERY, VERY,
VERY COMPUTER LITERATE.
YOU HAVE TO BE VERY FLUENT IN HANDLING META-DATA
AND IN COMPUTER SKILLS.
INCIDENTALLY, META-DATA IS BASICALLY INFORMATION
THAT HELPS DESCRIBE ONE OR MORE ASPECTS OF SOME CONTENT,
LIKE THE WORDS YOU USE TO SEARCH FOR A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.
OKAY,
THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVITY HERE AT TURNER.
I'M STARTING TO SENSE A THEME.
SO... LET'S GET TO MYTH NUMBER 3!
WORK THAT INVOLVES TECHNOLOGY IS BORING.
YEP, THE FOLKS HERE AT TURNER FEEL A BIT DIFFERENTLY.
BUT I'LL LET THEM SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
Peter: I AM WHAT YOU CALL A CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST,
AND WHAT I DO IS I TAKE THIS WONDERFUL DATA
AND I FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAYS THAT I CAN DELIVER CONTENT.
IF KOBE BRYANT HAS 10 DUNKS IN A GAME,
HOW DO I TAKE THAT DATA THOSE 10 DUNKS
AND SERVE IT DIRECTLY TO A KOBE BRYANT FAN?
I LIKE THAT CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST.
AND THE SAME THING IS TRUE AT ADULT SWIM.
Win: WHEN I WAS KID I LOVED LEGOS.
AND YOU KNOW IT'S KIND OF LIKE DIGITAL LEGOS FOR ME.
I START WITH A BLANK PAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DAY
AND AT THE END OF THE DAY I'VE GOT SOMETHING
THAT IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER THAT INVOLVES A CARTOON
IN A VERY REAL CAPACITY, WHICH IS A LOT OF FUN
NICE!
THREE MYTHS--BUSTED.
BUT BEFORE WE GO, HOW ABOUT SOME ADVICE.
Peter: IF YOU UNDERSTAND TECHNOLOGY
THAT'S ONLY GOING TO HELP YOUR CAREER
BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY GREAT OPPORTUNITIES
THAT YOU CAN PARTICIPATE AS YOU GET OLDER.
SOUNDS GOOD.
BUT WITH ALL OF THAT CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY STUFF IN MIND,
THERE'S ONE MORE QUESTION I HAVE TO ASK
THAT GUY FROM ADULT SWIM
WHAT'S THE COOLEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Win: COOLEST THING ABOUT WORKING IN TECHNOLOGY FOR ADULT SWIM IS
PROBABLY WORKING FOR ADULT SWIM.
NO MATTER WHAT I'M DOING AT THE END OF THE DAY,
I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO EITHER MAKE CARTOONS
OR VIDEOGAMES COOLER IN SOME WAY SHAPE OR FORM.
I DON'T THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE
THAT GET UP IN THE MORNING
AND END UP AT A PLACE THIS FUN.
MAYBE NOT.
BUT IF THERE ARE, WE'LL FIND THEM,
AND INTRODUCE THEM TO YOU
ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF FAST FORWARD.
SEE YOU THEN!
♪ MUSIC ♪