Talking Tech & Meme Review with Will Smith!

[Music] so will smith in the building actor let's see rapper rapper TV show yes philanthropist Antipas we go later a cook yeah I just I just threw that in I'm not even sure that's true welcome to the show I appreciate you spending the time so I want to start talking tech for a little bit so so you came up in the era of classics of hip hop of all these things and I just got to go way back to the beginning what's your favorite piece of retro tech from back in the day so so jazzy jeff was the biggest tech head in all of Philly so he's crazy so it was the first time that MIDI of even though yes so I don't even know people even know what MIDI a multiple medical instrument digital interface right yeah so it was the first time that you could take two drum machines and string them together right so Jeff had the 909 and the 808 and it was the first time that you could sync music together from two separate machines that sounds like some real Flintstones stuff yeah so the first time that Jeff made a beat that could sink keyboards and multiple machines and make it play at one time was the most amazing thing that's like bleeding-edge yeah that was bleeding edge technology that you could make a piece of music and hit one button and make the whole song play from instruments at one time right so I know that doesn't sound like much but that and then into the first four track recorder like multitrack recording like we didn't have any of that when we were coming up you had to go into a studio and it was the two inch 24 track case and that was the only way you could record you couldn't record anyway people can record on their phones now I've heard about these tapes yeah okay so so since these years of tapes and we've gotten more and more digital and more and more high-tech in our films I'm curious how you feel about tech being like an integral part of the filmmaking process and being used to tell a story right so we get all the way from fresh prints to men and black all the way to Gemini met and we're like the deck outside is necessary you have to tell that story so if you could talk about how you feel about tech being so core to making that sort of thing happen you know so when I started in in entertainment the lack of tech was a massive creative hindrance right it was you could have an idea and it literally could take you a month before you could get the resources together to get the idea out of your mind onto something you could listen to right with music and with film it was impossible if you had if you had images in your mind you know with a super8 camera to try to shoot something and then try to sync it was literally impossible so two things happen with that so with what once with rap music what happened was only the best of the best got through right so 1986 the summer that me and Jeff released our first album if I named all the rappers you would know who they were cause you it with your jazzy jeff and fresh friends Heavy D eraklyon Rock Public Enemy it's like you jet you couldn't get through so then what happens with technology as soon as technology gets democratized and everybody can do it and now more things get out and there's a lesser quality to the things that make it to to the world so I would say technology is an absolute necessity to advance human imagination because really beautiful ideas die inside of people and I remember one time I heard Marvin Gaye say something that was so cold he said he was talking about a pain that he feels and he said because there's he says I have a song inside of me that I know is great and I can't get it out so to me that is a part of the human spirit that technology is an enabler it's an enabler yes to to be able to allow us to explore ourselves and to as angly said allow us to chase our imagination even know and we'll never catch it so now we get to know that was deep you got a pause like when I say something like that you I have like a pause damn daddy can we get that on the screen yeah you could put it on yeah chase our imagination knowing that we'll never catch it so now Gemini man so I've seen that the trailers in the plot of the movie is insane so you're starring in the movie yo and a younger version of yourself is also starring at the same time on screen absolutely I'll let that soak in first yeah yeah you ready for that ready for that that's kind of a lot so how does this happen are you acting as one character for a month and then switching to the other are you going back and forth what's really interesting so this is the first 100% digital character you know in the digital human yeah right yeah well not digital carry yeah digital human thank you for the correct no problem but don't do that again no it was the first I'm done that's all I saw my Wikipedia page already see the thing is I watched a Latin on the plane it was like that's kind of a human but also kind of a genius so we're all calls the first hundred percent the first hundred percent digital human right but that's that that's interesting so Aladdin was the same technology but anytime you make someone blue and you make them float and fly and all of that there's a huge there's room to play with it but when you're trying to sell an emotional scene that's a close-up and your on the eyes and the eyes need to be wet and you know you need to capture all of that in a close-up that's the that's the leap forward that Angley and weather are attempting to make with with Gemini man and I've described in the same way it's not de-aging it's not my face and then they you know flatten it out and make it look younger no it's a 100% digital creation based on my performance right so in the same way in the Life of Pi with the tiger right so they use the tiger and they shot images of a tiger and all that but in the movie creating the movement of the tiger is 100% digital they're not using the tiger as an actor that's how it is with this digital character to 100% digital human would you say it's easier or more difficult to work with so much tech and because you're obviously acting with is it a body double or no one is there or how so it's it's a mixture sometimes it's a another actor will be there to do the the scene with me sometimes it's nothing I'll just get an eyeline and look and you you know depending on what's best for the individual shot is that that's a unique challenge I guess yes absolutely and then it's a unique challenge on the other side because there's a whole head rig right that I have to wear and it has cameras in front right so if you and I are doing a scene there's cameras that are right in front so I can't really see into your eyes to do the things you'd normally do to capture a real acting performance right interesting I'm gonna pivot to what I think is fascinating which is your pivot from being actor to also creator and zone youtuber and all these other different mediums how's that been like that's been it's pretty new for you but how do you think that's been going somewhere I love it right so when you make a movie so the Gemini man yeah for when Gemini man comes out it will have been over two years right since only you know started the process and over a year and a half me being involved so two years for one piece of content to go out is is artistic death for me right you know there's so many beautiful just tiny thoughts and ideas that that can turn into 60-second and four-minute content and share to be able to to release things into the world and I just felt completely backed up and and you know trapped with all of these creative ideas and now with now started with YouTube and and Instagram and just moving around the different platforms and all the different platforms speak to a different type of creativity they all have a different flow yeah yeah they they have a different wavelength right you know definitely because I see the Instagram stuff versus like the vlogs like yeah and I'm curious if it lets you I think the obvious answer is yes but like you're expressing your own ideas absolutely more often than if you're being directed yes absolutely and and because it's it's not really directed per se it's a you know it's you know sort of half capturing real-life shoot everything now so what I find is it makes me explore and experience in ways that I wouldn't have if I wasn't going to shoot it you know we get into cities you know we we get into you know Seoul Korea and I'm exhausted but I know MLM a is doing something so I wanna you know when ago night actually makes me get out of bed and go and explore and experience him and meet people you know even this time with you and doing this press conference at the YouTube space it's like it's an opportunity I wanted to meet which I wanted to sit with you I wanted to hear what you think it's like it jogs that creative beast in inside of me I love it and then just as far as literal quality we mentioned the red cameras yeah like going from cuz you fancy I mean you've met everyone has to shoot with the regular the camera and your smartphone today yes amazing video so if I go back to like shooting fresh prints or like me you know 20 years ago fun fact by the way you've been shooting the video longer than I've been alive exactly what I was about to let me go back that far obviously quality has snipped up in a major way are there things we don't think about as a viewer that that you have to think about now that the quality is better yes like makeup is probably one of them yeah exactly yeah you know and it's funny you were just saying that like there were no cell phones when I got started like zero right so when I was a teenager when the first cell phone yeah came out but nobody had them like you know rich people had and they were two big bricks and Japan was really the first country that I saw full cell phone coverage like the the the kids in Japan had cell phones before before everybody so it was a whole different way of interacting human beings started to interact differently when the the technology expanded in that way I think it's pushing people to be more honest you know I think that just there's good and bad with any tool but I think that technology and what is being created and how people are embracing it is going to force humans to evolve I love that all right so I have one more little series of things to grab this so it let's do a little little meme review meme review you've got a couple Wolf's nail Oh related quick okay ameen ameen review and I want you to I'm gonna show them to you and and people see them too but also if you could shed some light on either the behind the scenes or you remember what's being shot am I gonna be embarrassed at all cuz I want to prepare myself if I'm gonna be in bear let's go with no and I want to have I want to have my team grab stuff of you in case you're embarrassing yeah this will be fun yes this was this was a time in my life when I was as wild and free as I had ever been I would say anything in front of a camera I would do anything and there was a raw recklessness to my creativity that I'm actually seeking right now like I want to make my way back to that say anything do anything space like this guy well he was a wild boy you got a message alright next name you don't don't want to know who's cinnamon is you know that's the that is the same period okay if I can recall like during during this time I started expanding my performances because Martin had just come on okay right the air and I remember watching Martin's show and when I watched Martin know they liked the wildness of his comedy I was like I got to turn it up I got to turn it up a notch so this was this was definitely in my keep up with Martin stage okay now this is I think a talk show oh yeah I don't know what the hell I was doing an hour that's just a great emotions Ostrom together yeah that is crazy okay that was embarrassing that was the other tools go that was the Lord oh what's weird about this one is the context people use it for its visually really lightweight but this is like yeah this is the final episode of fresh prints it's funny I learned a really valuable lesson in this right because the the the network wanted to do one more season of The Fresh Prince and I remember I was considering I was going to do one more season of The Fresh Prince and we had we've done an episode of something with John Amos and John Amos came to me said hey man listen he said don't overstay your welcome on on TV he was like you're doing great stuff he's like you do not want to get cancelled in the middle of a season it's like go out on your terms the way that you want to go out be able to say goodbye to your fans don't get caught okay it bends in so this was the sixth season and I had an opportunity to do one more season but I was feeling like the quality wasn't necessarily going to stay up and I decided to end the show in the sixth season and do you think that's like some of the better advice you've gotten it oh my goodness it's I the the being prepared for the next thing is so wildly critical I think life in general is rise and fall everything is rise and fall and there's been a couple times in my life where I got caught holding on to the last wave while it's the while it's dying oh I have a good quote for that yeah I have a KC nice that quote where cases like that tart I don't even he probably did make this up but Tarzan can't get to the next branch of yes absolutely yeah absolutely and you've got to be when you you're grabbing that first one and you're holding it it's going to be there it's fantastic but you gotta know that you're gonna have to let go at some point because the same thing that saved your life if you hang on it'll kill you got it that's deep like you did take a pause let's go on one more me good times yeah - I got smashed for this although you know and I brought you down with me or this would I'd say it was a height yeah yeah I brought you down is that I won't do this neck necks I'm really I'm really elevate well that's a lot I'm gonna marry love with your door thank you so much

Channel: Marques Brownlee

Views: 2,714,841

Rating: 4.9544106 out of 5

Keywords: talking tech, talking tech with will smith, will smith, MKBHD, Marques Brownlee, fortnite and marques brownlee, fortnite, youtube rewind, meme review, meme review will smith

Id: O6NiridP0Oo

Length: 18min 40sec (1120 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 07 2019