MythBusters' Adam Savage - Dodos, Maltese Falcons, and the Art of Obsession

MythBusters co-host Adam Savage gives a fast-paced presentation on personal obsessions. Savage explains how his fascination with dodo bird skeletons eventually led to his designing of an exact bronze-cast replica of the titular statue from the 1941 Humphrey Bogart movie, "The Maltese Falcon."

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Adam Savage speaks at the 2008 Entertainment Gathering in Monterey, California. This program was recorded on December 12, 2008.

EG is the celebration of the American entertainment industry. Since 1984, Richard Saul Wurman has created extraordinary gatherings about learning and understanding. EG is a rich extension of these ideas - a conference that explores the attitude of understanding in music, film, television, radio, technology, advertising, gaming, interactivity and the web - The Entertainment Gathering

Adam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what's in his brain and make it real. He's built everything from ancient Buddhas to futuristic weapons, from spaceships to dancing vegetables, from fine art sculptures to animated chocolate — and just about anything else you can think of.

The son of a filmmaker/painter and psychotherapist, Adam has been making his own toys since he was allowed to hold scissors. Having held positions as a projectionist, animator, graphic designer, carpenter, interior and stage designer, toy designer, welder, and scenic painter, he's worked with every material and process he could get his hands on — metal, paper, glass, plastic, rubber, foam, plaster, pneumatics, hydraulics, animatronics, neon, glassblowing, mold making and injection molding, to name just a few.

Since 1993, Adam has concentrated on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and the Matrix sequels. He's also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey's, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies.

Today, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel's MythBusters, Adam teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Somehow he also finds time to devote to his own art — his sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.Va.

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  People & Blogs

[oldnoname12]

what i would do to look at his creative projects folder

[iconocast]

gotta admire his passion.

[FREAKshow73933]

i love Adam Savage

[x00Warhawk00x]

Adam would make a good auction announcer, he can talk quite fast when he wants to.

[Lissbirds]

The one thing that's bugging me is that the model in the movie looks like a satin finish, not glossy. Was it made with a satin finish, or is it truly glossy but just appears satin because of the effects of 1940's film?

[Lissbirds]

I love seeing how he works. Making a 3D laser scan of an original would be incredibly awesome; hopefully someone will agree to that.

[Jón Ásgeir Jónsson]

He talks so fast :), must be really excited

[weepingwell]

Wow i i just got an ad for how cool myspace is. In 2013..

[RoundersLP2]

why is that falcon so valuable.

[burnturn923]

Chandler people (Raymond Chandler) and Hammett people (Dashiell Hammett). You can google them to understand it better.

[mfcds]

He said this sentence a little too fast for my foreigner ears:

"the world is divided into two kinds of people"

can someone complete what was the end of that for me?

it was about 6:55

[kevindeleon19892]

Adam is awesome!