At TEDxUSC, computer graphics trailblazer Paul Debevec explains the scene-stealing technology behind Digital Emily, a digitally constructed human face so realistic it stands up to multiple takes.

Paul Debevec's digital inventions have powered the breathtaking visual effects in films like The Matrix, Superman Returns, King Kong and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Called "Hollywood's Master of Light" by MIT's Technology Review, Paul Debevec leads the Graphics Laboratory at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, where he directs the development of the Light Stage systems, which capture and simulate how people and objects appear in real-world illumination.

His work on lighting digital objects has been used in films like X-Men, The Golden Compass and Terminator: Salvation. He leads the design of HDR Shop, the first high-dynamic-range image editing program. He has collaborated with TEDster Golan Levin on an interactive art installation called Rouen Revisited.