"Animation?" Ronald wondered why Cameron recommended an animation talent.
"Ah, I forgot. People who don't do visual effects will misunderstand this name and think it's one of those Disney cartoons."
John Van Fleet smiled and explained it to Ronald.
The original meaning of the word animation is to make a stationary object move. Disney's cartoons actually make the characters drawn on paper move and turn them into a movie.
In the field of visual effects, there are also people called animation experts. Their job is to make the objects in the movie that would not move originally move on the screen according to the director's instructions.
The two found a place to sit down. Ronald handed Van Fleet the text of several visual effects-intensive scenes in the script, then picked up a pencil and began to draw the image of the scene he wanted.
"The scenes I want to deal with in particular are three dense places. The first one is on the streets of Broadway in New York. Sam was shot to death. His soul left his body and saw his body lying on the ground with Molly in his arms.
Dead shot.
Both Sams need to be in a scene, but one needs to have a ghostly feel and can pass through various objects and human bodies without being hindered.”
"Traditional visual effects can solve this problem. You just need to let the stand-in lie on the ground instead of the actor..."
Van Fleet saw Ronald shaking his head and knew that this B-movie method was dissatisfactory to the director opposite. "But this processing method is too rough and cannot use close-ups. The other method is to use multiple repeated exposures...
… That’s not very accurate, either, or use a green screen to capture the ghost’s movements and then composite them onto film.”
"I want to see the effect. The second scene is a ghost in a subway car, jumping through the wall between different trains."
"This is the same idea, but for high-speed moving objects like the subway, you need high-precision camera control..."
"The third scene is the final scene where the bad guy Carl brought it upon himself. After he was stabbed to death by a glass, the ghost came out and pushed him to hell, and after bidding farewell to Molly, Sam finally went to heaven..."
"You mean some black phantom drags Carl down to hell, and then Sam's whole body glows with a silhouette of light, and finally he goes to heaven?"
The two discussed the effects Ronald needed on the drawing board. Van Fleet pondered for a while and then gave a plan.
"I understand that for a big production with more than 20 million yuan, you need a sense of reality that is different from the special effects of B-level movies."
"That's right, that's right. I can't stand the audience on the screen thinking that's Roger Coe... Hey, you know, the kind of special effects that Cannon Pictures made for Superman IV, the kind that cost two dollars and thirty-five cents...
"
Ronald got the message across.
"To achieve this sense of reality, what is actually needed is not any new technology, but a large amount of expert time investment, slow work and meticulous work."
Van Fleet understood that in this Ghost movie, there wasn’t much groundbreaking progress in visual effects.
For example, the kind of two people he needs appearing on the same screen has been shot by Hollywood since the 1920s. Now, with computer assistance, it can be controlled in a more sophisticated way.
The special effects of walking through the wall and being emitted a soft holy light before going to heaven were also solved as early as 1985.
That year's "Ghostbusters" became an instant hit thanks to the elaborate special effects of various ghosts on the screen.
But what is really troublesome is the scene where the bad guy Carl goes to hell.
"For the Holy Light lens, you'd better find Richard Edlund of Boss Pictures. He invented the outline light visual effects in "Ghostbusters". It can follow the character's movement seamlessly.
"Isn't your team good?" Ronald laughed when he saw that Van Fleet was still acting like a technical expert. This kind of person is actually quite cute.
"No, I can't afford to support such a big team. Only Industrial Light and Magic in Hollywood can support so many full-time employees." Van Fleet waved his hand. He was good at animation special effects, and it was impossible to receive a large number of jobs continuously.
Movies that use visual effects can only retain a few core employees, and then when the list is ready, they can recruit those engineers to come back to work.
Those visual effects engineers are like nomads in Hollywood. Wherever there is a special effects movie, they flock to work and then retreat. The next time it may be another movie, another company takes the lead, but the same nomads still go there.
Work.
"Okay, but my movie needs a visual effects supervisor to coordinate the work and progress of various companies."
"Then Richard Edlund is the most suitable. His staff are all experienced, and only three or five engineers can do a good job..." Van Fleet didn't seem to understand what Ronald gave him.
Hint, he said on the spot that Edlund from Boss Pictures was the most suitable for the job.
"What other difficulties need to be solved?" Ronald understood that these people have not been infected with the habits of Hollywood and speak more realistically.
"The other is the movement of high-speed cameras, which requires engineers who can accurately replicate the trajectory of the camera in the last shot. In Hollywood, only Industrial Light and Magic is the most suitable..."
"I'll call Lucas. How many people do you think we need?"
"Your most complex scene will require two shifts of camera operators, a team of about twenty people."
"So I only need these people to do the visual effects work?"
"That's definitely not enough. You still need some very careful people to do the visual effects part and match the original film frame by frame. The realism you want mainly depends on how many good alignment engineers you can find.
, it’s best to be women, they are very powerful, maybe 6-8 people are enough, but if there are more, we can’t rush the work at the same time.”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Do you have any recommendations?"
"Catherine Keane, she used to work with me. She now runs her own small studio, doing restoration work on old newsreels for TV stations and governments. The quality of their delivery is very high."
"So, all that's left is the special effect of the ghost dragging the bad guys into hell. What do you think?"
"Well, let me be honest, instead of using the most advanced computer graphics CGI, you might as well use the most traditional hand-drawn animation, like Disney..."
Sometimes, high technology is not as good as using artists. An experienced painter may ultimately be able to complete this special effect better than the most advanced CGI computer rendering.
"Then you must come..." Ronald pointed at Van Fleet and smiled.
"This is indeed my specialty...I need about three people..."
"Find all the people you mentioned. After I talk to them, I will form a special effects team. You will have about... Ronald looked at the calendar on his notebook, "It will be about 6-7 months.
Time to complete all the special effects. Our shooting will be completed in about five weeks, you can experiment now..."
…
"Are you sure? The price of the team you formed is much lower than if it were all done by Industrial Light and Magic? If you think the cost is too high, we at Paramount can make an additional investment." Lindsay
Dolan saw the offer provided by Ronald and couldn't help but ask.
She has never worked with such a big director who saves money for big studios.
"It's not that I'm saving money for you Paramount, but the main manpower of Industrial Light and Magic has to do special effects for several of their own movies. And our movie has a lot of special effects, which Industrial Light and Magic is good at.
It’s different, for example, when it comes to finely controlling the position of characters in a movie, Katherine Kean’s company is the strongest, and the White House Press Office also approached them, not Industrial Light & Magic.”
The main work force of Industrial Light and Magic was used to give Robert Zemeckis, an insider of the Spielberg-Lucas alliance, to do the special effects for the second and third parts of "Back to the Future"
Already.
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit", a large-scale visual effects production shot by Robert Zemeckis that combines live-action and animation, lost a lot of money. For the sake of Spielberg's Amber Lynn and his own future, he had no choice but to turn
I swallowed my promise not to make a sequel to "Back to the Future"...
Moreover, he shot two sequels in one shot. It is said that it saves money to shoot two sequels in one shot, so Elizabeth Shue, Leigh Thompson, and Michael J. Fox had to shoot continuously for more than six months.
For the sake of the movie, Michael J. Fox had to quit the TV series "Family Ties". As a result, this evergreen drama that has accompanied TV viewers for seven years has come to an end.
Industrial Light and Magic is actually a semi-monopoly visual effects manufacturer. In Hollywood, the only directors and producers who can really invest huge sums of money to continuously shoot special effects movies and push technology to breakthroughs are Spielberg and
Lucas two people.
Their financial resources are also strong enough. Although they suffered a lot of box office failures, they were able to continue filming.
Other film producers do not have the ability to continue investing, so it is understandable that Industrial Light and Magic charges very high prices.
Fortunately, Ronald had the help of Cameron, who helped him find the best and most cost-effective visual effects team on the market, which put Ronald at ease.
"So, we don't have to worry about the end result of the special effects, right?" Lindsay Dolan just wants Ronald to nod.
"There is no problem. We are using the newly developed technology in Die Hard 2. The software called Photoshop is very easy to use. I think the effect will surpass any traditional visual effects..."
"Okay, let's go check out the first day of rehearsal. Bruce Willis and Patrick Schwytz's wife Lisa are also coming today..."
Lindsay Dolan took the budget to deliver the project. Although Ronald had raised the price a lot, it was still 30% lower than Industrial Light and Magic. The boss would praise her management skills.
"Bruce... welcome... Demi is still preparing..."
Ronald was outside the rehearsal room, greeting Bruce Willis who came to visit his wife during class.
On the surface, Willis didn't care much about the movie shot by Demi Moore, thinking it was just a traditional romance film. But when he heard that the leading actor was Patrick Schwytz, he also came to visit the film.
The image of Johnny in Dirty Dancing is too dazzling, and Hollywood is full of Schwytz's nymphomaniac fans. I heard that there are many intimate scenes between the two in the script, and Willis thought it would be a good idea to come and take a look.
.
"Hey, you know, she used to often visit my crew. Although Demi didn't say it, I guessed that she really wanted me to visit..." Bruce Willis couldn't possibly admit his worries, so he still put on a show
A heroic spirit.
His image is that of a blue-collar hero, and he cannot worry about his wife being raped by someone else because he is not charming enough... So even though he specifically took a leave of absence from the crew of Die Hard 2, he still had to act like he didn't care.
"Let me introduce to you, this is the actor's wife Lisa Niemi"
Lisa, who is also a dancer, is also very worried about her husband filming this kind of romance film. After all, she is starring opposite Demi Moore, and she is not as calm as when she was filming "Dirty Dancing".
The Jewish girl Jennifer Gray is also ugly, but this time Demi Moore is different.
"Hello..." The two spouses looked at each other tacitly, crossed their arms, and looked towards the door of the rehearsal room.
"Good morning, Ronald. Hi, Honey, why are you here..." Demi Moore opened the door and saw Bruce Willis, and she was very happy. She finally gave this tough guy on the screen a little crisis.
feel.
This chapter is not over yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "I'm here to visit..." Bruce Willis was obviously relieved. There seems to be no chemistry between Patrick Schwytz and Demi.
The way they reacted. The two of them were talking three feet away from each other, and there was no tacit understanding between their movements.
"Honey, are your knees okay recently?" Lisa over there was obviously relieved. When she saw Demi Moore cut her hair short, she kept fiddling with her long hair.
In addition, Demi's voice was very hoarse when she spoke today, which was incomparable with her own very feminine voice.
"Let's rehearse this line again... Sam is a child who suffered psychological trauma when he was a child. He doesn't say I love you, he only says dido (meaning me too), because he is afraid that the things he loves will be lost like he did when he was a child...
…
Although Molly looks strong on the outside, she also longs for her lover to express love to her often, and always avoids saying "I love you", which makes her very uncertain about this relationship.
Of course, despite saying this, Molly will most likely forgive Sam, she really loves him, and if there had been no accident, they would not have hurt each other..."
The rehearsal lasted for more than an hour. Ronald was not very satisfied with the two's understanding of the script, so he had to go on stage to explain the script to them in person.
Bruce Willis and Lisa Niemi were relieved and said goodbye with satisfaction.
"I wish the movie success..."
"Good luck to you, Ronald..."
The two spouses looked at each other and had a bad feeling in their hearts.
The two male and female protagonists had no chemistry when rehearsing their lines, and it was impossible for them to create sparks. In other words, Ronald had a favor for them, and it was hard to say anything about gloating about their misfortune. Anyway, their family didn't rely on this.
Movies, Dirty Dancing had allowed Lisa to live a wealthy life, but Willis felt that it was not a bad thing that his wife did not become a big star.
Ronald came back and watched the two rehearse for a few minutes. The director of photography and the art director next to him frowned. The pair had not entered the situation yet, and there was indeed a problem.
"Bring a camera and shoot them..." Ronald finally spoke.
The photography team quickly brought a Sony video recorder and started filming the two people.
"Sure enough, there is no problem..."
After this rehearsal, Ronald inserted the videotape into the TV set at the scene and took the two protagonists to watch their rehearsal results...
Some things are just amazing. After the camera lens is deformed, Schwytz and Demi Moore appear on the TV screen, and they are inexplicably radiant. When the two say their lines, the scene is like high school.
Male and female students are equally ruthless, but when they are on camera, they become affectionate.
Demi Moore and Patrick Schwytz looked at each other. They couldn't see how bad they were performing live. Seeing the chemistry between the two on TV was so good, there was more understanding in their eyes.
"Bring the movie camera here, let them put on the costumes from the play, and rehearse again." Ronald touched his chin and continued to give orders.
The next day, the films that were rushed to be developed were projected onto the screen in the screening room.
"How amazing..."
Director of photography Adam Greenberg has never seen this kind of situation before. Close-ups have a special magic. Both actors are the kind of actors who shine on film. The chemical reaction on the movie screen seems to be better than
An order of magnitude better on TV tapes
I don’t know how Ronald saw it…
Now, several of the main creators looked at Ronald like a magician.