The acquisition of movie theaters went very smoothly. Many movie theater owners were happy to sell out when they heard that someone was willing to take over. The bottleneck turned into a lack of funds and a limited design and renovation team.
Anyway, Ronald and Douglas Jr. have plenty of money prepared. In the new year, Ronald will receive the box office share of two more popular romance movies. This time, he will use part of it to buy the movie theater and stock it up.
The Little Thomas theater chain in Hollywood stayed in business and then slowly renovated it.
Putting that aside, another of Ronald's projects was also in trouble.
That is the polar bear advertisement he made for Coca-Cola, and the production progress was very unsatisfactory. Van Fleet’s latest estimate of the production time is far longer than the original estimate, and may take as long as 8 months to a year.
The main problems are two. The first is that the animation is all computer-generated. When the polar bear character does some actions and moves, a frame jump will occur in the middle. Suddenly, a hand or foot movement will lose its smoothness.
It seems like the middle part is a move made intentionally by a clown.
The second problem is that the facial expression of the polar bear does not fit well with the entire computer model. When he talks or even smiles, it may look like a robot wearing a polar bear hood. If you don’t pay attention,
The inner frame will protrude from the middle of the hood.
The solution given by Van Fleet is to develop software yourself to automatically handle these two problems. Otherwise, if you rely on manual work, you don’t know how long it will take to repair it.
"Hasn't anyone encountered these two problems of yours before?" Ronald wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible, otherwise Orvis might come up with another trick.
"There are very few scenes in previous movies where entities are purely computer-generated and move in the environment. I heard that only the recent Terminator sequel will have some breakthroughs."
"Hey, you told me earlier..."
Ronald took Van Fleet to Cameron's special effects studio. His special effects supervisor, Stan Winston, was working with Cameron on the final rendering of some scenes.
Stan Winston looked at the sketch that Harfleet brought and patted his chest to assure him that there was no problem. "It just so happens that our T-1000 robot will also have to deal with the problems of movement coordination and facial mapping. We developed it ourselves.
I installed 4 software, working with Industrial Light & Magic’s Alias and RenderMan.”
"Okay, after you guys finish it, we'll finish the polar bear advertisement over there with your team." Ronald calculated and waited for them to finish Terminator 2, and then teach the software to Fan.
It would take Fleet's team to complete the Coca-Cola advertisement together, which would save at least 6 months compared to developing it on their own.
"You don't have to wait for the holidays. After we finish this project here, the team will go do their own thing. The people from Industrial Light and Magic will go back to the animators, modelers, and rendering engineers from other places in Industrial Light and Magic. This film was shot
Since then, no other film has used computer graphics on such a large scale to create characters out of thin air."
"You have no idea what your creation is. You should keep this production team and form a company. I guess after the release of this Terminator sequel, there will be at least a dozen movies in Hollywood."
, looking for you to do similar things."
"Hahahaha..." Stan Winston laughed, how could such a thing happen? Industrial Light and Magic also reached an impasse after filming the Star Wars trilogy. George Lucas had to cast more films by himself.
Movies and TV shows to keep the company running.
The combination of traditional model special effects and computer special effects also has some fixed businesses. For special effects that are completely computer-generated, only the T-1000 liquid metal robot in the Terminator sequel operates this way. This is part of the plot.
Determined by specificity.
Just for these few minutes of special effects pictures, their entire working group spent up to half a year developing their own software and doing a lot of experiments before finally achieving the effect. There is no other company in Hollywood that is willing to invest.
One hundred million dollars to make a movie like this.
"We can make a bet. How about Jim and I investing in your special effects studio together?"
"If that day comes, I will fuck you and Jim..."
"What are you talking about?" Cameron saw that they were chatting enthusiastically and came over.
"Ronald said that after the success of this movie, such special effects will be used in many movies, and we should set up a company..."
"It would be great if this is the case. I can make a few more movies like this. How fun it will be for you!" Of course Cameron wanted it. But neither he nor Stan Winston was as optimistic as Ronald.
The large-scale use of such computer special effects means a huge investment. How many lunatics in Hollywood are as desperate as Carloco?
…
Two weeks later, the special effects team that had finished Terminator 2 was reorganized and worked with Van Fleet on the Coca-Cola commercial.
As expected, a team that has been trained in very detailed special effects on the big screen is not like Van Fleet. There is no team that has used pure computer special effects. The four software they developed themselves have very well solved the various problems faced by polar bears.
Various problems have greatly shortened the development and production time of special effects.
Ronald happily asked them to buy the licenses for these four softwares.
"Are you serious?" Stan Winston was stunned. Isn't it just to help?
"Of course it's true. You don't know how much small and medium-sized production companies and advertising production companies want this kind of software. There are also small production companies that make cartoons for TV stations. With these tools, their
Start making a series."
"It may take a few years before it can be used in actual production, right?" Stan Winston is an expert. He knows that such a thing is not suitable for being directly put into a TV series production environment.
"TV dramas, commercials, music videos, you name it. How many production companies are looking forward to buying such a set, so that they can increase the quotation they give to customers in the future."
"Is it really possible?" Stan Winston began to think about it. If there were so many customers, the annual licensing fees, software upgrade fees, and supporting hardware integration fees would not be needed if he really started a company.
If you make your own special effects and just sell the tools, you can maintain a small team to continuously develop and take on big movie projects.
"Yes, this is called selling... It is not fighting to support war. With the profits brought by these tools, you can continuously upgrade research and development and expand your scale. Just like my old friend Warren said,
It started snowballing from the top of the mountain.”
"This friend of yours seems to be very business-minded. I've been convinced by you. I'm going to find a lawyer right away. Let's corporatize the team first..."
…
The two went to meet Cameron, who was still working overtime in the editing room. Cameron felt very happy. As long as the company was established and someone really invested in the production, it meant that he would have big toys to play with.
"This is a good idea. I didn't expect it could be played like this..." Cameron smiled as he signed the authorization document. "This may be a new field. In the past, special effects were mainly based on models. Industrial Light & Magic
It is also combined with some industrial control science. This company's future technology may be special effects based on pure computer graphics. No one in Hollywood has explored this field."
"Your idea is very good. I think it can be used as the core competitiveness of this new special effects company. Why not just call it... a company in the field of computer graphics? Well, it's too complicated. Why not call it digital field?"
"Good name, good name." Both of them thought the name was good.
Stan Winston took the authorization documents and went to Ronald's lawyer for help in setting up a new company.
Ronald was hanging out in Cameron's editing room, and Cameron invited him to look at his work on the editing machine.
"vomit……"
Ronald felt a little nauseous when he saw the editing machine. During this period, he had just finished editing "Other People's Money" and was in a period of disgust.
Every time a movie is edited, there will be such a reaction. Because the colorful world created on the screen is incompatible with the boring and repetitive real world, it causes some physical and psychological discomfort. Rona often feels uncomfortable at this time.
I will do other things to distract myself, not watching movies, not going into the editing room, and staying away from everything about the movie.
Seeing that Ronald was really uncomfortable, Cameron said to him, "Do you look sick? I would be the same way. There is coffee over there, go and pour it yourself."
"What are you doing?" Ronald couldn't help but wonder when he saw Cameron and the editing assistant using scissors to cut a frame of the frame before putting it on the editing machine, and then put it on the machine to pick it up again. What kind of editing is this?
method?
"Ha, this is my inspiration, a new experimental editing method. If this method is feasible, all directors and producers will thank me. They will even name this editing method Came
Long editing method.”
"Tell me about it..." Ronald studied under Walter Murch and was very concerned about new techniques related to editing.
"That's right. I cut all the shots that would not affect the narrative. The final length was still two hours and five minutes, but the distribution company TriStar Pictures insisted that I reduce it to less than two hours."
"Ah, that's right. It's like collecting juice from pasta. Where to cut the last few cuts is the most difficult to grasp...I often..."
Cameron interrupted him, "Listen to me, I have 5 minutes of extra film, but if I cut any section of my story, the audience will have a gap in understanding. So I had an idea, five minutes,
Two hours later, what did you think of?"
"What?" Ronald looked confused...
"Their ratio is exactly 24:1, which is the same as the number of frames per second in the movie. I have an idea to cut off one frame per second. This will not affect the picture and narrative of the movie, and it can shorten the duration by just five minutes.
It does not damage the content of the film and can meet the time requirement.
Every year, how many directors curse the producers and cut out the very good scenes they worked so hard to shoot. And how many producers curse the directors, insisting that the movie be lengthened to the point where theaters are unwilling to release it.
With my Cameron Cut, you get the best of both worlds!”
"Just wait, this won't work..." Ronald couldn't laugh or cry. After filming "Rock of Ages", Cameron went to do model special effects for Roger Corman, and he became an editing assistant.
embarked on different development paths.
Now Cameron is the top three in the field of models and electromechanical special effects, and Ronald has become an expert in editing...
"How come it doesn't work? The audience won't notice it at all if one frame is missing."
"You have never been an editing assistant. I worked as an editing assistant for two months. I moved the film and fiddled with the editing machine every day. The audience will feel it in every frame. A good editor can make sure that every frame is correct every time he pauses.
It stops at the same position. This is determined by the subconscious mind of the human brain."
"Isn't it possible?" Cameron said with an expression of "Really? I don't believe it."
"Well, let's get a piece of film and do some experiments first, and you'll know after you take a look."
…
"Tear..." The last piece of editing tape specially made by Ronald Company and invented by Walter Murch was stained on the working film.
The assistant found the projector, loaded the film, and started playing it in the screening room.
"Huh?"
Cameron glanced at Ronald and was greatly surprised. Just as Ronald predicted, with this method of one frame per second, the final film could not be watched smoothly at all. Every frame was omitted.
The whole picture is shouting silently, you can't cut me off.
Sometimes when Schwarzenegger reaches out to shoot, there will be an obvious frame skip. Sometimes when Linda Hamilton speaks, there will be an unnatural pause.
The most amazing thing is that one frame was cut right in the middle of the transition. It was supposed to have no impact. But while watching it, Cameron clearly felt that the rhythm here was wrong. Even if it was 24
The shortage of a fraction of a second will also make the audience collectively distracted at that time.
This may not be a big deal in those shoddy small productions. But in such a carefully crafted action special effects blockbuster, any rhythm flaws will cause adverse box office effects.
"Okay, I'm convinced. It really doesn't work." Cameron quickly admitted his mistake and immediately called the lab to ask the lab to send another corresponding set of working film.
"Hahaha, I am not good at model special effects, but you are not good at editing technology."
"What should I do? There are still five minutes left. I really don't know where to cut it..." Cameron held his head and thought hard.
This is different from the previous movie "Abyss". Abyss is already too long, so it is impossible to schedule two rounds of movies during the evening rush hour. Terminator 2 is a typical commercial blockbuster, and theaters only have a two-hour time slot so that they can get in after get off work. An extra round of screenings will be arranged during the peak period.
A difference of five minutes, plus ten minutes of cleaning and resting time, would cause the theater to lose one audience for one screening. There was no way Carloco would allow such a thing to happen.
"Play it again and let me take a look."
Ronald was in the screening room and watched it from the beginning without adding the final music and the opening and closing credits of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."
"The rhythm of this movie is really good...", Ronald praised in his heart. The theme of this movie is actually much deeper than the first one. It explores the possibility of avoiding nuclear war and the confrontation brought about by the Cold War.
and prosperity brought by peace, and other themes of human nature.
But the movie doesn't have any preaching elements, everything is hidden in the intense storyline. It's exactly the kind of best movie Roger Corman said.
"I think you might as well cut this section..." Ronald said after being silent for a few minutes.
"This..." Cameron was a little surprised.
The scene Ronald is referring to is when Kyle Reese, the sacrificed character played by his buddy Michael Biehn in the first movie, appears in the dream of Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, and persuades her to work for peace.
The future without nuclear war and robot war, for the children, and the plot of cooperation with the T-800.
"If there is anything that can be cut without affecting the audience's understanding, it is this section..." Ronald understood that Carmelo may not have known that this section could be cut. But in his heart, he was still influenced by the first Terminator.
Influence, subconsciously I hope there is some connection between this and the first part.
But "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" is a complete independent movie. I have not seen the first part, and it does not affect their understanding of the second part at all. After all, eight years have passed, and it is difficult for ordinary viewers to remember it.
The complete plot of the first part.
"Okay, let's just cut it..." Cameron was a little downhearted. Originally, he wanted to make two movies into one big production, but he couldn't find a place in Hollywood that could show a five-hour movie.
"Be happy, your movie is unprecedented, and you will leave your name in the history of Hollywood. I think it may change some things in Hollywood."