Chapter 578: Table tennis is too difficult to play
"Cut, Cut...Tom, your hand has crossed the line..."
"Shit! Sorry, my question, here are twenty dollars..."
In the Paramount studio, the crew of Forrest Gump has been filming the meeting between Forrest Gump and the previous commanders for the past few days.
Commander-in-Chief Johnson was the one who awarded the medal to Forrest. Since he couldn’t find a suitable real image of his conversation with Forrest after the award, he had to find a stuntman to film it, and then used Johnson’s head from other images.
, assembled on the stand-in's neck.
This kind of shooting method has good results, but it is very labor-intensive. Van Fleet's special effects team first has to cut out each frame, and then after calculating the wound on Forrest Gump's butt, Commander Johnson looks towards the camera
Along the way, how much angle does the head need to shift, and the speed at which the perspective ratio needs to be enlarged as it gets closer and closer to the camera.
This part of the work alone required a team to spend several weeks slowly grinding it out. If all the scenes of the meeting between the commander-in-chief and A-Gump were done in this way, then the film might have to be delayed until next year.
Only in the middle can it be completed.
Therefore, a relatively simple special effect was used in the scene where Forrest Gump, JFK, and Richard, the two commanders, met.
Use the footage of these two commanders in history meeting with others, shaking hands, and then talking for a few words as a master. Then let Tom Hanks and those people shaking hands with the commander in the video, face each other in front of a blue screen.
Do the same thing with the air.
Finally, special effects software was used to redraw the mouth shapes of the general when he met other people, so that their mouth shapes would match what they said in the script of Forrest Gump.
In this way, one advantage is that the work hours for special effects are greatly reduced. But there is also a disadvantage, which is that the difficulty of Tom Hanks' performance is greatly increased.
During the meeting with Commander-in-Chief Johnson, Hanks still performed with a real person. These two commanders had to perform non-physical performances in front of the air. Moreover, Tom Hanks also had to achieve the exact position of each movement, so that
It can be perfectly matched with the two deducted figures in the real historical images. When reaching out to shake hands with the commander-in-chief, no flaws can be seen.
If there are any inaccuracies in the position of reaching out, the speed, strength, and amplitude of the handshake, then in the film, Forrest Gump's hand and the commander's hand will not fit together, and there will be a gap.
Therefore, as an actor with good acting skills, Tom Hanks is often stopped due to some non-acting reasons, such as hand crossing the line, not walking correctly, etc., and being unable to pass several times in a row due to small flaws, he was
He was so angry that he cursed...
But this is a film crew with child actors, and Tom Hanks is also the father of several children. After saying bad words, he consciously took out twenty dollars as a fine, threw it in the fine cup, and waited for the end of the day.
, just use the money to buy some sweets to reward the staff.
After the filming was completed that day, Tom Hanks couldn't stand it anymore and secretly asked Ronald, "How long will it take to shoot this thing? I don't even feel like I can act anymore..."
"Don't worry, the filming that requires a lot of movement will be completed quickly. After that, you will face real people performing. You will be much more relaxed." Ronald reassured with a smile. These are the results of sophisticated training and years of shooting experience.
All good actors reach their best state by stimulating each other with their rival actors.
The special effects shooting method in Forrest Gump is similar to the kind that only requires a pretty star who can't act to go there, do what actions, and say what lines. It's like asking a person with a Ph.D. to do the math.
In primary school mathematics, I was often punished for poor handwriting, which was indeed a torture.
…
"Finally, I no longer shake hands with the commander-in-chief..."
Tom Hanks came to the studio that day and finally breathed a sigh of relief after watching the images of the former commander-in-chief played on the videotape.
"He hadn't become the commander-in-chief yet... playing table tennis was much easier."
Ronald also laughed. This time it was a video of the former commander-in-chief, George Sr., which happened to be a video of him when he was working in the Chinese Agency. Sr. George and a man also followed the locals and played table tennis.
However, his playing skills were much worse than that of the person playing with him. The opponent seized the opportunity and made a smash. Old George didn't catch it and hit him directly in the crotch. The cheerful old George himself also laughed.
, but he is not a person who gives up easily, so he picked up the ball and continued to fight with the opponent. Although his level is average, his competitive spirit and sense of fair competition are still very good.
The people in the special effects team have done a lot of preliminary work and have already calculated the hitting point in front of the blue screen. After shooting, it will overlap with the original image.
In order to make Tom Hanks' performance easier, they hung three ping pong ball-sized paper balls with ropes in front of the blue screen for Tom Hanks to position. These three positions are the ones in the video.
The position where the opponent hits the ball three times. Use special effects to deduct him, and then let Hanks hit the ball in front of the blue screen. When synthesized in the later stage, it will look like Hanks is smashing the ping pong ball.
.
"Cut, Cut..."
After shooting once, Ronald rarely stopped in the special effects studio. The special effects engineer looked at Ronald, as if asking, is that right? What went wrong?
"It's not a problem with your skills, Tom..."
Ronald took Tom Hanks aside and asked him where he learned his ping-pong skills.
Tom Hanks has obviously practiced table tennis, and his postures for catching, returning, and smashing are quite similar. But his table tennis postures are typical of American community leisure sports, not that kind of posture.
A genius like Forrest Gump can win the United States Championship and go to China to play friendly matches with the world champions there.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There are two obvious problems. One is that he mainly relies on his hands to reach the ball instead of adding footwork to expand the range of control. The other is that he
The center of gravity of the posture is too high. Players who have truly reached the professional level will not stand with their feet completely straight, but lower the center of gravity to wait for the moment to use explosive power to grab the ball.
"I'm not saying that you have to look like a professional golfer when you play with old George, but generally speaking, people who have received professional training will not tiptoe to return the ball like this..."
"OK, lower your center of gravity, bend your knees, and use your feet to reach the ball..." Tom Hanks also saw some video materials of the friendly match between China and the United States for the role, and he immediately squatted down and gave it a try.
"That's not it. Let me demonstrate to you..." Ronald took the table tennis racket, then naturally held it in a straight position, made several quick movements, and coordinated the spiking movements with his whole body.
Hanks look…”
"Why do I think you look like a Chinese player?" Tom Hanks took the racket and imitated Ronald's straight grip.
"That's not the case. Our American golfers usually play horizontally..." Ronald asked him to hold the racket horizontally.
"OK..." Tom Hanks gave Ronald a strange look, "We in America are all like this, how can you use a straight shot?"
"I learned to play table tennis from a Chinese..." Ronald explained and let him continue filming.
Tom Hanks used the newly learned postures for a few times, and sure enough this time he looked more like a professional golfer.
"Well, you are really good... table tennis is too difficult to play..."
Tom Hanks didn't know whether Ronald was really good or just talking about it. After the filming, he strongly requested to play a few games with Ronald. As soon as it was put on the table, his amateur-level table tennis was not enough.
, Ronald can just serve a few times and let him catch the ball.
"Very good, we will film the Sino-US friendly match tomorrow. It must be good for you to maintain such a state..." After Ronald saw his level, he released a few balls to Hanks and even dunked the ball.
Some of them are pretty cool.
"Really?" Tom Hanks was also happy, "Looking at our table tennis skills, Hollywood may be the champion and runner-up. If you win the championship, I can be in the top three, and if you perform well, you can be in the second place."
…”
"Hahaha, it's very possible. But it will be difficult to say tomorrow. The Chinese actor we hired to play your opponent is a professional golfer... He has joined the union. I guess we can't even beat him..."
The next day, a Chinese golfer named "Valentino" in English came to the studio. He was also a fan of Tom Hanks and also liked Ronald's previous movies.
I signed a few autographs and took photos with them.
"Valentino, we can try a real fight first..."
Ronald said with a smile that he still hopes that, if possible, he and Hanks can really hit a few balls without using special effects. Because the real light and shadow, and the texture of the contact between the board and the ball, are
The special effects can't keep up.
"Oh, God, I can't, Valentino, your serve is too fast..."
After several attempts, it turned out that it didn't work. Tom Hanks often couldn't even receive the serve. This wasn't the time when he was playing with Ronald, when he missed the serve because he couldn't see the spin clearly. It was the opponent's professional-level serve.
His speed and landing point control made it impossible for him to pick it up.
"Can you put some water on it, Valentino?"
Ronald shouted to Valentino, who was wearing a red sportswear. Today he was wearing a sportswear made based on the uniforms of the Chinese table tennis team of that year, which had the temperament of that year.
In addition, the surrounding audience were all wearing the gray and blue Mao suits of the year, sitting behind the red slogan "Friendship first, competition second". There were large red portraits and red-based venue layout behind it, which was very impressive.
It brings back the feelings of the generation who saw the news about General Richard's visit to China: a mysterious, powerful and special country.
These were all obtained by the counselor of the Chinese Embassy and given to Ronald for reference. The props and scenery were restored based on the images taken by the Chinese Embassy at that time, which can well express the time.
human appearance.
"Okay, I'll take it slow." It's not like Valentino has never played a teaching ball before, he immediately slowed down the pace, but Tom Hanks still couldn't keep up. After a few times, it took him more time to pick up the ball than to play.
Much more.
"No way, let me try...Valentino, let it go..." Ronald looked at him and didn't know whether it was Hanks's poor skills or Valentino's level that was too high. He stepped forward to fight with him.
He struck twice.
"It seems okay..." Tom Hanks clapped when he saw Ronald and Valentino fighting back and forth. He had an idea, could Ronald be his
Stand in, film him playing table tennis, and then change his head.
"I'm afraid not. My arm length ratio is very different from yours, so the cutout probably won't look like..."
"Oh, yes, what am I thinking?" Hanks scratched his head. Ronald was a bit shy about speaking. In fact, his height was too different from his own to be a substitute.
"You try some more. If it doesn't work, we'll switch to the shooting method of you and old George..."
Ronald also shook his head. It was unlikely to improve Hanks' table tennis skills in the short term. Instead of finding someone with a similar figure to be a substitute, it would be better to use the method he did a few days ago and let him hang paper balls from a rope in the air.
The position of positioning, empty wave.
After all, when changing one's head, one has to consider the person's movements, expressions, and mouth shape, which is much more difficult than trying to hit a white ping pong ball out of thin air.
"Oh, there's no way to take pictures of this..."
Who would have known that the very good method used in the scene of playing table tennis with Old George failed today when filming the friendly match between China and the United States.
This is also because in this quasi-professional level game, the ball speed is much faster than the speed played by old George. Therefore, the two of them did not have a reference for the appropriate hitting time, and they could not find the feeling of empty swing at all.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hanks is swinging the racket very hard, and Valentino is also swinging the racket very hard. But the rhythm of the two cannot be matched at all.
go.
In professional competitions, the rhythm of swinging the racket twice per second is very fast. The two of them had no reference and both swung the racket randomly. Either the two of them swung the racket at the same time, or both of them put down their hands and waited for the ball, which looked very funny.
"Oh, fufufu... I'm so tired, even more tired than a real beating..."
Hanks also yelled that he was exhausted from swinging the racket so frequently.
Valentino over there didn't say anything, but his sweating profusely revealed his nervousness. After all, he was an amateur actor, and it would be very embarrassing to be replaced.
"You guys haven't found the rhythm, I'll think of a way..."
Ronald knew that this was the reason why the two of them had no reference points and their swings were not in rhythm. Soon, he came up with the old method and played the videotape of the friendly match at the scene so that the two of them could watch the athletes of that year.
The rhythm of swinging the racket is how you perform it.
However, this method, which worked well for previous filming, also failed. After all, the speed of table tennis is extremely fast, and the two of them could not keep up with the rhythm while watching the video and performing at the same time.
"What should we do?" Ronald also scratched his head. He turned around and asked the person next to him if he had any suggestions.
Ken Ralston, who was responsible for coordinating the special effects shooting, remembered something. He told Ronald that people who practice musical instruments have a metronome that can adjust the speed of the beat and make a clicking sound, which is very rhythmic.
.
This time, we finally found a solution. The metronome we obtained from the props made a sound one after another, and Hanks and Valentino just swung to this rhythm.
"Very good, let's do another one..."
Sure enough, this kind of shooting put both of them into the state. Valentino pretended to swing according to the rhythm, turning sideways on both sides in front of the stage and attacking from the left and right sides (a straight style of play). Hanks was more capable of acting.
, he moved left and right on the center stage, swinging hard, looking more dashing than Valentino opposite him, and his level seemed to be higher.
"One more?" Ronald was also satisfied with what he took, but he wanted to let Tom Hanks take more pictures. He is in good condition now.
"Oh, Ronald, please forgive me. I am more tired without a table tennis performance than with a ball. When I look at the table now, it seems that there is a ball on it, and I am hallucinating."
"Okay, rest for half an hour, bring snacks and good coffee..."
In order to let the actors do their best, Ronald directly prepared a food guide, including various Italian salamis, aunt's baked biscuits, Japanese tempura, Chinese snacks, and the prepared delicacies one by one.
As a gift, everyone who has a happy meal will have the energy to take better photos.