Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

Chapter 393 The crystallization of a generation

"Ghost in the Abyss" is a documentary short film directed by James Cameron. Under his leadership, the film crew went deep into the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and recorded everything related to the wreck of the Titanic with the camera at close range, which made the audience feel deeply While the shipwreck is horrific, it also reveals why the Titanic tragedy happened.

For example:

From a geographical point of view, it tells people that the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean are connected, so it is not surprising that there are large icebergs drifting down from the Arctic Ocean on the Atlantic Ocean. It also tells people that the North Atlantic Ocean is in a state of warming and cold every April, and the sea water is very cold. , That's why after the ship sank, a large number of survivors froze to death due to the harsh temperature.

Another example:

From an industrial point of view, it describes the technological innovations that accompanied the industrial revolution in the 20th century. Although people at the time thought that the technology of forging steel was already against the sky, compared with the current mature technology, there were too many impurities in the steel at that time. Therefore, its toughness and strength are affected, resulting in the "strange" phenomenon of "iron hits ice and cracks itself" that modern people cannot understand.

Also for example:

While revealing the reasons for the sinking of the Titanic, it introduces the concepts of physics, biology and chemistry, introduces the audience to the bacteria that appeared around the wreckage of the Titanic, and tells people that those bacteria are constantly decomposing the iron of the Titanic. metal, and construct a small ecological chain based on it, so that more life can live on it.

Of course, although the entire documentary short film is very meticulous, but in Roland's previous life, when the documentary was released, James Cameron, as the director, was attacked by the outside world like a tsunami.

Countless people believe that James Cameron, who set a box office record and swept the Oscars, is at the end of his rope.

As a director and a creator, he couldn't come up with another new idea at all, so he could only continue to develop the IP of Titanic in an attempt to rest on the merits of history and eat his laurels.

If James Cameron is Zhang Chengen, then he may directly take a tactical step back and ask the reporters on the side, ‘What is an international superstar? ’, but alas, he wasn’t.

No way, who made him know better than anyone else why he wanted to make this documentary?

No way, who made him understand better than anyone else what he was using to make this documentary?

No way, who made him more sober than anyone else, the more the outside world scolded him for taking his money, the more successful he was?

This kind of success does not refer to "Titanic", but "Ghost of the Abyss".

Because people don't reject the new technology he used in "Ghost of the Abyss"!

Because, "Ghost of the Abyss" is the first movie in history to use a 3D virtual image capture camera system!

The 3D virtual image capture camera system is the root of "Avatar"!

...

However, although "Avatar" was a great success in the end, no one knew the effect of the 3D virtual image capture camera system before the results appeared. Under the circumstances that the future scenery cannot be realized in advance, the current James Cameron is so anxious that when he rushed to the farm to meet Roland Allen at night, the guy who came with a nearly 100-page report , Just like eating gunpowder, I can't wait to sell my inspiration to Kaizi who has time.

"Roland, do you know what 3D is?"

"I know!"

"No! You don't know!"

"What?"

Roland glanced at the truck driver inexplicably, "James, what do you mean? Isn't 3D just stereoscopic imaging?"

"Eh! What you said is not accurate!"

Hearing Roland's answer, the truck driver was even more excited. He opened the manuscript he was carrying and explained to Roland: "Actually, in the 1830s, the Belgian physicist Joseph Prato invented 3D film made a splash screen animation, but unfortunately, because the photosensitive emulsion used needs a lot of exposure time to form an image, it cannot capture the trajectory of the object, so it cannot be used for photographic recording, so it was discarded .

Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the German film market was oversupplied. In order to compete for the market, the capital had to let the bottlenecked creation take the road of technological development. Therefore, the three-dimensional film that had been silent for seventy years was abandoned. People bring it up again.

In 1922, the world's first 3D movie "The Power of Love" was born.

But unfortunately, people at that time were not interested in 3D movies.

Because there are too many problems with 3D movies.

At that time, if you wanted to show a 3D movie, you had to have two projectionists working synchronously to project two images at the same time. Once there was a mistake, the print or the blinds would be out of sync. Even if there was only a difference of one frame, it would make the final film Even if there is no accident, the theater must have a mandatory intermission when playing 3D movies. Movies, there will be a series of adverse conditions such as headaches and eye fatigue.

But with the popularity of computers, these problems are all solved.

Using a computer for 3D rendering can eliminate the problem of eye fatigue and brain pain caused by long-term viewing of 3D movies due to geometric shapes due to overlapping images. IMAX’s polarizing technology also allows two projectionists to show the image of a movie at the same time The situation has become history, but while the screening problem is solved, the shooting problem still exists.

Many 3D movies on the market are post-transformed. The director shoots the movie according to the normal shooting process. After the shooting is completed, the frames are duplicated and overlapped to create a three-dimensional world.

Although this approach is okay, the visual impact is still not strong, and it is still very different from the real three-dimensional. In order to solve this problem, I developed a 3D virtual image capture photography system.

To put it simply, when shooting, use two cameras and let them be in a side-by-side position. The camera numbered A starts shooting from point 1, and moves to point 2 between two exposures, and the other camera numbered B uses a mirror to make exposures, intersects and cuts with moving A, and cooperates with A Simulates a human visual baseline.

The images captured in this way are truly three-dimensional.

After shooting with a digital high-definition camera, the cost of film due to a lot of trial and error can also be erased.

Roland, believe me, this is definitely a revolution in the history of film!

It will become another benchmark in the long history of movies just like "Star Wars" which promoted special effects technology and "Jurassic Park" which promoted CGI technology!

Now, you only need to sponsor me 30 million, and you will be the first to see the final effect!

Thirty million is just the price of a necklace to you, but to this technology, it is an opportunity to change history!

How about it, this deal is very cost-effective, right?

Since it’s a good deal, do you want to sign it? "

When James Cameron talked about his new project in a bamboo tube and poured beans, and desperately hoped that Roland Allen could invest in himself, the enthusiasm made Roland Allen want to laugh.

Because the old man’s current performance is just like Li Jiaqi, the king of goods, buy it there! buy it! Buy it now! !

However, even if this emotion is really inciting, it is of no use to Roland.

No way, who made him and the old man know each other for so many years?

As soon as the old man pouted, Roland knew what kind of fart he wanted to fart!

"No, calm down."

Roland waved his hand and signaled the old man to sit down, "Are you so excited, is it because you can't get investment at all?"

Hearing what Roland said, the old man, who was pretending to be earnest, stopped acting, and directly threw the document in his hand on the table, leaned back, slapped his thighs with both hands, and said helplessly: "Since you know, then Why didn't you interrupt me just now?"

"After talking for a long time, my mouth is dry!"

While speaking, he picked up the juice on the table and poured himself a glass, and drank it very naturally.

Such a situation also made Roland happy.

Hey!

You guys are so special that the villain should sue first!

Actually, in the initial stage of the development of 3D virtual image capture photography system, no capital was optimistic about this technology at all.

Because the 3D technology has been verified by the world for 170 years. In such a long time, under the innovation of generations, it has not bloomed its own brilliance, so how much is its potential? ?

Various capitals are not optimistic about the technological innovation mentioned by James Cameron, and no one believes that James Cameron can do what Thomas Edison and Walt Disney have never done.

Because of this, in Roland's previous life, James Cameron actually made the documentary "Ghost of the Abyss" out of his own pocket, and the so-called friendly production company Earthship Productions was his sole proprietorship.

Of course, this is not the point.

What really embarrassed him was actually the release after the production was completed.

After the filming of "Ghost in the Abyss", James Cameron couldn't even find a company willing to distribute the film, and even if he used the banner of "Titanic" collection content, as the North American distributor of "Titanic", Paramount, Fox, the global distributor of "Titanic", only said that it will be included in a future DVD release.

In this way, the most embarrassing thing happened!

The movie "Ghost of the Abyss" was released by Walt Disney who dared to try new things!

This situation is outrageous!

A movie collection of extras paid for by the film director out of pocket? Then ask a third party to distribute? In the end, it was included in the collector's edition DVD series by the copyright owner with a look of disgust?

What does this behavior mean?

means that all capital thinks James Cameron is crazy!

It means that no capital believes that 3D is the future!

It's that simple.

Because of this, when the old man was eager to sell his technology to Roland, how could Roland not understand his mood at the moment? After seeing the old man eating the food on the table angrily, with his legs crossed, he felt even less stressed.

because-

Now there is no competitor!

"Hey!" Seeing that the old man was calm, Roland tapped his finger on the table.

Although the old man heard Roland's call, he didn't raise his head in a bad mood, but said while eating: "Why? Want me to introduce you to the 3D virtual image capture camera system? Then you might as well look!

All the content is in that summary report, you can do whatever you want. "

The arrogant remarks made Roland laugh. He ignored the emotion in the old man's words, put aside the technical exploration, and went directly into the film and television creation, "I can't understand your report, but I can understand you creative thinking.

I can vote for your project, and even release it for you later, but before that, I want to clarify two questions. "

Clang!

Such words made the old man throw away the knife and fork in his hand, wiped his mouth with the napkin that should have been placed in front of him, and looked up with a happy smile on his face, "Hey! I just said ! Only those who come from a creative background know how to create!"

As if the face-changing state of the Sichuan opera was completely within Roland's expectation, and he didn't care about these insignificant details, Roland said directly: "Is the 3D virtual image capture and photography system one of the technologies you need for your next work? If so, then I want to know, besides this, what other technologies do you need? Where are they?"

This question made the old man blink his eyes, "Ah? How do you know that "Ghost of the Abyss" is just a test piece?"

As soon as the words came out, the old man realized something was wrong, and smiled embarrassingly.

Because when he cheated on investment in Hollywood before, he really boasted that "Ghost of the Abyss" was the best in the world.

And now—

It seems that the guys around him are used to his routine!

However, there is nothing embarrassing about it. After waving his hands, he said: "Yes, the 3D virtual image capture camera system is only one of the technologies I need for my next movie. In addition, I also need motion capture. technology.

Weta Digital has this thing. I have seen the effect of Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings", which is very good.

But this technology is not enough, because Weta Digital first captures the movements of action actors, and then imports them into the model to make the model move accordingly. CGI movies cannot have lag, so I also need a technology that can synthesize motion capture to virtual characters in real time and present them on the spot.

This technology is called collaborative work camera.

Of course, the reason why I can say so clearly is because this technology already exists, and it is in the hands of Steven. His "Artificial Intelligence" was filmed with this technology, so...

Just borrow it in the past.

In addition to these three technologies, I also need the technology of performance capture.

This technology is similar to motion capture, but it is used to capture the facial expressions of actors.

And this thing actually exists, and it is in Industrial Light and Magic.

Robert Zemeckis, you know that?

He is now tinkering with this technology at Industrial Light and Magic, and has come up with a real-time restoration system.

As far as I know, his next project, Beowulf, will use it, and I have seen the effect, it is very good. "

That's right!

"Avatar" is not the wisdom of one person at all!

During the 14-year preparation process, the best visual effects team on the planet has all participated in the production!

Motion capture technology belongs to Peter Jackson!

Cooperative camera imaging technology is Steven Spielberg's!

Performance capture is George Lucas's!

The facial performance capture and restoration system is Robert Zemeckis's!

When the technologies that created "The Lord of the Rings", "Artificial Intelligence", "Star Wars" and "Beowulf" are all put together, this is the real new technological revolution in the history of film!

After constructing a new world with the 3D virtual image capture camera system, the film history box office record was born!

this…

is actually the crystallization of a generation.

Note: ①Because 3D technology has been around for a long time and has been defeated by sound movies, color movies, and digital movies, when James Cameron was working on it, no capital was optimistic about him. The reason why Disney released "Ghost of the Abyss" is actually related to Walt Disney. When Walt Disney was alive, Disney theaters liked to engage in 3D, and in Walt Disney's manuscript released by Disney, this A fairy directly predicted that 3D would be the future. Therefore, while "Avatar" was being filmed, Disney took a gamble on "Alice in Wonderland", and then Walt Disney blessed Disney. Under the circumstances that all Hollywood companies dare not bet, "Alice in Wonderland" succeeded by stepping on the east wind of "Avatar", which is really outrageous! ② "Avatar" really used all the things made by Niubi special effects companies on the earth. Of course, this is not the most outrageous, the most outrageous is actually the "naked-eye 3D" technology. When "Avengers 4" broke the box office record of "Avatar", didn't James Cameron come up with a naked-eye 3D celebration picture? And the patent of that technology is actually in the hands of Steven Spielberg. In 2005, the old man had already got the freshly baked things in his hands! This is real! It's outrageous!