Exploiting Hollywood 1980

After returning to Los Angeles from Las Vegas, without rest, Ronald went straight to an open space in the suburbs, where the special effects artists from Industrial Light and Magic studied the shooting of fighter jet models. This is the most important part of the next shoot.

Several special effects artists had seen Ronald's aerial footage and had been working on it for weeks.

"We tried many methods, and finally decided to use an upgraded lens to solve the problem of aerial photography of the model."

The F-14A model, which is larger than a person's stretched out arm, is lying quietly on a table.

This large model aircraft is equipped with two small gasoline engines and remote control facilities. The sunshine in California is very good. Against the background of blue sky and white clouds, the camera was shot very far away, and the long focal length lens has a small viewfinder.

In this way, only part of the model aircraft can be photographed in the viewfinder. With the sky in the background, it is difficult for ordinary viewers to tell that this is a model aircraft.

It's not easy to see the long shot, but many people can see the close shot, especially when the shots of the model aircraft and the real shots are edited together, it always feels a little different. In order to make the picture more realistic, the special effects artists of Industrial Light and Magic also thought of two ways to deal with it.

"This is a special paint. The texture on the film is very similar to metal." The special effects engineer asked Ronald to look at the effect of metallic paint on the wooden model through the camera.

"Very good." Ronald closed one eye and looked at it through the camera lens for a long time. The model looked like a real airplane in every aspect, but it was not heavy enough and a bit light. However, this is determined by the characteristics of the model, and there is no good way.

"We've prepared this." The special effects artist seemed to have read Ronald's thoughts and brought an electric drill.

"Woo... Wu..." He started the electric drill, and the high-pitched voice startled Ronald, "Are you going to...?"

"This is the method we came up with when Lucas was filming Star Wars." The special effects artist inserted the electric drill into a round piece of wood. With a "Woo..." sound, the drill drilled in.

"This is a little more off-center." The special effects artist placed the wood on the table next to the lens.

The wood was driven by the electric drill, and the eccentric circular wooden board vibrated slightly, causing the table to vibrate slightly, which in turn caused the lens to vibrate slightly, and the captured image also shook slightly.

When the upscaling lens switch is turned on, the shot of a fighter jet of an aircraft against the background of blue sky and white clouds has a slight trembling feeling that a real engine would have.

Let the sense of reality fill you up immediately.

"It's very good. I can't even tell the difference between the model and the real thing, except for the noise of the electric drill."

Ronald praised with satisfaction that the noise of the electric drill can be easily replaced with the pre-recorded engine sound during dubbing later.

"Why did you add a little vibration? I feel like this is not a model, but a real airplane?" Ronald felt very mysterious and quickly asked the special effects artist for advice.

"We have carefully compared the shot of the model with your real shot. The main problem is that the model will appear light and fluttering under the interference of the wind. In addition, the real shot of the aircraft will tremble slightly under the action of the engine.

We shoot at elevated speed, and then add vibration, so that the hair will not be noticed by the audience, and the tremor will be discovered by the audience as the main picture feature. How to use this electric drill to maintain appropriate vibration made us experiment for several days. "

Ronald feels that the special effects cost is well worth it. Industrial Light and Magic is indeed the most experienced model stunt team in the industry.

"This is a model prepared for explosions and missile launches."

The special effects artist took Ronald to another corner of the empty field.

The two planes were also painted black and lay quietly on the table. These two models do not have engines and remote control facilities, but they have several hooks equipped with wires.

"We expect that after being hit by a missile, the F-14A and the MiG-28 will disconnect at the right place, catch fire, and explode."

The special effects artist explained to Ronald pointing to the pre-made gaps in the model. "Flashlights and explosives are installed here. After detonating by remote control, it can break at the place we want."

"It's very subtle." Ronald reached out to touch the model.

"Don't use too much force," the special effects engineer quickly stopped Ronald. "In order to ensure that it cracks here, we used a patented material called 'eggshell' to make this part of the fuselage and wings."

"Oh? Eggshell?" Ronald squatted down and looked at that part of the material carefully. He couldn't tell the difference without getting closer.

"Yes, it means that the eggshell is fragile. If there is an explosion, it can be guaranteed to break here."

"Then", the special effects artist took Ronald to a large curtain.

"We have tried the effects of blue screen and green screen. The keying effect of steel wire under the blue sky and white clouds is not very good." He gestured to the staff to put down the curtain, which showed the scene of blue sky and white clouds.

"So we simply used the model to take real shots, and against the background of blue sky and white clouds, we shot the effect of the destruction of a medium-sized missile."

Ronald took out the director's viewfinder and looked at the curtain carefully. Sure enough, in the camera lens, the model and curtain were realistic enough, especially under the backlit sunlight, many details were concealed. It just matches my photography style. "

"What about the steel wire?" Ronald asked the modeler. If there is no steel wire, how can we take a shot of the airplane in the air?

"We have William." The model called to a staff member on the crane, "Show it to Director Ronald."

"Three, two, one!" The staff member named William reached out on the crane and threw a smaller model airplane.

The plane was given an initial speed, passed through the blue sky and white clouds, and then fell steadily into a safety net.

"William is the most accurate among our team of more than 40 people. He is the only one who can throw into the safety net ten times out of ten."

"Thank you, you did a good job, William!" Ronald stretched out his hand to say hello.

William smiled honestly at him, he was a very shy person.

"When the weather is bad, we will add a headlight, a 10k strong light, through a filter, to simulate the lighting of the sunset. But it still seems to be less powerful. You know, artificial lights are always inferior to the sun."

The special effects artist turned to Ronald to explain a big light on a stand next to him.

"Fortunately, our explosion scenes don't have high lighting requirements, so they won't interfere."

"I'm very satisfied. It seems that you did a very good job when I was shooting other shots." Ronald expressed his appreciation for the professionalism of Industrial Light and Magic.

"George said, you are also an expert, we must show some real skills."

Ronald shook hands with more than 40 special effects artists one by one, "I will put your names on the subtitles at the end of the film. This is a small tribute from me."

"Oh, director, you are so kind. I want to marry you and give you a son." Two female special effects artists screamed.

Everyone is very happy. Not every director and producer in Hollywood will add subtitles to the name of everyone in the team. Lucas is the first person in the industry to do this, but Industrial Light and Magic has taken over other companies' business. Sometimes, sometimes only the name of the person in charge can be on the subtitles.

"Keep dreaming, Jenny." The bearded special effects artist next to him began to tease Jenny about taking advantage of Ronald.

"We film directors are similar to you. Our work is very irregular and it is difficult to find a girlfriend. Let's hug each other." Ronald simply hugged several female special effects artists. They were grinning happily, as if they were being respected a lot.

In the eyes of artists, these special effects artists are all nerds. As long as the effect is achieved, they will be ignored. There are many directors who will scold them if the effect is not achieved. Few directors take them so seriously.

…

"It's Art Shore," Don Simpson and Bruckheimer enlisted the famed aerobatics star.

"Leave it to me. I can simulate all the special effects subjective shots for you with my super chipmunk propeller plane."

Art Scholler was America's most powerful aerobatic pilot. In the 1960s and 1970s, he represented America many times, defeating Union and East German aerobatic pilots and winning the aerobatic championship.

After becoming famous, he opened a flying school and toured the states of America performing various stunts. He is known for getting on planes with his dog and performing stunts.

Many pilots in the Navy and Air Force first fell in love with flying because they saw him perform at a carnival in their hometown when they were children.

Several people went through the aerobatic events one by one. The camera was mounted in the cabin of Art Shore's Super Chipmunk, and many of the pilot's subjective shots were simulated using this propeller aircraft. Anyway, the Super Chipmunk is not slow enough to look real.

"For this horizontal spiral, let's use a model. I don't want to film such a dangerous action." Ronald saw that there were also shots of the Lone Ranger and the Goose falling into a horizontal spiral in the table.

"It doesn't matter. Although it is not easy for Super Chipmunk to make a horizontal spiral, it is as easy for her to make an inverted horizontal spiral as drinking water. At that time, just put the film upside down, just like the subjective shot taken on a plane that spirals horizontally. Blue sky , ocean, blue sky, ocean." Art Sholer made a spinning motion with his hand.

Seeing that Ronald was still unsure about paying attention, Art Shore assured him, "I have to do this move every time I perform. I have been doing it for nearly thirty years. You don't have to worry."

"Okay, but please pay attention to safety. I would rather use a model to handle any action that is too dangerous. I have seen that their models are very effective." Ronald turned to explain to the two producers.

"This director values ​​​​models so much. He is so young and may not have seen my stunts. Only aerobatic flying is the closest to the actual situation." Art Sholer remained silent. He wanted the director to get to know himself well. Strength.

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