Made in Hollywood

As a director, Duke's cognition of space will directly affect the final effect of the film. He and his scientific advisors have always maintained close contact with NASA. I asked the experts from the space agency for advice, but as the communication deepened, the result was that he felt like a fool, and he didn’t know enough about space. If it was really filmed in accordance with the real space, the film will be prepared until this time next year. Also may not be able to boot.

After going through all kinds of painful revisions, Duke made a decision that the accuracy is as much as it can be done, and it will not be picky.

Duke turned his main energy back to the design of special effects and the improvement of the key prop "light box" for filming scenes of gravity imbalance.

The crew's simulation of space light effects needs to be unprecedentedly efficient and accurate, and the large amount of CG production in the film will inevitably bring about another problem, that is, how to make the real shots and the CG environment seamlessly synthesized.

The lighting of the actors during performances is usually different from the CG environment, and if the lighting is wrong, the composited effect will look unnatural, which requires finding a way to match the real shooting lighting and the CG environment lighting.

Duke's DP John Schwartzman and visual effects supervisor Tim Webb finally came up with a bold solution—making a fuss over the LED screens in the light box.

The four walls of the light box are all composed of LED screens. When shooting, a video or picture simulating the surrounding environment is played. The lens controlled by the robotic arm rotates flexibly in this space. The visual effects team is responsible for printing the pattern of the virtual scene on the LED screen. Matching the actor's subjective point of view...

In this way, the picture displayed on the LED screen will illuminate the actor and put the actor in the environment, which is like space revolving around the actor.

Duke originally planned that only half of the shots would be shot inside the light box, and the other half would rely on mechanical movement for lighting. However, in the actual test, this device has good effect and high efficiency, and the image quality is quite good, which completely solves the problem of lighting in space when shooting.

These LED screens can produce unprecedented realistic lighting effects, when Scarlett was doing test shooting in this space. The reflective effect can be obtained directly on the body, which solves the problem of diffuse reflection and lighting on all clothes.

To obtain a shot of an astronaut rotating in space, it is very troublesome to arrange lights under green screen conditions, but in the light box, you only need to adjust the content on the LED screen, and every pixel of the LED screen is There are about 1.8 million lights in one light. Each crew can be controlled individually.

However, everything has two sides. For post-production, it is much more troublesome to key all these LED screens than green screen keying.

in today's Hollywood. It’s rare to produce shots with so many large-scale CG environments that don’t use green screen, but Duke decided to use light boxes for many shots, which is better than green screen. The environment created in the "light box" can provide some assistance to the actors. Let them know what the environment they are in at that time, so as to perform accordingly.

"Gravity" is undoubtedly a very complex project. It is necessary to integrate virtual and live images in a very creative way, and the time is tight. It also further increased its complexity.

Apart from focusing on the formation of a professional team and the contact with Lucasfilm, Duke threw all other work to Tina Fey, and transferred the rest of his energy to the preparation of this film.

All kinds of jobs are waiting for him.

Duke worked with ILM's team to develop the trajectory of motion over the film's Earth, which would determine what the film's planet would look like; and John Schwartzman with a team of animators to create a low-resolution preview of the film's animation version to determine the trajectory of the virtual camera; and together with a group of technical directors to design the lighting effects of each virtual scene in the film, so that the existing CG assets are optimized so that the completed shots can be rendered quickly and quickly when shooting feedback.

Apart from these, Duke still needs to communicate with two actors. This is the only thing he is thankful for. The film does not require a huge cast like "Inception". There are only three actors who actually appear, and he himself will make a guest appearance One of them, and Scarlett Johansson, who played the most roles, has actually started preparing for this film since the Cannes Film Festival, and usually has many exchanges with Duke.

In order to play the role of astronaut, George Clooney, like Scarlett Johansson, is also practicing yoga in order to make the body more flexible.

"It's all worth it."

In the Warner Studios training facility, George Clooney told Duke, "Although my character died early..."

Duke didn't answer his words. Instead, he looked at Scarlett who was walking towards the dressing room, and asked, "I heard Scarlett say that you plan to invite her to attend an event?"

"Yeah, I have similar ideas to her." George Clooney also looked over there.

Duke knew very well that George Clooney was talking about political ideas. After thinking about it, he said, "The White House wants to invite me to a formal dinner next year, but I don't have the time. I recommend you to them."

"Recommended me?" George Clooney was a little surprised at first, and then smiled. Such an opportunity is what he dreamed of, "Thank you, Duke, I really don't know what to say."

"You're welcome." Duke just smiled.

George Clooney has always wanted to copy Ronald Reagan's life trajectory, and his mind is exquisite enough, and then he said, "If you need help, just ask."

Duke reached out and patted his arm lightly, "If necessary, I will give you a call."

The sound of high-heeled shoes falling on the floor sounded, and Scarlett Johansson walked over, looking at Duke and George Clooney who were smiling tacitly, and couldn't help asking, "What are you talking about, it seems very speculative .”

Before George Clooney could speak, Duke said, "I just told George that if he runs for the presidential election, I will definitely vote for him."

George Clooney couldn't help laughing. If there is such a day, he also needs the support of someone like Duke.

The three chatted and laughed, and left Warner Studios one after another. Duke and Scarlett returned to their home in Malibu. As soon as they entered the lobby of the Eye Villa, Scarlett turned on the stereo, and the whole living room was filled with Tranquil classical music floated.

This is a habit that Scarlett forced herself to develop since the establishment of the "Gravity" project. Her character needs to explode in silence, and her performance also needs to match the unusually quiet atmosphere of outer space.

In fact, Duke is very clear that although Scarlett's personality has changed a lot after the great change in her family, she is not a person who likes to be quiet at all. Like all young girls, she is full of enthusiasm.

Listening to classical music is a way for Scarlett to adjust herself.

In addition, she is still practicing some slow dance as an amateur relaxation. Scarlett is a person who thinks about what to do. In her words, these can make her more relaxed and closer to the state of an astronaut .

In fact, although Duke never said it, Scarlett knew very well that she would go through an extremely torturous shooting process, and she knew that Duke would have very strict and even strict requirements on her.

But she has confidence in herself, and she is sure that she will not lose to anyone, even if that person is Natalie Portman, who is recognized as the best acting actor among actors born after the 1980s!

The opponent's "Black Swan" is going to be unveiled at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, and it is aimed at Oscar. Although influenced by Duke, she is not too fancy about Oscar, and she will not become Leonardo Dicap An Austrian madman like Leo, but becoming the first 80-year-old queen seems to be very good.

And she also heard Tina Fey say that this actress, also from New York, had acted against Duke at the Cannes Film Festival. Duke's enemy was her Scarlett Johansson's enemy.

Scarlett asked Tina Fey to find out that Natalie Portman had gone to Venice.

Venice in August has not yet reached the opening time of the film festival, but many filmmakers from all over the world have come here. Natalie Portman and her mother Shelly came to Venice early. The movie "Swan" has brought together her countless painstaking efforts, and it is also her hope to achieve a major goal in life.

The film had been previewed in a very small area in Los Angeles before, and her performance was well received by many people with the right to speak in the academy. According to her mother and the consensus of the Hollywood Jewish Club, as long as the timing and the work are suitable, What belongs to her must fall on her head.

But sitting on the balcony of the hotel, Natalie Portman looked at the waterscape of the streets of Venice, her thick eyebrows were always slightly frowned, and she didn't seem to be happy because of these, on the contrary, she was in a bad mood.

"Honey……"

Mother Shelly walked onto the balcony and put a glass of juice in front of her, "You haven't eaten since you came from the airport, so drink this glass quickly."

Picking up the cup, Natalie just took a sip, then put the cup back on the table in front of her, and leaned against the wicker chair with an absent-minded look.

Before rushing over from New York, she was notified by her agent Martin Miller that the preparations for Duke Rosenberg's new film were almost completed and the filming was about to begin, and there were rumors in the circle that this intensely prepared film , is likely to help Scarlett? Johansson hit the Oscar for Best Actress.

After hearing this news, Natalie Portman's heart sank. With her intelligence, she could naturally think of something.

Natalie knows very well that she must do more to win an Oscar. (to be continued ~^~)

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