Millennium director

Chapter 211 Special effects giant torchbearer, "Gravity" actors enter group training

Zhang Yimou’s Olympic creative project has indeed been polished.

In his narration, Wu Yuan learned about the design of the first version of the Olympic opening ceremony.

It's basically the same as what he remembered, but there are some differences in details. After all, it's still a year and a half away from being fully formed.

The performance links such as singing on a can, picture scrolls, dreamy rings, words, silk road, nature and so on are basically determined.

However, Zhang Yimou feels that although these designs can express the charm of traditional Chinese culture, they still lack some application of science and technology and cannot show the new look of China's technological power.

Of course, he has also thought about incorporating astronauts’ space walks into the opening ceremony’s performance, creating a high-tech “multimedia earth” and other stages that highlight technology.

It’s just that Zhang Yimou, who has experienced Eight Minutes of Darkness in Athens, is still a little unsure and uneasy. He always feels that what he has done is not good enough and lacks some essence, so he wants to ask Wu Yuan, a great mainland director who knows the most about computer special effects technology, to Come and give him some advice.

Although he didn't say it, Zhang Yimou still knew in his heart that he was older and his understanding of new technologies was not as good as that of young people at the forefront.

"Director Zhang, your idea of ​​a 147-meter ground LED is very cool. This is the first time I have seen it at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games."

"The idea of ​​the LCD Earth is also very good. Actors imitating astronauts' space walks on the LCD Earth are also promoting our country's manned space project."

Compared to Zhang Yimou's uneasiness, Wu Yuan was full of praise.

He knew how outstanding the Olympic opening ceremony created by Zhang Yimou was. Even 12 years later, he was still praised at the opening of the Tokyo Olympics.

However, Zhang Yimou didn't think so. He shook his head: "Not enough."

"I hope to use CGI technology in the opening ceremony."

"The special effects in Hollywood movies are very powerful now. In the movie you filmed in "Pirates of the Caribbean 2," the crew members and monsters on the Flying Dutchman looked just like real ones."

"I'm wondering if we can also make a special effects short film about the Olympic Games at the opening ceremony."

“Or incorporate computer special effects into the stage performance at the opening ceremony.

"I just don't know exactly how to do it. I don't know what kind of special effects can be achieved and what kind can't be achieved."

"Director Wu, you are an expert in this field. Do you have any good ideas?"

Although "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" has not made it to the mainland screen, Zhang Yimou has many channels to watch the movie.

He was very amazed at the various special effects and CG effects displayed in this movie.

Wu Yuan frowned and looked around the conference room. He saw all the members of Zhang Yimou's team attending the meeting looking at him expectantly.

He thought seriously.

How to apply computer special effects technology to the Olympic Games opening ceremony?

If you simply make a special effects short film and show it at the opening ceremony, or create some special effects pictures on the large LED screen on the opening stage to interact with live actors, it will look very ordinary, and it will not bring that kind of excitement to the audience. A sense of shock.

However, technologies that can bring a sense of shock, such as naked-eye 3D and virtual idols, have not yet appeared.

The most difficult thing is that the Olympic opening ceremony is still broadcast live.

After thinking about it, Wu Yuan thought of the countdown on the soles of his feet made of fireworks when the Beijing Olympics opened in his memory.

I remember that when I was watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, this scene left a very deep impression on him.

Watching the footsteps made by fireworks, approaching the bird's nest step by step, the shocking scene is indeed difficult to describe in words.

Can we create a more shocking picture effect based on this?

After thinking about it, Wu Yuan suddenly had an idea.

"Director Zhang, how about we use computer special effects technology to make a special effects giant torch bearer?"

"When the torch was passed at the end of the opening ceremony, a golden giant made with computer special effects ran from a distance holding a torch."

"The pace of his running was just like the pace of the fireworks at the beginning of the opening ceremony. He approached the Bird's Nest step by step, and finally stepped into the Bird's Nest, and then the scene switched to the entrance torchbearers."

"Using special effects to make a giant torchbearer?" Zhang Yimou also frowned, "Then how will the picture be presented?"

"Use a pseudo-live broadcast." Wu Yuan slapped his thigh and said, "The live audience watching the movie in the Bird's Nest watched the projection screen on the big screen." "

"The audience in front of the TV will directly watch the special effects short film that has been prepared in advance."

"It's just that the background of this special effects short film is completely based on reality, and the completed special effects giant is just synthesized into the picture."

"When the normal live broadcast reaches here, the live broadcast source will be directly converted to play the special effects short film prepared in advance, and the audience in front of the TV will not realize that this is not a live broadcast."

The so-called pseudo live broadcast means that it appears to be a live broadcast, but in fact it is playing a short video prepared in advance.

It is also very simple to do this. Record a scene of the Bird's Nest exterior at night several months in advance, including aerial shots, overlooking shots, and aerial shots looking up.

Then, in these empty shots, the completed scenes of the golden giant torchbearers running were combined.

When it was actually broadcast live, the cameras in the Bird's Nest cut from the infield to the outfield. To the audience, this was just a normal switch between the inside and outside shots.

But in fact, the outfield scene has been quietly replaced with this video that was prepared in advance.

As for the audience in the infield, they can just watch the video directly on the big screen. They can't see what's going on in the outfield anyway, and they don't even know that what's being broadcast on the screen is a short video, and they think it's a live broadcast of the outfield scene.

Of course, there is no way to hide this kind of thing. After the opening ceremony, they will naturally realize that there was not really a golden giant torchbearer running into the bird's nest step by step in the air.

But when they were watching it live, they didn't know it, and the audience in front of the TV didn't even know it. They were just shocked by this big scene.

To be honest, the scene of a golden giant torchbearer comparable to "Ultraman" running towards the bird's nest step by step from a distance, and finally turning into stars and entering the bird's nest through the hole in the middle of the bird's nest. This scene is quite shocking.

At least in 2008, it was indeed enough to scare people.

Zhang Yimou also thought this idea was good. After imagining it in his mind, he found the effect quite shocking.

However, he still asked for stability: "Is this technically possible?"

"It's not difficult." Wu Yuan said easily: "It's just like making a movie. We first shoot a piece of material without the golden giant torchbearer, and then use computer special effects technology to create the composite."

"This kind of golden giant torch bearer is not difficult to make."

"There is no need to carve details. Just have an outline of the body, glowing golden all over, and holding a torch."

If you want to be a digital torchbearer, which requires real-time rendering and dynamics, it is really impossible to do it with current technology.

But just making a special effects short film in advance and then presenting it in a pseudo live broadcast is still no problem with the current technical level.

"The Mummy" was released in 1999, and the special effects of the mummy in it were so realistic that they could be mistaken for real, let alone now?

Zhang Yimou nodded thoughtfully: "Director Wu, I heard that you hired a group of special effects artists from Hollywood for the movie "Gravity" and want to start your own special effects company?"

"Has your company done this kind of special effects?"

At this stage, there are really no reliable film special effects companies in China, and even the film market has only been commercialized for three or four years.

Without considering finding a foreign special effects company, the first thing Zhang Yimou thought of was the special effects team Wu Yuan had.

Although they are all blond and blue-eyed foreigners, at least the company is purely owned by Chinese people, and it is said to be Chinese technology.

Faced with Zhang Yimou's inquiry, Wu Yuan hesitated.

His team can indeed do this kind of special effects, but his team is preparing for the next busy special effects work of "Gravity".

If this was lent to Zhang Yimou for the opening ceremony's special effects, would his "Gravity" still be completed on time?

It's just that this has to do with the Olympics, and he really can't shirk the blame.

Wu Yuan still said truthfully: "Technically there should be no problem."

"If you need it, Director Zhang, I can ask the company's special effects team to cooperate with you."

To make such a special effects short film, it is not very long. Running from a distance to the bird's nest can only take ten or twenty steps at most. The entire special effects short film is estimated to be one minute at most.

Fifteen people are working on it together. Including the time spent on design and modeling, it should be done in a month or two, and it shouldn't delay much.

Zhang Yimou nodded with a smile on his face: "Okay, thank you Director Wu for your help."

Next, Wu Yuan discussed the opening ceremony plan with Zhang Yimou's team for a long time.

From their mouths, Wu Yuan also learned a lot about Zhang Yimou’s various efforts and attempts behind the scenes in preparing for the opening ceremony.

It is worth mentioning that his visit to the creative team of the Olympic opening ceremony today was recorded by a photographer at the scene.

This person specializes in recording preparations for the opening ceremony. After the Olympics, a documentary about Zhang Yimou's team's preparations for the opening ceremony will be compiled for public sale.

Wu Yuan was also quite interested in being recorded.

In this way, after spending two or three days, Wu Yuan held meetings with Zhang Yimou's team every day, and finally finalized the plan for this special effects giant torch bearer to pass the torch.

It would be inconvenient for him to continue to participate in other matters that followed, and he had no time to participate.

Now that "A City of Golden Armor" has been completed, "Gravity" is about to enter the casting preparation stage.

Gong Li, the heroine, and Wang Xueqi, the male protagonist Wu Yuan found to play for him, should join the team to receive astronaut training.

Yes, in the end Wu Yuan did not choose Hu Jun, but asked Wang Xueqi to play the leading role.

In "Gravity", although the male protagonist does not have as many roles as the female protagonist and can only be regarded as an early supporting role, his role is very important and he is very demanding in acting.

The role of the male protagonist in this movie is to enlighten, enlighten, and warm the heroine's inner beacon. The interpretation of this kind of role is not Hu Jun's strength.

After confirming that Wang Xueqi's physical fitness was pretty good and he still exercised regularly to keep his muscles active, Wu Yuan still invited him to play this role.

Wang Xueqi's acting skills are still very good, and he is also good at literary drama.

After leaving the Beiyuan Conference Center, Wu Yuan found Gong Li and Wang Xueqi who were waiting to join the team, and packed them up and sent them to the National Space Administration's astronaut training base.

Here, they have to receive 2 to 3 months of astronaut training and learn how to be a qualified astronaut.

Of course, most of them are to learn some theoretical things and use a centrifuge to feel what a low-gravity environment is like, and then they can perform the feeling of an astronaut in a gravity-free environment in space.

After all, Wu Yuan couldn't really take them to space to shoot this movie.

I'm really sorry, I fell asleep directly in the early morning and slept until dawn.

I feel very sleepy after the second Yang.