MTL - Heads Up Hollywood-Chapter 62 The paradox of special effects and cinema

The filming sequence is from easy to difficult.

It started with a literary drama, then an action drama, and finally moved to a desert studio in Nevada to shoot the scene of the desert planet Tatu.

As the filming went on, George Lucas witnessed Dunn's directing ability with his own eyes. While he was amazed, he also reassured and boldly delegated power. During the filming process, everything was based on his opinion.

Even a veteran actor like Am Neeson was so caught by Dunn that he didn't dare to question, let alone complain.

"Our robots have suffered heavy losses!"

"Without the protective cover, we will be a living target!"

"The protective cover has failed, and it must be restored immediately!"

Watching the performance of Ben Affleck and others, Dunn shouted, "Okay, this one is over, Chris, you are responsible for shooting the next two shots of the robot. David, the wide-angle shot of the outer space scene. , you go and grab it in front of the green screen, it's not difficult. Call Nate, and then we will film the Queen's speech."

Tang En arranged the shooting tasks in an orderly manner, and the entire crew worked very efficiently.

Because he has read the original book, the film image in Dunn's mind is far clearer than that of George Lucas. He has deleted more than 20 unnecessary scenes, and handed over a large number of non-real-life scenes to the assistant director for shooting. While the workload is sharply reduced, the shooting progress will also be greatly accelerated.

Of course, producers like directors like Dunn. The shorter the construction period, the lower the cost!

That's why Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's favorite, but James Cameron is daunting.

At this time, Natalie Portman, who was dressed up, walked out slowly, and Dunn's face lost the gentleness of meeting in private, "Remember, you are the queen, the queen on the top, keep your chest high, Show the Queen's temperament. Yes, that's it, it's fine... don't laugh, your planet is suffering, your expression can be a little more anxious."

Under the heavy makeup, Natalie could no longer see her delicate appearance. Listening to Dunn's exhortation, she nodded lightly.

This group of shots is a group show. The planet Naboo is attacked by the dark forces of the Sith. Queen Amidala is trapped. The two Jedi knights rescued the queen and want to take the queen away. However, Queen Amidala misses the planet. The scene of the people on the top, unwilling to leave.

The Jedi Knights show strength, and Amed Best, who wears an animal hood, plays the Ganga "Ja Ja Binks", which is a funny role.

In the whole movie, except for "Elder Yoda" and other characters, which are all made of animation, most of the animated characters are filmed by human beings, and then produced with special effects in the later stage.

On the one hand, it is convenient to match the scenes, and the progress is faster. On the other hand, motion capture is easier, and post-production is easier. The disadvantage is that the animation is not realistic enough, and it is far less smooth than full animation production.

After 20 minutes of explanation and arrangement, Dunn came to the viewfinder to watch for a while, then nodded, "Okay, let's start!"

Natalie Portman stood at the front, took a deep breath, looked sad, but said in a loud voice: "Thank you, Mr. Special Envoy, but I want to be with my people!"

"They will kill you!" said the Jedi Knight "Qui-Gon" with a frown.

The Queen's Prime Minister immediately vetoed, "They dare not!"

"They need the queen to sign a legal invasion agreement, so they won't kill her." The queen's guard added.

"Kui Gang" pondered: "I think they have another conspiracy, the invasion is illogical!"

"stop!"

Dunn shouted, "Ben, there's something wrong with your expression! Now is not the time to fight, you don't need to play a ruthless warrior, you are worried about the future of the Queen and Planet Naboo!"

Most of the shots in the original version are close-ups. Everyone speaks, and each person is given a separate short shot. This way of shooting is simple, you can shoot each person individually, and then edit them together.

However, because of Natalie, Dunn wanted to give her more time to leave the country. This conversation turned into a long-distance long shot. As a result, everyone in this group scene had to express their expressions. in place.

Ben Affleck was a little absent-minded because he didn't have any important lines, which made Dunn a little dissatisfied.

"Okay, director, I'll pay attention!" Ben Affleck always had a good attitude in front of Dunn.

Tang En was rude, "I'll give you a chance, if you don't perform well again, just zoom in on the camera and cut out all the faces that don't meet the requirements!"

In order to film this set of shots well, and to save time and effort, Tang En had the crew prepare them well, and fixed their positions during the rehearsal, and eight cameras would be shooting from different directions in all directions.

In a scene that consumes such a large amount of resources, Dunn will not allow anyone to make mistakes, even Ben Affleck, a potential actor he is very optimistic about.

Ben Affleck clearly felt Dunn's determination, patted his chest and assured, "Director, don't worry, I won't let you down!"

…

"I think I have to get rid of them first!"

"Kui Gang" said with a firm look.

"We can only hope that Congress will be on our side. Planet Naboo needs your help!" The Prime Minister said earnestly.

Queen Amidala stood up and said solemnly, "No matter what, our situation is very dangerous."

"You must go, Her Majesty, you must go now!"

…

"CUT! This one is over!" Tang En breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the time, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon, this group of shots took more than an hour to shoot, and Natalie, who was dressed in full dress, was obviously tired.

Dunn sighed, "Okay, let's stop here today, Abel, send tomorrow's lines, go back tonight, and be sure to memorize them. Let's go, see you tomorrow!"

In the past, when Dunn watched popcorn movies, he always felt that the actors' acting skills were very poor. Many actors who were obviously Oscar-winning actors still couldn't show their acting skills.

With this Star Wars shooting experience, Dunn instantly understood a lot, which was something he couldn't feel when he was filming "My Great Greek Wedding".

In this special effects movie, the characters are emotionally trivial, the lines are fragmented, and the actors are not able to perform their due acting skills at all.

When filming "My Great Greek Wedding", Dunn was even able to direct an extra who had never acted much like an old actor. But in such special effects movies, it is difficult for these actors with great acting experience to show their hearts.

The script is not attentive, the character clues are broken, and the top and bottom are incoherent. How can the actors understand the role positioning?

Tang En let out a long sigh. It seems that the views of the older generation of filmmakers are not necessarily pedantic and conservative. Animation special effects and film art are sometimes really incompatible.

This is a paradox!

When he came to the door of Natalie's dressing room, Dunn knocked on the door and saw Natalie leaning on the chair tiredly, letting the makeup artist remove her makeup.

As soon as she saw Dunn, Natalie complained, "Don, I'm dying of exhaustion!"

Her hair and headgear weighed more than ten kilograms, and no one could stand it for hours on top of her head.

Before Dunn could speak, her mother Shirley Hirschler said angrily, "Nate, how can acting be so hard?" Then she turned to Dunn, a little apology, "I'm sorry, Director Walker, Nat is still young and ignorant."

Dunn is a little strange, isn't this Mrs. Hushler very strict? How can you talk so well?

"It's alright, Mrs. Hushler, you are so kind. Nat and I are friends. I don't think it's okay to complain a few times between friends."

"That's right!" Natalie muttered, UU reading www. uukanshu.com then flashed hope in his eyes, "Tang En, I don't want to eat Chinese food today."

Dunn held back his smile, "How about an Italian meal? I know an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills. It's Southern Italian cuisine and it tastes very good."

"Okay!" Natalie rolled her eyes and kept winking at Dunn, asking him to convince her mother.

Dunn asked with a smile, "Mrs. Hushler, can I invite Nate to dinner? Don't worry, I will definitely bring her back as soon as possible."

Shirley Hirschler smiled: "Of course, Director Walker, I have always believed in you."

A bit of surprise flashed in Natalie's eyes, she was very surprised.

Mom... When did you talk so nicely?

Did she really recognize Dunn? When I come back at night, I have to ask her.

…

Half an hour later, Dunn and Natalie walked out of Lucasfilm's studio, looking at the silver-gray Porsche 911 in front of them, Natalie screamed "wow", jumped over, hugged the car. Lived Dunn's arm.

"It's so cool! Dunn, you really did it!"

Tang En keenly observed the snickering expressions of the passers-by crew, and whispered, "Nate, everyone looks at us strangely, why do you say that?"

Natalie pursed her lips and smiled: "Why? Another little girl is going to be tricked by you!"

Dunn's face changed, and his back felt cold, "Nate, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Humph!" Natalie gave him a big white eye and said coquettishly, "Don't think I don't know anything!"

After speaking, he happily opened the car door, got in the car excitedly, and then shouted to Tang En who was standing dumbfounded, "Hey, how long are you going to be dumb?"