Super Zoo

In one of Disney's indoor studios in California, a scene was being filmed. The actors wore sensor costumes connected to data cables and performed various actions in front of a green curtain, which were then processed through the post-processing computer. Special effects processing, turning into characters and scenes in the movie.

"Okay, that's it for today." Director Howard took off his headphones, waved absentmindedly, walked to his small office next to the set, took out a stack of manuscript paper and quickly drew a picture of a fox on it. , looked left and right, always felt dissatisfied, crumpled the manuscript paper into a ball, and threw it into the wastebasket.

"Dong dong..." Outside the transparent glass window, assistant director Moore knocked on the door.

Howard is a talented young director, and Moore is older, more experienced and calmer. They can learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses. They are a famous golden partner in Disney and even Hollywood.

"Come in." Howard made a mouthful of water for the coffee machine in the office: "You really know how to choose the time, and I happened to buy your favorite flavor."

"You don't pay attention to the quality of life, how can instant coffee taste? No matter how delicious instant coffee is, it is not the original flavor, it is just a fake substitute."

Moore said that, but he still made a cup of coffee, smelled it, put down the cup with a look of disgust, and asked, "You don't seem to be in a good state lately?"

"Is it already so obvious?" Howard then crumpled up a piece of unsatisfied manuscript paper and threw it into the trash can.

"It is my responsibility to assist you in your work. Of course I will observe more carefully than others. In the past, when you were filming Flash Wolf and serving as art director for Mulan, you were always a workaholic and rarely got off work at four in the afternoon. "When." Moore looked at his watch, bent down and picked out a wad of manuscript paper from the trash can, spreading it out on the table.

It depicts a fox with a long mouth and a big tail, and his eyes reveal a hint of cynicism and cunning.

"Look, this is the first time I've seen you dissatisfied with the main character's look after you started shooting. Is there anything wrong with this red fox?"

As Moore said this, he picked up another piece of scrapped manuscript paper and spread it out next to the previous piece of manuscript paper.

This time, there is a rabbit with long ears on the manuscript paper, but it does not have the big teeth that are typical of ordinary cartoons. The eyes are big and round, and there is a layer of eye shadow. Even though it is a black and white sketch, you can still see the movement of the eyes. It must be a young female rabbit.

"Oh... God, it seems that our director is not only dissatisfied with the male lead, but also dislikes the female lead."

"Not only the male and female protagonists, I now have resistance to almost every animal." Howard said distressedly: "This greatly affects my work. As long as I think about the final product, I lose interest during filming."

Moore shrugged, suppressed his smile, and said seriously: "That would be a big problem. Howard, it took us eighteen months, visiting dozens of animal experts, and using hundreds of similar animals as models to finally create The character model in the film, you participated in the whole process and finalized it. Can you tell me what bothered you?"

"I..." Howard scratched his head, "How should I put it..."

"Are these animals not realistic enough?" Moore said: "If this is the reason, I think we should talk to the producer Mr. Spencer. Whether it is additional investment or extending the shooting time, we must put the best Present the product to the market.”

"By the way, realistic! That's the word, damn realistic, it's bothered me for a long time!"

Howard threw the pencil on the table, took a deep breath, until his lungs seemed to burst, and then exhaled a long breath, like a deflated rubber ball, slumped his shoulders, leaned on the back of the chair, and said: " Moore, you should have seen the movie Zootopia."

"Of course I have seen these magical oriental people. I wonder if they have some kind of magic, and they can actually shoot them all with real animals." Moore said.

"Yes, since there are real animals, why do we still need to use virtual computer technology? As you said, no matter how delicious the instant coffee is, it is not as good as the original coffee beans! When I think about it, there are already people in the world who can use real-life coffee beans. When it comes to animal photography, we spend a lot of time and money to create virtual animals. I feel like you are drinking instant coffee. When you think about it, we have to use fake ones when there are better ones. Where do I get the motivation to shoot?”

Howard scratched his head in distress: "What's even more disgusting is that I heard that the company had a plan to establish a cooperative relationship with the company that filmed Zootopia, renting some of the other party's animals to serve our movie, but I don't know what The reason why there was no agreement makes me even more unhappy when I think about it.”

"Howard, you always like to think too much. Maybe this is what makes the brains of geniuses different from those of ordinary people."

Moore shrugged and smiled: "I have also heard this rumor. However, I personally think that non-cooperation is not necessarily a bad thing."

"Why?" Howard asked.

"In Zootopia, the protagonists who connect the plot are still humans. Strictly speaking, all animals are supporting characters. At least half of the shots are for humans. In our movie, all the characters are animals. , 100% of the shots are for animals.”

Moore said: "This requires animals to have the same 'acting skills' as human actors. Every movement and expression must be vivid, and even the eyes must be anthropomorphic. Computer special effects can do this, but can real animals do it? I think it’s impossible.”

"Of course I understand. But if real animals are used for filming, the audience will find it very novel, and the requirements for acting skills will be reduced. And we are not completely giving up on computer special effects and using real animals to star. We will add computer special effects later to complement the animals themselves. Yes! This is a good idea, real animals combined with computer special effects! There are many supporting characters that only need one expression, such as the group of moles eating popsicles. All animals can be used without any fake special effects..."

When it comes to shooting with real animals, Howard's creative sparks are coming out and he can't stop talking.

"Okay, okay, you genius, I admit that what you said makes sense, and you have convinced me. I believe that using real animals will have more gimmicks and marketability."

Moore interrupted Howard and shrugged: "But convincing me is not enough. If we want to use the animals in Zootopia to film, we must first convince our producer. A large additional investment also means that our previous A lot of investment has been wasted.”

"Haha, dear Moore, my mission is to convince you, and your mission is to help me convince the producer." Howard suddenly showed a proud smile.

Moore was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "I fell into the trap of you, a bad boy!"

"Haha, Moore, let's go and talk to the producer, Mr. Spencer."