The Best Entertainment Era

The outskirts of Wellington, New Zealand, Weta Studio.

After the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, this company co-founded by Peter Jackson, friends Richard Taylor and Jimmy Selkirk has become the second largest company in the Hollywood industry after Industrial Light and Magic. special effects studio.

In particular, the motion capture shooting of the classic character of Smeagol is well-deservedly number one in the world.

For Avatar directed by James Cameron, most of the special effects production is basically completed in Weta Studios.

In this film, as in 300 Spartans, the actors did not need to shoot any exterior shots.

After nearly half a year, Ronan came to the crew again. On the one hand, he checked the progress of the project, and on the other hand, he urged James Cameron to complete the film within the time specified in the plan.

It wasted some time upfront.

In the studio, James Cameron did not go into battle in person, but introduced some basic information to Ronan: The crew has made technical adjustments in terms of special effects and motion capture to better achieve the effect I require.

Ronan nodded slowly, while listening to James Cameron's words, his eyes were also watching the filming.

The motion capture scene of the heroine is being filmed. Jessica Alba is wearing a special costume full of origin catchers and making various actions in front of the green screen.

Andy Serkis, who directed the shooting, would stop the shooting from time to time and tell Jessica Alba a few words.

Ronan asked, What about the funding situation?

James Cameron said directly: I didn't dare to say it before, but now I dare to assure you that I can complete Avatar within the time limit of the second budget, with quality and quantity.

The original production budget of Avatar was 200 million US dollars. After an additional investment in the middle, the total production budget reached 230 million US dollars.

This is among the top production costs of all Hollywood films currently, and the most expensive film is Superman Returns under Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Even in another ten years, Superman Returns may still be the most expensive Hollywood production.

Ronan was assured by James Cameron, completely relieved, and said: After I return to Los Angeles, I will notify the embassy film industry to select a schedule for Avatar. He still attaches great importance to James Cameron. The director asked, Is there any problem with the release in 2008?

James Cameron said with certainty: In the first half of 2008, I promise to complete all the production of the film.

Although he is a well-known skipping ticket king, James Cameron must be sure when he said so. Ronan nodded slightly and said: Well, the schedule is tentatively set for the holiday in 2008, from the Thanksgiving season to Christmas. Between holidays.

Titanic was released on this schedule. James Cameron had a special and good impression of this time period, and immediately said: Ronan, you decide.

Ronan has made a decision that, as long as there are no major surprises, Avatar will be released during the 2008 holiday period.

It is possible to recover the investment earlier, and the financial pressure on Relativity Entertainment will be less.

Not to mention anything else, one year's time, hundreds of millions of dollars of funds, if you only calculate the interest, it is an astronomical figure.

According to the normal plan,

Including production costs and publicity and distribution expenses, the total investment of Relativity Entertainment in the single project Avatar will definitely exceed 500 million US dollars.

Of course, the film will also bring in a dire revenue return for Relativity Entertainment.

The odds are high that it will be Relativity Entertainment's most profitable single film project.

The on-site shooting came to an end, and James Cameron also accompanied Ronan to see the advanced equipment specially used for shooting.

In order to shoot this Avatar, James Cameron has made many years of technical preparations, and he shot two documentaries alone, all for the technology to realize the picture in his mind.

Without years of technical preparation, without joint technical development with Sony Electronics and IMAX, and without days and nights on the ocean, there would be no filming of Avatar.

To some extent, this is also the film that is least likely to be plagiarized, because the technology and patents are in the hands of James Cameron himself.

In this studio, a group of the most advanced film shooting and production technologies in the world are assembled.

For example, the shooting equipment on Jessica Alba's head automatically captures her facial expressions during the shooting.

This is a capture headset specially developed by Weta Studios at the request of James Cameron. During shooting, each actor who performs performance capture wears a set of camera devices on his head.

The core of this headset is a miniature high-definition camera that is only a few inches away from the actor's face. Virtual characters, so that the final computer-generated CG characters are indistinguishable from real actors.

Jessica Alba specially came over to say hello to Ronan: Long time no see, Ronan.

Hello, Jesse. Ronan nodded slightly to her and asked, Is the filming going well?

Jessica Alba obviously wanted to get closer, and immediately replied: A very special experience. I have made similar movies before, but compared with Avatar, the difference is too great.

She smiled sweetly at Ronan: What impressed me the most was that there was a scene in which the character I played traveled through the jungle. James told me the atmosphere of the whole scene in advance, how much visibility, how high the temperature was, how tall the trees were, and how tall the grass was. How deep is it, how many roads do I have to walk in total, what kind of route I walk, what kind of creatures I meet on the road, what kind of actions I need to do... All these need to be imagined by me, and then I will make corresponding actions in the studio Actions.

Ronan looked at the studio with only green screens. In the future, similar performances will gradually become a skill that Hollywood actors must master.

Even more exaggerated, some movies may no longer need actors.

He remembers very clearly that there was only one actor in Disney's The Jungle Book from beginning to end, and the real animal version of The Lion King was all made with CG.

Jessica Alba's smile is as sweet as chocolate: This feeling is really strange, and when I finally found out that the movements I made could fit with the virtual computer-made pictures, even though I already I’ve been through this shoot many times, but I have to say, Avatar is the most incredible one I’ve ever done!”

Ronan smiled and nodded slightly: Jesse, I have seen you take some pictures, and you performed very well.

It can be said that motion capture conceals some of Jessica Alba's flaws as an actor, especially in terms of acting skills.

Thank you. Jessica Alba said, Your recognition made my efforts pay off.

Ronan looked at the Latino actress who was constantly rumored, and said, Work hard and don't let James down.

If it weren't for James Cameron, he wouldn't be able to use Jessica Alba as the heroine of Avatar.

Jessica Alba said: I have been working hard. I took a break some time ago and returned to Los Angeles to participate in an audition for Marvel Entertainment.

Ronan realized that, having said so much, Jessica Alba probably focused on the following few sentences.

Ordinary girls go to Hollywood and either become a slut, or a madman like Lindsay Lohan.

Oh? Ronan asked intentionally, Which movie did you audition for?

Jessica Alba said: Thor's heroine, Dr. Jane Foster.

Ronan replied casually: Yes, your temperament is very suitable.

Really? Jessica Alba showed some surprise.

Ronan smiled: Kevin Feige is in charge of the audition, you have to ask him for details.

That is to say, but Jessica Alba is better than Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. The Jewish actress is really not suitable to be a vase actor, and she can't achieve it at all. The simplest vase actor request.

In the Thor movie, Jane Foster's limelight was all taken away by the female assistant.

In the words of a former netizen: It is obvious that the two big murderers are more suitable, but Brother Hammer chooses three non-products...

Perhaps Brother Hammer doesn't like women who are fiercer than himself?

Regardless of whether Jessica Alba passed the audition or not, Ronan would never use Natalie Portman in the female lead of Thor.

If the actress has box office appeal, it can be considered, but her own box office appeal is completely negligible.

In fact, from Gwyneth Paltrow in the early stage, to Natalie Portman, and then to the menstrual aunt in the later period, it is not difficult to find a very interesting thing. In terms of female characters in Marvel, they especially like to use the aunt type. actress.

Even if the age is not an aunt, the appearance and figure must be at the level of an aunt.

After chatting with Jessica Alba for a while, Ronan, led by James Cameron, went to the nearby CG special effects studio.

The CGI technology used in this film is brand new, and all the equipment is built for this film. James Cameron hopes that Avatar will become a revolution in CGI technology and become a choice for film production in the future .

James Cameron's fascination and enthusiasm for computer special effects is well known.

Ronan is very clear about what the biggest selling point of this movie is, and he also gave James Cameron absolute support in the production and use of special effects.

The abuse of CG and the accumulation of special effects criticized by the outside world are nothing in Ronan's eyes.

Perhaps in the eyes of some people, movies are always black and white silent films, which are called art.

In the afternoon, when Ronan was about to leave Weta Studio, he met Peter Jackson, a big fat New Zealander and a famous director.

This is the number one major shareholder of Weta Studios.