Wellington, New Zealand, Weta Studios.

After the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, the company, which was founded by Peter Jackson with his friends Richard Taylor and Jimmy Selkirk, has become the second largest special effects studio in Hollywood after ILM.

In particular, the motion capture shooting that created the classic character of Smeagol is deservedly the first in the world.

"Avatar" directed by James Cameron, most of the special effects production, is basically done in the Weta studio.

This film, like "The Three Hundred Warriors of Sparta", does not require the actors to shoot any exterior shots.

Ronan came to the crew again after nearly half a year, on the one hand, to check the progress of the project, and on the other hand, to urge James Cameron to try to complete the film within the time specified in the plan.

"It's been a wasted period of time in the early stages. ”

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 special effects and motion capture to better achieve the effect I requested. ”

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

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

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

Ronan asked, "What about the financial 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." ”

Avatar initially had a production budget of $200 million, and after an additional investment, the total production budget reached $230 million.

This is among the top few in the production cost of all Hollywood films at present, and the highest-cost film is Warner Bros. and DC Comics' "Superman Returns".

Even in another decade, "Superman Returns" may still be the most expensive Hollywood production.

Ronan received assurances from James Cameron, completely relieved, and said: "After I return to Los Angeles, I will notify Embassy Pictures to select a schedule for "Avatar". He still attaches great importance to James Cameron as a director, asking: "There is no problem with the release in 2008." ”

James Cameron is very sure: "In the first half of 2008, I promised to finish all the productions of the film. ”

Although he is a famous ticket skipping king, James Cameron must be sure when he says this, Ronan nodded slightly and said: "In this way, the schedule is tentatively set for the 2008 holiday season, between the Thanksgiving season and the Christmas holiday." ”

"Titanic" was released during this schedule, and James Cameron left a special good impression on this time period, and immediately said: "Ronan, you are in charge." ”

Ronan has already made a decision, as long as there are no major surprises, "Avatar" will be released during the holiday season in 2008.

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

If nothing else, a year's time, hundreds of millions of dollars, and interest alone are astronomical.

According to the normal plan, including production costs and publicity and distribution costs, the total investment of Relativity Entertainment in a single project of "Avatar" will definitely exceed 500 million US dollars.

Of course, this film will also bring extremely terrifying income returns to Relativity Entertainment.

It is very likely to become the most profitable single film project of Relativity Entertainment.

As the on-set shooting came to an end, James Cameron also accompanied Ronan to see the state-of-the-art equipment used specifically for filming.

In order to shoot this "Avatar", James Cameron made many years of technical preparation, and filmed two documentaries alone, all so that the technology could realize the picture in his mind.

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

In a way, it's also the least likely film to be plagiarized, because the technology and patents are in the hands of James Cameron himself.

This studio is home to some of the world's most advanced film shooting and production techniques.

For example, Jessica Alba wears a camera device on her head, which automatically captures her facial expressions during the shooting.

At the request of James Cameron, Weta Studios developed a capture headset that would feature a camera on the head of each actor performing the "performance capture".

At the heart of the headset is a miniature HD camera just inches away from the actor's face, which records the most subtle changes in the actor's face with a wide-angle lens, transmitting 95% of the actor's facial movements to the virtual character on the computer, making the final computer-generated CG character indistinguishable from a live actor.

Jessica Alba came over to greet Ronan, "It's been a long time, Ronan. ”

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

Jessica Alba clearly wanted to get closer, and immediately replied, "A very special experience. I've made similar movies before, but it's so different from Avatar. ”

She smiled sweetly at Ronan: "What impressed me the most was a scene where I played a character walking through the jungle, James told me in advance about the atmosphere of the whole scene, how much visibility, how much temperature, how tall the trees were, how deep the grass was, how many walks I had to walk, what kind of route I walked, what kind of creatures I met on the way, and what kind of movements I needed to do...... I had to imagine it and then act accordingly in the studio. ”

Ronan looked at the studio with only a green screen, and similar performances in the future 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 once only one actor in Disney's "Fantasy Forest" from beginning to end, and the real beast version of "The Lion King" was all made of CG.

Jessica Alba's smile was as sweet as chocolate: "It's a strange feeling, and when I finally found out that the action was actually able to match the virtual computer-generated picture, although I have been through this kind of shooting experience many times, I must say that "Avatar" is the most incredible I have ever done!"

Ronan smiled and nodded slightly: "Jesse, I've seen you shoot some pictures, and you're doing very well." ”

Suffice it to say, motion capture masks some of Jessica Alba's flaws as an actress, especially in terms of acting.

"Thank you. Jessica Alba said, "Your recognition has rewarded my efforts. ”

Ronan looked at the rumored Latino actress and said, "Work hard, don't let down James." ”

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

Jessica Alba said: "I've been working hard, and some time ago I took a break and went back to Los Angeles to participate in an audition for Marvel Entertainment. ”

Ronan realized that after all that, Jessica Alba estimated that the focus was on the latter few sentences.

Ordinary girls enter Hollywood and either turn into human spirits or become crazy like Lindsay Lohan.

"Oh?" Ronan asked deliberately, "which film did you audition for?"

Jessica Alba said: "The heroine of Thor, Dr. Jane Foster. ”

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

"Really?" said Jessica Alba, surprised.

Ronan smiled: "Kevin Feige is in charge of the audition, you have to ask him specifically." ”

That being said, Jessica Alba is better suited than Natalie Portman for Jane Foster, the Jewish actress who is really not fit to be a vase actor, and simply can't meet the requirements of the simplest vase actor.

In the once "Thor", Jane Foster's limelight was all stolen by female assistants.

In the words of a former netizen: Obviously, the two big murderers are more compatible, but Brother Hammer chooses three no products......

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

Whether Jessica Alba passes the audition or not, Ronan will never use Natalie Portman on the heroine of Thor.

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

In fact, Gwyneth Paltrow in the early days, to Natalie Portman, and then to the menstrual aunts in the later period, it is not difficult to find a particularly interesting thing, in terms of Marvel's female characters, she especially likes to use aunt-type actresses.

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 went to the CG special effects studio next to him, led by James Cameron.

The CGI technology used in this film is brand new, all the equipment was built for this film, and James Cameron hopes that "Avatar" will be a revolution in CGI technology and can become an option for filmmaking in the future.

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

Ronan is well aware of 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.

Like CG abuse and special effects that are criticized by the outside world, it is not a matter at all in Ronan's eyes.

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

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

This is the number one shareholder of Weta Studios.