Studio 18 is the largest studio in Burbank, covering the size of two medium-sized studios, dedicated to shooting large scenes in the studio, where the crew can build a city or even a world with enough time and money!

The studio is owned by Warner Bros. Other film companies will also make special rental applications when needed, which can almost be said to be open all year round. Here, countless top commercial blockbusters were born, and it can be said to be the master of Burbank's filming base, and its reputation is outside.

Even the staff of the photography base often bring newcomers to visit Studio 18 as a training day for rookies, and then joke in a joking way: only if you have worked in Studio 18 can you really go to Hollywood.

The Los Angeles filming base of "Interstellar" chose Studio 18.

At this moment, the studio looks like a huge physics laboratory, with all kinds of models, props, equipment and appliances filling every corner of the view, dazzling, intricate, and even more brilliant than a kaleidoscope, so that the eye does not know where to fall.

At this time, the studio was clearly divided into three parts, and the areas were separated by baffles, on the one hand, to facilitate the construction of the shooting scene, and on the other hand, to prevent the overlap of work responsibilities during the shooting process, which would affect each other's work.

On the left-hand side, it looks like a laboratory, with model props placed on the floor and tabletop, with half-finished and finished products, as well as incomplete failed products. It can be seen that the props team and the VFX team are experimenting here, trying to create a scene model that is closest to the director's requirements, but this is really not an easy task.

Because "Interstellar" is a work that strictly follows the theory of reality, Christopher Nolan has been meticulous in the details of the black holes, wormholes and other details that appear in the movie, and always asks astrophysicist Keane Thorne's opinion, from visual effects to models to props, etc., it is necessary to be as close to reality as possible, and make adjustments and modifications at any time.

Therefore, while shooting on site, the data parameters of the actual model and computer special effects still need to be constantly adjusted to ensure that the film can present the most realistic picture texture.

On the right-hand side, there is a spaceship docked in the true sense of the word, the one-to-one scale of the model is completely according to the actual situation, those lifelike details are completely presented in the field of vision, and the busy staff can be seen in the cabin, so that the sense of reality is more and more prominent, as if you are in the NASA headquarters.

What's more, the spacecraft is surrounded by a cohesive projection curtain wall on three sides, and now the on-site staff is adjusting the projection brightness, communicating through walkie-talkies in and out of the cabin, constantly adjusting the brightness and light to ensure that the environmental texture of black holes and wormhole tunnels can be truly simulated.

In fact, this is similar to "gravity". On the set, it was clear that they couldn't really go into space to do these shoots, and Christopher Nolan and Alfonso Cuarón were both directors who wanted to feel real, and they had to create a realistic texture through the scenes, lighting, and composition.

The problem is that the computer special effects can still be completed after all that the director can't achieve, but in the process of shooting, if the green screen is used to shoot, after the actor lacks a real reference, the emptiness of vision and body will inevitably bring a dislocation of the viewing effect, which will then affect the integrity of the whole scene.

Christopher and Alfonso used the same approach: by setting up actual scenes, the actors could easily get into the play.

Objectively speaking, the scene construction on the left and right is still within a reasonable range, and it can be built with imagination, which is not uncommon in other commercial film crews, but the scene in the middle is jaw-dropping, and it is completely impossible to imagine what it is used for.

In the center is a super weird cube.

Imagine that there is a cuboid-shaped room hanging in the center of the venue, so this cube has six three-dimensional faces, and now except for the side facing the entrance of the studio, the other five sides are suspended in dislocation to extend a cube space, which looks like a mutated robot, and different square bumps grow on the square head.

And that's not all.

The connecting wall of the five extension cubes and the middle cube is not an ordinary wall, but a line, a line of uneven thickness is densely packed together, loose and measured, like the side panel of plywood, you can clearly see the stacked section of the wooden planks glued together, it looks like ...... The shelves crammed with books in the library are generally cross-sectional.

The linear wall can also clearly see the color change, light gray, dark gray, beige, pure white and other cold tones of the wood board layer by layer, through the contrast and connection of color, further create a visual sense of space, obviously just a plane but has a three-dimensional effect, the depth and thickness of the field of vision have been improved, the whole space becomes endless.

The six cubes were strangely combined to form a huge cube that filled the studio from floor to ceiling

You know, the giants of Studio 18 are not only in terms of length and width, but also in height, the entire studio is nearly five stories high, and it is the most prominent presence in the entire Burbank Film Base, even the film company office buildings around the base are not inferior in comparison.

Now, however, the cube has touched the ceiling.

Lan Li took two steps back slightly, trying to look at the top of the cube, but the overall height disparity was so great that he couldn't see it, not even some of the gaps in the corners.

"There's also a camera track directly above, and there's a working track, so if you need to, the photographer can go into battle with security strapped to the shot. The voice of explanation came from behind him, and when he looked back, he saw the figure of Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas.

Lan Li just gestured with his eyes, and then said, "It's like rock climbing?

"No problem. All the planks on the walls can be moved and adjusted according to the actual situation of the shot. When it's time to actually shoot, we'll set up the camera in key positions, and you just need to hang WIA to complete the performance. Christopher has taken everything into account, "We built the scene to create a sense of realism. ”

Emma Thomas stood next to her and shook her head helplessly: as soon as she arrived on the set, Christopher couldn't wait to get to work, didn't even say hello to the staff, didn't ask about the preparation of the show set, but ...... That's what Christopher has always done, what else can she do?

Emma and Lan Li nodded in acknowledgment, then walked straight forward and started to get busy as producers.

Christopher didn't notice at all, and raised his hand to point to the scene on the right, "We're going to be the first to shoot the spaceship in the next few days, and it's here that we finish." Double-negative has already produced the visual effects of the black hole, and it is still a crude version, of course, when it is officially released, we will replace it with a further refined version. ”

Double Negative's VFX production is the only VFX team that Christopher has been on for a long time, and they did all the VFX for the "Batman" trilogy and "Inception", and this time is no exception.

"When you were shooting, you went into the model of the spaceship, and the cosmic scene was out of the window, which was in sync with the plot presented in the movie, making sure that you could really feel the visual changes of interstellar. Christopher's explanation immediately made the role of the curtain wall clear, "We also used the same method when we filmed the wormhole crossing in the future, and now the computer special effects have completed the rough version of the time and space tunnel, and you can put yourself in the real scene to complete the performance." ”

Jessica and Timothy were still standing nearby, both with surprised expressions.

Although they had heard of Christopher's style before, as evidenced by the cornfields in Alberta, they clearly underestimated Christopher's persistence, and now in the studio, the scene in front of them and the subsequent shooting plan are still surprisingly speechless, and the shock is like this.

Lan Li was no exception, but what surprised him was Christopher's whimsy, the seemingly impossible task, which eventually turned into reality. That's why people have always thought of Hollywood as a "dream factory", where they are able to turn countless fantasies and dreams into reality, in addition to creating top superstars.

"In the center is a hypercube. Christopher then explained, "Remember the second half of the script, when Cooper crossed time and space to talk to his childhood Murphy?"

"Of course. Lan Li nodded in affirmation, this is almost the most important core scene of the entire script, how could he not remember?

"We're about to finish that scene here. The box in the center is where you are, and the other boxes are different plane-time dimensions. Christopher said simply.

Then Timothy let out an exclamation, "So...... All the models and props in the center are for that scene?"

It's just a play.