"Although model special effects are still the mainstream technology used in special effects movies, I am sure that in as little as ten years, as many as twenty years, CG special effects will definitely replace model special effects to become the mainstream of special effects movies, about ten years ago, Industrial Light & Magic made a full CG scene in the movie, and last year's Jim's "Abyss", there were even full CG characters, these are the most intuitive expressions of this development trend," In the Clare Restaurant, Eric is chatting with Stan Winston and James Cameron across the street.

Although the two opposites are both special effects artists, in terms of professional special effects technology, Eric is certainly impossible to work on. However, Eric's identity as a traverser makes him see the development trend of movie special effects more clearly than the two opposites, so after finding the right topic, he can also easily win the initiative in the conversation.

"Eric, I don't agree with you, although CG effects can achieve more diverse scenes, but it is still too expensive after all, compared to model effects, you must know that Jim's Zuò's Terminator, that movie only cost 6.5 million dollars, if you use CG special effects, maybe this 6.5 million dollars is not even enough for special effects," Stan Winston retorted.

"Of course, I'm just saying that CG special effects are the main development trend of movie special effects, but model special effects will always play their due use, speaking ......" Eric suddenly turned to James Cameron casually: "Jim, have you ever thought about making a sequel to Zuò's 'Terminator'? I remember you said in an interview that you had a lot of regrets in the first 'Terminator' that didn't come true. ”

Hearing this question, James Cameron and Stan Winston looked at each other in unison, several people had been chatting for more than half an hour, and lunch was almost finished, and James Cameron didn't know how to bring up this topic. Unexpectedly, Eric took the initiative to ask.

"Eric, actually, I've already written the script for the second part. But we're still looking for investors," James Cameron said pretending to be reserved. Although he is known as a tyrant on the set, James Cameron is not usually hot-tempered, and when the movie pulls investment, there is no shortage of small tricks to play, otherwise, it would be impossible to overspend and get investment again and again in his previous life.

Eric certainly understands James Cameron's thoughts, and. He is also clear about James Cameron's current situation, although Cameron has not yet evolved into a card god in the future, but as a time-traveler, Eric must pay special attention to this name, and he maintains a good habit of reading newspapers and magazines every day, and knows a lot of Hollywood dynamics, so James Cameron's news occasionally appears in the newspaper, and Eric will subconsciously look at it twice and remember it in his heart.

James Cameron's "The Abyss" cost $70 million last year, exactly double the investment of Warner's global blockbuster "Batman" last year, although it eventually received a series of critical reviews and Oscar nominations. But the box office was very miserable, with only more than 50 million box office in North America and only $30 million overseas box office. The box office was not good, and the corresponding peripherals were certainly not too outstanding, so the film brought Fox a loss of more than $30 million.

This is the only James Cameron movie in Eric's memory that makes investors lose money.

After being cheated hard, it is of course impossible for Fox to invest in Cameron's new movie, let alone "Terminator 2", which seems to be investing even more, although the first part of this movie did well at the box office, but this is not enough for Fox to take the risk of shelling out of pocket again, and the other six major film companies that have not worked with Cameron much are even less likely to pay lightly.

In memory. "Terminator 2" was filmed by an independent film company named Karoka who sold iron and scraped together 100 million US dollars, and finally got more than 500 million box office worldwide. For this movie that is destined to be a big hit, although the investment is a little higher. But Eric certainly wasn't going to let it go, and he wasn't even going to let Cameron himself go.

After thinking about it, Eric continued to ask, "Jim, if you can, can you briefly talk about the plot of Terminator 2?"

When James Cameron saw that Eric was interested in the film, he suddenly had a glimmer of hope in his heart: "Of course, but please keep it secret and don't reveal it." ”

"That's for sure," Eric nodded, and then said to Jennifer Connelly, who was dutifully making vases next to him, "Jenny......"

The girl smiled knowingly, revealing two small tiger teeth: "Don't worry, I won't either." ”

"Well, the story goes something like this...... James Cameron recounted the first draft of his outline briefly, and Jennifer Connelly, who heard James Cameron's idea of the liquid metal machine, widened his eyes slightly, and looked incredulously surprised.

Eric already has a full movie in his memory, and James Cameron has no talent for telling stories in words, so he doesn't show any unusual looks, just listens intently to Cameron's narration, and occasionally finds some differences between Cameron's story outline and the finished film, such as Cameron's story outline, where Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor is not imprisoned in a mental hospital.

Of course, this is just some insignificant details, and throughout the story, Cameron and Stan Winston have been silently paying attention to Eric's expression, and finding that Eric's expression has not changed much, Cameron suddenly feels a little bad in his heart. If a story doesn't interest investors, the chances of getting an investment are slim to none.

"Jim, according to your idea, the cost of this movie must not be low, have you made a preliminary budget?" waited for Cameron to finish before Eric asked.

"I've done it, and although the idea of the liquid metal machine may cost a little more, I only need seven ...... No, 60 million, I only need 60 million dollars to make this movie, and the liquid metal machine doesn't have to use all computer CG, and some scenes can still use relatively cheap models, which I discussed with Stan," Cameron said Finally, he unconsciously took the initiative to sell to Eric, and the original pretended reserve was also forgotten, after all, among the contacts he knew, Eric was the most likely to get the money. Fireflies have begun to return funds for several movies released around Christmas last year, plus videotapes and other peripherals, which can bring at least $400 million to Fireflies

Stan Winston hurriedly chimed in: "Yes, Eric, for some scenes, we can replace it with mercury or models, and the investment of 60 million dollars is enough." ”

60 million you can shoot before you see the hell!

Eric sneered in his heart, and his face became solemn: "Sixty million, almost ten times the investment of the previous one, Firefly has never operated such a large investment movie." ”

"Eric, trust me, this movie won't disappoint you ......"

Cameron wanted to continue to say something, but was interrupted by Eric, since James Cameron has not found an investor yet, it is still necessary to hang the appetite of the card god, it is too easy to get investment, then Cameron will be even more unscrupulous when he squanders, Eric has just even come up with the plan to let Jeffrey serve as the producer of "Terminator 2", but he quickly gave up, Jeffrey's thrift and Cameron's profligacy are just two extremes, and it is strange to put them together and not fight.

"Sorry, Jim, I need to think about it, $60 million is not a small investment. Let's talk about today's business, Stan, I think you've guessed a bit, I'm planning to set up a movie special effects company, and I'd like to invite you and your team to join us, and in the future this film company will be responsible for most of Firefly's special effects work. ”

Stan Winston wasn't mad at Cameron's rejection, and Eric's cautious reaction to Terminator 2 was almost a foregone conclusion, and it would have been unusual if he had agreed immediately: "Eric, why me, I mean, there are still a lot of good special effects teams in Hollywood?"

Eric remembered what Stan Winston had said in his previous life, and replied with a smile, "Because they're only doing special effects, and you're acting with special effects." ”

Stan Winston was a little moved, this sentence just touched the most sensitive nerve in Stan Winston's heart, once upon a time, Stan Winston's ideal was to be a film actor, but the ideal and reality are always too different, after graduating from college, Stan Winston opened his own Winston studio after three years of makeup apprenticeship at Disney, and then he found out that he did not seem to have completely abandoned his ideals, the actor is acting with himself, and he is acting with special effects. As a result, Stan Winston has maintained his passion for special effects over the years, and is often described as 'crazy'.

This consistent passion for special effects is the most important factor in Stan Winston's success, and to be honest, without Stan Winston, James Cameron would not have been able to shoot the classic "Terminator" for a mere $6.5 million.

You know, because of Yan zhòng's lack of funds, the Terminator machine qì person in the first part is just a simple metal model, without any mechanical kinetic energy device, therefore, the special effects shot of the machine qì person movement in the movie is almost frame-by-frame with a technique similar to stop-motion animation, the movie has 24 frames per second, and 1440 frames per minute, and the number of minutes of the picture is so complicated that you can imagine how complicated the workload is, if you don't have enough faith and enthusiasm in your heart, no one can stick to it. (To be continued)