"That's what we have in our studio. "Cameron excitedly showed Jenny the small studio, pointing to the camera above the studio, "It's not a lot of it now, so it can only cover this space." ”

He pointed to a clearing lot, which was indeed not large, only 3 or 4 square meters, and at the edge of the clearing, a large basket was stacked with many wearable devices, "but the performance here can already achieve a combination of virtual and real - Glenn, can you show us?" ”

His close partner, Glenn, who is also the technical support director of "Avatar", put on a motion capture costume and a special helmet covered with rubber tentacles, with the help of the staff, fixed his face camera in front of his face as if it was a fixed microphone, and pasted the dots on his face for expression capture, he smiled kindly at Jenny and Leonardo, made a grimace, and almost immediately, Glenn grimaced on the computer screen on one side, Then there is a Pandora star face on the same screen, and it also makes a grimace, although it is only a prototype, but it can be seen that this expression is based on Glenn's expression and was 'created'.

"Until then, we had been puzzled by the issue of the expression of the live CG, which was of course a big problem," Cameron said quickly, "Pure CG is a disastrous idea, if you are not careful, you will fall into the uncanny valley, have you seen the "Final Fantasy" made by the Japanese last year? It turns out that no one is involved and 'pointed'—"

He gestured, "Films with humans as the protagonists will always lack a soul, which is why I decided to name this project Avatar, just like the basic concept of the film, in fact, the filming process is also a process of injecting our will into these digital models." It's funny, you're it, but you're not it – I wonder if that's how the Hindu gods see their avatars. ”

Jenny explained softly to Leonardo, who was a little confused, "Avatar is actually a Hindu term, and in India, there are many well-known avatars of the three main gods, such as Vishnu and the Black Heavens. In fact, this allusion is quite related to the backstory of the movie script, and the technological difference between humans and Pandoras is almost as great as the difference between gods and humans in Hinduism. The main god incarnates the black sky and enters the world, just like the hero incarnates as a Pandora star and enters the planet Pandora, of course, their purposes are different. ”

"Looks like someone did their homework beforehand." Cameron glanced at Jenny appreciatively, if he was a little doting and strict with Leonardo - when Leo appeared in the studio with a cheeky face today, Cameron mocked him well, then for Jenny as a potential investor, Cameron's attitude is not condescending, but more equal appreciation and favorability. "And somebody came here with a completely empty head."

Leonardo was unimpressed, pointing to the computer screen, "Is this the real-time effect?" ”

In reality, Glenn has walked into the open space of the studio, and in the computer, a Pandora has walked into a jungle, looking around with the same range of motion as Glenn, and the rubber helmet Glenn wears has become the hair of the Pandora in the computer, and his pointed ears are also reflected, Cameron nodded proudly, "Glenn, make an angry expression." ”

Glenn bared his teeth and roared, and the Pandoras bared their teeth, but the movements were a little stiff, Cameron explained, "This is the initial effect, and there will be deep calculations and simulations in the later stage, and the current effect is only to meet the needs of on-site guidance." ”

He skillfully operated it through the interactive interface on the computer, only to see that the camera in the computer had changed, and it had turned to an angle of depression, and Glenn's movements became more vivid, and the breathing of Pandora's chest was almost synchronized with Glenn's. Cameron pointed to the renderings, "The high-definition camera around Glenn will transmit the data back to the host, and according to the program settings, Glenn's model will become more and more realistic as the data details become fuller and richer, and in the end you will see a real avatar." ”

He clicked on a finished video showing Glenn breaking into the jungle and then running away, Leonardo unconsciously bent down to get closer to the screen, and he looked back and forth between Glenn and the video, "Yes, the expression is very detailed, leaving strong traces of Glenn...... It's like Glenn reappearing in front of the camera after plastic surgery, and then the real person performs it. ”

"That's true." Cameron's tone was also perk, and he was about to continue explaining, when a staff member suddenly walked over.

"Christopher. Hanks was at the door. She said with blushing cheeks, clearly excited by the news. He says he's on a date with you. ”

Jenny suddenly stood still, taking her mind away from the fantastical details, and she turned to look at Leonardo, shrugged her shoulders and spread her hands to express her innocence and surprise, while Leo replied with a flat mouth - it was clear that he was also ignorant of Christopher's sudden visit.

"Christopher also has a certain interest in Avatar." Cameron didn't grasp the subtle change in mood at all, but looked at Leo as if to put pressure on him, "So I thought, since you're all friends — oh yes, Jennifer, you play great with him — and I'm just going to give you a parade guide, so it's better to save time together." ”

Jenny smiled, "Sure, James, why not?" ”

She glanced at Leo: Judging from James's tone, in fact, he should still want Leo to play, otherwise he would not have stimulated Leo's emotions so deliberately, and may even have deliberately scheduled Christopher's visit after the two, just to catch Leo off guard and leave him arrogant.

In fact, this is also a method that producers often use to 'pursue' actors - tricking you into going to auditions with sweet words, so that your confidence is extremely inflated before the audition, and even thinking that the role belongs to you, and then when you arrive at the audition venue, you find that there are actually many actors of the same grade as you - who are also deceived by sweet words - when you participate in the audition with you, of course your confidence will be hit, and you will even feel that it is already a success to get the role, about the performance fee or what, I don't have the capital to negotiate at all.

The excellent team is like a popular girl, and the producer, the boy, is willing to do any bad trick in order to get him, and this trick is used to instigate the actors to fall into psychological weakness, so that the agent loses the good trick of persuading the actors to increase the price. Of course, with Jenny and Leo's current coffee positions, as well as Cesare's shrewdness and strong ability to control his artists, and his excellent control, it should have been a long time since no one bullied Leo like this, but since the person who did it was Cameron, Leo could only accept the facts: although Leonardo had risen to prominence before "Titanic", without that sinking ship, he would not have been on the A-list in a few years and sat firmly to this day. This kind of relationship of knowing and gratitude, coupled with Cameron's own status, caused him to have no temper at all in front of Cameron, even if he was engaged in a 'double kings' meeting by Cameron on the spot, he could only show a somewhat embarrassed smile and childishly learn Jenny's tone, "Yes, Jaime, why not." ”

"James." Chris had already walked into the studio with brisk steps, "Long time no see." ”

"Chris." James shook his hand with a smile, and it was obvious that he also admired Christopher.

He shook Leo's hand, "Leo." ”

"Chris." The tone of both of them was a little salty.

"Jane." Chris hugged Jenny warmly, in a much more lively tone than when he had called to lose his temper before.

"Chris." Jenny replied with some hesitation, and she glanced at Chris suspiciously, but Chris ignored her eyes.

"Is this where the miracle happens? Show me! He looked curiously, almost hypocritically, as excited as a little boy who had eaten a popping candy. ”

Although she was a little worried about Chris's intentions, Jenny quickly focused on James's commentary, and the two male stars also showed their professionalism, not acting in the ridiculous drama of competing in front of the world's famous directors, but listening intently to the technical details made by James himself - these things are highly confidential in the preparation of the film, and after leaving this studio, they have no other channel to learn about the latest technological developments in the industry.

"So that's where this technology is most advanced." After a little time to keep up, Christopher quickly showed his strengths – professionalism, clarity and quick thinking, holding his chin and looking at the monitor, "In the past, in green screen shooting, the director could only judge whether the actor's performance was qualified or not by imagination, but now that we have this virtual camera, everything is much more intuitive." ”

"Yes." Cameron was very pleasing in some ways, and he said cheerfully, "You know it's often hard to attract good actors to motion capture, because to be honest — a lot of times they're just providing performance material, you don't even go to their performances, and a lot of people think they're not actors, they're just working on the special effects team." I think if Andy. If Serkis had a second option, he wouldn't have played Gollum, but the technology would change everything, and now that Glenn is really playing the role, without him, the model would be boring - he really gave it a soul and personality that can't be replaced. ”

Christopher touched his chin, and he seemed genuinely impressed, "Can we give it a try?" I mean, if I walk in there, what do we see on a computer screen. ”

"It won't be such a clear image." Cameron's tone was still confident, but Jenny seemed to catch a hint of his weakness: this should be the weakness that restricts the technique, "We need to cage you first - see there?" ”

There's a big woven cage in the corner of the studio, and there's cameras all over the cage nodes, and the group goes up to it, "You've got to stay in the cage for a while, and then the photo data is transferred to the computer, and based on your facial features, the artist makes a model of your face, and then we go back to the shooting area, and you can get a Glenn-like performance." ”

"How many days does the whole process take?" Christopher asked, "It must have cost a lot." ”

"It takes about 4 or 5 working days." Cameron replied, "It's a lot of money, and in fact most of the film's production budget is spent on special effects — of course." ”

"So, if we want to see the results of our performance before making a decision, it should be more expensive?" Leonardo also played a mystery game with Chris, "This should be the movie with the smallest audition range in history, right?" Considering how expensive auditions are? ”

"Or maybe it's also the movie with the lowest demand for an actor's looks in history." James replied a little coldly, "Considering that it was the animated image that finally appeared on the big screen." ”

"yes — but you always need box office appeal, don't you?" Christopher said like a song.

Leo also let out a knowing laugh, muttering, "yes, at the end of the day, everyone always needs box office appeal." ”

"I know what you're doing," James said, not further irritated but amused, "well, if all this is so important to you, I can make models — but you also have to promise to use them for cameos in movies." ”

Budget is precious, especially now that Universal is not given the green light, and James will be so budget-conscious, which is the embodiment of his quality as a director. And the two actors glanced at each other, and they both made a promise happily, "If you just show your face and make a cameo, of course it's no problem." ”

Leonardo turned to Jenny with some vague dissatisfaction, "What about you, Jennifer?" ”

Jenny smiled at him gratefully: in the actor-producer game just now, she didn't speak, she was completely stained, and Leo would take the initiative to ask this sentence, which is quite righteous and gentlemanly. However, the friendship between the two is obviously not deep enough that Leo can cover her without complaint.

"If it's a cameo, of course I'm fine." "Actually, I'd love to see how much of my performance can be reflected in the avatar," she honestly said. ”

This is the truth, it can be said that now her participation is completely for big dreams, and Jenny also wants to find out whether this film has the same effect for everyone.

"Then we can start now." Cameron said anxiously, turning back and beckoning, "Rob, let's activate the camera-"

#

Changed into a special photo T-shirt and removed makeup - by the time Jenny finished the photo shoot process and reapplied her makeup and walked out of the lounge, James had already gone to the meeting, and Leonardo had already finished his photo shoot, and even the casual parade had ended, and he left the studio with the pioneer car. Christopher was still pestering Glenn to ask questions, until he saw Jenny, and then left Glenn and trotted over. "Hey."

Jenny clasped her arms with a smirk, "Hey? ”

Christopher spread his hands, "Your place or mine?" ”

Well, it seems that this conversation is inevitable. Jenny sighed and gestured, "-just lead the way, dear Chris, lead the way." ”

The author has something to say: it's updated, and there is a double update tonight

Last night's incident was really embarrassing, but I've asked the editor to delete all the comments, and I really worked hard last night!