This battle in the Moria's mines, in the end, must have presented a continuous fierce action scene, but when filmed, it was divided into countless small pieces, and some scenes Duke often pauses after a movement and expression, and then he and Anna? Prinz, John? Schwarzman and Andy? Serkis looks at the 3D special effects and finds the shortcomings.

Using the number of movements of real people to drive virtual characters is an optical technology that has been used in Hollywood for a long time.

Weta Studios is not confined to the original technology, in the past two years, Duke's crew has been making preparations, and they are also improving the original motion capture technology, and the current optical motion capture technology has been quite mature and accurate.

This technology has been developed by Weta Studio into various subdivisions, for example, there is a team that specializes in the special effects of fluids, and a picture of pouring water can be made very realistic, and it is completely impossible to see that it is made by a computer; There are special crowd simulations, such as the final scene of the orcs pouring out like a tide in Moria's Hall, but in fact, only a few of the main actors are performing with motion capture, and the others are simulated.

With the development of computer technology, the effect of some special effects synthesizing pictures is completely unimaginable ten or even five years ago, and after the ogre character model played by Duke is completed, he only needs to make some modifications to the action information in his performance and then assign values to these models.

This may seem simple, but it's actually a lot of preparation work that has been done in front of Weta Studios.

The production of the trolls effect consists of four key parts. The first is to establish a role model, that is, to use the computer to make the role that needs to be virtual, and the detailed programs of various levels can be made according to the different control points required; The second step is to start building the skeletal architecture, because the virtual character ultimately depends on the movement of the bones, which also involves building the associated actions between the bones.

The next step is to model the skin, because the skin is elastic. Actions such as stretching bones can also cause skin contractions, so it is necessary to establish a corresponding relationship.

Finally, when Duke performs, he uses motion capture technology to collect motion numbers jù, and then binds these numbers jù to the corresponding skeleton model, so that the actual captured motion number jù can be used to drive the movement of the skeleton model.

So, the motion cap will be hung on Duke at a specific location. Then it is captured by high-speed cameras all over the place, so as to obtain a series of dot trajectory information, which is equivalent to obtaining the spatial motion coordinates of each point.

However, this also has a drawback: the light emitted by the motion capture camera has no identity, and it is likely to be confused if it is not easy for the computer to recognize.

This type of shooting is only suitable for the studio, not for location shoots with more complex lighting conditions.

Weta Studios' technology is still evolving, and their newly developed motion capture device emits infrared light at different frequencies, which is captured by a specially adapted camera and will soon be used in Gollum's filming.

And so it goes. Shooting scenes with Gollum no longer needs to be confined to indoor studios, and it is possible to capture effective numbers outdoors without the interference of natural light.

After watching a few motion capture shots, Andy? Serkis looked at Duke and said, "Your performance is too restrained, you play a troll, you need to fully unleash the savage and ferocious side, and your body movements can be more exaggerated......"

"More exaggerated?"

Let's be honest. Duke is really not a good actor.

Anna? Prinz is on the other side and also agrees with Andy? Serkis's words. "Duke, you have to forget your identity as a director, you are only an actor now, just an ogre."

An ogre?

Nodding, Duke entered the filming site again, ready to continue the battle with the Fellowship Squad.

Weta technicians came over to inspect the equipment. Shooting begins again.

Holding a hammer wrapped in a blue screen, Duke slams the hammer on the ground, and the stunt doubles of Merry and Pipin turn into a rolling gourd, and then he finds Frodo, Elijah? Wood hides behind a colonnade. Hiding twice in a row, he almost bumped into Duke head-on.

"Roaring ......"

Duke let out a roar of anger, as if an ancient monster had descended and wanted to eat Elijah raw? Wood in general.

“Great！”

Anna came from outside the set? Prinz's voice, "Duke, very well done. ”

Hand the hammer to the staff, Duke and Andy? Serkis went behind the monitor, on two huge screens, of Duke himself's performance and the effect of his movements jù being transmitted into a three-dimensional diorama.

Looking at his performance, the corners of Duke's mouth twitched slightly, his facial expression was extremely exaggerated, if he played an ordinary role, he would not be qualified at all.

But on the other screen, the trolls representing him are also roaring, and this pompous gesture is displayed on the ugly and terrifying face, and the effect looks quite good.

"I think I've got the hang of it." Duke simply borrowed a line from Sam.

After all, he only played a tortured and killed ogre, not a complex character with a dual personality like Gollum, which is relatively simple, and if he really let Duke motion capture star Gollum, he can't handle it.

It's just a cameo, and in order to add material to the hype, Duke is well aware that directing is his main business.

This is Hollywood, and there are not a few people who both direct and act, but even the old cowboy Clint? Eastwood will only focus on one of the professions, let alone Hollywood, even if you look at the world, you can't find anyone who can be both a director and an actor, and at the same time stand in the first ranks.

Whether it is an actor or a director, it is a profession that requires a high degree of concentration.

Like Andy? Serkis, he can become the first person in Hollywood motion capture in the future, and it is inseparable from concentration, most of the live-action roles he plays are soy sauce, and King Kong, Gollum, Caesar, etc., are simply milestone roles in the history of motion capture shooting.

The scene in the Moria's pit stops and goes, with actors and stunt doubles taking turns on the stage, and part of the ogre's footage is not only from Duke's motion capture, but also relies on a one-to-one scale model to shoot, and the whole process seems extremely long.

While Legolas was firing arrows at the ogre model, Duke took off his motion capture suit and sat on a chair to drink water and rest, while also reviewing the footage that had already been filmed, and reshooting it in time if there was a failure.

"Are you still happy with our special effects?"

I don't know when, Richard, the head of Weta Studios? Taylor walked up behind Duke, who gestured to the chair next to him, "Please be seated, Richard." ”

Wait for Richard? Taylor sat down, and Duke said, "It's a little different from what I expected, but, Richard, your work is better than I expected. ”

"Thank you." Richard? The excitement in Taylor's smile could not be hidden.

If you count "The Lord of the Rings" as a trilogy, plus Peter? Jackson's "King Kong", Weta Studios has undertaken four super blockbusters with a cost of more than $100 million, and will be released in the next few years.

For Peter? Jackson, Richard? Taylor's confidence is not very strong, but for Duke, he has great hopes, not to mention the status and appeal of the other party in Hollywood and even the world's film industry, just the meticulous and tedious preparatory work is the guarantee of success.

If the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is successful, even if it can't be a super hit like "The Matrix", a single box office can have the same results as "Death Island", and Weta Studios will accompany him as a super director to the world.

It can be said that Weta Studios has knocked on the door of the mainstream Hollywood business circle, and whether it can really enter the North American market is waiting for the table of Duke's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

With Richard? Taylor discussed a few words, Duke went back to work, there was no trick to special effects, and if you wanted to make special effects good enough, you had to spend a lot of money and time to pile up, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy was the same as his usual style, and the extra budget was all invested in special effects.

Special effects technology is developing at a high speed, and the future will inevitably become obsolete, and what Duke wants, the Lord of the Rings trilogy must be the top special effects of the same period.

As for the special effects that have been sprayed by countless film critics, for Duke, he doesn't care at all.

It took nearly four days of filming for the battle scene to be completed, and Duke ended his first show since entering Hollywood, but the role was sure to shatter people's glasses.

Subsequently, Anna? Prinz was once again sent out by Duke to film a scene about the half-orcs of Isenger and the Cave of Minas, Zack? Schneider traveled to Sydney to meet with Warner Bros., while Duke led the Fellowship of the Ring and continued their tour of the Moria's pits on set.

A large number of models were also used in the shooting, and the magnificent Moriath Mine did not rely entirely on post-production CGI technology, but Studio Weta built a large number of models and combined them with CGI to produce those magnificent panoramic shots.

As for the actors, except for the scenes laid out with props and sets in the close-up shots, they had to perform in front of the blue screen and the air most of the time, and the powerful fire demon who dragged Gandalf into the abyss was also filmed in the way of model and motion capture.

The scene in the Moria's pit lasted for half a month, and after this part of the scene, Duke once again led the crew out of Wellington to prepare for location shooting.

The Fellowship eventually fell apart, and the scenes on the shoot were scattered instead of all nine of them gathering together.

Now Ian? McLean ended his Magneto journey, and the schedules of the other actors were temporarily relaxed, so Duke changed the filming plan and let Andy? Serkis continues to search for the feeling of Gollum and sets out on a journey into the wilderness with the Fellowship of the Ring. (To be continued......)

PS: Brothers~~ Come to more recommended votes~~