my movie years

Chapter 253 Zhang Hao's Innovation in Film Technology
"Hey! The wind is so strong, does it often blow like this?" Zhang Hao asked the local guide.

The guide replied: "October to March of the next year is the season of strong winds, and there are often strong winds."

"It seems that we came at the wrong time. We should come back later." Hearing that, Zhang Hao could only enjoy himself while suffering.

After a while, the wind gradually died down, and Zhang Hao used the walkie-talkie to inform the crew to prepare for shooting.

"Director, it's bad..." Lu Zihong hurried over and shouted.

"Don't panic, what's wrong?"

Lu Zihong looked anxious: "The strong wind just now, we didn't take good protection measures, and the Mars rover was smashed."

"Aren't there two more?" Liu Hao said.

"Yeah, how about the other two?"

"That's the problem. The other two cars were originally driven out to charge for filming, but when the wind blew up, people ran away and the cars stayed where they were." Lu Zihong explained.

Zhang Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this, and Liu Hao became anxious: "What's the matter with this prop set? Don't you know that making a Mars rover is very troublesome? Is the car not good?"

"Forget it, Brother Hao, it's good that people are okay, and the props and cars can be rebuilt!" Zhang Hao comforted Liu Hao, and then told Lu Zihong:
"Then what, let the props team and engineers assemble the parts of the car and see if we can make a complete car."

"Okay..." Lu Zihong ran to inform the props team and the engineers in the team again.

Liu Hao was still angry: "These people, have their jobs been too easy recently? We have to give them more weight."

"Okay, okay, I'll hold a meeting with the props team and relevant departments later, and we'll be done after solving the problem. It's not a big problem." Zhang Hao was calm.

Sometimes this kind of thing will inevitably happen, and it is unavoidable.

At this time, it is usually the producer Liu Hao who sings the bad face and Zhang Hao who sings the bad face.

In fact, logically speaking, as a Mars rover, it should be very strong, at least stronger than ordinary cars.

Because the Mars rover has to take into account the Martian storm.

But in fact, in the development process, if we actually build a Mars rover that can withstand the Martian storm, it is almost equivalent to doing scientific research.

Zhang Hao is making movies, not going to Mars.

So the Mars rover only looks like Mars on the outside, except that it can drive, the dashboard can be used, and there is a built-in camera system and solar charging.

Other parts, such as the manufacturing materials, are simplified versions, so let alone the Martian storm, even the Earth Gale Knight is a little bit unbearable.

Fortunately, this is really a small problem.

Then the engineers made do with the parts of the three cars into one car, so that the crew still had cars available.

Replacements for missing or damaged parts were flown in and the other two cars were repaired.

Of course, the relevant personnel of the props team were severely scolded, and then they were responsible, and that was it.

"Jiang Xi, is the drone okay?" Zhang Hao asked.

Jiang Xibi made an OK gesture: "Director, no problem..."

"Okay, control the drone to take off and give me a super wide-angle lens." Zhang Hao said.

Under Jiang Xi's control, the drone equipped with the IMAX camera wobbled and flew towards the scheduled shooting location.

This drone IMAX shooting system was developed by Zhang Hao when he was directing "The Dark Knight".

The bulky IMAX cameras are usually carried by helicopters, and people hold the cameras to shoot.Time-consuming and labor-intensive, the key cost is also high.

After all, it is not easy for a helicopter to take off once, and it burns money.

At that time, Zhang Hao, together with DJI UAV and IMAX, developed this photography system, which revolutionized the way of overhead shooting.

Not only IMAX, but also digital cameras, or other formats of cameras, can be installed on this photography system.

Following the global success of The Dark Knight, this camera system has been promoted in Hollywood.

Even domestic production crews have begun to use this brand new camera system, and technological innovation has caught up with the international trend.

Some people may ask, isn’t it just a drone equipped with a camera to shoot from above? My drone with hundreds of dollars can do it, so it’s no big deal.

But that is a drone for private use, not the same as the one used for filming.

The difference is probably the difference between watching movies on Penguin Video, 720P quality and 4K.What the movie wants is the 4K picture quality, not the 720P picture quality taken by the drone.

Ordinary TV dramas, such as anti-Japanese dramas, have no problem shooting with previous drones.

But if you want a movie-level texture, before the rapid development of drone technology, you basically use a helicopter to carry a camera to shoot.

For example, the 3D movie "Avatar" has many high-quality special effects scenes, but the actual shots showing the magical beauty of Pandora were all shot in Zhangjiajie.

There are various high-altitude shots in it, and it is impossible to use the camera equipped with the drone at that time to shoot with the cinema-level image quality.

So, it was James Cameron who rented the helicopter and personally took the camera on the helicopter to shoot the scenes he wanted.

Due to some problems with the helicopter rental, the shooting was intermittent, which caused the "Avatar" crew to delay a lot of time in Zhangjiajie.

If James Cameron had this brand new camera system developed by Zhang Hao at that time, the work would have been much easier.

Not only that, but the previously developed Titan robotic arm is used to make movies with the robotic arm that produces cars, or to develop LED light boxes in "Gravity", etc.

These can be found in all the behind-the-scenes stories, and movie fans can also understand that Zhang Hao is not only good at telling stories, but also has first-class playing skills on his way to becoming a top director.

Therefore, during the period when George Lucas retired and James Cameron fished, Zhang Hao was also known as a new generation of technical flow director.

Note that this title is not boasted by Zhang Hao himself, nor by the domestic media, but by the North American media's views on Zhang Hao, or prejudice.

In fact, since the success of "The Dark Knight" directed by Zhang Hao, some North American media tried their best to deny Zhang Hao's contribution to this film, as well as the artistic attainments of "The Dark Knight".

However, the discussion and enthusiasm caused by the film, as well as the global box office of nearly 17 billion US dollars are all there, and it cannot be ignored.

Therefore, some western media tried their best to deny the fact that Zhang Hao has become a film master, calling him a technical director.

Doesn't this mean that Zhang Hao succeeded in playing with technology, but he is not a new oriental film master.

They would rather admit Zhang Hao's advanced film technology than Zhang Hao's achievements in film culture. This is the piss of the Western media.

Even in order to suppress Zhang Hao's global reputation, Western media began to praise the older generation of directors such as Guoshi Chen Gezi and Wang Jiawei, saying that they are the real masters of oriental film.

The Great Wall, directed by Guoshi, was even listed by The New York Times as one of the most watched films of 2016.

The title is well written: "Comprehensively surpass Chris Zhang's film aesthetics and art, Guoshi Zhang, a well-deserved oriental film master."

This headline has already been seen in the picture, which shows that the Western mainstream media is now defending Zhang Hao.

Of course, the cooperation between Warner and Zhang Hao is in the honeymoon period, and its media will naturally stand up to defend Zhang Hao.Moreover, the replacement of Hollywood by the Chinese film industry is still a dream.

Therefore, all the Western media's fears about Zhang Hao are based on the media's public opinion.

If it is further restricted, it is very likely that a Congress will legislate restrictions.

Don't think that it is impossible for a filmmaker to be targeted so much. It is because many people do not understand the strategy of peaceful evolution and cultural export, which is their long-term national policy.

Movies are the bridgehead of cultural export strategy, and Hollywood is the center of film culture in the world.

Oscar, a regional award, can achieve global recognition and influence, and countless filmmakers are proud to win Oscars.

Moreover, in the 21st century, we can still see such things happening on the side of the Qing emperor, so what is impossible.

The vast and boundless scenery of Mangya was captured by drone photography, and at the same time, Zhang Hao also saw the real-time transmission on the monitor.

"Okay, the effect is very good, let's fly back!"

Jiang Xi flew the drone back and put it away, and the materials saved in it will be edited later.

Speaking of editing, it is actually a very important part of the production process.

Due to too much material and the tight production cycle, the post-production editing team was divided into two.

Most stayed in Beijing, where they could work closely with the visual effects and sound teams in the special effects studio to catch up.

The other part is with the group, and Zhang Hao handles the editing work of the live shots at any time.

In order to effectively manage a large amount of material in a limited time and collaborate efficiently with other team members, Zhang Hao and the editing team chose Avid's editing software and shared storage system.

With so many cameras and so many materials, it is indeed quite head-scratching.

A lot of work depends on the editor and technical team, so that Zhang Hao can start editing as early as possible.The editor and the technical team helped Zhang Hao organize and preprocess the daily samples and a large amount of data.

The editing team used a total of 10 Avid Media Composer NLEs, all connected to the Avid ISIS shared storage system.

As the project progresses, the storage capacity is also expanded and expanded.

In addition, "The Martian" was shot in 3D and was also produced in 3D.

The editing team fully developed the 3D function of Media Composer.

With the experience accumulated in "Gravity" that year, the editing of "The Martian" adopted a better binocular mode this time, that is, the material for each eye is an independent full-resolution file.

When shooting "Gravity", the editing team had to use side-by-side with a lower resolution.

The video quality of the binocular mode is higher this time, and the 3D special effects adjustment of Media Composer is much more advanced than then, which makes the 3D editing of "The Martian" easier and more enjoyable.

Of course, someone may ask, why are there so many systems with English letters, why not change them to Chinese?
This is a good question, because these systems were developed by Hollywood, and Zhang Hao’s team learned them from their teachers.

Translated into Chinese, Zhang Hao didn't know what name to choose, so he simply used the name chosen by a foreigner.

After all, the team members have worked in Hollywood and are familiar with these titles and how the system works.

The name is actually not important, the important thing is whether and whether it can be turned into one's own thing and used by oneself.

If you hold a hostile attitude and feel that you are called English by someone else’s foreign style, you don’t need these advanced technologies. What is the difference from the closed country that I brought to the Qing Dynasty?
If it is all about licking, Zhang Hao has no choice but to let them go, anyway, it will not delay Zhang Hao's making a movie and making a fortune.

(End of this chapter)