Made in Hollywood

During the filming process, the crew also borrowed some of Duke’s personal items, such as black Rolls-Royce cars and private business jets. Originally, Marvel Studios also proposed to use the Duke’s Manor as Tony Stark in Malibu. But Duke rejected the mansion on the grounds that the future of science fiction was not enough.

Those personal items can be used as much as possible. Duke will not charge even a dollar, but using his home as a shooting location is still free.

Although the speed of information exchange has made it more difficult to keep the privacy of celebrities secret, Duke did not want to put his home in the movie and let the public see it.

The interior of Tony Stark’s mansion can be taken by renting a seaside villa, and the panorama can also be easily achieved through a reduced-scale model.

As time went by, some literary dramas gradually finished filming. After the blue-screen venue of Warner Productions was set up, the filming of Tony Stark using motion capture was also put on the agenda by Duke.

"Andy, Rob, how are you preparing?"

After checking the work of other departments, Duke walked to the blue screen, Andy Serkins turned his head and said, "Don't worry, Duke, with me here, Rob will definitely be in the best condition."

After answering Duke, he looked at Little Rob-◇, special Downey, Downey wears a steel battle suit helmet without a face mask, and wears a motion capture suit specially designed by Weta Studio with several numbers on it. Ten motion capture devices, plus a special camera used by the crew, will record the motion trajectory of Robert Downey Jr. without omission.

The filming is about to begin, and Andy Serkins gave the final confession to Robert Downey Jr., "Rob, forget the trap on your body and the green screen behind you, just treat this as a real performance! Remember, real How did you perform before. Now you still perform. You don’t need to care about motion capture, but all motion capture systems are working with you."

Of course, this is not to say that Robert Downey Jr. does what he usually does, but he can do it now, although the Mark II suit is in the setting. It is designed and manufactured completely according to Tony Stark's figure and various habits, but it is impossible not to be affected by this metal suit.

This is why Duke came to Andy Serkis. He conducted some simulation training on Robert Downey Jr. so that the way he walks during motion capture can change from usual. This change cannot be too much. It's big, but it must be visible in the lens.

otherwise. Regarding the setting of Mark II, it will be overturned by the film itself.

For the scenes of motion capture shooting, Duke is only in control of the overall situation. The specific technology, scene layout and computer generation are all handed over to the professional technicians of Weta Studios to do it. However, the initial shooting did not go well. After all, Robert Jr.? Downey is just a novice in motion capture, even with the help of Andy Serkins. It is impossible to become a master in this area instantly.

Everyone's talents are different, when it comes to live acting. Perhaps Robert Downey Jr. can throw Andy Serkis four streets, but he is constantly making mistakes in motion capture.

However, Duke had already anticipated these, with sufficient patience and sufficient time.

There is also Weta Studio, which is different from Duke's filming and producing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Weta Studio has completely updated its motion capture technology. The motion capture equipment that Duke used before has been eliminated by Weta Studio.

Through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Weta Studio became famous all over the world, at the same time it became famous. A large number of special effects orders have also been received, including Disney Pictures’ "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. When filming "Pirates of the Caribbean", the shooting environment used for motion capture was far worse than when Duke filmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy. , Rosario was dug out by James Cameron at the time when the giant lake studio was humid and sultry, and required extremely high equipment.

Weta Studio used this to update the equipment, integrate all aspects of technology, and establish a motion capture system called imocap, and the second generation of this system was used for "Iron Man" shooting.

imocap is different from the previous motion capture system. It is not based on optics, or magnetic fields, machinery, or ultrasound, but directly recognizes the movement of people from the video images captured by the camera. This huge innovation makes imocap almost independent of the environment, as long as the camera shoots The resulting image is recognizable and can be used for motion capture.

In other words, this system does not have to be stuck in front of the blue screen, and can be used in a real environment if necessary.

In fact, in Duke's view, any motion capture is not a 100% solution, but just the starting point for cgi production.

Based on the director's philosophy of Duke, the upgraded version of imocap brought by Weta Studios, accuracy is not what it pays special attention to. It is easy to use and has good maneuverability. This is its advantage.

Moreover, Duke has always hoped that the versatility of motion capture equipment is high enough, that is, there are as few restrictions on the set and actors as possible.

Therefore, after Weta Studio’s improvements, the imocap system can use any type of camera, without any special treatment on the shooting scene, and no need to carry any other complicated equipment, so it can be captured at any time.

In addition, even if there are occasional problems such as occlusion and jumping during the capture, even if some of the data is incomplete, it will not affect the entire production. According to Duke’s philosophy, it is to simplify the requirements of real scene capture and reduce the relatively complex processing process. All are left to the later staff.

What this brings is the decline in the difficulty of actor's motion capture. Robert Downey Jr. can be said to be the biggest beneficiary of Duke's move.

This also benefited Robert Downey Jr., after the shooting of several motion capture scenes, he begged Duke very earnestly to reduce the number of times he wears a steel suit and use motion capture more.

"The Sanders group told me that those beautiful coats are specially designed according to my body shape, and they must be intimate and comfortable to wear."

Just like Tony Stark in the setting, Robert Downey Jr. is standing next to Duke’s director’s chair, talking endlessly, "But the fact is that the armor makes me very uncomfortable. , It severely restricts my actions, it is difficult for me to pose as you want, or for the script to move the way I want."

In the face of the chattering Robert Downey Jr., Duke has not said anything. Instead, there is an inexplicable feeling that Tony Stark has run into the real world.

"Duke, dear Director Rosenberg," Robert Downey Jr. not only did not stop, but squatted down, leaning against the armrest of the director's chair, and said earnestly, "Can you think about digitizing the set in the future? Armor? When I saw that thing, my head hurt. I really didn't like it."

Turning his head, Duke looked at Robert Downey Jr., and after thinking about it for a while, in Downey's indefinitely expectant eyes, he said, "Then we need to do more special effects shots than expected."

"This..." Robert Downey Jr. couldn't help scratching his hair.

Just as he lowered his head and was about to leave, Duke suddenly said, "Rob, everything the crew does is to make the actors perform better and unhindered, so I can agree to your request, but you have to Show a better performance than before."

"I will!" Robert Downey Jr. almost raised his hand and promised.

"Really?" Duke gave an inexplicable smile. "Some shots that originally required stunt doubles and props to shoot are also good for you to generate through motion capture. Why not, in the afternoon we will shoot Tony Stark flying shots. ."

Although Duke's smile seemed to contain something, Robert Downey Jr. said without hesitation, "No problem, I will prepare now."

Only when it came time to shoot, Robert Downey Jr. found that even using motion capture equipment to shoot Iron Man flying, it feels equally uncomfortable. Although he is suspended under the boom, he only needs to show the Iron Man flight specially designed by the stunt team. You don’t need to move at all, but if you stick to it for a little longer, the whole person seems to fall apart.

Duke swears that he is definitely not taking revenge on Robert Downey Jr., and even if it means something like that, he will not tell anyone.

The shooting here only requires Robert Downey Jr. to pose, and he does not need to do anything more. When Iron Man is flying, the camera feels like a long shot covering the entire action.

Duke tried to make the picture feel like moving and tilting with the camera on a tripod, or using a slide rail, or with a boom, trying to avoid the camera walking through the space like magic.

"We need to do the necessary processing for the action, but we'd better not hinder the actor's action, so that the overall action is like a silly manga action."

This is what Duke said to Anna Prinz next to him. As in the past, Anna Prinz will lead a setup team to take some shots.

Anyone likes to think in the way they like, and so do filmmakers.

Even if it is a partner who has worked with him for many years, he is deeply influenced by his style. When necessary, Duke will never forget the necessary explanation.

After shooting this flying scene, Robert Downey Jr. was lowered from the boom. Although it took only a few minutes before and after, when he walked towards Duke, he kept dangling and seemed to fall down at any time. .

However, Duke ignored him because someone specifically came to the set to find him.

"You are getting engaged, Wallace?"

Hearing the invitation from Wallace Lee, Duke was somewhat surprised, "Who is the bride?"

Wallace Lee gave an embarrassed smile, "You know her, her name is Kate Beckinsale."

Duke was not too surprised by this answer. After thinking about it, he said, "I will participate on time."

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