Made in Hollywood

According to the original plan, Duke was going to Australia for vacation with Scarlett, but the day before the departure, there was news from Marvel Pictures that "Captain America" ​​was going to Louisiana to make up some shots, many of which were Scarlett had to go to the crew to report on Natasha Normanoff's scene.

Duke went to Wellington first. He came to New Zealand not only for a holiday, but also for James Cameron's crew.

In the first half of this year, James Cameron’s new project codenamed "Plan 880" was formally established. Although in his style, the time for shooting and even the selection of actors is very far away, important preparatory work has already begun.

After getting off the plane, Duke went directly to the Weta studio and met James Cameron in the studio's professional studio.

Although there is no friendship between the two, Duke is one of the film owners who accounted for one-third of the investment quota. He still has the name of a producer in the project and has the right to ask some things.

However, Duke knows how to get along with James Cameron and will not interfere with the other party's work unless it involves funding.

James Cameron also received Duke and gave a certain introduction to the project.

In fact, he is also very clear, "Chu, if you want to get enough power, you must let investors and producers build strong confidence."

Walking in the busy studio, James Cameron introduced some scenes and equipment arrangements to Duke, while talking about his plan, “I will use 3D technology to shoot the film, and some scenes will use imax cameras. I have talked with 20th Century Fox about the three screening methods of normal 2d version, 3d version and imax3d version."

Duke nodded, "Now the number of 3D screens is increasing rapidly, and the increased ticket price is also a guarantee for the box office."

Talking about anything else is imaginary. Both he and James Cameron know that this investment is to make money.

When he reached a brand-new camera equipment, Duke stopped and circled around. This camera was different from the traditional 3D camera and the used imax camera.

"James, is this a new device you developed?" Duke asked curiously.

"Yes." James Cameron was still a little proud. "The film will mainly be shot with it."

Duke just asked, and didn't say much. Compared to all directors in the world, James Cameron is the pioneer of film technology.

As an investor, Duke has also done enough understanding.

As early as 2000, James Cameron and his partner Vince Pace began to develop a new camera system with the support of Sony Electronics. This system uses two Sony hdcf950hd cameras for shooting with the purpose of creating The three-dimensional real environment, this is the later 3-D virtual image capture and photography system.

In the 2003 imax film documentary "Abyss Phantom", which they collaborated with. This technology was applied for the first time.

Later, James Cameron asked his colleagues to help him test this technology. The famous cut film director Robert Rodriguez tried it out in "Very Little Spy" and "Three-dimensional Little Shock", and most of the 3 -D stereo movies are also shot in this way.

In the past few years, Cameron has continued to improve this technology to show a stronger and more dynamic three-dimensional effect without making the audience dizzy. With many experiments and applications. This technology became more mature and was finally used in the shooting of "Avatar".

It can be said. Without the experiments and improvements of the past years, "Avatar" would not have been born.

This is also the reason Duke has never considered "Avatar". Just pull this film out and shoot it. It's even more fantastic than a fantasy.

Not only that, but under the introduction of James Cameron, Duke saw several new devices. It is all new technologies developed and improved by the king of the world for new films.

Most of the images in "Avatar" rely on cgi to generate, so in the shooting, the live performance and the final cg image must fit seamlessly.

In order to achieve this condition, Cameron specially developed a virtual camera to allow more accurate previews when shooting real-life performances. This kind of camera can observe the actor's actions and the interaction of the virtual world in real time, allowing the director to adjust and guide each scene in real time.

While the actor is performing, he can preview the effect of the actor's "incarnation" as a blue Namie walking on Pandora's Star through the LCD screen on the side.

According to Cameron, the images rendered by this new technology are more intuitive and visible, allowing the producer to instantly see what the virtual background in the live performance lens looks like, and to accurately determine whether it is the ultimate goal. Picture.

Cameron said to Duke, “It’s like a powerful game engine. If I want to fly in the air or change my perspective, I can do it immediately. I can also turn the entire scene into a 50:1 model. The scenery, shuttle inside."

In addition, unlike Duke's previous motion capture films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and "Iron Man", James Cameron also revolutionized motion capture technology.

In addition to the need for actors to wear tights full of capture points during shooting, a set of "collaborative working cameras" is also set up in the studio to complete this work.

This system consists of hundreds of digital cameras spread over the top of the studio to form a capture stage.

The camera traces the reflection of the near-infrared spectrum from the on-site led lights, transmits the captured data to a system, and then combines the reflection of the spectrum with the movement of the actors to obtain a three-dimensional model of the entire lens.

After that, these data are mapped to the later computer processing, so that the cg scene presents a highly realistic effect.

If only from a technical point of view, all directors in this world should be ashamed of James Cameron.

In Duke's view, this set tyrant is the real movie wizard. Even if those directors who take Golden Lion, Golden Bear, Palme d’Or and even Little Golden Man are dissatisfied, even if the film critics belittle the ship, they cannot change a fact. In terms of the development of the entire film industry, James Cameron has made more contributions than them!

Simply walking around in the studio, Duke did not stay much longer. When he was about to leave, he said, "James, if you need it, you can call me directly."

"You have confidence in me?" James Cameron blurted out.

Duke shrugged, "We had a happy and successful collaboration on "Titanic."

Thinking of Duke’s full support for him on "Titanic", James Cameron sighed slightly and said, "The success of "Titanic" is indeed a satisfying thing. After shooting several documentaries, it can be said that I have basically separated from the original circle. I need to change a way of working and living. It is very torture to shoot such a movie."

He made a few gestures and said, "I have been away for nearly 10 years, and I am back again. I know that many people are looking forward to it, and more people are wondering whether I can make a movie? It is normal for everyone to think like this. but."

Duke just looked at him, the director who was far from the mainstream film circle seemed to be a little emotional.

"The box office of "Titanic"? It's really good," James Cameron shook his head and said seriously, "I don't think "Avatar" can break the box office record of "Titanic". I shot The purpose of this movie is not to break anything, let alone I don’t think there will be any movies that exceed this record in the next few years. As long as "Avatar" can make money for investors like you, I am very happy."

It seems that James Cameron himself has no confidence.

Of course, if it were not for the rapid development of 3d and imax, Duke did not think that "Avatar" would definitely be able to cross the big ship.

The increase in fares is a factor that cannot be ignored.

The news that James Cameron was preparing a new film in Wellington had long been released by Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox. When Duke left, he was surrounded by journalists.

"Director Rosenberg..."

A reporter from North America was intercepted by security personnel and Duke’s bodyguards and struggling to hand over the microphone. “It’s said that investors including you have offered Cameron directors far more than “Titanic”. Investment, James Cameron has been away from the mainstream film circle for so long, do you still have confidence in him?"

"I am very confident in James' new project," Duke just said, "James Cameron’s artistic charm is universally recognized, and I don’t think anyone will doubt his commercial value to movies."

After finishing speaking, he got into the car when he came, under the protection of bodyguards, and no longer looked after the surrounding reporters, and said to the driver, "Go to Mount Victoria."

At the foot of Mount Victoria, he also had a holiday manor, which he bought when filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and later came to vacation with Ivanka Trump from time to time, but after the two moved away, Duke was very Don't come here anymore, but entrust the manor to a special housekeeping company to take care of it.

Some time ago, Tom Cruise called him. He and Nicole Kidman bought a large farm in Australia and invited him to come and have a look. If he is interested, he can also buy a home nearby and become a neighbor. .

Duke is still a little interested in Australia's vast and relatively cheap land. Many wild animals there lack natural enemies. If you build a hunting ground, you can come and relax every year.

When Duke came to the foot of Mount Victoria, someone invited him to meet.

I haven't seen each other for a few years. The other party asked him to meet him in New Zealand, which is the place of origin. It may also have some special meaning, such as reminding him a little bit of that good memory, and being soft on some things. (To be continued...)