Made in Hollywood

The set of "Gravity" is very different from that of other movies

Accompanied by an executive from Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan walked into the studio. It was probably the people from Warner Bros who had greeted him a long time ago. No one came to stop him. When he walked near the light box, he He took the initiative to stop, because the crew was filming and he was also a director. Although he had only been in the film industry before, he knew that no director liked others to disturb him.

Standing here, Christopher Nolan watched the crew nervously filming, without saying a word, just observing carefully.

The reason why he appeared at Warner Studios is because a film project about space was taken by Legend Pictures, and Legend Pictures will cooperate with Warner Bros. This film will be a commercial masterpiece with an investment of more than 100 million US dollars. , Whether it is Warner Bros. or Legendary Pictures, they have some lack of confidence in him.

Christopher Nolan also knows that this is the first time he has entered the mainstream film industry, and he must not mess up, otherwise he may not have a second chance, so he specifically asked people from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. to come to Duke Rosenberg. The visit to the space film set of Grid can also be regarded as accumulating experience for subsequent shooting.

After watching for a while, Christopher Nolan found that the design of the light box was very ingenious. The scene of Scarlett Johansson that was being filmed was just the light box on the set, plus the mechanical equipment and the arri alexa camera.

The big cranes and large props that were needed in the previous space film sets are gone. Here, Duke Rosenberg seems to only need actors, a light box, creators, and a group of technicians with laptops. Up.

With arms around his chest, Christopher Nolan walked around and looked at the set of light boxes with interest. When shooting, both the actors and the camera moved a bit. You can see something like a basket on the right. The actor can stand inside, and the computer controls the rotation and alignment.

But Christopher Nolan watched for more than ten minutes and found that the device rarely turned 45 degrees. It seemed that the crew was deliberately controlling it.

I thought of the crew shooting a space movie. Christopher Nolan quickly understood why. Once that happens, you will see the tension between the muscles on the actor's body. The shooting must be done without tension at all, because it should be in a zero gravity environment. Such.

If the actors are completely reversed. Then the blood will all run to their heads, and all the muscles will be pressed to their necks.

"So I always try not to move them, try to give the camera to the action, let the camera move around them."

After this idea flashed through Christopher Nolan’s mind, he couldn’t help but admire Duke Rosenberg’s clever methods

As the filming entered a short interval, Christopher Nolan saw that the crew was preparing for the next scene, so he didn't bother in the past and said a few words with the executive of Warner Bros.

The other party obviously comes here often and knows the crew and shooting very well.

When he asked if the crew had other ways to film weightless scenes. The Warner Bros. executive said, "There is another technique to create a zero-gravity effect."

He pointed to the other side of the studio to Christopher Nolan and said, “In some shots, Scarlett Johansson would be hung from a device and manipulated like a puppet to create a zero-gravity effect."

"The stuntman hangs her up with four points, and each point is connected by three different induction lines." He explained in detail, "So basically it is to divide her point into a triangle, and the stuntman only needs to shake And swing can control her."

The crew moved over there at this time. After the filming started again, Christopher Nolan saw what Warner's people had said. The stuntman was actually manipulating Scarlett Johansson, and Scarlett Johansson would really reverse it. They can also move the whole device skillfully up and down, left and right.

And this is obviously a combination of manual and computer control.

Therefore, the crew of this crew has to coordinate the work of the different parts of the staff, the work of the computer staff, the work of the camera staff, the use of lights, the performance of Scarlett Johansson...

As a director, in the eyes of Christopher Nolan. These must be viewed as a whole.

He naturally thought of the space film he had prepared, which also contained similar scenes. It seemed that Duke Rosenberg’s shooting method was the best solution.

Although he is a well-known real-life maniac and a supporter of traditional technology in the film industry, Christopher Nolan understands that it is impossible to make a space-based film now without computer technology.

Before coming here, Christopher Nolan considered many traditional weightless shooting methods, such as letting actors hang Wia, etc., but these most basic methods are only suitable for shooting simple shots.

He also deeply studied the methods of weightless shooting in the two famous Hollywood classic space films "2001 A Space Odyssey" and "Apollo 13".

In the past, among the many shots of expressing weightlessness, one of the most classic methods should be the early film master Stanley Kubrick’s "2001 A Space Odyssey", in a circular room, fixed a camera, and then let the actors When I ran, the footage recorded by the camera looked like the actors were running along the roof.

This method, which was born in 1967, made Christopher Nolan admire Kubrick's intellect, but the problem it solves is very limited, only a few shots can be expressed, and it cannot solve the weightlessness of objects other than people.

After that, basically no one has used a similar method.

Another great space movie "Apollo 13" once again showed the magical and extremely realistic weightless shots on the screen.

In "Apollo 13", all the shots in the space capsule were taken in NASA's training device "Vomiting Comet". Christopher Nolan specifically asked someone to investigate. It was a Boeing kc135. All the members took to high altitude and then fell into a free fall for a period of time. During this time, all objects and the environment in the cabin were relatively weightless, and a flight can obtain a weightless time of almost 25 seconds.

Director Ron Howard played extravagantly 612 weightless flights, and shot a large number of weightless time shots here. This method solved the weightlessness problem very thoroughly, but could not shoot weightless shots outside the cabin.

And not everyone can rent and afford Nasa's equipment.

Christopher Nolan asked himself that there was no such weight.

Compared with these two methods, Duke Rosenberg’s shooting is obviously more realistic, and it can actually solve many problems. Nolan can also realize the doctrine of use. After the other party finishes shooting, use these settings appropriately. Modifications that meet his shooting needs can be directly used in future shootings.

Christopher Nolan confirmed that it was indeed worthwhile to come on his own. Just standing by and watching, Duke Rosenberg gave him a lot of inspiration.

Especially the light box, it was an eye-opener for Christopher Nolan, and he could only admire him as one of the representatives of Hollywood technology flow director.

There are a huge number of LED lights in the light box, which are basically like the screen of a large wall-mounted TV. Nolan understands these very common technologies, which are based on the huge screens commonly used by rock bands and gymnasiums. But these ordinary techniques, after proper modification, greatly facilitated and simplified the shooting process. The most direct effect is that if the lights here or on the set are dimmed or the color needs to be changed, the crew does not need to go as before. Move the light around and control it directly on the big screen.

And after watching the shooting for most of the day, Christopher Nolan also saw other benefits. This thing is not only as simple as correct lighting, but also gives the actor a sense of reality about the surroundings, shooting Scarlett Johansson down to the space station, she It is indeed possible to see through the LED screen that the space station is getting closer and closer, and she has a sense of what is happening around her.

Also, during the filming just now, director Duke Duke Rosenberg asked her to look at something on a certain screen and reach out to grab a doorknob, and she could really see these things on the screen.

"The led light itself is relatively rough, and it's not well coordinated."

As soon as the voice of the Warner Bros. executive fell off, another voice rang next to him, "Jamie, this is not going to be great, because there are more lights and mixed together, it will look good."

"Hey, Duke, you guy..."

Saying hello to Jamie Johnson, Duke turned to look at the British director next to him who was about his age. In fact, he noticed when he first entered the studio, but he has been busy with work until now. .

"Hello, Director Rosenberg, I am Christopher Nolan, and I am also a director."

Christopher Nolan took the initiative to extend his hand to Duke, and Duke shook his hand, "Hello, Director Nolan."

Duke is very calm, just like he has never had any connection with Christopher Nolan in the past. In fact, he is also very calm. Some things are done as they are done. He is neither guilty nor guilty, and Christopher Nolan’s project The support of Warner Bros. is also related to him.

When I went to Warner a few months ago, Duke heard the name of Christopher Nolan and a space project, and asked Tina Fichard to check it out, and then recommended him to Warner Bros. Otherwise, a film director might be there. In the first project to enter the mainstream film circle, you will be able to get a huge investment of 160 million US dollars from Legend Pictures and Warner Bros. To be continued.

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