China Entertainment started from Nortel 2002

Chapter 265 Create a classic long shot in film history
The thousands-square-meter studio is divided into five areas. The largest area in the middle is the shooting location, which belongs to the filming area. The other areas are assigned by Li Mu to the post-production CG group, editing group, lighting group and props group.

During the crew seminar, the photographers were a little stressed.

Although they have experienced the filming of "The Martian", the script and storyboards this time are too different from "The Martian". Almost all the plots of this movie take place in space.

In most space science fiction films, the space scenes are just the background. The real plot unfolds on the ground or in a spaceship. In theory, it is still in real space.

However, almost all the shots in the movie "Gravity" are from a space perspective, which means that except for the scenes in the spaceship, every shot from beginning to end requires CG for post-production. This is the first time in film history. once.

For decades, the crews of major science fiction movies have started from scratch and continued to explore the weightless environment, but until now, it is still a big problem during filming.

In the past, film crews used underwater simulations, hanging wires, and other various methods to shoot weightless environments.

For example, there was a scene where actors were asked to jump forward on springs to simulate the weakening of gravity on the moon. Of course, that was a moon movie from the 50s.

However, over the past few decades, humans' technology for photographing weightlessness has been accumulated bit by bit.

In the history of filming human weightlessness, there are two landmark movies that have to be mentioned, namely "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Apollo NO. 13."

"2001: A Space Odyssey" adopted an epoch-making method of shooting weightless scenes.

In a donut-shaped room, fix a camera, then let the actor run, and the camera will record the scene.

In the same way, as long as the angle of the camera is changed, the effect can be shot as if the actor is flying weightlessly in the sky.

However, for "Gravity", a completely new approach had to be adopted, otherwise it would not be able to achieve such a realistic space effect.

I believe that after "Gravity", the use of light boxes for shooting will undoubtedly become one of the important props in future space movies. This will undoubtedly be a major breakthrough in the history of space movie shooting.

"Don't worry, just listen to my instructions."

Li Mu saw the worried look in their eyes. They must be under pressure, so he comforted them.

No matter what type of movie, the first time will be a bit confusing. Li Mu didn't expect them to understand it on the first day. After two or three days of filming, they will probably be more familiar with it.

Yu Nan, Matt Damon and others looked at the script and storyboards. Their filming was very difficult and required 6-8 wire ropes to be pulled on a specific platform to simulate the weightless state of space. It is a little different from the weightlessness they trained in the space agency, but fortunately they have trained before, so it should not cause particularly large physiological reactions, such as dizziness and vomiting.
However, when filming under such circumstances, several people were not sure whether they would be able to perform normally in that state.

"I think you need to practice your skills on how to maintain balance under wire traction later." Li Mu suggested to the protagonists.

"understand!"

Yu Nan looked curiously at the light box and the wire ropes hanging around, eager to try.

Matt Damon was quite excited and said: "Is the wire equipment ready to use? I want to try it now."

These things should be romantic for men, and Matt Damon couldn't hide his excitement.

"Then this time, men will be given priority. Let's see the effect first." Li Mu did not refuse and led several people directly to the wire rope.

Yu Nan and Matt Damon quickly put on protective clothing. The equipment can support three people in the air at the same time, but this time Matt Damon gave a demonstration first.

The staff debugged the motors, and the wire ropes were controlled by those motors to extend and contract, allowing the actors to move.

"Let's start!" Li Mu gestured, and pressed the control button. The motor rotated, shrinking and rolling up the wire rope. Matt Damon was pulled by 6 wire ropes connected to the protective clothing, and slowly rose up. mid air
It was also the first time for the crew to see this kind of Wi-Fi equipment, and everyone gathered around curiously to watch the excitement.

"I feel like I'm so cool now, just like those Kung Fu movies where you can fly."

Matt Damon shouted loudly and punched twice in the air.

However, the good times didn't last long, as Matt began to stagger high in the air, unable to maintain a good balance.

He was constantly controlling his body, but it seemed that the more he controlled, the easier it was to shake, just like those Antarctic penguins, shaking their heads.

When everyone saw him like that, they couldn't help laughing.

"I think you still need some heat, Matt!" Li Mu smiled and said, it's normal to do this for the first time, just practice for a few rounds and catch the key points.

In order to simulate the feeling of weightlessness, this steel wire will definitely not be able to fix people as tightly as traditional filming, so you need to practice balance skills.

The first thing Matt did after coming down was to find the trash can. Fortunately, he didn't vomit, but he had already reacted.

"Fortunately, I trained a week ago, otherwise I would definitely be in a mess now." Matt Damon staggered over after confirming that he wouldn't vomit.

"Okay, let's practice first!"

Yu Nan and Matt Damon stayed and started practicing skills.

For this movie, they need to be able to train to use this wire equipment and do any action at will in order to meet the requirements of the movie.

Moreover, during the filming, the whole process of the character's transformation from fear, to despair, to regaining courage and fighting to the death is also required. This is a great test for the actor's acting skills, body and spirit.

Fortunately, in the outer space scene of "Gravity", only the actor's face under the helmet was shot in real life, and the rest was made with CG. Yu Nan and Matt did not need to wear bulky spacesuits, otherwise the difficulty would be even higher.

After the training from the space agency, the process will be accelerated here, and the technical training can be completed in a day or two at most.

Anyway, Li Mu has already prepared the shooting test process for the first three days, which also gives the photographers enough time to get familiar with it.

The crew of "Passengers" was in the designed spaceship, and Li Mu stopped by to see how Guo Fan was directing.

Zhang Yi had also come to the crew at this time, and he was asked by Guo Fan to play the role of the bartender robot.

Because the crew was already in the filming stage, the crew did not say hello to Li Mu, everything was still in progress.

Zhou Xun suddenly felt the explosion of Huang Xiaoming's acting skills and the emotional tension.

"You're such a bastard, Huang Xiaoming. Give it to my aunt, I'll flatter him and push him over the top." Of course Zhou Xun knew the reason for Huang Xiaoming's sudden popularity. He just wanted to leave a good acting impression in front of Li Mu.

As expected, people have unlimited potential. At this time, Huang Xiaoming felt that he had surpassed himself before. His original strength of 100% suddenly increased to 120%.

"Crack!"

Guo Fan suddenly shouted.

"Let's redo this section, Xiao Ming. Keep this level and reshoot this section. It's great!" Guo Fan felt that Huang Xiaoming's condition at this time allowed him to shoot this plot more perfectly.

"Good director!"

Huang Xiaoming immediately agreed. "Brother Xun, I didn't mean it just now, do you believe it?" Huang Xiaoming suddenly felt that at that moment, his acting skills took off.

"I believe it, give it to your aunt and I'll wait!"

Zhou Xun glared at him. Fortunately, she reacted in time, otherwise she would have been crushed.

Li Mu and Guo Fan laughed and joked about this scene. As for the director, he is not afraid that you will not explode, but he is afraid that both parties will not be able to perform. Fortunately, Zhou Xun is not a paper actor.

"Do you have any ideas for the weightless scene in the swimming pool?" Li Mu specifically asked Guo Fan about this. This scene in "Passengers" is the most difficult scene in the entire scene.

This picture is also extremely beautiful, and you can also see the starry sky outside the spaceship. Anyone who has seen this picture will probably want to take a swim here!
"This swimming pool has been built in a parking lot near the studio, and we are going to install pulleys in the swimming pool. But the difficulty lies in how to make the audience feel that it looks good and like that, without making the water move weirdly, like It looks like some kind of "water monster". Now we have to let the computer simulate it first and then design the actions."

Li Mu nodded, Guo Fan's solution was still acceptable.

"The industrialization here is pretty strong. If it were any other team, it would be difficult to realize this plan." Guo Fan was a little lucky. Being able to come to Mengying to realize his dream of making a science fiction film was a shortcut.

There have been several test shoots for "Gravity" in the past few days. Matt Damon and Yu Nan had to hang for seven or eight hours almost every day, but neither of them said they were tired.

"Gather together!" Li Mu shouted, and he was about to prepare for the first shot.

"Lighting technical team and photography team, I will emphasize again the lighting part. The space environment setting requires lighting to include three main light sources: distant hard sunlight, soft light reflected from the earth, and occasional reflected light from the moon.

So you have to always pay attention. The lighting effects rotate with the movement of the camera and the characters. The first shot will be 13 minutes long, and I need to take it in one shot."

Because in space, people face pitch black and can only see part of the sun, part of the earth, and occasionally the moon.

If this were the case, the 100-minute film would not be that attractive, so Li Mu decided to constantly change the lighting to make the film come alive.

This long shot in "Gravity" uses a moving lens as the shooting strategy. The lens goes through the process from near to far and then from far to near, while the lens maintains a certain distance from the characters.

Along with the movement, the scenery changes, the viewing changes, and the narrative speeds up from slow to slow, especially the final scene when it is attacked by abandoned satellite debris. As the environment changes, the atmosphere becomes increasingly tense and immersive.

"understand!"

After these few days of trial shooting, the photographers finally became familiar with each other, but the starting point was a 13-minute long shot, and it was one shot to the end, which was a bit stressful.

Of course, Yu Nan and Matt Damon are under the greatest pressure. If they can get it right in a few shots, it's okay. But if not, these two people will be paralyzed from exhaustion today.

But there is no way, this movie has a lot of long shots, it is inevitable.

"Relax, guys, I've given you enough time!"

Li Mu encouraged the crew. It was difficult, otherwise this movie would not be a space epic that will go down in history. However, the filming difficulty was also very high and very torturous.

There is a 7-minute long shot in "Children of Men" that shocked everyone.

Li Mu simply shot the 13 minutes of the spacecraft accident to the end. Astronauts Yu Lai (played by Yu Nan) and Matt (played by Matt Damon) had an accident while repairing the spacecraft. The spacecraft was hit by satellite debris. As a result, people are living in space, drifting in the vast space.

"If this shot can be successfully shot, and combined with post-production CGI, it will definitely become a classic long shot in film history!"

The photographers are also a little excited now. After all, this is on the road to creating a classic, and not everyone is so lucky to be a part of it.

Large LED displays filled the light box, and the two actors stood in it, using CG technology to create a space scene and project it in the LED light box. The surrounding light and color temperature have also been adjusted.

The mechanical arm equipped with the camera extends into the light box, and it will create rotating and surrounding effects, causing the picture to constantly change.

Everything is in place.

"I need your imagination!" Li Mu explained to the two leading actors before starting.

One shot contains an extremely complex composition, which requires actors to imagine and move.

"OK!"

"Understood, director!"

The two made an OK gesture.

"Okay, all units, pay attention!"

Li Mu looked around and said, "Action!"

"Medium scene!"

In the footage, the two leading actors conducted routine inspections of their satellites and learned about the abandoned satellite.

"Keep medium shot, light source 1!"

The camera follows Matt as he climbs the satellite, gradually revealing the entire satellite.

"Panorama! Light source 3!"

The satellite panorama shows the astronauts moving online on the satellite, with obvious changes in light and shadow.

Panoramic, the camera follows Matt's perspective and turns to the vast universe, paving the way for the attack of abandoned debris.

The two actors performed fairly smoothly at this time, but this level is definitely not good. There is still a long way to go before Li Mu is satisfied. However, if they can completely shoot this part, it will be considered a success, and the subsequent details will be adjusted slowly.

"Medium shot, camera follows Matt."

"One shot for a panoramic view, two shots for a close-up, and a safety buckle!"

At this time, it was attacked by satellite debris, and the bracket where Yu Nan was sitting was hit, showing a close-up of the safety buckle being released and the process of Yu Nan being thrown out of space.

"Okay, click!"

This long shot ended, and the crew took a deep breath.

"Well done." Li Mu clapped. The first long shot was successfully completed, which is considered a success.

The crew also knew that they failed to pass this time, but the most difficult part had been tried completely once, and the rest was the accumulation of experience.

(End of this chapter)