Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 94 Birdman Skills

When Tang De appeared in front of Rob, he found that the three of them were indeed frowning and thinking hard.

"Director, Tang De said he has an idea." Ke Lin shouted directly when she saw this, and then pushed Tang De forward.

"What?" Dion raised his eyebrows, looking a little surprised.

Rob clapped his hands: "Really? I was just going to ask you. The MV you shot for Nelly had long shots, so are you good at this?"

Before recommending Tang De to the team, of course the director should check the photography level.

Rob decided to let him join after seeing the music video that Tang De filmed for Kelly and Nelly.

As for Avril Lavigne’s new song later?

Unfortunately, they have been busy preparing for Chicago these past few months and have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to it. They have no time to understand the music scene and the amazing MV that has been praised as a god.

"Yes, I have some ideas, but I also want to hear the director's original shot planning."

"Okay, that's it..." Rob told him his thoughts again.

“My ideal shot would be for the camera to follow the nightclub manager’s back as he looks for people and passes the scantily clad bartenders and men in suits.

"Then the manager and the heroine meet here on the stairs, and then the perspective switches! The camera follows the heroine upstairs and into the room."

As Rob spoke, he pointed to various places in the corridor, frothing at the mouth as he described his arrangements.

"But unfortunately, the road from the lobby to here is very narrow, and there are many 270-degree turns. Even if you use a handheld camera, there is no way to ensure that the camera can advance stably. Instead, it will affect the viewing experience due to shaking."

Tang De raised his eyebrows. Indeed, as he said, in the original "Chicago" movie, the opening shot was divided into two lines.

One, a nightclub manager, walks through the lobby looking for the heroine.

Ichijo is the heroine who steps out of the car, meets the manager and enters the room to change clothes.

The two shots are completely parallel, with only one scene intersecting. Obviously, this is contrary to director Rob's current ideas, which shows that he did not think of a proper solution in the end and could only choose the parallel shot technique.

But this problem is not difficult for Tang De.

He said: "I think this is not difficult. There is a simple way to solve the problem of unstable tracking of long lenses for a long time."

"What method?" Rob became energetic and asked quickly.

The other two people also looked at Tang De.

Tang De smiled and waved away the smoke: "It just turns a long lens into a short lens."

Rob didn't understand what Tang De meant, and looked a little disappointed.

Dion took up his cigarette again and snorted coldly, covering up his sarcastic lips.

"I don't understand. Do you mean to shoot the long shots one by one? But how to connect such long shots?" Art Director John shrugged his shoulders and asked in confusion.

Tang De smiled even more when he saw the expressions on several people's faces that he didn't quite understand.

Of course, they didn't know the effect of this approach at this time, because only after "Birdman" is released in 2014, will everyone understand from its unparalleled long-shot scheduling that the combination of top-notch camerawork and top-level editing can make the fake look real. Effect.

The method Tang De mentioned originated from the long shot linking technique in "Birdman". At that time, countless people watched the film frame by frame, just to find the connecting nodes. However, the film relied on its excellent photography and editing skills. Hide these nodes very well.

This led to many initially claiming that the film was not edited at all.

Thinking of this, he leaned against the wall, stretched out his hand and explained to the people present: "We all know that as long as the pictures presented to the audience remain visually coherent, it can be regarded as a long shot. But in fact, few filmmakers would choose Doing that, because it’s difficult to think about how the two shots connect so unnoticeably…”

"It's not difficult, it's very difficult." Dion directly interrupted Tang De's words, put out his cigarette and added: "I don't think it is necessary to pursue long shots. Quick switching is also an option, Rob."

"Yes, I don't think there's any need to force it." Art director John also agreed.

Tang De shrugged his shoulders and felt that it was normal for them to think so. The concept of film shooting has been improving over time. Before the emergence of montage editing technology, no one would think that this thing would definitely be successful.

Dion’s ideas represent most traditional photographers, but as the years progress, more and more things that break the concept will happen in the next ten years.

Fortunately, Rob didn't care about his thoughts and asked Tang De directly: "Tang De, please continue..."

"But in my opinion, this problem is actually very simple." Tang De took off the marker from his chest and drew a rough route map on the smooth glass: "Since there are many corners in the corridor, then we will The route is divided into three sections. I have seen the stairs before, and here, from the lobby to the first corner, this can be the first section."

"The second section is from the corner to the bottom of the stairs, and the third section is this winding corridor."

After determining the route, Tang De put his hands on his chest and pretended to have a camera in front of him: "We only need to use moving shots, such as panning shots, at the end and beginning of each paragraph to make the two shots fit perfectly. .

"Because the audience cannot tell whether the camera is switching during fast movements. As long as the scene and tone are kept unified, we can create the illusion of a long shot!" "Hiss... it seems like it is indeed the case..." John was the first react to.

But Dion retorted: "No, this won't work, Tang De. What you said is the most ideal situation. I tried to follow the camera, but there was no way to turn the camera 270 degrees stably. This is the end of the world. Tan.”

Rob's face suddenly became a little tangled.

Although Ke Lin didn't understand the camera thing, when she saw the expressions of several people, she couldn't help but make a suggestion: "Why not give it a try?"

Rob closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then opened his eyes: "Okay, I have thought of the lens scene that Tang De mentioned, and I think I can try it. Dion..."

"Since you don't give up, then I'll give it a try." Dion shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expression: "But Rob, I suggest you make two preparations, otherwise it will be too late to make changes when the actors come on stage."

"Yeah... you're right." Rob immediately became hesitant again.

But Tang De shook his head and interjected: "Don't bother, I can do it."

"Really?" Rob immediately looked at him with wide eyes.

"Of course, I can demonstrate it live." In fact, he had tried it before when filming Avril Lavigne's MV, but for the sake of the overall plot, he did not use that scene.

"Hurry! Then try it quickly!" Rob couldn't wait to lead Tang De and the others to the camera, completely ignoring the expression of Dion, the main photographer.

With the help of his assistant, Tang De fixed the camera on his body with a Steadicam stabilizer, and then stood at the end of the corridor.

"Come on, go up and let Tang De follow the shooting." Robb designated a field attendant, and he quickly ran to Tang De and got ready.

"Okay! Everyone, get out of the way and let the test shoot begin!"

As the director's voice fell, Tang De watched the camera to ensure that the lens would not deflect while steadily following behind the scene manager.

The two of them walked along the corridor to the end and came to the stairs, which was the first node that Tang De mentioned.

Rob watched Tang De's movements nervously. He wasn't sure whether Tang De could do it all at once, but he felt it was impossible. Because the corners are tight on both sides and the stairs are spiral, the photographer had to turn the camera 270 degrees very quickly.

This is not a 90-degree or 180-degree corner. Turning at a large angle is difficult in itself. In addition, large stabilizers such as Steadicam are difficult to use. Both weight and inertia hinder the photographer's movements at all times. , so failure is normal.

Dion had done many test shoots in succession before.

Naturally, the one who had the same idea as him was Dion himself. He stood behind the crowd with his arms folded, his expression slightly disdainful.

The biggest difficulty on this section of the road is that the floor at the corner is made of marble and is very slippery. A quick turn with a heavy weight, coupled with a tile with insufficient friction, it is obvious what will happen.

Just like when he started running at home, it was difficult to stop his body for a moment. He didn't believe that Tang De could complete it in one go. To put it mildly, he might even fall.

But Dion didn't intend to remind Tang De, and just watched silently.

However, when Tang De approached the corner and tried to turn around, something unexpected happened.

I saw him directly stepping on the door frame with his feet, exerting force with both hands, and making a beautiful and stable flick, quickly turning the camera to a 180-degree position, then twisting his waist and turning it to a 270-degree position again.

The whole process was completed in one go, showing Tang De's excellent body control ability.

Rob immediately subconsciously shouted: "Card!"

After shouting, he was stunned for two seconds, and then quickly ran to Tang De: "How is it?"

"No problem, director, let's continue filming the next segment." Tang De held the camera and took a few breaths before returning to normal, which made Dion frown.

"Okay, let's continue!" Director Rob was very happy.

It didn't take long for Tang De to finish shooting the two scenes.

Because it was a test shoot, it was not film but a digital camera, so there was no need to develop the film.

After Tang De and the post-processing staff performed a simple rough cut on site, Rob and other crew members immediately gathered around, waiting to see the final effect.

Dion was among them, but his face remained tight and serious.

"Buzz!" The screen lit up and the player's back suddenly appeared in it, trotting forward, and the camera slowly moved up following his footsteps.

Tang De's shots are extremely smooth, and there is no lag in following the scene. Even if there is jitter, it is controlled within the comfort zone that does not affect the viewing.

And when the scene attendant came to the end of the corridor and turned, the camera also rotated smoothly, and the blur effect of rapid horizontal movement appeared. In the next second, it completed a 270-degree rotation and connected with the figure of the field attendant coming down the stairs.

"Oh, My God!" director Rob exclaimed!
  　Thanks to DGB for the tip

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)