The unexpected news made the two people extremely happy. They knew that the appearance of this piece of information was tantamount to a career breakthrough or upgrade.
Liu Qingshan knows best in his heart that compared to the significant reduction in the cost of CG technology in the future, the mature motion capture technology is more worthy of investment, and the timing is just right.
At least until 1999, motion capture technology was not as perfect as it is today, until the emergence of the "Lord of the Rings" series of movies and another Hollywood blockbuster "King Kong."
As an important character throughout the "Lord of the Rings" series of movies, Gollum's infinitely old body and gray and rough skin are derived from computer special effects.
The complex character of dual personalities alternating between madness, perversion and desire is entirely due to Andy Serkis' acting skills.
In 2004, Peter Jackson put the plan to remake "King Kong" on the agenda, with Andy Serkis playing the role of King Kong as a motion capture.
Before starting filming, Serkis spent more than two months living with four orangutans at the London Zoo, and then went to Rwanda to observe mountain gorillas.
The technology at the time of "The Lord of the Rings" was not yet able to capture facial expressions. Gollum's rich expressions in the film were largely a late product of computer special effects. However, when filming "King Kong", the expression capture technology was mature, and Serkin's blink was Every time he frowns, a computer image is generated through 132 sensors placed on his face, forming King Kong's unique joy, anger, sorrow, and joy.
Therefore, after the official release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" in 2001, he used motion capture technology to interpret the classic character Gollum. It was the first time that the motion expression capture technology, which had always been in an auxiliary position in CG technology, was perfected. appear in the form.
Then, the motion capture design team with Andy Serkis as the core further perfected this technology in "King Kong", but the most subversive moment in his career has not yet come. That will be the 2010 role in "King Kong" with the help of CG technology. After Caesar on the Planet of the Apes screen.
At this point, Andy Serkis has single-handedly opened up a new world of performance art and film techniques.
Before him, motion capture was just a purely technical job. He turned it into a unique art through a series of vivid character interpretations such as Gollum, King Kong, and Caesar.
Serkis has always believed that performance capture is the same as live-action interpretation. The key is to figure out the character's psychology, and secondly to express it through movements and expressions.
Therefore, Andy's approach to creating virtual characters is consistent with "Method" acting, which may be his unique magic weapon in this field.
In other words, today's motion capture technology in 2004 is the latest technology that even the Hollywood CG technical team has not really mastered. The timing of Liu Qingshan's Snow Land joining it is miraculous.
When he joined this emerging technology industry, it happened to be in its embryonic practical stage. He will undoubtedly get involved at this time when intellectual property rights in related industries are popular. In the future, the technology he possesses at that time will be the first one that can compete with the Hollywood technical team. The ultimate weapon.
Liu Qingshan's biggest advantage over Andy Serkis, the originator of this type of technology, is that he has more of the latest technologies that this person has not yet developed.
Just the recognition of the future development needs of this technology will make the originator of the creation of virtual characters look at him differently.
But Liu Qingshan also knows that he cannot bypass Andy with this technique, because he is the only one who is best at digging into the character's heart. A schizophrenic character like Gollum really can't be mastered without extraordinary acting skills.
But Andy Serkis can vividly present what Gollum should look like from body language to facial expressions to accent. This is the greatness of Andy. Liu Qingshan can only work with him if he chooses to cooperate. Take the lead in this industry where technology is advancing rapidly.
It is not impossible to bypass him, but this requires Liu Qingshan to find someone who has a deep understanding of the psychology of this kind of character. It is obviously too late.
This man was one of the first characters to use expression capture technology, and was shot by some of the greatest motion capture actors in the world right now, whose uniqueness in this field is irreplaceable.
What is motion capture technology?
In fact, it is easy to understand. When actors perform live, they wear motion capture suits and have motion capture points on their faces so that the camera can capture the relative positions of all capture points in space during shooting. For example, the points on the face are relatively fine. So I used a small camera to record it alone.
Later in post-production, the spatial positions of these capture points will be imported into the CG spatial coordinates, and a skeleton identical to the actor's movements will be output.
Finally, the CG department will fit the completed CG model into the skeleton, re-synthesize it into the shooting scene, replace the actor's image, and complete the production of a motion capture character.
To give a more crude analogy: motion (expression) capture technology is probably like casting something; first, you have to make a perfect sample, then use the sample to make a mold, and finally pour the metal into the mold to cast it. out products.
But without good samples, where can a good product come from?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the originator of motion capture technology and expression capture technology.
The technology for making Gollum later became a system, and it was this system that later appeared in generations of classic movies, such as "King Kong", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", etc., and the most important point of this system is Give the actor's performance to the virtual character.
Therefore, actors are very important for motion capture characters. If there is no good actor, then the virtual character may not be successful. He is the good product.
In fact, those who are interested can learn about the progress of motion and performance capture technology from Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That is to say, there are some differences between Gollum's appearance in the first Lord of the Rings and the second two.
It can be vaguely seen that in the first part, Gollum's eyes are rounder and then relatively smaller, the shape of the center of the eyebrow is also different, and the brow bone is flatter.
The reason is that the director discovered during the post-production and reshooting stages of the second film that the expression Andy gave Gollum during the performance could better interpret the character, so he decided to make Gollum look more like Andy.
Note that this is an important node in the development of expression capture technology.
Before Andy joined the cast of The Lord of the Rings, he was actually a very reputable stage actor in England, especially in physical performance.
On the set of The Lord of the Rings, he was originally responsible for the physical performance of the character Gollum, but due to the director's decision, the expressions of the motion capture actors were also included in the capture scope.
Movements and expressions are the two main elements of external expression in performing arts.
Therefore, when Andy played Gollum, he actually gave his soul to this role very personally. The actor who plays Gollum is as important as any actor in the film.
Today, Andy Serkis has been recognized as the world's greatest motion capture actor, because he is the world's earliest motion and expression capture character Gollum.
He was also the master in the process of producing this system, and even opened a school specifically to train motion capture actors.
At the same time, he is also a successful action director, director and actor. Just like the casting analogy: Andy is like a specimen of a giant bull. Not only is he perfect in all aspects, but the key is that he can deform and cast various shapes. A variety of beautiful products. And Gollum was the first product cast based on his performance.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is not the first media work to use motion capture technology. Motion capture technology in the game field has been used before The Lord of the Rings.
The entire technology has gradually matured in a step-by-step process, and the main significance of Andy, Gollum and the Lord of the Rings is that it is a milestone and originator of the use of motion and expression capture technology in the field of film creation. It was he who brought this technology to life. This technology has been upgraded from action shaping to character shaping with more creative value.
As for the difference between motion capture actors and traditional actors, it is that most motion capture performances are used to express non-human virtual characters, which will naturally present various characteristics that are different from ordinary performances, such as animalistic pronunciation, body shape, and expression. These can refer to the three different types of characters: Gollum, Caesar, and King Kong.
Therefore, good motion capture actors have different performance methods and evaluation standards from traditional good actors.
However, the same thing is that no matter what kind of actor, they all work hard to create a "character", and the character may not be a human being.
The evolution history of motion capture technology is actually Andy Serkis' life journey since 1999. Liu Qingshan can't wait to find him.
Therefore, before the aristocratic party arrived in the evening, he asked for Andy Serkis's phone number through Lubo.
On the phone, Liu Qingshan was surprised to learn that the other party actually knew about him, which laid a good foundation for the smooth appointment of the next meeting time.
That is what he has to do tomorrow. Liu Qingshan is now going to clean up and go to the manor called Korep to show off.
Jin Xishan was not invited. The reason was not because there was anything wrong with her identity, but because Liu Qingshan insisted on it. He knew that there were many dark sides of power in the upper-class social interactions at the royal level, especially among various top princes. , a place where dandies gather.
Jin Xishan understands Liu Qingshan's concerns very well. As a star, she has heard and seen many such dark sides. Due to personal reasons, she has always avoided such occasions.
However, neither of them knew that a huge trap was being created around Liu Qingshan in London, which was always drizzling and misty.
The unknown crisis has come quietly, just like the endless night in the rain, hiding in the darkness is ferocious.
