The 12-minute short film ended quickly, and Ronald was shocked.
The story of the short film is very simple. It tells that most of the human race has become extinct, and two people, a man and a woman, escape from the earth in a spaceship with artificial intelligence and go to space. The man woke up on the spaceship and was attacked by a huge sweeping robot as an enemy while walking around. The woman drove the combat robot to rescue him.
The plot of this story is incomplete and seems to be just a small part of a larger story. But the editing was very good, and Ronald, as an audience member, felt nervous watching it.
The scenes inside the spaceship are very impressive, and it feels like the spaceship is dozens of times larger than a person.
Most importantly, the two robots are incredibly realistic. Ronald couldn't figure out how Jim Cameron spent $24,000 to make such a realistic robot?
Not only can it move around freely, but it also feels very human-like. At first glance, it makes people think that this robot is intelligent. In the end, it got stuck and couldn't move, which made people feel a bit humorous.
"What do you think?" Cameron asked proactively when everyone was silent.
"This short film of yours has the feel of 'Star Wars'. The lighting level is superb, and the very simple method was used to capture the feeling of space." The photographer commented, "Star Wars was shot at Pinewood Studios in England. I worked there, and if you have the opportunity to shoot there, the image quality of the movie you shoot will exceed that of Star Wars."
"I think the heroine is very powerful. She can drive a combat robot to save the hero. This is rare in Hollywood movies. In today's movies, women usually show off their beauty and wait for men to save them. It's time for Hollywood A female hero has emerged." Gale praised her from a female perspective.
"What do you think, Ronnie". Cameron actually wanted to hear his opinion the most.
"How did you make this model? Is it plastic?"
After watching Cameron's performance, Ronald began to doubt whether he really had the talent to direct.
"How was this shot taken? It was a shot of the male protagonist climbing on a cliff in front of a sweeping robot, avoiding the robot's scanning."
"How did you shoot the scene where the heroine is in the cockpit of the combat robot? Did you build a model of the robot's interior?"
“How were the interiors of this huge spaceship shot?”
…
Ronald asked a dozen questions in one breath, and Cameron answered them one by one.
It turns out that it is really a plastic model. After taking a close-up shot with a camera, editing techniques were used to create the illusion that the robot is very tall.
The heroine is in a small room, playing with a "spaceship steering column" modified from fitness equipment, and then uses lights to create a dim effect in the cockpit. Finally, the shots of her driving and the shots of the combat robot model in motion are edited together, so that the audience will mistakenly think that the heroine is driving inside the robot.
The huge internal structure of the spaceship is actually a background painting. Cameron drew the perspective effect, and at the correct angle, coupled with dim lights, the audience mistakenly thought they were seeing the ceiling of the spaceship.
The shot of the male protagonist hanging on a cliff to avoid the robot actually relied on editing. The actor grabbed the edge of a high platform to create a feeling of fear. Then, through post-production editing technology, it is combined with the robot footage.
The robot is also amazing. Its head can also rotate and is driven by a motor from an electric toy.
The most surprising thing is that the entire short film was edited using the copy function of two VCRs. Due to lack of funds, Cameron could not afford a professional editing machine, so he used two VCRs to edit.
When you reach the editing point, you pause copying, then fast-forward to the content to be connected, and then resume copying. With this simple method, a short film with such a high degree of completion was actually produced.
"I thought you might change something in Hollywood in the future, Jim."
Ronald said to Cameron: "George Lucas can't make an intelligent machine with a sense of apocalypse like you. His robot is just a clown character for a gag. And your robot is the protagonist of the movie. .”
"You're exaggerating, Ronald." Cameron smiled happily, and finally someone saw his most attentive part. Although the actor subtitles of this short film show the male and female protagonists, in fact, the protagonists of the entire film should be sweeping robots and combat robots.
The core of the movie's story is the routine of justice robots fighting evil robots.
"Let's go." Gale suggested. Ronald also nodded. It was time to go. He hadn't gotten off work on time for a week. He should go home early today.
Pressing the eject button, the video tape was ejected from the machine, and the TV screen automatically switched back to the CBS TV station signal. A male host jumped out, it happened to be a political commentary program.
"Two days ago, the Grand Commander-in-Chief of America announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with China on January 1 next year, which continued to shock the international community. We invited experts on international issues to analyze the international impact of this incident..." A piece of theme music Remember.
"Wait a minute..." Ronald stopped Gale who was about to turn off the TV.
"First of all, let us review the televised speech delivered by the Commander-in-Chief at the White House on the 15th the day before yesterday."
The TV screen cut to the Oval Office of the White House. The commander-in-chief, with his silver hair, was reading a manuscript: "First of all, let me read out a joint communique that has just been signed. The United States of America will, on January 1, 1979, join forces with China. Diplomatic relations are formally established. America will recognize... as the sole legitimate government of the Chinese people... This communiqué is a further development of the 1972... communiqué..."
Ronald's mouth-opening boss has finally established diplomatic relations? Do I have a chance to go to China?
I have been busy filming these past two days, and I actually missed this big news. It is also because there is no TV in his apartment. Nowadays, almost all information for Americans comes from TV channels. CBS is the most authoritative one.
Hurry up and make money to buy a TV.
Ronald added another item to his list of things he would do when he made money.
"Why, are you suddenly interested in international politics?"
Cameron remembers that Ronald was not like today's progressive young people who like to talk about international politics and the destruction of nuclear weapons.
"The American government recognizes that there is only one Chinese country in the world...America and China will start sending ambassadors to each other in March next year....Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same Chinese country." The leader continued to speak.
"I'm interested in China. Their food is delicious." Ronald said perfunctorily, since it was impossible to leak his true thoughts to anyone.
China's strength began to show up internationally. As a Chinese soul, Ronald was of course very excited. 5,000 years of ancient wisdom is not something you who only have a history of more than 200 years can understand.
"I think I will have the opportunity to shoot a movie in Red China in the future. If I can make one, it will definitely be a big hit in America." Ronald explained.
"Then you will have a chance in the future. With the embassy next year, you can first get a visa to travel." Gale smiled.
After making money to travel to China, Ronald added another item to his list.
The replay of the White House speech on TV ended. In the end, the leader highly praised the great significance of establishing diplomatic relations with China and was conducive to world peace.
"Okay, now let's take a look at the experts' opinions." The male host began to introduce the two guests.
Ronald raised his hand to turn off the TV, and everyone was ready to go home.
"Jim, does the new film you are participating in have this kind of robot scene?" Ronald suddenly asked.
"There are no robots, but there are some spaceships and alien creatures that need to do model stunts."
"Oh, movies like your short film don't actually need too many lines and dialogues. Maybe the movies you make in the future can be sold to China." Ronald said.
Cameron's eyes lit up: "You are right, action and mechanics are the language of movies that all human beings can understand. Only movies like this can be sold in non-English speaking countries."
"See you at Mount Carmel High School tomorrow afternoon?"
"See you tomorrow afternoon."
