In a movie, "ageing up" a character can be easily achieved only through partial makeup. The actors then perform the tone, manners, and eyesight to make the character convincing, so that it can be true and false, false and true. But "age reduction" is much more difficult, and it can't be easily solved by makeup and performance.
If 51-year-old Will Smith wants to be young, he must get rid of all the dryness, dullness, and roughness, greasy and dullness, not all! The 23-year-old Will Smith in Ang Lee's new film "Gemini Killer" has a very complicated production process, which can be compared to non-ordinary CGI production, and the final effect is even more tender than when he played "Cousin Teapot" (1991).
In fact, "CGI age reduction" is not uncommon in recent years, it is becoming more and more common in the flashback scenes of Marvel movies. Hank Pim in the 1989 part of "Ant-Man" (2015) instantly restored the 71-year-old actor Michael Douglas to what he was in "Wall Street".
Looking back, we can start with "Terminator 2018" (2009). In the film, there is a glimpse of the T-800 robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his youth. The face uses "Terminator 1." In "(1984), Arnold’s body belongs to a stuntman. At that time, the face of a digital human created by facial expression capture could not be maintained for too long. One is that the cost is huge, and the other is that if the time is too long, it is easy to reveal flaws (its effect is still somewhat different from that of real people, and it is more like "Final "Fantasy" kind of 3D rendered "real person").
By the time of "Genesis: War" (2010), the 61-year-old actor Jeff Bridges was in the same frame as himself in "Electronic Contest" (1982). When Bridges performed his young self, his facial expressions were subdivided into 52 facial expression benchmark points, and then sent back to the computer to restore his 30-year-old appearance, thus becoming the first in film history and the young person to play in person. An actor in the same frame as himself.
However, this digital character can still see too many flaws in his face-cold, dull expression, and unable to experience the true feelings, the audience knows that it is fake at a glance. Fortunately, this character lives in an all-digital virtual world, which can be explained.
The shortcomings of "cold, dull expression, and inability to experience the true feelings" can not be more appropriate in 2015's "Terminator: Genesis", which fits the basic characteristics of a robot in a human skin.
"Terminator: Genesis" once again restored the classic scene of Arnold's appearance in the opening scene of "Terminator" (1984), which is really a deep memory killing. The young "T-800 Arnold" is still "played" by a stuntman, and his face is replaced with Schwarzenegger's face through post-production techniques.
This CGI's Arnold has improved too much from the "Terminator 2018" six years ago. At least it is difficult to see the flaws in the stills and trailers, but on the big screen, especially when close-up shots are given, you will find that it is not Like a real person. If you look closely at his face, you will find that his nose is slightly arched and his face is slightly asymmetrical, especially when making expressions.
There is an action scene in which Schwarzenegger and his young self (two T-800s) are arranged in the film, but the time is short and the details of the action in the night scene are also blurred.
As we all know, in "Fast and Furious 7" (2015) released in the same year, Paul Walker died in a car accident, and the special effects company used facial expression capture to "resurrect" the actor. Paul's two younger brothers came to act as substitutes for his elder brothers, and then selected fragments from Paul's works during his lifetime, and used CGI to create multi-angle facial models and various virtual expressions as needed. Finally, the expressions are connected in series to generate a moving image in just a few seconds. In addition, Paul's voice was also collected and dubbed with the help of his younger brother.
The most recent examples include Marvel’s “Captain Marvel” (2018) and this year’s Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” (2019). This technology is used to make the protagonist appear as a young self. This is the standard "CGI age reduction".
Technology is always improving. Why is this "Gemini Killer" a qualitative leap? After all, the medium of this film is 120 frames+4K+3D. If there are shortcomings, it will be unobstructed on the big screen, and it is easier for digital characters to see the flaws.
The special effects department not only "reduces the age" of the male protagonist Will Smith's face, but also made the entire body, even the face, there are also skin, bones, eyes, and teeth gloss reproduction, so Ang Lee is reluctant to call it It is "age reduction" in the ordinary sense.
In order to show the final effect of the young Will Smith (the character in the film is the young clone Junior of Agent Henry) in the movie, the actors must be motion captured first, and then adjusted, sometimes using his previous The film material is even used as a reference for the family movies of the young age. Almost all his emotional traits and speech actions in many video materials have been transferred to this digital figure, making his speech and behavior almost perfect.
In the final Junior, he has withstood the test regardless of whether the shots are in the middle, close-up or close-up shots, and Junior’s character is different from that of Will Smith himself or even the protagonist Henry, but a straightforward and naive warrior. Always maintain the characteristics of a polite young man.
The advantage of Junior in "Gemini Killer" is that it is not a "age reduction". It is no longer a digital figure with a "cold, dull expression and no sense of true feelings", but possesses all human beings. The complex emotions he possesses are exactly the same as humans and even better than real people. In the film, Junior’s crying scene in front of Cliff Owen is particularly moving.
You know, "Gemini Killer" was also completed by Ang Lee following "Billy Lynn's Midfield Battle" (2016, hereinafter referred to as "Billy Lynn") with 120 frames of high frequency + 4K + 3D technology.
For movies, the frame rate (fps) refers to the number of still frames displayed per second. As the frame rate increases, the emotional response of the audience also increases. There is an old saying that “the camera is lying every second, 24 times a second.” That’s it. The movies we have seen in the past are the traditional smooth motion displayed at 24 frames per second. This standard has been deeply ingrained in everyone's viewing habits and has been subconsciously accepted. Changing the frame rate will also affect the emotional experience of the audience, because as the projection speed increases, the emotional response also increases.
Remember when "Billy Lynn" launch, Sony Pictures official name given is " immersive digital experiences " (Immersive Digital), it belongs to the country and said "the future of cinema." Its advantage is that it has ultra-real definition, can make the flow of the picture smoother, solve the picture jitter caused by the camera translation, and bring a more comfortable, three-dimensional, sharp and realistic viewing experience.
But if it is too immersive, the movie will no longer look like a movie. The 48 frames of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012) was not well received, and most people complained that it was too much like a high-definition TV rather than a movie. In short, the contrast is too low. In the high-definition specification, the dark parts of our deep-rooted movie texture become brighter, and 48 frames make our smooth motion generated by 24 frames smooth, which everyone inertially thinks. The film aesthetics disappeared.
That's only 48 frames. In fact, TV and game screens were presented in 4K+120 frames a few years ago. Only movies are still incomplete. Because of the old cost-limited 24 frames, audiences will feel that video, TV and games, plus The huge threat felt by the movie is that streaming movies and dramas have captured movie audiences, causing Ang Lee to have a sense of crisis. Keeping up with the film technology of the times and avoiding the demise of the big screen art is the top priority.
Ang Li once said that he was a student of the film department, and he treated new technologies the same way. He once said during the release of "Billy Lynn": "Actually, I was not accurate at 120 frames. I crossed the river by feeling the stones, like learning to walk again. I think the movie hasn't changed for a long time, and I need a new one. Start."
Just like when the movie was born, when the audience watched "The Train Into the Station" (1896), they would also have immersive dodge because it was too real for the audience at the time. Therefore, we should not use traditional standards to treat new technologies, because traditional standards have been deeply rooted in us, and new technologies cannot yet form new aesthetic standards. This was the case at the beginning of the film, from the film age to the digital age, from 2D to 3D, and now from 24 to 120 frames. They will always go through a process.
Technological changes have brought unlimited possibilities to future movies. Ang Lee said that he wants to develop new aesthetics and new aesthetics in the digital age. In "Gemini Killer", the 60-frame/120-frame action scene looks like the current sports game and shooting game, because the public needs to adapt to the improvement of the sense of cinema.
Another important reason why "Gemini Killer" attracted Ang Lee is that he can simultaneously use motion-captured digital characters and high frame rates to create a well-designed action scene. 120 frames can produce a clearer fight than 24 frames, and every movement and facial expression of the actor is clearly visible, because its front and back depth of field are in real focus. Regarding this point, I can use two scenes to prove it-when Danny and Junior met, there was a stone sculpture in the foreground of the garden. You can see both the details of the stone sculpture and the scene where the two people met in the distant view. Afterwards, Henry and Junior met. Junior fights underground in the Kutna Hora Human Bone Church. You can also see the details of a skull in the foreground and the scene where the two confrontation in the distant view. Using the unparalleled depth in the picture, the composition of Lee Ang's lens allows the audience to see the different scenes of the picture. Bit details. The eyes of the audience can be used to capture the characteristics of any action in the high frame rate picture, and the action scenes of the front and back scenes can compete with each other to attract the attention of the audience. If you put it in the past, shooting such a lens would have to be done with a "split-focus diopter" semi-convex lens.
This close fight between the two Will Smiths only lasted four minutes on the screen. Ang Lee and his team spent nine months adjusting and perfecting them in the later stages, just to pursue realism. Ang Li explained that although the rhythm of the play could not be changed, they added some scratches, misses and fights to highlight the realistic cruelty.
In addition to this fighting scene, there is also a wonderful motorcycle chase scene in the film. The front-end scheduling, the switching of perspectives, and the transition from the first person to the third person constitute a brand new visual language and experience. Afterwards, Junior used his motorcycle as a weapon and threw it at Henry again and again, making him unable to dodge, and the audience would have an immersive experience like playing a game.
120 frames + 4K + 3D have higher requirements for lighting and lighting, because all positions in the picture are clearly visible, which adds too much difficulty to lighting. Therefore, the night scenes in the film are usually day and night. Then turn it into the night color in the later stage, so that the audience can peep into all the details of the blue night endlessly.
In recent years, Ang Lee has been committed to rediscovering new film aesthetics and storytelling methods through new technologies. He is convinced that "the experience of watching movies is much more than just telling stories."-These are the original words of Ang Lee.
When watching "Gemini Killer", I can clearly feel that Ang Lee has learned from the success or failure experience of the previous "Billy Lynn". I always remember that Ang Lee’s longer-prepared boxing movie "Battle of Manila" was originally his first film shot with 120 frames + 4K + 3D. As a result, both "Billy Lynn" and "Gemini Killer" were shot in front of it. I believe Ang Lee tried to express the details of human faces in 3D in "Billy Lynn" and 120 frames of "Gemini Killer" The processing of action scenes, lighting methods, etc. can be more fully utilized in the future "Battle of Manila", let us wait and see!
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