See what you are.
?
"Gemini Killer" is an experience that will faint the amount of information-
Like a high-definition documentary.
Like a video game cutscene.
Some people say it's like a TV test disc.
The high-speed train in the scope, the slow motion of machine guns, the flock of pigeons fluttering in the square, the tears flowing along the skin lines...
Light, water waves, shadows, dust, buildings, plants, clouds and fog start to grab your attention, so the amount of information increases and time slows down.
I even forgot the story, huh, is it a science fiction movie?
Did you get into a group with clones, and what other philosophical issues were discussed?
Yes, but other details are too rich.
The U.S. media's opening score is very low, and it is reasonable-North American theaters, most people do not watch high frames.
If you don’t look at it in the original format, an inappropriate analogy is equivalent to watching a small 128p video on an LCD TV.
Looking at the traditional 24 frames, how about this film?
It seems to tell a science fiction story in the 90s at 0.5 times speed. Slowly, as plain as water.
Under the high frame rate, I realized that it is not in the story, but in the new way of telling stories.
This is a point that viewers usually overlook.
Therefore, how to evaluate this movie depends entirely on the " how it is viewed".
01 Ang Lee "I'm not" this time
120 frames, 4k and 3D, these three new technologies allow us to re-examine too many things: performance, scenery, art, and service.
The invisible, see, we in front of the screen, have a new dimension of freedom and viewing.
In other words, there is a spectacle, it comes from the technology itself, as long as you look at it in the right way.
What are you looking at?
1. Lens & Picture
How did you make action movies in the past?
Horizontal screen. A motorcycle drove over, with the camera on the side, shooting horizontally, which can increase the sense of speed and rhythm, and then use flash jumps to create excitement.
At a low frame rate, when shooting 70 pulses, you can actually use 30 pulses. Skills are used to push the stimulation up. The face on the car is also muddy--
I believe you have no impression of Van Diesel’s expression when racing.
Now, the shooting movement is deep.
The camera surrounds the motorcycle 360 degrees, giving a sense of space; the frame rate increases, and the speed can be seen clearly.
With the original method, the stimulus cannot be achieved, what should I do?
You can only fill in the details, the expressions and actions must be clearly explained, and the excitement is sought in it.
In the car chasing scene in Budapest, two people were running on the street in GTA5, one running, the other chasing, which foot stepped on the accelerator, which hand held the gun, how to aim, dodge, and toss around. What you couldn’t see in the past, I saw it now, I can’t. Simply behave, you can only shoot honestly.
Because the "cloning" technology, Henry and Junior theoretically a person, Aspect is to predict each other's actions -
You chase yourself, you know where the other side is causing trouble, predict each other, check each other, and fail to fight each other. This is a wonderful confrontation and scheduling.
Contrary to traditional action movies, the number of shots here is very low, the length is longer, and there is no frequent switching, but the details in a single shot are increased, which greatly increases the excitement of this scene.
It can be said that there are no "details" in previous action movies, because they can't see clearly.
Now, "details" have become a new feature in action movies, but unfortunately many people in Hollywood don't understand-Ang Lee kept complaining during the interview. Some shots were originally intended to be 3 times as long, but they were cut off in the end.
2. Performance/Character
Ang Li said that after watching 3D, he felt that many previous performances were wrong.
For example, a person at a distance, he wants to show "tension" for you to see, what should I do?
Scratching head, looking around, body movements.
Now you stand in front of him and you would be stupid to do this again. He wants to avoid his eyes, sweat on his forehead, and his facial expressions come in handy.
Traditional 2D movies have relatively exaggerated performance emotions. 3D, 120 frames have more details than traditional movies, and the emotions must be real.
Being accustomed to making traditional literary films, Ang Lee is used to "reading human faces".
Junior is a typical Southern American boy, shy and conservative, but pretending to be fierce. As a clone, there is another layer of simplicity and sensitivity.
Here, technology has brought a huge space for sculpting emotions-Ang Lee was attracted by this and chose this script.
This kind of workload is almost directing a virtual character to do a detailed performance.
Due to the difficulty, no special effects company was willing to accept it. Ang Lee found the industry veteran Vita Digital who had done "Guru", "King Kong", and the field of motion capture.
After finishing Junior, Ang Li even had the feeling of "studying a graduate student".
In addition, there are too many details. For example, after shooting, it is found that the subtitles cannot be made white because it will reflect light; the lens of the pigeon taking off is too detailed, and the sound effects have to be redone according to strict standards...
A change in the visual dimension challenges the entire film ecology: capital, technology, narrative, actors, market, and service. The theater is forced to change the curtain, relearn the shooting grammar, the actors relearn the performance, and the audience relearn how to watch.
Many traditional expectations will inevitably fail.
Ang Li chose a very literary approach, but only commercial films can support such a large amount of new technology. He is in a dilemma.
He knows why everyone dislikes it, because according to the traditional narrative, it should not be shot like this, and the climax and ending should be changed; according to the type requirements, it should not be handled like this.
Because it’s him, it’s science fiction + action, so the audience is looking forward to it——
Ang Lee is burdened with heavy shackles, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Youth Group, plus two Oscars.
The subject of human cloning requires stories and spectacles, and it is better to defeat some kind of conspiracy at the end and discuss ethical issues in depth.
In action movies, most people look forward to the play and the plot, not the small expressions of the characters.
But Ang Lee didn't.
He said that he had seen Brave New World and couldn't go back.
"Like the third eye is opened, the relationship with the movie is different. It's really beautiful."
To weaken the story, weaken the genre elements, in exchange for an opportunity to redefine the film from the underlying structure, this is not a mistake, but his choice.
Film Fundamentalism may be uncomfortable, with nostalgia, and nostalgia for the taste, beauty, and grammar of the 24 frames. It is understandable.
But Ang Lee is very open to what movies are. 24 frames danced with shackles from the beginning. It is not the best format, but the most economical.
He gave an example of "Rocket", which roughly means:
"Why the width of the rocket is two horse butts? Because the rocket has to be transported before it goes to the sky, why is the car so wide? Because ancient roads can only accommodate two horses. Many technologies seem to be advanced, but in fact they are only restricted. At the time."
It was Edison who invented the movie, and it was Lumiere who made people walk into the theater. From technology to narrative, there is a long process in between.
Reading "The Myth of the "Complete Film"" many years ago, André Bazin , the master of modern film theory, said, "Everything that makes a film perfect is nothing more than bringing the film closer to its origin."
Ang Lee is like Bazin. Every sentence reminds us of "what is a movie".
02Mirror
What did the previous cloning movies discuss?
"Moon", "Sixth Day", "Escape from the Island", and even "Blade Runner" and other bionic themes are a "look in the mirror"——
Faced with a "creation" like you, what do you do?
The answer to "Moon" is the funeral of the moon.
The answer to "The Sixth Day" is to run to freedom.
The answer to "Blade Runner" is the white dove in the rain.
"Gemini Killer" gives an answer like "Ang Lee + Will Smith".
The biggest feeling is that the super agent with reflective sunglasses, shiny leather shoes, and a memory stick backhand saying "awwwwww man" is old.
After one episode, it's almost like watching the postscript of "Men in Black":
The veteran agent is in a mid-life crisis, he is stubborn, has a bad head, is emotional, and is unable to do what he wants.
Being chased and beaten by his own clone Junior, with tolerance and restraint. No wonder the boss is ironic: You hired a master, thinking that he could always be invincible, but after a long time, he grew older, had a conscience, and couldn't do it anymore.
"I am too old to look in the mirror." This sentence is the eye of the question. Ang Li himself said that when people are middle-aged, looking back on the past, who doesn't want to start all over again.
I ran into a 20-something-year-old self and walked the same old way, what should I do?
I hate that iron can't become steel, but I can't bear to fight it.
This is too Ang Lee.
In "Youth Pie", Pi went ashore and cried. The Americans didn't understand how to cry. Shouldn't everyone be happy.
In "Gemini Killer", at the climax, two people are relatively speechless, with wet red eyes and unable to pull the trigger.
Shi Huang also added condiments.
It is said that the earliest script ending was that Henry left Junior to conduct research for the audience in Will Smith's hometown. Many people opposed it.
(Brain fills up the black question mark: no~~couldn't be like that~~)
So the ending was changed to Henry sending Junior to college, as if a warm family affair, the old father nagging and gesticulating, lamenting that the child is finally prosperous.
Which clone movie has this kind of scene, the protagonist and the copy father and son are deeply affectionate, gagging and babbling all the way.
That is why Li Ang + Shi Huang handed in such an answer sheet.
In many people's minds, Uncle An is always the one holding a little golden man eating a hamburger. During the premiere, he grumbled "the color is wrong" and quietly walked to the screening room to debug.
He is 65 years old this year.
Hollywood, 24 frames, Oscar, he has walked this way, he knows it. In the movie world for too many years, seeing new possibilities, he must go to the world he is obsessed with.
One day, you stand in the future and look back at the past. This way is right, time will give the answer.
To this extent, "Gemini Killer" is Li Ang's gift to himself, and it is also a mirror for everyone.
Author | Deng Yun, VP of Film & TV & Brand of Future Bureau; Captain, Home Scientist, Researcher of Space Aesthetics, New Media Chief Writer of Future Bureau.
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