Where will technology lead the film?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Big Data Digest” (ID: BigDataDigest), author Liu Junxi.
It’s been half a month since it’s released. Have you seen the “Gemini Killer” directed by Ang Lee?
This is the re-launch of the Hollywood film industry after Li An’s “Fantasy Drifting” (2012) and “Billilin’s Midfield Fight” (2016).
But from the evaluation point of view, everyone is mixed with the “Gemini Killer”. Some people say that the story of the plot is simple, and there is also a manpower to make a new exploration of technology by Director Ang Lee.
In any case, the selling point of “Gemini Killer” still lies in the visual attempt of “120 frames + 4K + 3D + digital characters”, how the movie approaches the real, and how to use artificial intelligence to create a “young version” of virtual Character.
In fact, Li An’s “fascination” with technology actually began with “The Pirates of Pioneer Pi”. The 3D technology has not yet matured, but Li An insisted on choosing the 3D method and got the 85th When Oscar was the best director, Li An said frankly about the hardships of the filming process. “Sometimes I can’t even shoot a shot for 12 hours in the evening.”
In the “Billilin’s midfield battle”, Li An was the first to present “120 frames + 4K + 3D” in front of the global audience, revolutionizing the visual language of the film.
“Gemini Killer” Li An once again took the lead in revolutionizing film technology. On the basis of “120 frames + 4K + 3D”, he directly created a digital character using AI technology!
How does Ang Lee integrate technology into narratives in the AI era
In the “Gemini Killer” is not a story that appeals to people, the Digest of the bacteria is spoiled!
In the movie, Will Smith is a two-pointer. He also starred in the 50-year-old agent Henry and the 23-year-old agent Junior, the “old version” himself and the “young version” himself.
Although it sounds no different from previous technical implementations, in other words, “Gemini Killer” fully realizes the digitalization of the real star clone version, is it all up!
It’s not hard to imagine the difficulty of creating a digital character. It’s not a dermabrasion or a “face replacement”. It is a 100% visual capture of the actors.
The technology is realized in the industry’s prestigious WETA WORKSHOP, and those sci-fi movies that you call your name and nameless may have a leg with them.
Official website link: https://www.wetaworkshop.com/
Vita Studios has won 6 Oscar and 10 BAFTAS nominations, and the results are quite impressive!
When creating the digital characters of “Gemini Killer”, they mainly borrowed data processing and artificial intelligence technology, and through the facial recognition device and motion capture device, the young version of the character was completely generated by digital calculation, which greatly reduced the special effects. The workload of the division.
When shooting, Will Smith will bring a head mold, and the two cameras on the mold will record all his facial expression changes in the most detailed way.
The effector then calibrates all tracking points on the face through the mold.
Then calculate and convert on the computer to reconstruct the entire face and expression details of the avatar Junior.
The final rendering effect is as shown in the figure. The young version of Will Smith not only has a fake bag, but also has a natural and rich expression.
When the young version of Will Smith was created, Vita Studio also referred to his video in his 20s, not the video that was processed in any movie, but the most authentic face in his life. status.
Director Ang Lee himself said: “This new film with Will Smith is a very special and wonderful experience, because thanks to the latest technology, I can not only be with a Will Smith. But work with both.”
It is also through the realization of digital figures that the contradictions in the film of Li An are maximized, namely, reality and fiction, oppression and resistance, watching and being watched, etc., all based on “120 frames + On the basis of 4K+3D+ digital characters, it can be said that “Gemini Killer” really incorporates technology into the narrative.
However, this is not the first time the technology has been used. Movies such as “Iron Man” and “Terminator” have already made the audience aware of the technology. Recently, the technology has also been used on a large scale in the new film “Irish” by Martin Scorsese.Back to middle age, staged the New York gangster legend.
However, there are also comments that are sorry for this technology, because technology can make their faces look younger, but they can’t make their looks and postures return to the prime of life. The audience can still clearly see that when the “young” Al Pacino got up from the sofa, he was slow and like an old man.
Former AI era, those magical “easy abilities”
Before using AI technology, it is not that simple to visually implement the “modification” of the actors, because it requires the actor’s own efforts.
Christian Bell can be said to be a model of the industry. He once lost 63 pounds (28.5 kilograms) for Mechanics (2004), and then recovered for “Batman Prequel 1: The Mystery of Shadows” (2005) Strong and stature, the 2010 Fighter once again lost 30 pounds (13.6 kg).
In the film directed by Johnnie To, “Big Wisdom” (2003), Andy Lau put on a muscle prop and turned into a big cockroach. I have to say that this dress makes the audience a bit of a play.
As mentioned above, whether it is “the same box of one person to decorate the two corners” or “movie rejuvenation” is not the first time, then how did they achieve before AI technology?
“Movie Rejuvenation”: Digital Domain’s “Expression Capture”
The 2008 movie “Rejuvenation” is bound to be bigThe family is also impressed. This is not only one of the masterpieces of the famous director David Fincher, but also Brad Pitt has won the nomination of the best actor in Oscar. He played in this movie from the old age. young. “Rejuvenation” also won the 81st Oscar for Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects Award.
And Brad Pitt was able to “age” successfully, thanks to Digital Domain and VFX.
They first draw the characters of three different stages of life (60 years old, 70 years old, 80 years old). Then, they will shoot the shoulders and heads of different actors who play the male lord and make a combination adjustment. The different characters of the same character at different stages of life.
These design needs to be scanned again to be combined with Pete’s live performance.
Digital Domain took about 120 expressions from Pete and then put this information into different 3D models to create thousands of Pete models. Digital Domain manages this technology called “Expression Capture.”
Digital Domain used a lot of software tools to try to get the digital model moving. They compare the similarities and differences between Pete’s live performance and expression database one frame at a time, build a CG model, and then connect the model to the live performance. .
In China, this is not a rare thing. It’s just that domestic film special effects companies use two simple steps of “skinning + wrinkle”, and the effect is not so satisfactory. For example, Jackie Chan in the “Detective Pu Songling” (2019), although the production team deliberately referred to the early Jackie Chan starring film, combined with two-dimensional and three-dimensional technical means, to rejuvenate Jackie Chan, but have to say that this makeup It seems to be totally defamatory.