1novels Chapter 244 The Influence of the Polar Express
Chapter 244 The Influence of the Polar Express
During the Thanksgiving holiday, Galaxy Animation also released their annual masterpiece this year-"The Polar Express", but the box office was very unsatisfactory.Once upon a time, Galaxy Animation Company was considered to be the only company on this planet that could rival Disney in the field of animated films, and the two major studios under Galaxy Animation Company: Blue Sky and Pixar have brought countless beautiful dreams to movie fans.It can be said that compared to Galaxy Film Group, Galaxy Animation is considered the best combination of word-of-mouth and box office in Hollywood.However, "The Polar Express" failed.
It's not that the box office of "The Polar Express" is dismal. On the contrary, this animated film also won the weekend champion and the runner-up of the weekend. As an animated film, it is considered very successful.It's just that the film's box office and production cost seem to be too bad compared to it.
Soon some gossip media broke the news that the animated film "The Polar Express" was defined as "no budget limit" when it was produced, and it was completely a film dominated by Sherman Audiovisual Technology Co., Ltd.Sherman Audiovisual Technology Co., Ltd. seems to be a very humble company, but this company owns a complete set of optical disc storage technology patents from VCD to BD, and this company also purchased the R&D department of IMAX Corporation and Some of the talent was mined from Dolby Laboratories.
Because it is dominated by this technology company, "The Polar Express" has completely become a movie that pursues technological benchmarks.First of all, there is a two-level gap between the expressiveness of this movie in IMAX theaters and non-IMAX theaters. If you only watch this movie in non-IMAX theaters, the audience’s evaluation of this movie is "fair"; But if the movie is watched in the IMAX3D theater, the evaluations given by the audience are "surprise" and "shock".
What's more, the general IMAX3D theater cannot fully express the technical content of this movie, because in addition to the visual impact, this movie also tries to use Aurora's 9.1-channel technology.This is a feature that ordinary theaters can’t show at all. In fact, except for those AMC Galaxy theaters that AMC and Galaxy Film Group have cooperated with are capable of allowing audiences to experience 9.1-channel technology, most of the rest of the theaters are 5.1-channel. and 7.1-channel versions.In this era, 5.1-channel is the mainstream technology, and 7.1-channel is the technology only used by high-end theaters such as AMC star theaters.
Originally, Jed thought that this matter was over, but what Jed didn't expect was that a film critic of the "Los Angeles Times" discovered that there seemed to be multiple versions of "The Polar Express".Because he participated in the "Polar Express" film critic's special held at the AMC Galaxy Theater, he experienced the shock of 9.1-channel technology; and then he brought his family to experience the 7.1-channel technology at the AMC Star Theater on weekends Let him find that there seems to be something different.In doubt, he began to think of ways to dig out this clue.
After "The Polar Express" was drawn down, the film section of the "Los Angeles Times" published a special report, "The Polar Express, the Ambitious Work of Sherman Entertainment Group". "Perhaps in terms of film art, "The Polar Express" is lackluster. Except for dazzling special effects and realistic animation techniques, we seem to have nothing to say. But in terms of technology, this film is Sherman Entertainment. The ambitious work of the group. This film was produced by Galaxy Animation Company Blue Sky Studios. Comparatively speaking, Blue Sky Studios’ profitability is not as good as that of Pixar Studios, but within the company, Blue Sky Studios has no status at all. No lower than Pixar. In the words of the company, the ability of Blue Sky Studios lies in their technology, not in their screenwriting. If "Polar Express" is considered as a technical promotional film, it is undoubtedly luxurious. But from a movie point of view, the plot is a bit thin.
"A technician who did not want to be named said that "Polar Express" is actually used to test the latest particle rendering technology of Blue Sky Studios, trying to use computer technology to achieve visual realism. From this aspect alone, "The Polar Express" is undoubtedly a success. From the screen alone, the delicate skin of the animated characters and the realistic feeling of the scenery make people feel as if they are real. In addition to the application of computer technology on the screen, this movie "Aurora 9.1-channel technology" is also used. Aurora is a new audio playback technology developed by the Galaxy Audio Laboratory jointly invested by Sherman Audiovisual Technology Company, South Korea's Samsung and Netherlands Philips.
"According to the research of Professor James of the Sound Technology Laboratory of the Southern California Institute of Technology, the 5.1 technology used in movies has already made the audience's sense of presence reach 80%, while the 7.1 technology of high-end theaters can increase to about 90%. Theoretically, It is said that 11.1-channel technology will allow the audience to be infinitely close to the scene. According to a conference report from Sherman Audio-Visual Technology Company, Aurora’s 11.1-channel technology has been basically completed, and it is currently studying how to commercialize it. Let the author The most exciting thing is that both Dolby Laboratories and Sherman Audio-visual Technology Company have declared that they have a next-generation product that can surpass 11.1-channel technology.
"According to the relevant information consulted by the author, Dolby Laboratories named their new playback technology 'Atmos', while Sherman Audiovisual Technology Company named their technology 'True Natural'. In the next 50 years of film And TV audio technology, perhaps it will be the battlefield of the two technologies of 'atmospheric sound' and 'true nature'."
The report of the "Los Angeles Times" immediately ignited the enthusiasm of the entire Hollywood media. The Hollywood media's love for movies is like the true love of believers for God.Although the Hollywood media is dominated by gossip media and entertainment media, it does not prevent them from studying any technology related to movies.What's more, there are countless universities in the Greater Los Angeles City. Only public universities include California State University Los Angeles, California State University Northridge and University of California, Los Angeles. Private universities include American Academy of Motion Picture Arts, Los Angeles Film Academy, Occidental College ( Obama's alma mater), the University of Southern California and several other schools, it is not a problem at all to understand "particle rendering technology" and "atmosound technology".
After learning about the future applications of these technologies, the Hollywood media were surprised.It turns out that after the development of "particle rendering technology" to the extreme, it can completely realize naked-eye 3D, let a living computer virtual person stand beside you, but you can't tell whether he is a real person; The audience feels the breath of the African savannah in front of the screen.So a magnificent future movie scene appeared in front of people. In the future movie world, audiences can not only watch movies, but also participate in movies...Of course, according to a professor at the University of Southern California, such technology will be developed in the next 50 years. Might still be in the lab, but it's practical.
The professor of USC said proudly: "This is the interactive film technology, which was proposed five years ago by Mr. Jed Sherman, an honorary graduate of our school. To my surprise, Sherman Mr. Man is actually gradually realizing this dream. He once said that movies are a dream-making technology. In the future, we will make movies a place where human dreams come true. Do you know? I go to the gym every day for the purpose of On the day when this technology is commercialized, I can be the first audience!"
If the "Los Angeles Times" report only ignited everyone's curiosity, then the "Los Angeles Daily News" follow-up report simply exploded the curiosity of the entire Greater Los Angeles city and even the entire American audience.Countless people are asking, is "interactive film technology" really achievable?As the most famous technology magazines in the United States, as well as the leader of Internet technology and computer technology professional publications - "Connection" devoted an entire issue to analyzing the feasibility of "interactive movie technology".
They used the product "online game" as an analogy to "interactive movies", because online games officially promote the development of the plot through the player's active observability.In online games, the player's personal technology and social relationship will determine the development of the game plot.According to the analysis of "Wired", it is not impossible to watch a movie in the future. It may take days or even weeks, or even as long as several months.
Therefore, the editor of "Wired" believes that "there are few technical problems in interactive movies that need to be solved. The problem that needs to be solved now is, do Hollywood film companies have enough screenwriters?"
Jed Sherman also naturally paid attention to the media reports, but he did not expect that the media had finally discovered the similarities and differences between "interactive movies" and "online games".Jed shook his head involuntarily, feeling that the media was a little bewildered.The movie in Jed's mind is still an art form of storytelling, which determines that the movie will only improve the audience's sense of presence and not allow the audience to really participate in the promotion of the movie's plot. You think this is "Infinite Horror"!
However, the "new film" proposed by the media may become another art form, but it is definitely not a film.Instead of speaking through the media, Jed was packing his luggage.The "Hong Kong Global Filmmakers Forum" jointly organized by the Hong Kong Film Society and the Hong Kong Film Critics Association will be held in December.Although most of the participants in this forum were filmmakers from Taiwan, Taiwan and Taiwan, there were also several new-generation directors from Japan and South Korea.On the contrary, the European and American film circles are very indifferent to this forum. Not only European filmmakers collectively declined this forum, but even the American film circle, which values the Asian market, did not come to a few big fish.Therefore, when the forum announced that Jed Sherman would attend, it surprised the Asian media.
Jed took a look at the itinerary arranged by the organizing committee. It was nothing more than participating in activities such as "Chinese Classic Film Selection" and "Chinese Film Exchange Forum".But what surprised Jed was that this time he actually had the opportunity to have an interview with a deputy prime minister in charge of cultural propaganda.Obviously, that ancient Eastern empire has seen the capabilities of the film industry.
Jed is currently exchanging opinions with the company's senior management. Since he has the opportunity to listen to Datian, it would be foolish not to fight for some benefits for the Galaxy.However, Jed knows that it is unrealistic to open up the number of American blockbusters. At this time, Chinese films are still very fragile. Opening up Hollywood blockbusters will undoubtedly completely kill Chinese films. This is definitely not what the government wants to see.
But Jed still thought of a way to save the country with a curve, which is to open up the restrictions on co-productions in Hong Kong and mainland China.Lin Jianyue's Huanyu Film Group currently has some positions in the Mainland, Taiwan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The current problem is that it has an unstable foothold and urgently needs a large market as a base.In Jed's view, mainland China is undoubtedly the best choice.