Chapter 94 Taking Advantage of Each Other

The name Andy Serkis will be very famous in 10 years, no, even in 5 years.

Anyone who knows anything about movies knows this special actor to some extent.

Although the actor's original appearance is not well-known, the characters on the screen such as Gollum, Caesar, and Captain Haddock left a deep impression on the audience.

Although Hollywood has been saying "Oscar owes ** a little golden man" every year, this kind of talk is generally for publicity purposes only.

But for the actor Andy Serkis, Nanaya feels that the Oscars really owe him a trophy.

Even if it is just a technical trophy, it is a recognition of the actor's outstanding contribution.

However, those judges whose brains have become completely rigid hate the things they cannot understand the most.

so...

Anyway, Nanaya had no good feelings towards those old guys who already had one foot in the grave, because their stubbornness made the Oscars, which was originally the world's top film award, slowly move closer to the independent film award.

This is getting off topic. Anyway, Nanaya has a very high opinion of Andy Serkis, the uncrowned king. He believes that he can definitely help the "Goblin Slayer" crew overcome the difficulties encountered in motion capture technology.

Perhaps because of Washimine's good reputation (he was willing to pay), Taylor readily agreed to Nanaya's request.

Coincidentally, the crew of "The Lord of the Rings" is currently working hard to complete the final shots of the first "The Fellowship of the Ring", and Andy Serkis, who will officially appear as Gollum in the second part, happens to have free time.

So less than two days after Nanaya made his request, the future uncrowned king came to the crew of "Goblin Slayer".

Nanaya recognized this motion capture performance master at first sight. In Nanaya's eyes, Andy Serkis had a very distinctive appearance.

If you don't know him, this guy is just an ordinary passerby in the eyes of others. He is not handsome, but not ugly either. People won't even look at him twice when passing by.

But if you know him, you will recognize him in the crowd at a glance because you already have a deep impression of this face in your mind.

"Hello, Kiri… Director Kiryu, right?" Andy Serkis' tongue was a little tied. "Sorry, your Japanese names are really hard to pronounce."

Nanaya didn't care too much about it. He shook the other person's hand enthusiastically and said, "Mr. Serkis, thank you very much for coming to guide us in our work on motion capture. On behalf of the entire crew of Goblin Slayer, I welcome you."

"You are so polite. I am a little flattered."

Andy Serkis smiled very casually and had a good impression of Seven Nights.

In fact, currently in New Zealand, no one has a bad impression of the crew of "Goblin Slayer". After all, these guys from Japan are all gods of wealth.

"So, Director Kiryu. What problems did you encounter with the motion capture?"

After getting to know each other, Andy Serkis immediately turned the topic to work.

Since I have accepted the invitation from the crew of Goblin Slayer, I must complete my work.

"It's like this. We have shot a few shots so far, but for the character that needs to be made with CGI, it always feels a little off."

Nanaya immediately invited Andy Serkis to the simple production room next to the studio and showed him the clips he had shot.

A few days ago, Nanaya shot some shots with lizard monks, but when doing simple CGI production to check the effect, Nanaya always felt that there was something wrong with the modeling.

It can't be said to be bad, but there is still some gap between it and the CGI characters in Nanaya's memory.

This gap has nothing to do with the level of modeling sophistication; it is simply a matter of capturing expressions and movements.

"Um..."

Andy Serkis rubbed his beard on his chin, looked carefully at the camera, and then said.

"There are two problems. One is the problem with the reflector, and the other is the problem with the actor."

Andy Serkis explained to Nanaya: "The capture technology you use here is to use reflective film to capture movements and expressions. Although this technology is not old, it is still much worse than the latest method of directly applying fluorescent paint dots on the actors' faces."

"Does that mean we need to change the technology? That Taylor guy didn't say that earlier..." Nanaya scratched his head in frustration.

Nanaya felt that Taylor, the guy with glasses, deliberately gave him a low-configuration technology in order to rip him off twice more, so that Nanaya would have to increase the costs later.

Andy Serkis was a smart guy. He saw what Nanaya was thinking, so he quickly explained: "Director Kiryu signed the contract in early April, right? At that time, we hadn't discussed this technology yet."

Nanaya's mouth twitched a little: "You just came up with this technology recently?"

"Actually... it's just an idea." Andy Serkis said a little embarrassedly, "We also encountered this problem when filming Gollum. In order to solve this problem, we have tried various methods. At present, it seems that fluorescent paint dots have the best effect."

"It seems? You haven't verified it yet?"

Nanaya's eyelids twitched twice.

"Um... we have tried to capture it, but due to funding issues, we haven't started modeling yet..."

"So you're planning to use us as guinea pigs?"

"Probably... that's what it means." Andy Serkis didn't dare to look directly at Nanaya.

Nanaya did not give a direct answer, he recalled his memories of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

As far as I can remember, Gollum's appearance in the first film was veiled, and he didn't really show his full body until the second film. Later, Peter Jackson said in an interview that it was due to technical and time issues that Gollum's production could not keep up with the progress.

Now it seems that this is the reason.

Apparently, the Lord of the Rings crew intended to use Goblin Slayer's money to prove and develop their capture technology.

Then applying the technology to the "Lord of the Rings" series is naturally taking advantage of Nanaya and Washimine.

[What is this, karma? ]

The thought that I had originally intended to take advantage of the "Lord of the Rings" crew, but now I am the one who is taking advantage of them.

Nanaya couldn't help but think of a saying - if you mess around, you will pay for it sooner or later.

But Nanaya had to be the guinea pig. Otherwise, he could only use the old technology that was not satisfactory, or wait until a year later when he was done with "The Lord of the Rings" before he could use the new technology.

Neither of these are good choices.

"Okay, I understand."

Andy Serkis was happy with Nanaya's answer, but then Nanaya added his own conditions.

"But I needed to get my special effects team fully involved, and we needed to jointly own the patents for the new technology."

Since we cannot resist the fate of being a guinea pig, we should at least bite off a piece of fat from Weta Workshop.

Your Master never does business at a loss.

As for whether the other party would agree to his exorbitant request, Nanaya didn't care too much.

Ask for a high price and pay it back on the spot.

First, put forward the most outrageous conditions, and then let Washimine's people go and slowly negotiate with Weta Workshop. Nanaya believed that Washimine's people would definitely be able to negotiate a condition that would satisfy him.

Just kidding, you have to know that Washimine has the strongest legal department in the East. The word "suffer a loss" does not exist in Washimine's dictionary.

"This...is not something I can decide."

Nanaya put one hand on Andy Serkis' shoulder and said with a smile: "It's okay, there's no rush. I'll ask Washimine's people to come and talk to Weta Workshop slowly. We just have to wait for the result."

Although there is no such thing as "weasel's smile" in the West, Andy Serkis can still feel the ill intention in Nanayo's smile to some extent.

In fact, Andy Serkis only mentioned technical matters casually.

In fact, borrowing other people's money to develop one's own technology is not a problem at all in the circle.

After all, the risk is borne by everyone.

There are only a few people who, like James Cameron, personally develop technology every time.

In Andy Serkis's opinion, it would be best if the Japanese director in front of him would agree. If he doesn't agree, it won't be a big problem. At most, Weta Workshop will do its own research.

However, he never expected that Nanaya's appetite was much bigger than he thought.

But what does this have to do with Andy Serkis? He is just a small actor.

"So, Mr. Serkis. What about that second actor problem you mentioned?"

Hearing Nanaya's question, Andy Serkis immediately came back to his senses.

"Oh, about this... your actor needs special training in motion capture shooting techniques. After all, wearing a green screen tights is a little different from simply performing."

"Is that so? Then Mr. Serkis." Nanaya hooked his arm around Mr. Gulu's shoulder in a familiar manner. "Before my team can come up with the new technical cooperation terms, will you help provide relevant training for my actors?"

"this..."

Andy Serkis was about to say to Nanaya, "You'd better look for someone else," but Nanaya stopped him from speaking.

"I will pay you, and I will give you the position of action director in the crew, to guide my actors in acting."

"All right..."

Faced with the temptation of a small amount of money, Andy Serkis, who is not wealthy at the moment, had no choice but to agree.

"Oh, that's right."

As if he had just remembered it at the last minute, Nanaya slapped his forehead and said, "Several of our actors are a little restrained in their performance in front of the green screen. I think Mr. Serkis should also help guide them, right?"

[This guy must be a natural born capitalist, right? ]

Andy Serkis looked at the smiling Nanaya and defined this young man in his mind.