Birth of an actor

The big screen was completely black at the beginning, and gradually, countless light spots began to appear. These star-like particles seemed to be still and flowing, beautiful and vast like the Milky Way, and the starlight became brighter and brighter and kept gathering , and finally condensed into two knight figures.

The two knights are dressed in medieval costumes, wearing steel helmets, wearing silver chain armor, holding long swords and shields, and riding a strong horse under their crotches. The knights salute with their swords. The knights began to charge and attack each other. The swords collided with each other and burst out sparks from time to time. After several rounds of evenly matched fights, the two knights who were fighting fiercely began to blur again. Slowed down into countless light spots, and re-condensed a brand new pattern.

It was something that looked a bit like the family crest of a great European nobleman in the Middle Ages. Above the shield engraved with the lily logo was a crown, with two long swords inserted on both sides, and a pair of double-headed eagle wings.

A row of text above the badge explains what it means: Willot Films.

The person in charge of Industrial Light & Magic pressed a button, and the big screen returned to darkness. After the lights in the room were turned on, he looked at Lance and William with some expectation: "Do you feel satisfied with this title, Mr. Brandley and William?" Mister Roderick?"

William and Lance looked at each other, and they both saw recognition in each other's eyes. They smiled and nodded: "It's great, it's exactly the effect we want."

"Only based on a few hand-drawn drawings, the title animation can be made so shocking and realistic. ILM is indeed the top special effects studio in the industry." William added with a smile to the person in charge of Industrial Light & Magic.

William hand-painted the drafts of Willot Films LOGO and title animation, but the birth of the logo was not created by him alone, but the result of the fusion of ideas with Lance - the lily flower and the double-headed eagle, that is The patterns on the family crest of the Waddington family, judging from the available family history, are probably from the [-]th or [-]th century. These two patterns with extraordinary symbolic significance have been integrated into the crest of the Waddington family.

The lily was once a symbol of the French royal family. During the reign of King Philip IV, all members of the royal family, whether they were direct or branch, had to wear a lily badge. This made the lily a symbol of royal blood in the Middle Ages, because the direct line All members of the collateral line can wear it. Later, Charles V also issued a decree clearly stipulating that the badge with three golden lilies on the sky blue shield is unique to the French royal family, in order to distinguish the French royal family from other ordinary royal family members; and The origin of the double-headed eagle can be traced back to the Roman Empire. The emblem of the Roman Empire has always been an eagle. The symbol of the royal family, because the Habsburg family has monopolized the throne for hundreds of years, so many princes and nobles in the German area began to use the double-headed eagle symbol - Waddington family's These two patterns on the family emblem indicate that the Waddington family had married nobles of French and German royal blood hundreds of years ago, just as Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow married the last princess of the Byzantine Empire, Sophia. After Paleolog, the double-headed eagle was integrated into the Russian national symbol. Up to now, the double-headed eagle is still the same pattern as the Russian national emblem.

Since the shield decorated with lilies and double-headed eagle wings symbolizes Lance, the long sword naturally symbolizes William, and the existence of the crown represents the ambition of Willot Films to rule the entire Hollywood sooner or later.

The person in charge of Industrial Light & Magic puffed out his chest proudly: "We have always been the best."

Industrial Light & Magic is a film special effects production company founded by George Lucas in 1975 for the filming of "Star Wars". It is not only the originator of Hollywood visual effects industry, but also represents the top film special effects in Hollywood and even the world for 22 years. The production level, it can be said that if you want to make top-notch special effects movies in Hollywood, you cannot do without the cooperation with Industrial Light and Magic, from the "Star Wars" series, to the "Star Trek" series, to the "Terminator" series, to " The Jurassic Park series are all works of Industrial Light and Magic, and James Cameron and Steven Spielberg, who are keen to use high technology in their films, are all loyal collaborators of Industrial Light and Magic , and director David Fincher, who has made such a good film as "Seven Deadly Sins", even worked in Industrial Light and Magic for four years in the 80s.

There is also Pixar Animation, which was acquired by Steve Jobs and produced the famous "Toy Story" at the box office. Its predecessor was actually the computer graphics department of Industrial Light and Magic.

With ILM being so strong, it's no surprise that William and Lance were the first to go to Willot Films when it came time to do a title animation for Willot Films—Lance always wanted the best, and William was no exception.

And Industrial Light & Magic did not disappoint William and Lance. The final product of the studio is very worthy of the commission paid by Willot Films: the opening animation combines CG and hand-painted technology. You can touch the cold metal armor of the knight with your hand. Even the decorations on the knight's shield and sword and the details of the mane swaying when the horse neighs are exquisitely done, and the picture is very three-dimensional. , and then the duel of the knights seems to be happening in front of you instead of animation, and then the LOGO of Willot Films is also made so that people can remember it deeply in their hearts just by looking at it, even the sound effects All did an excellent job.

"So, how is the design of Hogwarts going?" William continued to ask: "Now I am very much looking forward to seeing the CG model of Hogwarts as soon as possible."

"It is also a great challenge for us to restore the magical world in the book to reality, especially Will, your requirements are so high. Are you doing special effects for a movie? It is simply reconstructing another world We had to hire several architecture and design majors, and even high-quality students majoring in fine arts. Even if we temporarily increase the manpower, the work is still too huge.” The person in charge of Industrial Light & Magic said: “Fortunately, we The technology is constantly improving, and you have left us enough time for preparation, Industrial Light and Magic will never let customers down."

This is why William and Lance only asked Industrial Light and Magic to produce title animations for their company, but the person in charge of Industrial Light and Magic treated them so attentively. Not only did they come to show the results of their works, but they also spoke politely and affectionately. One of them - William and Lance signed an agreement with Industrial Light and Magic after seeing the first product of Willot Films LOGO. Willot Films will release Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the big screen, and Industrial Light and Magic will provide special effects technical support for "Sorcerer's Stone" and the subsequent "Harry Potter" series of films.

In today’s Hollywood, the cost of shooting a blockbuster commercial special effects film has hovered around 2 million U.S. dollars. Take the films such as “Jurassic Park [-]”, “Men in Black” and “Starship Troopers” released this year as examples, the cost of special effects technology is generally It accounts for about a quarter to a third of the shooting cost. If the "Harry Potter" series is to be filmed, the complexity is even higher than that of the "Jurassic Park" series. Everything about the wizarding world It is inseparable from the support of special effects technology.

The background of "Jurassic Park" is still modern society. It can be said that it is only necessary to make realistic dinosaur models, and other environments can be directly applied to reality. Magical creatures, like the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park", must adopt the complex, meticulous, time-consuming and labor-intensive production method of first modeling and then computer technology processing, and the environment must also be magically processed on the basis of reality, such as Corner Lane, Hogwarts and other important scenes - plus William also mentioned that "Harry Potter" is a series of movies that will make at least three or more movies. With such a big deal, Industrial Light and Magic naturally Hold on tight and never let go.

Although he is the leader in the industry of film special effects technology, the current Hollywood film special effects studios have sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain. In addition to Industrial Light and Magic, there are at least four or five studios that also have top-notch technology in the industry. Level, can produce first-class movie special effects, do not want to give up big business to competitors, this is the first reason.

The second reason is that special effects studios serve movies after all, and they also need to rely on movies to drive fame and profits. If another movie like "Star Wars" is born, and this movie chooses an opponent of Industrial Light and Magic to provide them with special effects technical support, then Industrial Light and Magic's position in the industry will definitely be threatened——"Ha Although the second book in the "Libert" series has only been published, it has already caused a tornado in the magical world all over the world. The first "Sorcerer's Stone" has only been published for one year, and the sales volume of the world has exceeded [-] million copies. The second Chamber of Secrets sold over a million copies on the day it was released this autumn, which shows how popular the story about the boy who survived the catastrophe with black hair and green eyes is, and "Harry Potter" is a fairy tale. It is also a G-rated movie suitable for all ages to watch with the whole family. The story is so good. If the director and actors are not too bad, there is almost no need to worry about the box office. No wonder ILM refuses to make this piece destined to be a big cheese. His business was lost.

William, Lance and the person in charge of Industrial Light & Magic agreed that when Industrial Light & Magic makes the three-dimensional models of important landmarks and magical creatures in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", the two parties will sign more agreements on further cooperation, and the industrial The person in charge of Guangmo bid farewell.

……

"If all goes well, we can start preparing for the official shooting of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the middle of next year." After the two of them were left in the meeting room, William said with emotion, and then he found that Lance had been He lowered his head slightly and was thinking about something, so he called softly: "Lance?"

Lance glanced up at William, waited for three seconds to see that William didn't seem to have anything to tell him, then lowered his head again.

"Are you looking at the document?" Because Lance's sideways movement exposed some things on his desk just now, William realized that Lance was not thinking or dazed, but reading something, so he slid the chair towards him, Probe probe: "What is it?"

Lance quickly stretched out his arms to cover it, but William moved faster than him, and quickly pulled out the book that Lance had held firmly under his arms before. William's eyes widened the moment he saw the content clearly: ""Character "Special feature, those unknown romances of William Bradley?!"

William looked at Lance.

Lance looked at William.

William frowned feigning anger.

Lance looked away a little guilty.

"Oh my God, Lance." William threw the magazine back on Lance, lay back on the chair, covered his eyes with his hands: "Why don't you read this!"

"People are curious." Lance, who had recovered his composure, replied without changing his expression, and perhaps changed the subject intentionally or unintentionally: "So, Claire Katie, Nancy Sansa Kate Isabella Umadru What an astonishing list of ex-girlfriends."

William rolled his eyes at his friend indecently: "Come on, Lance, you know most of them are fake."

"So it's partly true?" Lance tapped his lips with his finger: "Let me be surprised when you say it."

"Isabella and Claire. Everything else is fake."

"I know Isabella, who is Claire?" Lance pondered for a moment, and suddenly made an expression of enlightenment: "Is that—"

"I was the one who got my first taste of a girl's slap because you let her go." It was too embarrassing for Lance to talk about it, so William struck out.

"Oh." Lance was silent: "Do I owe you an apology?"

William waved his hand indifferently: "Forget it, it's been a long time."

"So, Isabella and Claire, who took your first time?" Lance asked with a half-smile, "Or apart from these two official ex-girlfriends I know, have you had any other affairs? "

For some reason, William's face became a little hot when his friend heard this question - although he also knew that it was normal for men to discuss this topic, but what could he do if he couldn't look Lance directly in the eyes?

"If you want to know mine, I must know yours too." William bargained.

"Okay." Lance said calmly, "My first girlfriend was a liar."

William blinked slowly, feeling his thoughts stagnate for a second: "What?" He couldn't fully understand Lance's words.

"After you left New York, I was often bored, and I went to events more often than I used to, mostly commercial, and there were a lot of charity galas or parties. Some time before I was almost an adult, I was at a Sotheby's At the auction, I met a girl who looked like a supermodel. She said that she was a student of Columbia University. Blessings, I said I was an NYU prep and she believed it. She was smart, pretty, hot and vivacious, and when we first started dating we even insisted on giving her my share of the money and saying no to any of my Sending her over a hundred dollars' worth of items, she made me realize at one point—" Lance stopped abruptly.

William pressed: "Aware of what?"

' Realizing that maybe I'm not exactly gay. Lance just thought, but didn't say these words: "After all, except for you, I have no interest in other men, and even looking at their faces and making a little association with them makes my stomach feel uncomfortable. It's just that I have been Failing to recognize this, and her presence reminding me that besides you, Will, my sexuality is actually more feminine. '