名人励志英语演讲 第133期:失败是一个选项 但畏惧不是(4)

 　　So, you know, drawing a line through those two dots of experience, came to, this is going to be a whole new world, this was a whole new world of creativity for film artists. So, I started a company with Stan Winston, my good friend Stan Winston, who is the premier¹ make-up and creature designer at that time, and it was called Digital Domain². And the concept of the company was that we would leap-frog past the analog³ processes of optical printers and so on, and we would go right to digital production. And we actually did that and it gave us a competitive advantage for a while.

　　所以，你知道，把这两次经验连结在一起，对电影艺术家来说，这将会是一个全新的世界，一个全新的充满创造力的世界。所以我和好友斯坦·温斯顿开了一家公司，名字叫Digital Domain。斯坦·温斯顿是顶尖的化妆师和人物造型设计师。这家公司的理念是：我们会跳过类似光学冲印的过程，直接进入数字制作。事实上我们确实那么做了，而且这让我们有了一段时间的竞争优势。

　　But we found ourselves lagging in the mid⁴ 90's in the creature and character design stuff that we had actually founded the company to do. So, I wrote this piece called "Avatar," which was meant to absolutely push the envelope of visual effects, of CG effects, beyond, with realistic human emotive characters generated in CG. And the main characters would all be in CG. And the world would be in CG. And you know the envelope pushed back. And I was told by the folks at my company that we weren't going to be able to do this for a while.

　　但是在90年代中期，我发现我们在生物设计和角色设计上落后了，而这本来是我们创建公司的目的。我写《阿凡达》这个作品就是想要推动整个视觉体验以及动画效果的进步，让电影人物跳出人们想象的框架。电影中的主要人物都是电脑图形，世界也是电脑图形。但是这个想法被反驳了。我公司的员工告诉我，我们短时间内还做不到。

　　So, I shelved it, and I made this other movie about a big ship that sinks. And you know, I went and pitched it to the studio as "Romeo and Juliet on a ship." It's going to be this epic⁵ romance, passionate⁶ film. Secretly, what I wanted to do was I wanted to dive to the real wreck⁷ of Titanic⁸. And that's why I made the movie. And that't the truth. Now, the studio didn't know that. But I convinced them. I said, "We're going to dive to the wreck. We're going to film it for real. We'll be using it in the opening of the film. It will be really important. It will be a great marketing⁹ hook." And I talked them into funding an expedition.

　　所以我把《阿凡达》放在了一边，转而制作了另一部关于巨轮沉没的电影。你知道，我去找制片公司简单解释说这是船上的“罗密欧与朱丽叶”，这将会是个史诗般的爱情故事，是一部充满热情的电影。说心里话，我其实只是想要潜到真正的泰坦尼克号残骸里去，这才是我拍片的真正理由。这是真的。那时，制片公司并不知道。但我说服了他们。我说：“我们将会潜入沉船拍摄真实画面，我们要把它用在电影的开场，这很重要，这将是很好的营销策略。”于是我说服了他们赞助这次探险。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. make-up

　　化妆品；

　　eg. Normally she wore little make-up.

　　她一般不怎么化妆。

　　She checked her make-up one last time, and then walked out with a spring in her step.

　　她最后检查了一下妆容，然后步履轻盈地走了出去。

　　2. find oneself doing sth.

　　（不知不觉中）发现（自己在做某事）；

　　eg. It's not the first time that you've found yourself in this situation.

　　你陷入这种状况已经不是第一次了。

　　eg. I found myself having more fun than I had had in years.

　　我发现自己这些年来从未像现在这样开心过。

　　3. be meant to do sth.

　　理应发生；应该发生某事；

　　eg. I can't say any more, it's meant to be a big secret.

　　我再也无可奉告了，这本是重大的秘密。

　　eg. Parties are meant to be fun.

　　派对就是为了乐和一下。

　　eg. The peculiar¹⁰ thing about getting engaged is that you're meant to announce it to everyone.

　　订婚的特别之处在于，你就应该让人人知道你订婚了。

　　4. for real

　　真实地；真正地；不是假装；

　　eg. This isn't a practice game; we're playing for real.

　　这可不是练习；我们是在认真地比赛。

　　eg. I don't think her tears were for real.

　　我认为她的眼泪不是真的。

　　5. talk sb. into sth./doing sth.

　　说服某人做某事；

　　eg. I was a fool to have let her talk me into it.

　　我真笨，竟然听从了她的劝说。

　　eg. She tried to talk him into changing his mind, but he refused and sticked to his plan.

　　她试图说服他改变主意但是他拒绝那样做并坚持他的计划。

　　名人简介：

　　从业经历

　　童年时期

　　1954年8月16日，詹姆斯·卡梅隆出生在加拿大安大略省的一个中产阶级家庭，他的父亲是一个电气工程师，母亲是一个艺术家，这似乎注定他一生下来就会具有工程和艺术两方面的才华。他曾经和小伙伴们一起制造过一个足以在地面上留下弹坑的抛石机，以及用一个自制的潜水艇把一只老鼠送到了尼亚加拉河底。在艺术方面，他曾和母亲学习过多年的绘画，并且曾在家乡举办过画展，并且很小就开始写科幻小说，他12岁时所写的一部科幻小说可以说是他的科幻影片《深渊》故事的原型。在他14岁的时候，他看到了著名导演斯坦利·库布里克的《2001太空漫游》。当时詹姆斯·卡梅隆被惊呆了，从此在他心灵中萌发了制作电影的愿望。他开始用父亲的8毫米摄影机拍摄一些简陋的影片。

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

3 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

4 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

5 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

6 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

7 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

8 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

9 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

10 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。