VOA慢速英语2014 制片人为《超能陆战队》创造新技术

 

Filmmakers Create New Technology for 'Big Hero 6' 制片人为《超能陆战队》创造新技术

 The latest animated¹ film from Disney, “Big Hero 6,” is a mix of science, technology and art. High-level technology was used in the making of the movie. One of its main characters is a robot based on real world science. 

The action-adventure movie is about an extremely intelligent boy, his robot and his friends. The story began in a little known comic book. Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams kept the name of the series and the characters' names. But Don Hall says much was changed as well.

“We don’t have any super-powered people in this movie. It’s all super technology.”

Director Williams says they wanted the movie to be believable.

“You’re always walking the line. You want to push it so it feels fun and fantastic, but at the same time you want it to be based on an actual science because people feel -- just makes it feel more plausible².”

Don Hall says one real world example in the film is Baymax, a robotic nurse made of soft plastic material filled with air.

“Our robot had to be something unique.  It couldn’t be something that we’ve seen before.”

They found their robot in a robotics laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. Chris Atkeson supervises the lab.

“Most people think of robots either as tools for industry or military things. When you say a robot is going to help you, be your servant, or take care of you, that’s a stretch for most people.”

In fact, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have built inflatable robotic arms to assist older adults and people with disabilities. Those robotic parts are similar to the robot in “Big Hero 6.” The character works to heal the sick and injured.

New computer software was used to create the setting for the movie. The imaginary city, San Fransokyo, and its people are more complex than anything in the last three Disney animations⁴ combined.

The great detail in the film required a more complex lighting⁵ method. The filmmakers created Hyperion, a computer program that copies the effect of global illumination. That means it more closely reproduces on film the way light works in reality.

Another piece of software created for this movie permits hundreds of thousands of characters to be created for crowd scenes. Andy Hendrickson is the chief technology officer at Walt Disney Animation³ Studios. He says no two people are the same in “Big Hero 6.”.

“It’s not like before in computer graphics⁶ films where we had several different body types, several different head types and you made 100 different people and they’re repeated. There are no repeats in this film.”

“Big Hero 6” with its high technology production is having big box office results. The movie has earned more than $240 million in ticket sales since its opened five weeks ago. And, on Thursday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association honored "Big Hero 6" with a nomination⁷ for a Golden Globe award for best animated film.

Words in This Story

animated – adj. produced by the creation of a series of drawings, pictures, etc., that are shown quickly one after another

character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

adventure – n. an exciting or dangerous experience

comic book – n. a magazine that is made up of a series of comic strips

global – adj. involving the entire world

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

3 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

4 animations   

n.生气( animation的名词复数 )；兴奋；动画片；（指电影、录像、电脑游戏的）动画制作

参考例句：

• You'll see your team cheerleaders and mascot performing new animations as well. 你会看到啦啦队队长跟吉祥物也都会有全新的动作。 来自互联网
• Ability to create simple movie and animations using graphic & multimedia software. 能够用平面和多媒体软件制作简单的电影及动画。 来自互联网

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。