VOA常速英语2014--Hollywood Visual Effects Go Global 好莱坞视觉特效走向世界

 

Hollywood Visual Effects Go Global 好莱坞视觉特效走向世界

LOS ANGELES — Many of today’s Hollywood blockbuster movies include stunning¹ visual effects.  Most of those effects used to be produced in Hollywood, but that has changed.  Now, one film can include visual effects produced in many different countries.

洛杉矶通讯——现今荧屏上的许多好莱坞大片都有着极好的视觉效果，在过去，绝大多数的特效一向是由好莱坞创作而成的，但是现在发生了变化，现在的一部电影可以包含许多不同国家制作的效果。

Tommy Williamson is passionate² about filmmaking .  As a former visual effects supervisor³, he worked on many Hollywood blockbusters, but not anymore.

汤米.威廉姆森对制片充满热情，作为先前的视觉效果监管人，他参与了好莱坞大片的制作，但现在不再是了。

“It kind of breaks my heart to leave the whole thing; in fact I don’t even say that I left.  I said it left me," said Williamson.

他说道：“离开这一切确实让我很伤心，事实上，并不是我离开了它，而是他离开了我。”

Thanks to technology, visual effects work can be done anywhere in the world and more Hollywood films are including work from other countries.

对亏了技术的支持，好莱坞的视觉效果在世界任何地方得以制作，更多的好莱坞电影包括其他国家的制作成果。

"In the last five to seven years is where you’ve seen an explosion of content getting processed in different parts of the world," said Venkatesh Roddam, chief executive officer of India-based Reliance MediaWorks. "Not just India, but China, Taiwan, Korea, India; these are all the markets that content from Hollywood is going to."

“在过去的5到7年时间里，不同国家的不同地区都有内容处理上的激增。”印度信实媒体公司首席执行官卡特斯赫.罗登说。“不只是印度，还有中国大陆，中国台湾，韩国，这些都是能满足好莱坞需求的市场。

Countries such as India offer lower costs, and some are offering financial incentives⁴ for work to be done there.  

为了吸引好莱坞电影的制作人来自己国家工作，像印度等一些国家，提供较低的费用，有的还提供资金奖励。

“I’ve been at 12 different visual effects companies.  [I’ve] been on the staff of five, all of which have gone bankrupt for one reason or another; basically it’s only two, the way we work and the subsidy⁵ race that’s driven so many of them out of business," said Dave Rand.

戴维.兰登说：“我曾在十二家不同的视觉效果公司工作过,我在一个编制有5人的团队里，但是他们都因为这样那样的原因接连倒闭了。其中的原因主要有两点，工作的方式和补助金的增长速率，这些迫使他们放弃了事业。“

Rand and Daniel Lay, co-founders of the Association of Digital Artists, Professionals &Technicians, say that subsidies⁶ offered by other countries are driving work out of Hollywood.  He says the solution lies in the U.S. federal courts.

数字艺术家协会的共同创始人兼专业技术人员兰登和丹尼尔.雷说道：“其他国家的津贴使许多人不再留在好莱坞工作，解决的方法就要看美国联邦法院了。”

“The United States government puts very strong anti-subsidy laws that have been around for years that allow for domestic industries that are being injured by these international subsidies to seek relief through the trade courts," Lay said.

“美国政府出台了一个很强大的反补贴法律条令，在几年的时间里就遍布各地，法律允许那些受到国际补贴冲击的国内产业通过贸易法庭寻求救助。”雷说。

He wants a U.S. federal court to levy⁷ a mandatory⁸ tax on the work produced outside the U.S.

他想要美国联邦法院对在美国境外制作的效果征收强制性税款。

“It’s not a progressive idea.  “You are actually artificially pumping up the cost.  You are limiting talent availability," said Roddam.

罗登说：“这不是一个进步的想法，实际上是在人为地提高花销，这样限制了人才的可用性。最近好莱坞从国际人才库里调取人才。”

Roddam says currently Hollywood can draw from an international talent pool.  

It’s benefiting artists like Kunal Chindarkar, who works on Hollywood movies from Singapore for visual effects company Double Negative.

这样对像昆脑诺亚这样的艺术家们有益，他来自新加坡双重否定视觉效果公司，现在负责制作好莱坞电影。

“The people that are working with me right now in Double Negative are...are from all over the world.  We have people from Australia, from U.K., from France," he said.

他说：“现在在“双重否定”里和我一同工作的同事们都来自世界各个国家，有澳大利亚，英格兰，法国的。“

Roddam says working with Hollywood improves the quality of work worldwide.  He says the key to a visual effects company’s survival is to also branch out into other areas of filmmaking.  

罗登说：“和好莱坞的人员一起工作有助于提高全世界的工作质量。视觉特效公司的生存之道最关键的是分成其他的电影制作领域。

Firms also need a presence in countries where the work is done, and that includes the U.S.

公司需要在一个存在在工作完成的国家里，包括美国。

“You cannot survive in this marketplace without a physical presence here," Roddam said. "So from that perspective, companies like ours will continue to create American jobs in America, rather than actually think about how much of this work is going to Canada or U.K. or India or China."

如果在市场上没有一个实体存在，那么将很难生存下去。所以从这个观点出发，像我们这样的公司将继续在美国创作作品，而不是真正地去考虑这个作品有多少来自加拿大，英国，印度，中国。

 

Roddam also says the visual effects industry will continue to evolve and those who want to stay in the business will have to continue to adapt.

他同时也说了视觉效果产业如果想要有业务就要继续演变和不断适应新环境。

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 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。

3 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。