VOA标准英语2014--《驯龙2》展示最新动画技术

 

'How to Train your Dragon 2' Showcases Latest in Digital Animation¹ 《驯龙2》展示最新动画技术

Animated² films are constantly reaching new heights in technical innovation and depth of narrative³.

One of them, How to Train your Dragon 2, surpasses filmmaker Dean Deblois' blockbuster first installment⁴ from four years ago.  

Deblois tells VOA the sky is the limit in the evolution of digital animation.

In 2010, we watched a Viking teenager named Hiccup⁵ catching⁶ and bonding with a dragon he named Toothless. The bittersweet 3D film became an instant hit.  Four years later, How to Train your Dragon 2, pits Hiccup and Toothless against an evil dragon lord.

The sequel is also in 3D, but DeBlois says, there has been a huge technological⁷ leap -- in clarity, colors and details -- from his original.

 “Things like water, clouds and ice and everything else that used to be a real challenge, looks fantastic now," DeBlois said. "So, I wonder in 10 years from now, if How to Train Your Dragon 2, will look primitive⁸.”

That's what animators might have wondered back in 1937, when Walt Disney Studios rolled out its cutting-edge fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs⁹. Each frame of the Technicolor film was hand drawn¹⁰.

Fast forward 80 years, and Disney’s movie Frozen channels our inner princess through empowered Queen Elsa in a picture-perfect digital world.

Digital animation has also influenced the video game industry. The Last of Us, a mature game of survival in a zombie-infested world uses the latest in motion capture technology, where real actors’ performances are transformed into a digital avatar.

However, filmmaker DeBlois feels the hyper-realistic motion capture technology lacks the liveliness animators infuse into their hand-drawn characters.

“Because they make a living out of studying human expression and movement and they add a little caricature to it so that it becomes more real than reality," he said. "It comes with great experience and great talent but a simple motion capture doesn’t really capture that yet.”

And though an impressive 3D digital animation draws the crowds in the theater, DeBlois says it is the tone and complexity¹¹ of the story that keep fans interested in the genre¹².

 “Animated films have a real power to them," he said. "But I am kind of on a personal crusade to lift the stigma¹³ that is often put upon them where adults feel almost embarrassed to go to an animated movie or [feel] that there won’t be anything for them.”

DeBlois says animated movies are no longer just for kids. Their unpredictable storylines offer gravitas to digital animation and digital animation provides realism to extraordinary fantasies.

1 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。

2 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。

3 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

4 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

5 hiccup   

n.打嗝

参考例句：

• When you have to hiccup,drink a glass of cold water.当你不得不打嗝时，喝一杯冷水就好了。
• How long did he hiccup?他打嗝打了多久？

6 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

7 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

8 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

9 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

12 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

13 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。