VOA标准英语2015--特殊的电影效果仍然需要大量的后期制作

Special Movie Effects Still Require a Lot of Work 特殊的电影效果仍然需要大量的后期制作

Today’s moviegoers know that many breathtaking special effects are created by powerful computers. What they often don’t know is that these scenes still require a lot of work and preparation by creative people.

With every blockbuster season, visual effects in Hollywood action movies are getting more realistic and believable. That's because the work is no longer done solely¹ by computer enthusiasts², says Aron Hjartarson, executive creative director of the London-based visual effects company Framestore.

“But it's progressed now and now it's actually real artists that are really good at their job, like true craftsmen³ and true artists that are making sculptures, that are doing camera work, lighting⁴. As far as filmmaking, it's a whole crew, right there," said Hjartarson.

Contrary to popular belief, a lot of effects don't involve adding computer-generated objects or characters.  Instead, they involve visually removing safety props⁵ used to create the scene.

The script for this commercial envisioned a huge truck being abducted⁶ by aliens. It was actually lifted by a crane but with the help of computer software, cables were simply erased⁸ from the picture.

Hjartarson says computers can erase⁷ anything without a trace.

“They can be robot rigs that actually may puppeteer⁹ a stunt¹⁰ person through a scene. They could be motion control for cameras - which is essentially¹¹ a big robot that controls a camera that shoots the scene. Lighting rigs, whatever needs to get removed. We can even go so far as to remove and augment¹² vanity items like enhancing physical features and proportions etcetera, which has been known to happen," he said.

Dangerous scenes used to be shot with stunt specialists rather than risk the movie stars. But since safety equipment can now be digitally erased, Mike Chambers¹³, chairman of the Visual Effects Society Board of Directors, says many actors want to perform their own stunts¹⁴.

“When you have Sandra Bullock, who's going to get on rig, there are stunt people who train her and make sure she knows exactly what she's doing, so she doesn't get hurt," said Chambers.

Still, it is not always easy to remove unwanted objects from the picture.

Effects specialist Isabelle Langlois, who worked on the award-winning film ‘Birdman,’ says advance planning can prevent many difficulties.

“The filmmakers are thinking about it from the early beginning and involving us on the shoot and visual effects work in establishing methodology and making sure that it's shot in a way that it's going to be easy to do it at the end in post-production," said Langlois.

Experts say with more sophisticated software and the ever-increasing speed of computer processors, moviegoers can expect to see their favorite stars in even more exciting scenes and situations.

1 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

2 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

3 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

4 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。

5 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

6 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

7 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

8 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 puppeteer   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡

参考例句：

• Mr. Sullivan is a professional puppeteer.沙利文先生是一位专业的木偶戏表演者。
• One puppeteer controls the doll's head,face,and right hand.一个表演者控制木偶的头部，面部和右手。

10 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

13 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

14 stunts   

n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
• The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》