VOA慢速英语2021--人工智能工具可以改变电影中的语言

A start-up company has a tool that it says can recreate lip sync - matching a speaker's lip movements with pre-recorded audio¹ - in films.

The artificial² intelligence, or AI, tool may change how film producers replace recorded speech in a movie with speech recorded in another language. This process is known as dubbing³.

Start-up Flawless AI, co-founded by film director Scott Mann, has a tool that it says can recreate lip sync without changing the performance of the actors.

The tool studies how actors move their mouths. It then changes the movements to sync with the replaced, or dubbed⁴, words in different languages. The result could be that Tom Hanks looks like he can speak Japanese or Jack⁵ Nicholson looks like he can speak French.

The idea for the tool came to Mann when he saw how dubbing affected⁶ his 2015 film "Heist," starring Robert De Niro.

"I hate dubbing as it stands," Mann told Reuters. He went on to describe the problems that dubbing can create. "You have to change so many things to try and catch sync. You're changing words filmmakers and performers have thought about so deeply. They're thrown out to find a different word that fits, but it never really does."

Mann decided⁷ to do something about this issue.

After some research, he discovered a paper written by Christian⁸ Theobalt of the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany.

The paper lays out a new method that uses artificial intelligence to recreate human visual effects.

The tool worked to translate a De Niro scene in "Heist." Man said the tool was able to take an 'ooh' sound from De Niro 20 minutes earlier and place that in a different moment in the film."

He added, "It measures at the same time and blends¹⁰ it so that the performance is the same, but it's a different mouth movement."

Blend⁹ is a term that means to mix something, often with good results.

Flawless AI is now working with producers and studios to use the technology after filming is complete. The first films using this tool are around a year away.

Mann believes this technology will help to remove foreign-language categories at award shows. It could create a more open film industry with a real global stage. "From a filmmaking point of view, you're going to see the rise of a much more diverse¹¹ range of stars," he said.

Eventually, Mann hopes the technology's use will be widely accepted. "When it's a common thing, we're not going to think about it anymore and we'll just enjoy the movies," he said.

Words in This Story

lip-sync – n. to pretend to sing (recorded words)

translate – v. to change words from one language into another language

scene – n. a part of a play, movie, story, etc., in which a particular action or activity occurs

category – n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way

diverse – adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

range – n. a group or collection of different things or people

1 audio   

n./adj.音频(响)(的)；声音(的)，听觉(的)

参考例句：

• Often,the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference.通常这种会议会以视频或者音频形式记录下来，供以后查阅。
• You don't even have to pay for audio programs.你大可不必为自己听这些节目付费。

2 artificial   

adj.人工的，人造的，人为的；做作的，假装的

参考例句：

• The new dam will form a large artificial lake behind it.新筑的水坝将会在后面形成一个人工湖。
• We don't use any artificial flavourings in our products.我们的产品不使用任何人工调味剂。

3 dubbing   

n.配音v.给…起绰号( dub的现在分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• There are mainly two forms of film translation: dubbing and subtitling. 电影翻译通常主要表现为两种形式：配音和字幕翻译。 来自互联网
• Its auspices, dubbing the program has won national awards in China. 其主持配音的节目多次获得中国全国奖项。 来自互联网

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 blend   

v.(使)混和，(使)混杂；n.混合物；混和

参考例句：

• Do you think these two colours will blend together?你认为这两种颜色和谐吗？
• These houses seem to blend into the surrounding scenery.这些房屋似乎与周围的景色融为一体了。

10 blends   

v.（使）混合( blend的第三人称单数 )；（使）混杂；（使）调和；协调

参考例句：

• Rachid's job is to produce the various tea blends. 理查的工作是生产各种混配茶。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The cloth blends in with her color of skin very much. 这件衣服和她的肤色很协调 来自辞典例句

11 diverse   

adj.不同的；相异的；多种多样的；形形色色的

参考例句：

• Spain is a composite of diverse traditions and people.西班牙是一个汇集了多种传统和民族的国家。
• Society is now much more diverse than ever before.当今社会较之以往任何时候都要丰富多彩得多。