Pixar动画工作室总制片Steve先生专访

Mr Steve 照片

Interview of Steve (Supervising Editor of Pixar studio)
Pixar动画工作室总制片Steve先生专访

What do you do as supervising editor on The Incredibles?
作为《超人特工队》的总制片你主要的职责是什么？

I’m the supervising editor, but I’m basically the only editor on this film. Sitting side by side with the director, I choose the most effective shot for each scene, taking into consideration composition, timing, camera angle and depth of field. My responsibilities start early in the production process and end with the very last details.
我的确是总制片，但是基本上在制作这部影片时我就是唯一的制片。紧贴着导演的位置，由我来选择每一个场景中最出效果的镜头，考虑整合，时间安排，摄影机角度和景深等问题。我的职责的贯穿于制作过程的始终，包括一开始到最后的每一个细节。

Through editing shots in the reels, I become the liaison between the director and the rest of the supporting staff: set design, lighting, art design, layout, sound design and music. I lead a crew of assistant editors, additional editors, production assistants, coordinators and a manager, who all play an integral part in my everyday efforts to edit a film.
在制作片子的整个过程中，我成为导演和所有进行工作的员工的联络纽带：设置设计，灯光，艺术设计，出稿，音效设计和音乐。我（等同于）领导着一个完整的团队包括助理编辑，附加编辑，产品助理，协调人和一个经理，在我每一天尽心尽力的指导编辑电影的过程中的每一项职责都是极其重要的部分。

How is it different from editing live action?
这和指导现场拍摄的电影有什么不同呢？

In live action you assemble the footage as being the best of what you have to choose from after the footage is shot. In animation you edit the existing storyboards together and if you want a more dynamic shot to emphasize something, you just order it up from the story department.
在现场拍摄中你是运用胶片的，你不得不从拍摄完毕的胶片种选择其中最好的镜头用（哪怕你并不满意）。在制作动画中你可以把现有的故事版编辑在一起，如果你想增加一个更有张力的镜头去强调某样东西，你只需要到故事组打个招呼。

Can you briefly explain the editorial process?
你能否简要的解释一下整个制作过程？

First, the story department will board out the sequence according to the script. After it’s revised a few times it’s sent to editorial in a digital format to the Avid, a digital cutting tool [or film editing system]. Then I assemble the boards so that the director is able to see the script brought to life through visual interpretation. From there we are able to see where we need to develop more character, more story, more tension or more action. It’s important to get the blueprint of the movie as close to final in this early bare-bones version as the actual animation is very time-consuming and expensive.
首先，故事组将按照脚本来编排故事版的顺序。在这次修改之后就可以用一种数码剪辑工具（或者说是电影编辑系统）Avid转化为数字格式。然后我集合这些故事版以便于导演能够从中了解到脚本被赋予生命之后具像的视觉效果。从这里我们可以看到哪里需要增加和改进更多的任务，更多的故事，更多的紧张环节和更多的动作。这对于我们在制作的早期能得到电影蓝本是非常重要的，这个蓝本相当于最终效果的精髓，我们可以从中看到我们即将消耗大量时间和金钱所制作出的动画的整体框架。

When that’s cut, we record scratch dialogue, usually done by people here at Pixar. We digitize that and cut it into the Avid. Then we add sound effects and temporary music. Basically, when you’re looking at storyboards, you want to help the brain visualize as much of the movie as possible.
剪辑好以后，我们录下配合图像的对话，一般就是由Pixar的员工来配音的。我们做成数字版本经过剪辑放进Avid。接下来我们在加入音效和暂定的背景音乐。基本上，当你看故事版的时候，你可以借助大脑产生的影像看到最接近于电影的效果。

When does the scratch dialogue get replaced?
什么时候把最初的简单配音替换掉？

Typically right after the “green light” is given to make the movie. Early in the pitch process the director usually has in mind the voice actors he wants for the film, which helps sell the idea to the studio. Once it’s green-lit, the deals to the actors are made. Dialogue is recorded, cut into the reels by the editor and director, sent off to layout to get the camera and set correct, and then it’s off to animation.
一般来说是在制作电影中被赋予“绿光”（不了解这个词的典故，应该是指思想的亮点）之后。在制作过程的早期导演通常会在脑海中寻找到他想为电影配备的合适的配音演员，某些可以帮助工作是出主意的人。一旦绿光闪过，就可以聘请配音演员了。录好配音后，由导演或编辑剪辑并且放入已制作完成的影片中，出片后调整镜头并且做好正确的设置，这样动画就完成了。

Do people ever fall in love with a scratch voice?
人们会对于最开始的简单配音更情有独钟吗？

That happens all the time. As soon as you cut that new actor in for the first time, you think, “Whoa, this doesn’t feel right.” You’ve been listening to the scratch for about one and a half years—that’s a long time. But the more you hear the new voice and get used to it, the better it sounds. It’s an improvement over scratch because they’re professionals and it’s what they do for a living.
这种情况是经常发生的。当你第一次进入一个新的配音演员的剪辑时，你觉得，“哇哦，这感觉不对。”你听那段简单配音已经有一年半了，那是很长的时间（你已经习惯了）。但是你多听听新的配音并且习惯它时你会发现这个声音其实更好的。那对于开始的简单配音是一个进步，因为他们都是专业的配音演员，他们都是以此为生的。

What happens after all the sequences come in from the story artists?
当结束所有的镜头安排后接下来该做什么了？

After it’s cut in board form and everyone’s happy with it, then we have someone go in and do After Effects [a program that creates camera moves]. It’s probably one of The Incredibles director Brad Bird’s most utilized tools. After Effects gives you a great idea of what a shot is going to be—the speed at which someone runs or how quickly you want to pan over the sky. That will save time and money down the line.
剪辑结束后每一个人都十分开心，接下来我们就要开始运用After Effects了（一种创建镜头转换的程序）。这大概是《超人特工队》的导演Brad Bitd’s最常用的工具之一。After Effects关于一个镜头将怎样进行下去能给你一个很不错的想法——人跑步的速度调整或者你希望飞船多快的速度掠过天空。这省下了许多时间和金钱。

And what happens next in editorial?
下一步该做什么？

We send the storyboards to the layout department. Layout does the set designs, taken from the storyboards. Once the animators have a 3-D set to work in, the story reels are issued to animation. After shots are animated and approved by the supervising animator and director, they trickle back in to editorial, one at a time, totally out of order. We will then cut that into the reel and have a sweatbox session.
我们把故事版给出片的部门。出片人员开始根据故事版作设定和设计。一旦动画师开始三维制作的工序，那么故事就进行到动画部分了。在镜头被制作成动画并且通过动画指导和导演后，他们又将返回到编辑部门。我们将剪辑好这些（动画）在母带里并且开一个发汗会议。

Sweatbox session?
发汗会议？

It’s something new for Pixar. It’s an editorial shot review. The term actually comes from the early days at Disney, where 25 people would stand in an 8-by-8 room, looking at film and sweating (back then they were using hot lamps). So we get all the heads of all the departments in one room and look at the shots with continuity in mind. We pinpoint a glitch or problem and figure out how to fix it and move through departments that way. They make changes, send it to editorial, I cut it back into the reel, and then we do another sweatbox.
这是在Pixar产生的新事物。是一种编辑上的镜头回顾。这个术语来自于早期的Disney，25个人站在一个八乘八的房间，一边看电影一边出汗（那个时期他们用的是很热的放映灯光）。我们让每一个部门的头来到一个房间，完整地不间断地看完片子。我们细细查明每一个微小的错误和瑕疵然后指出并且找到解决的方法并下放到所属部门。他们改正以后重新发回编辑部门，我再次剪辑放入母带，之后我们再来一次发汗会议。

There are so many animators working on the film—does this ever pose a challenge editorially?
有那么多的动画师同时为制作一个电影工作，这是不是对于编辑整理是一个挑战呢？

You’d be amazed how many shots don’t hook up because there are so many different people working on them. My job is to make sure that animation hookups are right. I may call for a couple more frames or trim a few to make something work. On a daily basis I’m trimming or extending.
你会很惊异的发现有那么多的镜头无法衔接，因为是由那么多不同的人制作出来的。我的职责就是确定动画的衔接正常。我应该做到让每一个衔接规整或者经过整理让一些正常进行。我每天的基本工作就是衔接和延展。

What happens after animation?
动画制作完以后，下一步是什么？

When it’s finalized, it goes through lighting and shading. Finally, the shot will come back again to live in the Avid, and then it will be sent to the photo science department, where it’s put to film.
当一切定稿了，就是灯光和阴影处理的问题。最终，镜头又将回到Avid的制作，接着就可以把动画发送到图像技术部门产生成片了。

Rumor has it that film editors never sleep. Is it true? Do you sleep?
谣传说在制作这部影片的时候制片几乎没有睡过觉，是真的吗？你有睡过吗？

I actually do sleep. People say to me, “You’re the calmest editor I’ve seen at this place.” My assistants are great, which makes it easy to pull off. It also helps to love what you do. And I love this movie and working here. I got my start in Hollywood, so I can appreciate Pixar a lot more, being treated like a human being rather than how you get treated in Hollywood. And the hours—I work normal hours, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., which was never the case down in Los Angeles.
事实上我当然睡过。人们总是说我，“你是一个很稳重平静的制片，我的确是这样的。”我的助手是很伟大的，总是可以把事情处理得很容易完成。这同样可以帮助你喜爱你做的事，热爱这部电影并且一直为它工作。我的起步在好莱坞，所以我更欣赏Pixar，被加工得像一个人类好过被好莱坞的加工。关于上班时间——我一般工作从早上九点到下午七点，这是在洛杉矶从来没有过的。

Speaking of your past, how did you get started in film editing?
讲讲你的过去吧，你是怎样做起电影制片的？

This was not a plan of mine, to be here. I was going to follow my dad in the business world. He’s in sales—the general manager of a dairy company in Southern California. So I got a business degree and then worked for a couple of years in sales wearing a suit every day and knowing that it wasn’t for me. In 1990 I moved to Florida for a job selling computer software for a hardware dealer who had an early system of the Avid. I was very curious and would play with it off-hours. Meanwhile, my sister did an internship in Los Angeles for the first season of America’s Funniest Home Videos. I was just talking to her one day and was telling her about this really cool system [the Avid] that this guy got. She said, “That’s what all the editors here use. If you ever get bored there, you should come out here.”
这曾经不是我的计划，我是说走到这里。我曾经根随我的父亲在工商界。他是做销售的——在南加州的乳制品厂做总经理。我得到的是商学的学士文凭，然后每天身穿西装做销售做了两三年，我知道那不是我该走的路。在1990年我为工作搬家去了弗罗里达，做的是为一个硬件销售商销售电脑软件，他拥有早期的Avid系统。我非常好奇并且常常在下班后研究。其间，我姐姐在美国最佳娱乐家庭录像做一个季度的实习。我在某一天和她谈起Avid是多么酷的系统。她说：“这里的制片都是用它的，你如果觉得那里无聊的话可以到这边来。“

How long did that take?
那花了多长时间？

A couple of months. I started as a production assistant for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I worked my way up from there. I went from a production assistant to visual effects coordinator, then was bumped up to assistant editor and eventually got an associate editor’s credit. And that was it—I’ve been cutting ever since. I was associate editor on The Iron Giant and stayed at Warner Bros. for Osmosis Jones. I was at MTV for a little bit when Pixar called me to come up here. It’s been cool. It’s been a good ride.
两三个月。我一开始做的是Mighty Morphin Power Rangers的产品助理。我走上这条路就是从那时候开始的。我从一个产品助理到视觉效果协调员，然后忽然升到了助理制片终于和制片有了联系。事情就是这样——之后我一直做剪辑。我曾经是《钢铁巨人》的副制片，那时候是在华纳兄弟娱乐公司。当时是在做Osmosis Jones。 Pixar叫我过去的时候我刚开始做MTV。这一切太酷了，这是一个很好的经历。

Has editing movies affected the way you watch movies you haven’t worked on?
剪辑电影是否影响你看其他不是你制作的电影的感觉？

It hasn’t killed my enjoyment, but it kind of numbed the magic of movies as a viewer. I very rarely get swept up in a movie anymore. I’m constantly dissecting movies when I watch them. I certainly learn new ways of doing things all the time, and it is one of the best ways to research my craft. You can discover new ways to be more economical through cutting, how to create more impact by a simple cut, and certain mistakes to avoid.
那几乎是抹杀了我的享乐，出了很少数的电影魔术我是作为观众的角度去看的。我再看一部电影时非常罕有新鲜感。我总是在看电影的时候分析它。我的确也不断的学习新的方式做事，这也是最好的途径去探索我的专业。你可以探索到新的途径去进行更经济的剪辑方式，怎样用很普通的剪辑达到更有碰撞力的效果，并且避免一些错误。

Are there any editors you look up to?
你有崇拜的制片人吗？

Walter Murch is pretty much my hero. He’s done everything … the Godfather films, Apocalypse Now. He’s done a lot of groundbreaking stuff that we take for granted. Of course, Lee Unkrich is also an editor who I highly respect. Pixar is at the top of the animation game, and Lee has been one of the guys to bring Pixar where it is today.
Walter Murch是我的英雄。他做了一切……比如《教父》这部电影，还有《末日启示录》。他为我们做了奠基作用。当然，Lee Unkrich也同样是我给于及高尊敬的制片人。Pixar站在动画游戏的最顶端，Lee就是把Pixar领导到今天这样一个地位的人之一。

Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in film editing?
你对于那些对制片有兴趣的人有什么好的建议吗？

Go to Hollywood and don’t be afraid to do anything. I was a production assistant and on my off hours at 8 p.m. I would sit for two hours and watch the editor. If it’s something you want to do, take the P.A. job and work hard at that and learn all you can. The most difficult part is getting into a company, but once you do that, the doors open. You gotta make the best of it. You have to let people know what you want and just keep at it. And nowadays, anyone can learn the technical aspects of editing with Final Cut Pro and by watching a lot of movies.
去好莱坞吧，不要害怕任何一件事。我也曾经做过产品助理，也同样工作到晚上八点。我也为了见制片人等待过两个小时。如果你想去做某件事，做产品助理然后努力的工作尽量的学到你所能学到的所有。最难的部分就是怎样进入一家公司，但是一旦你进去了，这扇大门就为你打开了。你必须为此做到最好。你必须让人们知道你想要什么并且持之以恒。如今，任何人都可以用Final Cut Pro（最终剪辑专业版）和看很多的电影学习到编辑的技术技巧。

Steve和妻子

信息来自http://www.ogdev.net由jinjingccg整理翻译