CG technology brings Paul Walker back to life in Fast and Furious 7

Along with the collision of a red Ferrari and a green Lamborghini near the Bird's Nest, and the release of "Fast and Furious 7" in China, it seems that the hot topic is not the plot of the film itself, but the actor Paul Walker who died in a car accident in November 2013. CG technology has made him "resurrected" in "Fast and Furious 7" even though he had not completed the filming.

Paul Walker Returns from the Dead

Just a few days before the car accident, Paul was interviewed to promote "Fast & Furious 7". At that time, he had only completed part of the filming of "Fast & Furious 7". After receiving the bad news, screenwriter Chris Morgan began to rewrite the script to let Paul's character die in the play. But out of respect for the deceased and financial considerations, Universal Pictures did not plan to reshoot. The work of "resurrecting" Paul using CG technology fell on the shoulders of Weta Special Effects, which had created special effects for "Lord of the Rings".

CG is the abbreviation of computer graphics, which means computer graphics technology. Taking "Fast and Furious 7" as an example, the following process was required to "resurrect" Paul through CG technology: First, Paul Walker's two younger brothers Cody and Caleb confirmed to play Paul's stand-in, and director James Wan also selected clips from Paul's works before his death. The old video materials and the stand-in with similar appearance provided irreplaceable help for the special effects company to collect facial expressions. Then, a multi-angle facial model was produced through CG technology, and multiple virtual expressions were produced. Finally, the expressions were connected to generate dynamic images. In addition, Paul's voice was also collected, and with the help of his brother, Brian's dubbing was completed throughout the film.

The realistic restoration of the characters, combined with people's remembrance of Paul Walker, gives this movie multiple layers of meaning.

After the film was released, American netizens launched a campaign to identify which parts of the film were Paul Walker himself and which were "stand-ins + CG" technology. Netizens revealed that the first shot of Brian in the film was 100% of Paul Walker himself. The Brian that appeared around the 15-minute mark in the film was created with CG technology.

Robin Shenfield is the CEO of The Mill, which successfully handled the special effects for the Oscar-winning film "Gladiator". The CG techniques he described are exactly the same as those used for Paul Walker this time. "Oliver Reed was unable to continue to participate due to illness, so we captured his expressions from some scattered footage he had shot before, and then we made a digital mask and loaded this digital mask into the film shot by the stand-in."

Wide application of CG technology

In fact, CG technology has been used in both advertisements and films with extremely difficult and dangerous performances. In 2013, Audrey Hepburn appeared in a British chocolate advertisement. Although the short film is less than 60 seconds long, it took a year to complete. Before production, a large amount of Audrey Hepburn's video materials were referenced, and computer technology experts used CG technology to produce it. Even Hepburn's two sons thought that this video really captured their mother's charm.

Kung Fu superstar Bruce Lee was also "resurrected" by CG technology in "Ip Man 3".

At present, the software used for modeling and setting materials in CG includes 3ds Max, Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop, and Imageworks. Of course, the top 3D production software Cenima 4D and Softimage are generally used in Hollywood movies. CG animation and special effects production require the use of multiple software. In addition to the above software, it also includes LightWave, Houdini, MotionBuilder, Animanium, and Massive, which are mainly used for 3D human body scanning, motion capture, particle special effects production, etc. The mainstream rendering software Renderman can be well combined with Maya, Houdini and 3ds Max software.

The synthesis software that can perfectly integrate reality and virtuality can be divided into two categories according to their tracking functions: one is the synthesis software with built-in tracking function, called 2D-Tracking, including After Effect, Combustion, Digital Fusion, Inferno, Flame, and Shake. The other is the camera lens motion path tracking software, also known as 3D-Tracking, including BOUJOU and 3D Equalizer.

Although some CG characters look very sci-fi, actors are needed in the production. The material collection is completed through the motion capture of the actors, and then further production can be carried out. So the actors don’t have to worry about losing their jobs for the time being. And the special effects makeup artists don’t have to worry, because CG special effects are for those needs that cannot be filmed in real life. Regardless of cost or time considerations, no producer will use time-consuming, costly and laborious CG technology to make a scarred face that could have been completed with special effects makeup.

There is also CG that does not require real people, and that is the CG technology used in the construction industry. In the early years, domestic post-production teams often used CG technology to produce real estate simulation films and advertisements for real estate developers. Now, CG is also a very popular technology in architectural design and architectural effect display.

Regarding CG technology, James Cameron once said: "Digital technology gives us the ability to create different worlds. Now we can imagine a world out of thin air, and then use modern CG image reproduction technology to present it." Perhaps as they said, CG technology is creating a different world.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.