John Lasseter explained: "Mr. Williams, the girl's movements are indeed a little stiff. Before the production, I have reminded Mr. Hansen of this problem. It was Mr. Hansen who insisted that we make it to see the effect. of."
Eric looked at Jeffrey, who nodded.
"Couldn't it be possible to make it smoother? Mr. Lasseter, money is not a problem. This title logo may be used for many years, of course we must strive for excellence."
John Lasseter shook his head and said: "Mr. Williams, I promise, this is already the highest level of 3D animation. Pixar only started to try human motion modeling last year. Compared with the last short film " The baby in Tin Soldier, the little girl in red in this title has moved a lot more smoothly. Other studios can’t even do this level.”
When Eric heard the name "Tin and Iron Soldier", a thought flashed in his mind, but he didn't grasp it. His main attention was still on the opening title of Firefly.
Since it could not be improved any more, Eric and Jeffrey discussed in a low voice.
In the 30 second title? , except for the slight flaw in the picture of the girl opening the bottle cap and releasing the fireflies, everything else is perfect. Moreover, after editing, the opening logo is generally about 15 seconds long. For shorter ones, such as the trailer to be played on the Super Bowl, you may only be able to insert the short five seconds of the two words firefly-film drawn by fireflies. Therefore, 30 seconds of short film material is enough to cut out a more perfect logo.
In this case, Eric did not ask Pixar to rework, and the next thing was much simpler, signed the document, paid the final payment to John Lasseter, and completed all this, John Lasseter refused Eric's dinner Invited, was about to leave, Eric suddenly stopped John again.
"Mr. Lasseter, I remember you just mentioned Tin Soldier?"
John Lasset nodded: "Yes, Mr. Williams, we started producing this short film in February last year. It's about five minutes long, and it has already been declared for this year's Oscar for best short film."
Hearing Oscar mentioned by the other party, Eric was completely sure.
"John, don't mind if I call you that. You can call me Eric. If you don't have any urgent business, can you stay and chat for a while? I'm very interested in 3D animation."
John Lasseter took a serious look at Eric's expression, and he suddenly remembered that Eric was about to become the youngest billionaire in Hollywood with the box office of the movie "Home Alone". And Pixar is now at the end of its rope, and may collapse at any time. Perhaps, the young man in front of him could save Pixar.
Thinking of this, John Lasseter became eager in his heart: "Of course no problem, Eric."
In the meeting room of Firefly, John Lasseter explained: "The idea of "Tin Soldier" came from my little nephew. Last Christmas, I saw him crawling around in a pile of toys, sorting things out. Good toys make a mess. Then came the idea for this animated short, Eric, and if you're interested, I can call my assistant and send the video over."
Eric also noticed the eagerness in John Lasseter's eyes, and at the same time confirmed that now is the best chance to win Pixar. If memory is correct, the reason why Pixar was able to attract the attention of the animation giant Disney, and finally signed a contract with Disney for three 3D animation films, is because "Tin Soldier" won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film Award.
Originally Eric thought he would have five or six years to win Pixar, but now that he thinks about it, if Pixar signs a contract with Disney again like in his previous life, there will be huge variables in his desire to win Pixar again.
In order to let John Lasseter know that he is really interested in 3D animation, Eric agreed to John's proposal: "If it's convenient, please ask your assistant to come."
John Lasseter made a call, and half an hour later, Eric and the others returned to the screening room again.
…
The new toy soldier looked at everything in the room curiously, and a silly baby crawled in. Xiaobing is full of expectations for the new owner. But the baby's rudeness to the toys forced Xiaobing to try to escape from the baby's claws, but the tinkling musical instrument on his body attracted the baby's attention, so a chasing battle of different sizes began...
John Lasseter is sitting on Eric's right. As the animation plays, John explains to Eric some technical difficulties in the seemingly simple picture with simple sentences in a low voice.
Eric listened carefully, nodding his head from time to time to express his understanding. The animation ended quickly. Although I really wanted to complain about the baby's appearance in the animation, Eric still praised the animation on the surface.
There is no way, whether it is animation or games, Westerners strive to be realistic when making them. Eric, who is an Easterner in his bones, looks like one word: ugly. In comparison, the animations and games produced by Orientals, regardless of their inner quality, the characters are quite beautiful. This point is more prominent in 3D games. Just by looking at whether the character is beautiful, you can determine the approximate origin of a game.
After the animation was played, Eric and the others did not leave the screening room again, but continued to chat about the topic of 3D animation. Compared with John Lasseter, who did not have much confidence in 3D technology, Eric did not have much confidence in 3D technology. The development prospects of 3D animation are well known. After talking, Eric couldn't help but reveal a little bit of the idea of "Toy Story".
"Eric, you must have seen "Tin Soldier" before you came up with this idea. I actually had the idea of making a 3D animated feature film, but, you know, with the current situation of Pixar, I want to realize this idea. The plan is totally out of the question."
Finally got to the point, Eric put on a more serious look, and asked in a low voice, "John, is Jobs about to run out?"
This matter is not a secret in the industry, as long as there is a heart, it can be found out. John Lasseter did not hide anything: "Jobs just sold Pixar's hardware department, and now only the software animation department is left. If there is no miracle," John said here, looking at AI with expectation. Rick glanced at it and continued, "Pixar Studios will either be disbanded or sold, but not many people are willing to take over."
"Why is no one willing to take over? Pixar's technology should be the most advanced in the industry, right?"
John Lasseter hesitated for a moment on this question, watching Eric, the possible beneficiary, struggle for a few seconds, but in the end he was just a fanatical technician in his bones, not a businessman who was used to intrigue, but in the end he was Decided to tell the truth: "Because 3D animation technology is too expensive, and there is not much output. Unless the animation studio is bought, it can have a complementary effect on other departments, such as giants like Microsoft, or movie special effects companies, otherwise , no one will take over this purely money-burning studio."
Eric was very satisfied with John Lasseter's frankness. He pretended to think for a minute, whetted John Lasseter's appetite, and then said: "John, I am very interested in 3D animation. After "Home", I have a lot of money to invest, so if possible, I would like to buy Pixar and invest in the production of 3D feature-length animation, um... the toy idea we just talked about is good."
John Lasseter thought that Eric would lose interest when he heard his explanation, but he didn't expect to hear such words, and he didn't know what to say for a while.
The two had a nice chat just now, and he still had a good impression of this young man, so John instinctively didn't want Eric to fall into the 'quake' of Pixar again like Jobs. The reason why Jobs, a billionaire, left now To the point of desperation, it is because Pixar kept drawing funds from him, but did not create corresponding economic benefits.
But on the other hand, he really loves 3D animation technology very much, otherwise, he would not have repeatedly rejected the olive branch of his old club Disney, and stayed in this Pixar studio that everyone is not optimistic about.
After thinking about it, John Lasseter proposed a compromise: "Eric, I don't think you need to buy Pixar at all. If you are interested in 3D animation, you can invest in a 3D animation from Pixar." Cartoons, it doesn't cost too much money, and if... fails, you can get away with it."
Eric was a little surprised that from John's own standpoint, he was able to make such a pertinent suggestion, instead of doing everything possible to fool himself into the game.
But if he really did as John suggested, it would be tantamount to being a living Lei Feng and making a wedding dress for Jobs. After the success of "Toy Story" in the previous life, Pixar's stock price skyrocketed, and Jobs stepped directly from the brink of bankruptcy to the ranks of billionaires.
Eric put on the tone of a rich and self-willed young man: "No, John, please send a message to Mr. Jobs for me. I am willing to buy Pixar studio for $20 million. If this deal is reached, I will Will invest $30 million to make an animated film."
"Eric, I don't think Jobs will agree to 20 million US dollars. He has invested no less than 20 million in Pixar over the past few years."
Eric said: "John, there are profits and losses in business. If you invest as much as you need to get back more, then it's not a business. You can just send my message to Mr. Jobs, 20 million, one time It’s not much, I’m busy and I don’t have time to argue about the price, if Mr. Jobs is not satisfied with the price, then don’t contact me, I believe he will make a wise choice.”
"In that case, well, I will truthfully bring your message to Jobs."
After sending John Lasseter away, Eric said to Jeffrey, who had held back for a long time: "Jeffrey, why didn't you hold back and persuade me this time?"
Jeffrey spread his hands: "You know it's useless, so why talk so much. But since you asked, I still have to say that buying Pixar is definitely not a wise choice."
Eric chuckled and joked, "I wanted to make a bet with you, but unfortunately you don't have anything I'm interested in, so forget it."