The tech of ‘Terminator 2’ – an oral history (2017)

《终结者2》的技术——口述历史（2017）

The tech of ‘Terminator 2’ – an oral history Illustration by Aidan Roberts. Ever since James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released in 1991, I’ve been reading about the many ways ILM, led by visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren, had to basically invent new ways to realise the CG ‘liquid metal’ T-1000 shots in that film, of which there are surprisingly few. 《终结者2》的技术——口述历史。插图：Aidan Roberts。自詹姆斯·卡梅隆的《终结者2：审判日》于1991年上映以来，我一直阅读关于工业光魔（ILM）在视觉特效总监丹尼斯·穆伦（Dennis Muren）的带领下，如何从零开始发明新技术来实现片中CG“液态金属”T-1000镜头的故事，而这类镜头在片中的数量其实少得惊人。

Tools like ‘Make Sticky’ and ‘Body Sock’ are ones that I’d heard referenced several times, but I’ve always wanted to know more about how those pieces of software were made. So, over the past few months, leading up to the re-release of Terminator 2 in 3D, I’ve been chatting to the artists behind the technology who were there at the time. 像“Make Sticky”和“Body Sock”这样的工具我曾多次听说，但我一直想深入了解这些软件是如何开发出来的。因此，在过去几个月里，随着《终结者2》3D重映版的临近，我采访了当时身处现场、负责这些技术的艺术家们。

This was when ILM was based in San Rafael, and when its computer graphics department was still astonishingly small. Yet despite the obvious challenges in wrangling this nascent technology, the studio had been buoyed by the promising results on a few previous efforts, including Cameron’s The Abyss, and by the possibilities that digital visual effects could bring to modern-day filmmaking. 那时工业光魔的总部还在圣拉斐尔，其计算机图形部门规模小得惊人。尽管在驾驭这项新兴技术时面临着显而易见的挑战，但工作室此前在几个项目（包括卡梅隆的《深渊》）中取得的成果，以及数字视觉特效为现代电影制作带来的无限可能，给了他们极大的鼓舞。

For this special retro oral history, vfxblog goes back in time with more than a dozen ILMers (their original screen credits appear in parentheses) to discuss the development of key CGI tools and techniques for the VFX Oscar winning Terminator 2, how they worked with early animation packages like Alias, and how a selection of the most memorable shots in the film – forever etched into the history of visual effects – came to be. 在这篇特别的怀旧口述历史中，vfxblog与十几位工业光魔的成员（括号内为他们当年的职衔）一起回溯往昔，探讨了为荣获奥斯卡最佳视觉效果奖的《终结者2》开发关键CGI工具和技术的过程，他们如何使用Alias等早期动画软件，以及片中那些被永远铭刻在视觉特效史上的经典镜头是如何诞生的。

Gearing up the computer graphics department

筹备计算机图形部门

Tom Williams (computer graphics shot supervisor): I actually worked full-time for both Pixar and ILM for most of T2. Then I realised that was really dangerous. I would fall asleep, driving home once, and freaked myself out and realised you can’t really do that. So towards the end of T2 I went over to ILM full time. The way I got there originally was, I got invited by [visual effects producer] Janet Healy and [visual effects supervisor] Dennis Muren because I had worked at a company called Alias, which did modelling and animation tools. Tom Williams（计算机图形镜头主管）：在《终结者2》的大部分制作期间，我实际上同时在皮克斯和工业光魔全职工作。后来我意识到这太危险了。有一次我在开车回家的路上睡着了，把我吓坏了，我意识到这根本行不通。所以到了《终结者2》后期，我转为在工业光魔全职工作。我最初加入是因为受到了[视觉特效制片人] Janet Healy和[视觉特效总监] Dennis Muren的邀请，因为我曾在一家名为Alias的公司工作，该公司专门开发建模和动画工具。

This still from the documentary ‘Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible’ shows ILM crew members at work on Terminator 2. 这张来自纪录片《工业光魔：创造不可能》的剧照展示了工业光魔的工作人员在制作《终结者2》。

George Joblove (computer graphics shot supervisor): Each single gig at ILM was a small step above what we’d done before. And we were fighting with the limited computing resources we had at the time. We had done The Abyss which was a big step forward in a couple ways. First of all, in demonstrating what was possible and achieving it. Second of all, working for Cameron who had that great vision for how it could be used in The Abyss. With that film, had we not been able to pull it off, there would have been ways to work around it. But I don’t think there was any such opportunity in T2. George Joblove（计算机图形镜头主管）：在工业光魔的每一个项目都是在我们之前工作基础上的小步跨越。我们当时在与有限的计算资源作斗争。《深渊》的制作在几个方面都是一大进步。首先，它证明了什么是可能的并将其实现。其次，为卡梅隆工作，他对于如何运用这些技术有着宏大的愿景。在那部电影中，如果我们无法实现某种效果，还有其他变通方法。但在《终结者2》中，我认为没有任何变通的机会。

Eric Enderton (computer graphics software developer): Terminator 2 was my first big movie. I saw The Abyss in the SIGGRAPH film show and thought: I want to work for those guys. Fortuitously the CG group had decided to hire their first tools writer. They had lots of software but it was all being written by the same people who were doing the shots. I was the first ‘software-only’ person in ILM computer graphics, which obviously was a huge learning experience and just an amazing time. Eric Enderton（计算机图形软件开发人员）：《终结者2》是我参与的第一部大片。我在SIGGRAPH电影展上看了《深渊》，心想：我想为这些人工作。幸运的是，CG小组当时决定招聘他们的第一位工具开发人员。他们有很多软件，但都是由负责制作镜头的同一批人编写的。我是工业光魔计算机图形部门第一位“纯软件”人员，这显然是一次巨大的学习经历，也是一段美妙的时光。

Jay Riddle (computer graphics shot supervisor): I was working at ILM for several years and had learned how to animate by sitting with John Lasseter when he was in the Graphics Group, which was part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm at the time. They were using this vector graphics display that they used with their own in-house software that they’d written, and they had this frame buffer. They were still in our building, and then they moved out to one of the other Lucasfilm buildings while they were trying to spin off and get their own place, which they eventually did. And just as they left were doing The Abyss, and then they were kind of fully gone by the time T2 came around. Jay Riddle（计算机图形镜头主管）：我在工业光魔工作了几年，通过与约翰·拉塞特（John Lasseter）共事学会了动画制作，当时他在图形小组，那是卢卡斯影业计算机部门的一部分。他们使用一种矢量图形显示器，配合自己编写的内部软件，还有帧缓存。他们当时还在我们大楼里，后来在寻求独立并寻找新办公地点时搬到了卢卡斯影业的其他大楼，最终他们确实独立了。他们离开时正在制作《深渊》，等到《终结者2》开始时，他们基本上已经完全离开了。

Visual effects art director Doug Chiang, in addition to sketching many incarnations of the T-1000 at different stages, also performed digital manipulation fix-its to final shots. Image via ILM Facebook page. 视觉特效艺术总监Doug Chiang除了绘制T-1000在不同阶段的多种形态外，还对最终镜头进行了数字处理修复。图片来自工业光魔Facebook页面。

Michael Natkin (computer graphics software developer): I showed up at ILM in a suit, which was hilarious. I remember Eric Enderton and George Joblove and a few other folks took me up to the Ranch for lunch and showed me around and I was like, ‘Sure. Hell, yeah. I’ll do this. Let’s make it happen.’ I knew a lot about computer graphics, but nothing about movies whatsoever, so there was quite a learning curve. Michael Natkin（计算机图形软件开发人员）：我穿着西装出现在工业光魔，这太搞笑了。我记得Eric Enderton、George Joblove和其他几个人带我去牧场吃午饭并带我参观，我当时想：“当然，太棒了。我干了。让我们把它实现吧。”我对计算机图形了解很多，但对电影一窍不通，所以学习曲线相当陡峭。

Jonathan French (computer graphics animator): The process of even starting at [ILM] was kind of novel. I landed in SFO at 11am and after finding an airport car rental agency that would rent to someone 23 years old I drove straight to ILM in Marin. I think after I signed the NDA they immediately handed me the script to read, a small stapled booklet on ILM film terminology and tools, and then about ten people on the team kindly took me to lunch at an Afghan restaurant, which I am pretty sure was the only Afghan restaurant in Marin. The next morning in dailies I got introduced by Douglas Kay to the team in the screening theatre and everyone turned around and applauded. Three things go through your mind at that point: one, how supportive these people are, two, I better live up to my own expectations, and three, I better live up to theirs. It worked out ok. Jonathan French（计算机图形动画师）：在[工业光魔]入职的过程本身就很新奇。我上午11点降落在旧金山机场，在找到一家愿意租车给23岁年轻人的租车行后，我直接开车去了马林的工业光魔。我想在我签署保密协议后，他们立刻递给我剧本阅读，还有一本关于工业光魔电影术语和工具的小册子。随后，团队里大约十个人好心地带我去了一家阿富汗餐厅吃午饭，我敢肯定那是马林唯一的阿富汗餐厅。第二天早上在样片审阅会上，Douglas Kay在放映厅向团队介绍了，每个人都转过身来鼓掌。那一刻，脑海里闪过三件事：第一，这些人太支持我了；第二，我最好能达到自己的期望；第三，我最好能达到他们的期望。结果一切都很顺利。

Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams (computer graphics animation supervisor): I was at Alias and had been pushing for VA – video animation – but Alias was into the ID which stood for industrial design. At the time, VA was this very small budding thing. Then ILM called and they had purchased a cut of Alias, and so they first thing they had me do was a ride they were doing at Epcot Center called Body Wars – it was a fly-through of the heart. Then James Cameron came to ILM with The Abyss and from there we went on. Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams（计算机图形动画主管）：我当时在Alias工作，一直致力于推动VA（视频动画），但Alias当时专注于ID（工业设计）。那时，VA还是一个非常微小的新兴事物。后来工业光魔打来电话，他们购买了Alias的软件，我做的第一件事就是为艾波卡特中心（Epcot Center）的一个名为“身体战争”（Body Wars）的游乐项目工作——那是一段穿梭于心脏内部的飞行镜头。随后詹姆斯·卡梅隆带着《深渊》来到工业光魔，从那时起我们便开始了后续的合作。