Breaking Baymax： How Disney Found the Story of Big Hero 6《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》是怎樣煉成的

趙青奇

“迪士尼出品，必屬精品”，而這一個(gè)個(gè)精品的背后，卻有著一部部不為人知的“血淚史”。《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》也不例外。且隨下文，走到影片幕后一探究竟吧。

"The first screening is always a disaster. Every time." Robert Baird， co-writer of Disney Animation's superhero cartoon Big Hero 6， has worked at Disney and Pixar long enough to have attended his share of disastrous first screenings of animated movies. "I've never worked on a movie where it was right the first time."

Every Disney Animation film goes through a process that everyone involved calls "iterative1）"， a multi-year effort that's filled with false starts and bad choices. But they all begin with one core idea， and in the case of Big Hero 6 that core idea was a boy and his robot.

“動(dòng)畫電影的首次試映總是慘不忍睹，每次都是這樣?！绷_伯特·貝爾德是迪士尼超級(jí)英雄動(dòng)畫電影《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》的編劇之一。他在迪士尼和皮克斯公司工作有些年頭了，親歷過很多次他參與編劇的動(dòng)畫電影慘不忍睹的首次試映?！拔覐臎]經(jīng)手過一部一次就能過關(guān)的電影?！?/p>

每一部迪士尼動(dòng)畫電影都要經(jīng)歷一個(gè)被所有影片制作人員稱為“迭代尋優(yōu)”的過程。這個(gè)過程包含著長年累月的努力，期間還充斥著種種錯(cuò)誤的開端和糟糕的抉擇。但這些電影在創(chuàng)作之初都只有一個(gè)核心構(gòu)思，像《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》的核心構(gòu)思就是一個(gè)小男孩和他的機(jī)器人。

Start from a Core Idea 從一個(gè)核心構(gòu)思著手

Technically Big Hero 6 adapts a little-known Marvel comic， but the truth is that director Don Hall took only the title and character names from the book， leaving almost everything else behind. It was that boy， Hiro， and his robot， Baymax， that seemed to be the starting place for a movie.

"When Don first pitched2） this idea there was something at its core， this story of a boy who experiences a loss and gets through it with the help of his robot，" says Chris Williams， co-director of Big Hero 6. "That's where you start， and then you get this group of people and embark3） on a journey of years to develop the story."

The standard version of Hollywood screenwriting is a tortured guy typing away on his own （or in a Starbucks）， but the animated process is very different. "It's more like writing a TV show. People sitting in a room talking for months and months，" says Baird. Those people are the story team—the studio's stable of directors and writers and， every now and again， John Lasseter—the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Disney Animation—himself.

That group sits in a room and begins hashing the movie out4）， using the core concept as a starting point. The first problem they have to solve， according to Baird， is answering one question： "What is this movie about？ Not plot-wise， but what are we trying to say？"

Those initial meetings go on for a long time. Ideas are put on a white board and everybody sits around the table and argues. And fights. Fists get pounded on tables. Voices get raised. The story team will break for lunch and dinner at the studio commissary5） and be friendly and then return to the conference room and start yelling at each other again. Eventually those ideas on the whiteboard become story beats6）. Those beats become a 30 page treatment7）. And all along the way the team has to meet with John Lasseter. "At regular intervals you have to pitch to John，" says Baird. "Nothing motivates like that fear."

With Lasseter's guidance （"Story is king" is the Lassterism most quoted in the halls of Disney Animation） that treatment becomes a script. At this point it isn't just writers toiling away on an early， doomed version of the movie； down the hall storyboard artists8） are churning out9） heroic amounts of work while the art department is looking at the basic story beats and trying to design characters and the world. The writers will break the film down into 30 sequences and give them to the storyboard artists， who will create thousands of images for each sequence. "It's crazy to see all the work，" says Baird. "And they do it so FAST."

嚴(yán)格說來，《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》改編自一部鮮為人知的漫威漫畫。但實(shí)際上，導(dǎo)演唐·霍爾只借用了原著的標(biāo)題和角色名稱，其他部分幾乎全都棄而不用。那個(gè)名叫小宏的男孩和他的機(jī)器人大白似乎就是一部電影的起點(diǎn)。

“唐最初選定這個(gè)構(gòu)思的時(shí)候，就已經(jīng)想好了故事的核心，即一個(gè)失去親人的男孩在他的機(jī)器人的幫助下渡過難關(guān)的故事，”《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》的聯(lián)合導(dǎo)演克里斯·威廉姆斯說，“這是第一步的接下來就是組建團(tuán)隊(duì)，開啟一段為期數(shù)年的拓展故事情節(jié)的旅程。”

好萊塢劇本創(chuàng)作的標(biāo)配是：一位飽受折磨的編劇獨(dú)處一室（或是置身星巴克咖啡店），埋頭打字。但是，創(chuàng)作動(dòng)畫電影的過程卻截然不同?！熬巹?dòng)畫更像是寫電視劇，大家要坐在一間屋子里討論好幾個(gè)月?！必悹柕抡f。這些人構(gòu)成了故事編創(chuàng)團(tuán)隊(duì)，其中有迪士尼公司旗下的導(dǎo)演們和編劇們，皮克斯動(dòng)畫工作室和迪士尼動(dòng)畫工作室的首席創(chuàng)意官約翰·拉塞特本人也時(shí)不時(shí)會(huì)加入。

這個(gè)編創(chuàng)團(tuán)隊(duì)坐在一間屋子里，從那個(gè)核心概念出發(fā)開始討論，直到得出整部電影。貝爾德介紹說，他們需要解決的第一個(gè)困難是回答一個(gè)問題：“這部電影要講什么？不是說情節(jié)方面的，而是說我們想要表達(dá)什么？”

這些前期的研討會(huì)持續(xù)很長時(shí)間。大家把一個(gè)個(gè)想法寫在白板上，然后圍坐在桌邊辯論爭吵，人人都捶著桌子，扯著嗓子大吼。午飯和晚飯時(shí)間，編創(chuàng)團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)休會(huì)，在公司食堂用餐，這時(shí)大家都很友好，但一回到會(huì)議室，就又互相爭吵起來。最終，白板上的那些想法變成了一個(gè)個(gè)劇情要點(diǎn)，這些劇情要點(diǎn)又會(huì)變成一個(gè)30頁的電影腳本。在此期間，編創(chuàng)團(tuán)隊(duì)還要跟約翰·拉塞特不斷碰頭?！拔覀兠扛粢欢螘r(shí)間就得向約翰推銷自己的想法，”貝爾德說，“沒有什么比這種憂懼更能激勵(lì)團(tuán)隊(duì)了?！?/p>

在拉塞特的指導(dǎo)下（“故事為王”是迪士尼動(dòng)畫工作室內(nèi)人們引用最多的“拉塞特主義”），腳本變成了劇本。此時(shí)，為注定被斃的電影初剪版辛苦操勞的就不單是編劇了，還有公司里忙得熱火朝天的分鏡師以及研究基本劇情要點(diǎn)、努力設(shè)計(jì)人物形象和場(chǎng)景的美編部。編劇們會(huì)將電影分割成30個(gè)片段，交給分鏡師。接著分鏡師會(huì)為每個(gè)片段繪制數(shù)千幅圖。“看他們工作真是眼界大開，”貝爾德說，“而且他們干活的速度飛快。”

From a Script to the First Version 從劇本到初剪版

大約一年后，劇本就成形了。像《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》的原始劇本約有135頁；按照一頁劇本等于一分鐘畫面的行業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來算，這將生成一部長達(dá)兩小時(shí)的動(dòng)畫電影——片長嚴(yán)重超時(shí)。于是劇本又被壓縮到85頁左右，砍去一大堆角色、細(xì)節(jié)和微不足道的瞬間。

現(xiàn)在的劇本對(duì)應(yīng)的分鏡頭——多達(dá)數(shù)萬個(gè)——被粗略地拼成電影，然后編創(chuàng)團(tuán)隊(duì)就開始著手錄制臨時(shí)的電影配音。編劇和畫師會(huì)親自為初剪版中的角色配音，有時(shí)他們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己一直在給某個(gè)角色配音，直到電影制作完畢。譬如，《冰雪奇緣》里奧肯一角的最終配音就是由該片的聯(lián)合導(dǎo)演克里斯·威廉姆斯完成。

初剪版會(huì)面向一百名左右的員工和值得信任的朋友放映。每個(gè)人看完都表示不喜歡?！俺跫舭嬖囉持?，也許只有一兩個(gè)地方還能保留下來，”貝爾德說，“上千幅圖、上百頁劇本都進(jìn)了垃圾堆?！?/p>

After about a year there's a script. In the case of Big Hero 6 that first script came in around 135 pages； with an industry standard of one script page equaling one minute of screentime that would have been a two hour long cartoon—way too long. That script was culled10） down to about 85 pages， losing tons of characters， details and small moments.

The storyboards for that script—tens of thousands of them—are assembled into a rough approximation of the movie， and the story team gets to work recording a temporary vocal track. The writers and artists themselves will play the parts for this first version of the movie—and sometimes they'll find themselves sticking in the roles all the way through the end of the process. Co-director Chris Williams ended up playing the role of Oaken in the final version of Frozen， for example.

That's what is shown to an audience of about a hundred co-workers and trusted friends. Everybody ends up hating it. "You come out of those screenings and maybe 1 or 2 things will survive，" says Baird. "Thousands of drawings in the garbage. Hundred pages of script in the garbage."

More and More Iterations 不斷的迭代尋優(yōu)

"We work in an environment where we can screen to John Lasseter， to the other directors， to the Story Trust11）， and get feedback，" says Chris Williams. "We have to be very good about knowing what our movie is， what it's going to be， what the strengths and weaknesses are—but at the same time you have to be able to listen to other points of view， people who are challenging your assumptions. It's coming with respect and support and from a place of love， but they will challenge everything about the movie. Through that， through iteration after iteration after iteration， the movie finds itself. You find the tone and the personality. That's our process. You're forgiven when it's not great at first."

Armed with feedback the story team immediately evacuates12） the Disney lot13）. The next meeting after the first screening happens at an off-site retreat14）， so that everybody can yell at each other in a fresh new environment. Then it's back to the whiteboard， this time with the knowledge of what didn't work.

That first screening happens about one year into the development process. There are seven or eight more screenings over the next two or three years， each a new version of the movie launching from the basic core concept. Each version brings them closer and closer to the final product.

“我們的工作環(huán)境允許我們向約翰·拉塞特，向其他導(dǎo)演，向“創(chuàng)意委員會(huì)”試映影片并獲取反饋，”克里斯·威廉姆斯說，“我們必須要非常清楚地知道我們的電影要講什么，會(huì)變成什么樣，有哪些優(yōu)點(diǎn)和缺點(diǎn)。同時(shí)，你還必須能夠聽取那些質(zhì)疑你想法的人的觀點(diǎn)。他們肯提出意見是尊重你，支持你，是善意的，但是他們會(huì)質(zhì)疑與電影有關(guān)的方方面面。通過這么一個(gè)過程，通過一次又一次的迭代尋優(yōu)，電影終于變得像模像樣，基調(diào)和個(gè)性也顯現(xiàn)出來。這就是我們的工作流程。剛開始做得不好并不要緊?！?/p>

編創(chuàng)團(tuán)隊(duì)獲得反饋意見之后，立馬撤離迪士尼制片廠，轉(zhuǎn)移到一個(gè)安靜、隱秘的場(chǎng)所召開初剪版放映后的研討會(huì)，以便大家能在一個(gè)全新的環(huán)境中繼續(xù)爭吵。如此，工作就又回到了白板前，不過這次他們知道哪些地方行不通。

從電影初剪版試映到情節(jié)不斷完善的過程約有一年的時(shí)間。接下來的兩三年間還將有七八次試映，每次都會(huì)推出一個(gè)由電影核心構(gòu)思而來的新版本。新版本日臻完善，越來越接近成品。

Changes Are Severe 改頭換面的變化

The changes over the course of the iterations can be severe. The movie being released in theaters is quite different from that first screening. Some things stay the same， though. "The plot is different， but the idea of San Fransokyo and a boy and his robot， and the transformation of Baymax from a caring， compassionate nurse robot to this badass， meched-out15） warrior are all elements that were in that first screening，" says Don Hall.

Some of the things that are lost find their way back in during the process. In the first version of the film the protagonist， a young robotics genius named Hiro， spends his time in illegal back-alley16） bot fighting. "That went away for a while， the idea of him wasting his talent with bot fighting，" says Hall. "That was in the first screening， and then ideas changed and things came and went， but then it made its way back in—it ended up being a strong core idea. It just didn't work in the context of that first screening."

Live action movies usually begin with a singular vision that is slowly picked apart during the process， but animation comes at story from a totally different angle. It's wholly collaborative， and it involves lots of talented people spending thousands of hours doing work that will never go anywhere， that will never be seen by anyone， that will end up tossed away forever. A live action movie might be in development for a year and shoot for a few months—you could probably make three live action films in the time it took to take Big Hero 6 from an idea to a released film. And every step of that process looks like another failure—screenings of Frozen just a few months before release were reportedly abysmal17）.

"You know that screening after screening you're not making an actual movie—you're making a platform to see what the movie's going to be，" says Williams. "You build a higher and higher platform， but the nice thing is that everyone knows these are the tools to find the movie."

"It's hard，" Briggs18） says. "But I love it. I'm passionate about it."

影片迭代尋優(yōu)過程中的變化可以達(dá)到改頭換面的程度。影院上映的影片跟初剪版差別很大。不過，還是會(huì)有一些地方保持不變?！皟烧咔楣?jié)不同，但舊京山、男孩和他的機(jī)器人以及大白從一個(gè)關(guān)心體貼的護(hù)理機(jī)器人變成厲害的機(jī)械戰(zhàn)士這些構(gòu)思還都是從初剪版開始就有的東西?！碧啤せ魻栒f。

有些被剪掉的內(nèi)容在迭代尋優(yōu)的過程中又被重新放入影片。初剪版里的主人公小宏是一個(gè)年輕的機(jī)器人奇才，整日參與非法的地下機(jī)器人對(duì)戰(zhàn)?！靶『昀速M(fèi)才華參與機(jī)器人對(duì)戰(zhàn)的這段一度遭到刪剪，”霍爾說，“初剪版曾有這段情節(jié)，后來我們的想法不斷變化，幾經(jīng)調(diào)整之后，這段又被放了進(jìn)來，最終還成為一個(gè)突出強(qiáng)調(diào)的核心構(gòu)思。但這段內(nèi)容放在初剪版中就是不合適?！?/p>

真人電影通常從一個(gè)單一的視角緩緩地展開故事，但動(dòng)畫電影講故事的角度完全不同。動(dòng)畫電影從頭到尾需要多方協(xié)作，需要很多有才能的人耗費(fèi)幾千小時(shí)的心血來做一些將不知所終、永不會(huì)見天日、最終付諸東流的工作。一部真人電影可能只需運(yùn)作一年，再拍幾個(gè)月就能完成，而《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》從構(gòu)思到上映耗費(fèi)的時(shí)間估計(jì)都?jí)蛑谱魅空嫒穗娪傲?，而且?dòng)畫電影制作過程中的任何一步都似乎是另一起失敗——據(jù)報(bào)道，《冰雪奇緣》發(fā)行前幾個(gè)月的試映還一團(tuán)糟。

“你明白雖然經(jīng)過一遍又一遍的試映，你不是在做真正的電影——你只是在搭建一個(gè)平臺(tái)，看看電影能變成什么樣子，”威廉姆斯說，“平臺(tái)越建越高，但好在每個(gè)人都知道這正是做出電影的辦法?！?/p>

“動(dòng)畫電影難做，”布里格斯說，“但我喜歡這個(gè)工作。我對(duì)它充滿熱情?！?/p>

11. Story Trust： “創(chuàng)意委員會(huì)”，迪士尼動(dòng)畫工作室為確保所有制片人之間是合作而非競(jìng)爭的關(guān)系而設(shè)立的創(chuàng)意團(tuán)隊(duì)，由10～20名動(dòng)畫導(dǎo)演、編劇和故事版畫師組成。

12. evacuate [??v?kjue?t] vt. 疏散；使撤離；轉(zhuǎn)移

13. lot [l?t] n. 電影攝影場(chǎng)

14. retreat [r??tri?t] n. 靜居處；靜養(yǎng)所

15. meched-out： （mechanized-out的縮寫）被機(jī)械化的

16. back-alley： 秘密的，地下的

17. abysmal [??b?zm?l] adj. 極壞的；糟透的

18. Briggs： 指Paul Briggs （保羅·布里格斯，1975～），《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)》的編劇，也是片中Yama一角的配音。

大白的臉部設(shè)計(jì)靈感從何而來？

大白“兩點(diǎn)一線”的臉部設(shè)計(jì)讓它看起來呆萌無比。導(dǎo)演唐·霍爾表示，這種簡單到極致的設(shè)計(jì)靈感來源于他拜訪日本寺廟時(shí)看到的一種風(fēng)鈴，他說：“I was looking at this temple （in Japan） and I kind of looked up at these bells that were staring down at me and they had that kind of simple two circles with a line. And I was like 'That could be Baymax's face.'”而迪士尼動(dòng)畫首席創(chuàng)意官約翰·拉塞特也十分欣賞這種“少即是多”的設(shè)計(jì)理念。

大白為何人見人愛？

大白如此受人喜愛，一個(gè)重要原因就是它給予了小宏無私的幫助和關(guān)懷。對(duì)此，大白的配音斯科特·埃德希特說：“I think it's because he's without ego. He's there to essentially love you， without expecting anything for himself. I think we all love him because we have our own flaws and he is fairly flawless.”