The Future of Action Cinema with Ang Lee and Will Smith

I want to shoot you bye fine if I shoot You has this ever happened to you before Your own government trying to kill you Nah that's new This is a movie that will expand Filmmaking in the future the way the way We shot it the frame rate we're using And we have a digital human being It's really the first time that the Vision of the film was technologically Able to be realized you can take someone And you can have a 50 year old version And a 23 year old version and it's Photorealistic it's not just technology But still creating art At the Forefront of digital humans from Avatar to the realism and the emotion of Planet of the Apes they've really been Building on success there's also a lot Of new innovation a new development that The what a team pulled together for Junior we are creating a digital human That not only does he look convincing And believable in a frame but he also Looks believable at 120 frames a second Now animation team is to really get to The bottom of like what makes the Essence of a performance what are the Fine little nuances from breathing to Little ticks in the face we've got like A little heartbeat showing in his neck As well we've taken to an extra level That we haven't done before in other Shows

What we put on the screen has to live up To every single drop of What Will Smith Gave on set you got to get every single Little vibration in his skin to convey That sense of emotion and of all the People in the world why would he send You yes I'm the best You are obviously not the best Technology allows the audience to engage In a theatrical experience in a new way Hangs started to experiment with high Frame rate 3D Because he was searching for heightened Experience for the viewer We're shooting in 3D plus to this Evolutionary format where you can see so Much more in a frame really feel like You're there See detail in the fights and detailed Emotions that would be buried in blur at A normal film format [Applause] Look and feel tends to speak to the Younger generation and Aang is really Pushing that technology in spectacular Ways [Music] Yeah Guys we brought Will Smith and Angley to Disrupt yeah Oh yeah [Music] All right a few people have their phones Out that's nice I think you're excited

So I got a chance to see Gemini man About two weeks ago Aang was at the Screening and he described it as a leap Of faith because of the technology we're Going to talk a little bit more about That technology in a second but first I Just want to go back to that moment for Each of you when you realize this is What you were going to do that you're Going to build a young Will Smith on a Computer how nervous were you well I I Was actually uh very excited I just I Just turned uh 51 last week so I was excited by the prospect of having A digital character do my stunts Um because my back and my knees don't Necessarily want to do the stuff that They used to want to do so the idea of a Creation uh when Aang explained what he Wanted to do that it is the first ever Digital human that it's not it's not a De-aged Will Smith it is actually a 100 Digital character and that that made me Uh uh the possibilities of that got me Really excited were you nervous uh Extremely nervous Um I've done I kind of uh when a person Who started all this 20 years ago with Hulk Um that was the first time I think Anybody tried a full digital uh human Then uh 10 years ago I did uh the tiger In Life of Pi quite successfully more so Than Hulk and I know doing digital human

In the back of her head we don't want to Believe it we want to challenge it uh I Know that's the hard part but I know Scientifically in my head I'm not a Scientist but Um it should work and I call it liberal Faith because people invest so much Money in this and I tell them I don't Want the age I want to create full Digital I think it's time it's It's a re it's reachable as we think Rich but nobody has done it or proven it Can be done so I was extremely nervous Not for myself for the investors they Put so so much money in it what if it Doesn't work uh what if people don't Want to believe it what would happen but I feel privileged but at the same time It's a privilege to even give it a try To imitate God's work and play with People's imagination that's a definitely A privilege so one of the other Questions you're asked at the screening And was what did will think when he got To see Junior you know the complete or Near complete Junior for the first time And said who who can say What Will Smith Is thinking but we do have someone on Stage who might have some idea what was It like no when I first saw the first Shot with the the two characters side by Side it was really chilling Um you know because I'm I'm I'm looking At it and it's it's me but it's it's not

It's not it it's not me it's a it's a Completely uh separate character and There there are literally thousands of Artists that are creating every little Nuance of the movement and the the color Of the eyes and the wetness and you know So it there there are thousands of Artists that are creating that so for me That the first time that I saw that Um just the the artistic possibilities What it meant that we could do in movies Now it really blew me away Did you feel like Junior was better Looking than you Um You know I mean if I can be honest with You Anthony I'm glad you brought that up You know You know there there is a there is a Certain Um gorgeousness to age that you just you Know Young Folks can't capture this man Young folks can't capture this where are The 20 year olds are there any 20 year Olds in here yeah see y'all not as Attractive as this yet you know You got to grow into this So let's talk a little bit more about The technology will you were saying like You said that it was not about de-aging It wasn't just about right I don't want To use the word wrinkles because I mean Whatever is happening over there it's Amazing but like it's not about just

Taking your real footage you know they Say black don't crack that's what they Say that's the that's the word on the Street so why did I mean will it what Was it about this approach that appealed To you versus just hey let's do what We've seen in some of the Marvel movies Some of the Star Wars movies already What what why was this the approach you Wanted to take uh for me I look back I'm Old enough to see what if I face my Younger self uh I'm just old enough to Think about that even uh will I don't Know if he does but I think the beauty Is what if which is also the problem That will is a much better actor now Than before right so that's a problem uh But in my in my head we put What's inside of this man and his Attractive young body what would that Creation be that's kind of a Best of Both Worlds and when he faces that in Such media you know I'm doing the 3D With more clarity smoothed out kind of An immersive movie what is that like Actually nobody's seen that even himself Uh his his parents never see him in Close up like this so it's a new Creation that has all the best of will Uh and all the best of all the artists We we work on and we try to make believe See people will believe that or not will Uh is will a younger age is younger age And then honestly I don't really care

What he thinks what that's the movie Does the movie play do they want to Invest that believe you know get him uh Or everything they talk about in the Introduction uh the scientifically That's the actually the easiest part the Study they do into aging is Mind-boggling every cell how emotion Work how age how time do to you to Everything is mind-boggling but when you Get all that right that's just like 10 Of the work the other 90 percent you Just scratch your head why well what's That how God God created a world uh it Is uh nearly crap shoot that's the Hardest part how you play the take that Along to play in such media and make Believe uh that's a new world and also a New uh an old war you try to reinsure And so like you're saying what we see on Screen junior is basically a purely Digital creation but will you were on Set wearing the dots wearing the rigs You had to play a younger version of Yourself what was that like yeah you Know it's really uh a a difficult Undertaking to Try to play naivete right because it's Like once you once you know something it Sits in your in your body like you know It's like Um you know like like once you have sex Right you just walk different you know You just

Got a different Swagger you know so but Like to go back to the mindset and try To remember what were you feeling what Were the emotions before right to it's a Difficult undertaking as an actor to Take your mind take knowledge away you Can always put new things in you want to Play a doctor so you can learn and you Put these new things in and you learn How doctors move and how they think but To to go back to play youth was a was a A very difficult uh undertaking for me How much of that was memory and how much Of it because obviously there's an Incredible amount of footage of you in Your team in your 20s did you have to Watch a lot of that to try to do this Yeah so what what was great that uh that Aang did is he he essentially looked Through my entire filmography and he Created takes of things he went to he Had six degrees of separation and the First bad boys and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Men In Black and Independence Day and he went through and he grabbed These things and he sat me down and I Was like yo this is great this dude's a Real fan and he's looking And he was like uh this is very good Um notice how your eyes communicate the Simple essence of innocence and I'm like Yeah yeah yeah you know that's that's What I was doing back then man And then he went over to the next one he

Says uh this is very very bad Don't do this in my movie And I was like God he just went through all of the Films but what we were able to do is Is able to create a a dialogue we Actually sort of created a language and In that process I saw the depth of what He was trying to do right to try to make A digital character Um communicate a brief moment of Uncertainty and but to do it with binary Code like to be able to try to create Something that to have a computer Capture that Essence was a it was a a Powerful uh undertaking And so once will had done his work on The set you guys I think you said it was Basically a two-year process with what a Digital and they they basically took What you did and they built Junior talk A little bit more about what that Process of working with what it was like As you said it's sort of unprecedented How what were the big challenges Uh two years one years in prep and Shooting and the other one year is post [Music] You want to be a good citizen while Shooting as you plant it so if a big Moves are coming and say I don't feel Like doing that one too so I want to Kill him because we're playing a long Time his part of that planning as well

Too so we're guessing uh educated guess That is very good guess and then we do Mock-ups we try this try that we did a Lot of tests we did our science then we Developed methodology on the shooting Days which is precious the most Expensive time how we capture it layer By layer by layer is very complicated Other than the clumsy 3D cameras and a Lot of technicians and room three room Server technician they all look busy I Don't know what they're doing it's very Time located plus weather people uh They're the people who pull them the Magic there are like dozens of little Cameras measuring this and that and they All look busy I don't know what they do And we should layer by layer and layers So it was like one shot we shoot many Times as you remember it's very Inconvenient but a good thing he's this Man's with good work attic is to go About sometimes within with in that way Without him uh just so we can have all The layers that's clean and then there Comes the the really painful part where It's just painstaking rather You got 500 artists in New Zealand and Try to make it work try to make it work Some shots will take like a year to Realize uh I've I've said that the Hardest thing is everything looks right You still take maybe nine months try to Figure out what why you you will want to

Believe that a young Will Smith is doing That character and that is genuine to be Studied by this how does that feel the Flow of the story Uh I think it's really surprising to Make him look alive it's not the hardest Thing I thought that was the hardest Thing but making a match for how we're Imagining him being a better actor doing Those things uh the the look like Something in the texture and the Lighting and angles you just couldn't Figure out he just kept trying and Trying trying Um sometimes you'll find a little tricks And also I think on top of that why this guy get To pay the big bucks for so long the Will Smith's charm that's the hardest Thing why he did certain thing and People love him why he managing and to Play like a Terminator type of guy and You still want to feed him chicken soup Like what is that secret is that an Economy's eyes raise the eyebrow it's The corner uh he just kept trying until You sort of feel that and also you have To understand when people work watching 3D the difference between people are Much larger than 2D so then you have me Saying one thing the supervisor saying On others the editor said you know the Five people they all tell it's very Difficult but that's also a privilege

That you get to figure that out yeah the Thing that was that was really uh For me uh-oh you already buddy I got you Fell you're good okay all right security Um no the thing the the first thing is It's 120 frame and 3D and so it's so Sharp and you're so close and it's it's It's so clear that the actors couldn't Wear makeup that's how that's how close The camera could detect makeup and it Was it was it would leave a film you Know over over the skin and Ang was like It you know you you don't believe it so In the you know you you get You know raw you know it's wide open and Um what Ann kept talking about that I Loved is to give up keep people a reason To go to a movie theater Where you can see something and Experience something that's different Than you can on your big screen Television at home and the the Revitalizing and the elevating of the Cinema going Experience and was saying people calling It high frame rate and he's like no I Like to refer to everything else in the Cinema as low frame rate and that you Know and that idea to try to really Capture a and and to be at the Forefront Of a new way that people uh watch and Consume films you see through people That's the beauty of it I think close-up Is the the best thing of this media you

Can detect them as if you're in life so Their performance has to be adjusted the Way they prepare character and leaving a Moment uh has to be really judged I I do Believe as harsh as it sounds it seems To be punishing the real high frame rate The sharpness and all that at the same Time you have more to work with it's a Double edged sword at the same time it's Intimidating on the other hand you have So much more to gain you can work on the Things it just got blurred out before so As long as you'll be careful it's very Exciting actually it's scary but it's Very exciting because I mean I do want To talk a little bit about about well at Least for now we're calling High frame Rate and 3D because I think there's I Don't really want to say that something Right Away you said it anyway right right Stroke free and and so I think there's Been with some of the initial films like The Hobbit and then with Billy Lynn Which you made before this I think There's been a little bit of skepticism There's been some people who said hey This doesn't look like a movie this Looks like a soap opera or I don't even Know what this is but it doesn't look Like a movie what why do you think There's that disconnect that you see all These artistic possibilities and people Look at it they say this I don't like

The way this looks I think uh I hate to say this because uh We have a new media we don't know what To do with it we're not good at it That's all someday we'll be good and People enjoy it you create a different Form of art yeah it's definitely a Different uh our our format but what we Know is film that's all we know so we're Imitating something 40 years ago I think That's the problem part of what you're Doing and also figuring it out the Compensation you did for a lower frame Rate or the the grain initial film that Associated with a lot of artistic Approach or even negotiation that Creates the most tremendous hour Experience movies we love movie lens so That's the party with Coco not the media But it's It's the artistic Endeavor in dealing With that media the story you tell the Beauty that's fantastic but now you're Having different media if you do the Same thing of course it doesn't look as Good you have to find the thing that Belongs to this media which I think Involves In more lifelike kind of beauty why we Look at something and say that's Beautiful why is not we have to get to The bottom of it and find the beauty That belongs to Digital Cinema maybe It's Dimension maybe it's a contrast

Maybe it's more lifelike but it's still I found some of the shots I do in 3D It's a lot more beautiful than 2D it's Like there's no way you can film water You can do child stays in water and There's no way you can do that close-up Unless you have Clarity you you have uh Dimension because that's what your eyes Do in real life but when you're that Close to life how do you create art can You dream with Clarity some really Existential questions but we have to be To give us some time we'll get there I Believe this is a new media that are Worth grabbing and that's digital it's Not Technologies technology is a tool Like no 100 000 years ago there's no Such technology as oil painting or Watercolor or even as language if you go Back so let's give us a chance to learn How to do it how to act in it how to Make it look pretty and how we tell Stories how we make believe how we do Our department how we even pull that Focus which is impossible you know you Go through the the focus pulling on him Better than I do when will is about to Do something He has a bigger Filmography than I do and he just know Like half a beat ahead of time while He's tacking along all the digital datas Along with him while he's like a one Second behind will have to be half a

Second ahead of what he's about to do And every ice goes to different places Pulling focus is impossible and you can See it how did he do that How what kind of a technology we we need To develop to accommodate this kind of Artistic Endeavor it's a huge question So give us some time to figure it out Actually give us till October 11th when Gemini man comes out Make sure you go see that That's right so changing subjects Slightly You launched with kaisuke Honda this E-firm called dreamers VC so you are now A venture capitalist you are a startup Investor why did you want to do that Well you know I uh I met with ksk and we You know we just hit it off immediately And you know we felt like there was a a Beautiful intersection between you know Being able to create businesses but also To stay focused on solving problems of The world so we sort of we our Relationship started to develop and then We said ksk had a few banking Relationships in Japan that were looking To make their way into the the the United States so the relationship worked Out well and I had already been Investing and he had already been in Investing and our our values were were In alignment so we we came together and Uh a lot of people that felt the initial

Ideas jumped then we uh Jess water was a You know a company one of the companies That we started We invested in boring uh Tech uh so you Know we we're we're uh we want to solve Some of the world's problems we want to Do well by doing good So outside of um movies what are I mean You've mentioned a couple of companies And they're very different what are like The kinds of technologies that you're Excited about you know well actually We're you know we're here at uh TechCrunch you know we should we should Probably see what's going on in this Space you know I'm wide open I'm wide Open that's that's my cue because He told will that this is a startup Conference he is a startup investor he Wanted to meet some of the startups we Couldn't do the Comic-Con thing of like Putting a mask on you and having I know Around so we're gonna bring some Startups onto the stage these are Startups from the startup alley they're Gonna get 40 seconds to present so it's Going to be extremely time intensive I'm Gonna cut them off they found out like Two or three hours there oh wow in Movies we call that the elevator pit in Movies can you make the elevator yeah so Let's bring out our startups for the Elevator pitch are they ready I love that okay

Are they here hey there they are how you Guys doing hey Okay Uh so we are gonna start with Air B Presenting for Air B is Christian Ramey Christian what's up man I'm good I'm Good that's Quest all right are you Nervous yes very nervous very nervous All right don't worry about it this is This is a just it's only an opportunity Of a lifetime and everything rides on This so just relax into that relax into That all right oh there's Jordan there's Jordan okay where is it where are you Taking them Jordan over there okay so That's the mark all right All right just loosen up uh you're gonna Live or die on this moment go for it 40 seconds I'm Chris from Airbnb cities Are congested with traffic jams and the Last mile is always the least efficient Part of a journey meanwhile people have Bicycle sitting at home that are Underused Um at ARB we want to promote bike Sharing as a mean of Transportation While generating revenues for the bike Owners we have developed a smart bike Lock with a GPS that can be installed on Any bike such that anyone can start a Bike sharing Fleet in just a few minutes Um You can install it on your bike and Start to make money money by sharing it

And we just take a few a small fee thank You Well you got questions All right so so it's it's uh similar to You like the the Uber Vibes of of bikes How is it how is it different from the The uh was the was it bird what was the Company that did the burden lime yeah Yeah so letters right now what what do You think you're improving on so um we Don't provide the bikes so we use the Bikes of private people and they can Make money with it and we share the the Fee okay all right I like that I like That Anthony do you have anything no I'm Good Air B well done I like that good Job join them good job and while we've Got our next company coming up it's Bitter construction app presenting is Cody Sheehan Cody what's up Cody how you guys doing I'm good how you feeling you good You're nervous all right you're you're Not new you gotta use the microphone You're talking to microphone Cody all Right all right so listen so this is Good you're you're very handsome Cody so That's already working for you okay Yeah I heard somebody when you walked Out somebody went whoo all right so That's you're already in a good place so You should sell your handsomeness along With your product okay sounds good you Got it all right go

Hi guys I'm Cody with bitter bitter Connects Latino construction workers With jobs in the U.S Our mission is to empower Latino Communities and bring efficiency back to The 1.3 trillion dollar industry in 2019 Alone we project over a million new Immigrants entering the country And at the same time there's a 79 Percent Mass labor shortage currently Our app serves 40 location-based Construction Crews at an 84 retention Rate this underserved deskless Workforce Is missing the technology to help them Connect with home owners you're out of Time All right so I like that idea I like That you know the idea so trying to Solve the problem all right so the the The app is already up and running it is Okay what what cities what states so Right now we're focusing on Houston Dallas San Francisco and San Diego okay Um So how how do you how do you handle the Clearing of the workers uh documented or Otherwise how how does that function you Know currently we're in a really large Swing in One Direction and I believe That in the next year or two we're going To be pushing in the opposite direction And this is the time where bitter can Capitalize on that swing and that change Of momentum how are you how are you

Interfacing the the company with the the Workers so we're a two-sided marketplace Where we have an app which is also in English and Spanish for the workers and Then we have the app which is the Homeowner user interface all right okay So it's direct from it's the home owner To so it's not like Um it could also be larger construction Jobs we're kind of small to mid-sized Jobs all right so what's the majority Right now majority is home owner to Worker yeah the majority would be that Way all right so how do you how do you Monitor how the jobs went how it went With the the the people how are you Um so as the jobs get called into our System we input them into the database And the construction workers in lifetime Can view the new jobs and place bids Yeah any questions you guys have Anything good I think we should bring up The next okay next one all right I'm Taking too much so much better Construction app all right next up we Have mood bit presenting from moodbit is Miho Shoji oh no sorry it's socionado Kofi frimpong Kofi what's happening Kofi What's going on what's Happening yes so Did you know that 75 of people check out Your company's social media channels Before even applying for a position at That company why is that because in Order to attract the best talent and

Engage and retain the best employees Companies need to effectively showcase Their culture at an affordable monthly Contract socionado customizes and Matches companies with freelance Employer brand teams that create content Showcasing company called sure workplace Environment and diversity and with over 250 freelance employer brand teams on Our platform socionado wants to tell the Stories behind the people and the Culture that make companies great and We're excited about this 10 billion Dollar HR tech industry thank you Time nice Oh okay I'm in I'm in now um no so yeah As you can imagine that's something That's really close to to your content Back yeah that's right you know so as I Built out uh my social media team that Was the idea that I wanted to take back My storytelling from uh you know from The Daily Mail right so I wanted I Wanted to tell you I wanted to take back My my storytelling and I think that's That's hugely important so how how is it Working between how do you interface the Company with picking the person that They're going to use to yeah so Obviously a lot of companies they care About social media for their products But they forget the HR team sometimes Forget about the actual culture and People that that are used to attract

Talent so we manage customize and manage Uh match them with a team the team Usually creates like a creative director A project manager and then videographers Photographers and they integrate with The HRT team to create you know employee Testimonials you know company Announcements you know new things that Are happening with the company Um and some companies even like Netflix For instance they have a whole separate Channel showcasing their entire employee Brand and we want to bring that to you Know Enterprises that don't typically Use content to attract and maintain you Know employees and and things of that Nature all right that is wildly wildly Expensive I know that uh firsthand how Are you cutting down uh it is expensive We're definitely targeting like series B Funded companies and larger Enterprises But we're still more affordable in say Like a creative agency that's going to Bang them over the head uh with that so That's why we have like these freelance Employer brand teams and our Freelancers That are part of these employer brand Teams they have experience working with Large companies and Enterprises so even Though our prices are still expensive It's it's a better option than say you Know some of the other options with Larger creative agencies that might want To be involved in creating content you

Know showcasing their workplace and Environment thank you coffee that was uh That's very good all right social That's very good you got one more one More one more One more this is moodbit presenting as Miho Shoji yes yes hi everybody how is Your mood today spectacular great my Name is I am the co-founder and CEO of Moodbid we are a people analytics Company focused on employee sentiments To improve engagement and retention Companies in the US are losing more than 600 billion dollars every year because Of disengagement and turnover we Integrate our AI platform to internal Communication platforms like slack Gmail Or Microsoft platforms so we can Understand there's employee sentiments And managers can have real-time scores Of the sentiments and they don't have to Wait for the results of service once or Twice a year service but on top of that The analytics is not enough we are Providing to uh to the managers with Action plans so they can have happier Employees Thank you very much I know they get we Have a red triple zero I will I will Speak to you backstage thank you thank You very much Okay yeah that's right that's no that's The triple zero for the 40 seconds oh For the 40. okay because it was white

And then it turned red either that or They didn't tell me something they Didn't tell you we're good okay so so You are the the CEO how many people are You working with right we're a small Team we're seven people you're you're Seven people so what what have you done So far right in in terms of uh working In the workplace what have you uh we Created we create a concept we create The product we launched the product and Well now right now we are working with Enterprises as Accenture or we have a Partnership with Deloitte and um Ernest And Young okay all right I'm sorry all Right yes I'm sorry I got I got Distracted I'm very sorry but yes I will I will speak to you backstage I'm sorry I got distracted okay Okay so I don't I don't want to put you On the spot because now I've seen these Four pitches are you comfortable saying Is there a favorite that you would like To bring up here for a selfie with you I Think I think hopefully the the the the The the most beautiful and aggressive Yeah [Applause] And I think also you know that that that Was the the really the best pitch so We're gonna rock a selfie and but this Selfie uh I'm gonna let you use uh for For promotion be because I'm I'm gonna Invest 10 grand in your business wow

Making some news Yeah Great energy I love that thank you all Thank you all thank you very much Big round of applause for our startups Please that's yeah great work startups Great job you guys can go ahead and exit All right good job Will Smith Angley We're getting the hook yes go thank you Guys very much thank you thank you thank You Thank you thank you thank you very much Thank you so much You surprised