好莱坞视觉特效走向全球

 　　LOS ANGELES — Many of today’s Hollywood blockbuster movies include stunning¹ visual effects. Most of those effects used to be produced in Hollywood, but that has changed. Now, one film can include visual effects produced in many different countries.

　　Tommy Williamson is passionate² about filmmaking . As a former visual effects supervisor³, he worked on many Hollywood blockbusters, but not anymore.

　　“It kind of breaks my heart to leave the whole thing; in fact I don’t even say that I left. I said it left me," said Williamson.

　　Thanks to technology, visual effects work can be done anywhere in the world and more Hollywood films are including work from other countries.

　　"In the last five to seven years is where you’ve seen an explosion of content getting processed in different parts of the world," said Venkatesh Roddam, chief executive officer of India-based Reliance MediaWorks. "Not just India, but China, Taiwan, Korea, India; these are all the markets that content from Hollywood is going to.

　　Countries such as India offer lower costs, and some are offering financial incentives⁴ for work to be done there.

　　“I’ve been at 12 different visual effects companies. [I’ve] been on the staff of five, all of which have gone bankrupt for one reason or another; basically it’s only two, the way we work and the subsidy⁵ race that’s driven so many of them out of business," said Dave Rand.

　　Rand and Daniel Lay, co-founders of the Association of Digital Artists, Professionals &Technicians, say that subsidies⁶ offered by other countries are driving work out of Hollywood. He says the solution lies in the U.S. federal courts.

　　“The United States government puts very strong anti-subsidy laws that have been around for years that allow for domestic industries that are being injured by these international subsidies to seek relief through the trade courts," Lay said.

　　He wants a U.S. federal court to levy⁷ a mandatory⁸ tax on the work produced outside the U.S.

　　“It’s not a progressive idea. “You are actually artificially pumping up the cost. You are limiting talent availability," said Roddam.

　　Roddam says currently Hollywood can draw from an international talent pool.

　　It’s benefiting artists like Kunal Chindarkar, who works on Hollywood movies from Singapore for visual effects company Double Negative.

　　“The people that are working with me right now in Double Negative are...are from all over the world. We have people from Australia, from U.K., from France," he said.

　　Roddam says working with Hollywood improves the quality of work worldwide. He says the key to a visual effects company’s survival is to also branch out into other areas of filmmaking.

　　Firms also need a presence in countries where the work is done, and that includes the U.S.

　　“You cannot survive in this marketplace without a physical presence here," Roddam said. "So from that perspective, companies like ours will continue to create American jobs in America, rather than actually think about how much of this work is going to Canada or U.K. or India or China.

　　Roddam also says the visual effects industry will continue to evolve and those who want to stay in the business will have to continue to adapt.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

3 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。