杰克逊生前在洛杉矶进行演唱会彩排的照片

　　Michael Jackson never stopped shaping new material, his collaborators on a comeback concert say. When the singer died suddenly on June 25, his creative crew carried on to repurpose his unfinished live show -- including a new militaristic dance routine -- for the big screen. The resulting film, 'This Is It,' opens Wednesday nationwide and in 62 other countries.
迈克尔•杰克逊(Michael Jackson)复出演唱会的合作者说，杰克逊仍在不断为人们提供新素材。这位歌坛巨星6月25日突然身故后，他的创意团队继续将他未完成的现场表演加以 重新利用（包括一套新的军队舞蹈动作），搬上大银幕。由此改编的电影《就是这样》(This Is It)将于下周三在全美及另外62个国家首映。

　　Among the challenges the team faced: staying true to Mr. Jackson's vision with a product he hadn't intended, and doing so with some footage not meant for public eyes, including poorly lit rehearsal scenes.
这个团队面临诸多挑战，在杰克逊本来无意推出的产品中保持他的真实形象就是其中之一，这部影片中的一些镜头本来是不会公开的，包括灯光条件很差的排练场景。

　　Leading the effort was the director of the incomplete concert production, Kenny Ortega. A Hollywood veteran who choreographed 'Dirty Dancing' and directed Walt Disney's 'High School Musical' movies, Mr. Ortega in the 1990s helped conceive two of Mr. Jackson's biggest world tours.
负责这项行动的是未完成的演唱会的导演奥特加(Kenny Ortega)。在好莱坞浸淫多年的奥特加曾为影片《辣身舞》(Dirty Dancing)编排舞蹈，并执导了迪士尼(Walt Disney)影片《歌舞青春》(High School Musical)，上世纪90年代，他帮助策划了杰克逊的两次规模最大的全球巡演。

　　Mr. Ortega began the marathon process of compiling the film in late July. Working primarily on Sony Pictures' Los Angeles lot, the director oversaw an editing and postproduction staff of 20. Collaborators from the concert production, choreographer Travis Payne and musical director Michael Bearden, helped on key creative decisions. The team worked seven days a week to turn in the movie in early October.
奥特加从7月底开始漫长的电影剪辑工作。奥特加带领着20个剪辑和后期制作人员，主要在索尼影业(Sony Pictures)的洛杉矶设施从事这些工作。来自演唱会制作方的协作人员、舞蹈指导派伊(Travis Payne)和音乐指导比尔登(Michael Bearden)协助电影制作人员做出了关键的创意决定。为了在10月初完成这部电影，这个团队每周工作7天。

　　They were selecting from more than 100 hours of footage taken during Mr. Jackson's four months of rehearsals in preparation for a series of 50 concerts at London's O2 arena -- but much of the footage was unusable or didn't include Mr. Jackson. 'We had remnants,' Mr. Payne says, pointing out that some of the cameramen were still in rehearsals themselves. 'You don't see the finished glossy product that we've become accustomed to.'
他们从100多个小时的杰克逊排练片断中进行选择，杰克逊此前为伦敦O2体育场的 50场演唱会进行了四个月的排练准备，这些片断就是在这段时间拍摄的。不过，很多片断都无法使用，或是里面没有出现杰克逊。派伊说，我们有些很粗糙的东 西，有些摄像师自己也出现在了排练片断中，你看不到我们已经习以为常的那种精制的最终产品。

　　The crew built the movie around the set list Mr. Jackson had settled on for the concert, using input from fans who had voted online. The most polished footage came from 10 splashy short films meant for massive screens in the London venue. Rehearsal scenes came from a small crew documenting the process for Mr. Jackson, who studied the footage like game tape. (Mr. Bearden recalls the singer asking his band to draw out pauses between songs to give him more time to 'sizzle' in front of his fans.) Other cameramen had been tasked with shooting the actual concerts, for a potential theatrical film, and were practicing their own duties.
片组人员借助杰克逊粉丝此前网上的投票意见，根据杰克逊为演唱会确定的布景单制作这部电影。最精美的片断来自于10个 原本用于伦敦演唱会大屏幕播放的精彩短片。彩排现场镜头来自于一小组为杰克逊记录彩排过程的摄像人员，因为杰克逊会像研究比赛录像一样仔细观看彩排录 像。（比尔登回忆说，杰克逊要求他的乐队延长歌曲之间的间歇时间，给杰克逊更多时间点燃歌迷们的热情。）其他的摄像师此前则被安排了拍摄实际演唱会的任 务，用于制作一个可能的院线电影，他们当时正在履行自己的职责。

　　Without multiple takes or planned camera angles, the filmmakers found ways to fill holes. Patching together a sequence for 'Beat It,' Mr. Ortega was frustrated that he didn't have a wide shot to give viewers perspective. But the director got what he needed when his production designer remembered shooting 11 minutes of tape from the seats in the Staples Center, the L.A. arena where most rehearsals occurred.
在缺乏多机拍摄或预定拍摄角度的情况下，电影制作方想办法弥补了缺陷。在为歌曲《Beat It》制作一组镜头时，奥特加很沮丧他当时没有一个广角镜头向观众展示全景。但他的制作设计师想起来，在主要彩排场所洛杉矶斯台普斯中心(Staples Center)的观众席曾录制过11分钟的片断，从而满足了奥特加的需求。

　　Choreographer Mr. Payne recalls how Mr. Jackson was bent on packing as much into the show as possible. That included transitions between songs, such as a new musical routine called 'The Drill,' featuring the singer pantomiming gunplay with a regiment of dancers. Born of Mr. Jackson's fascination with military symbolism, 'The Drill' sent a message of 'unity and strength in numbers,' Mr. Payne says.
舞蹈指导派伊回忆道，杰克逊专心于尽可能地丰富演唱会的内容。这包括歌曲之间的过渡，比如一种新的音乐套路“The Drill”──歌手和一群伴舞无声地模仿打枪的动作。派伊说，这个动作来自杰克逊对军队象征的痴迷，它传递出了集体整齐划一、充满力量的信息。

　　But at times the team needed to contain the singer's ever-expanding vision. When Mr. Jackson wanted to add elements to a platform already loaded with crystal chandeliers and aerialists, Mr. Ortega changed the singer's mind with a safety warning: 'If we add 10 more pounds to the truss we're in danger of it falling from the ceiling,' he recalls saying.
不过团队有时需要控制杰克逊不断扩张的想法。当杰克逊想在一个已经满是水晶吊灯和高空杂技演员的舞台上再添一些元素的时候，奥特加用一个安全警告让杰克逊改变了主意。奥特加回忆自己当时说，如果我们在架子上再加10磅，它就有从天花板上掉下来的危险。

　　More than 1,000 U.S. screenings have already sold out through movie-ticket service Fandango -- promising news for Sony, which paid $60 million for the concert footage. An explanatory crawl at the opening will remind audiences that the source material was meant for a show that never went live. Mr. Ortega says, 'We ended with a work in progress. However, we got close enough.'

　　通过电影票服务机构Fandango，该片在美国的 1,000多张预售票已经售罄。这对为演唱会片断支付了6,000万美元的索尼来说是好消息。影片开头的解释性文字提醒观众，影片的素材来自于一场原本非 直播的表演。奥特加说，我们是以一项进行中的工作结束。不过，我们已经离我们的目标很接近了。