Chapter 257 Special Effects Production
Among all the movies released in April, the most talked-about one is the literary romance film "Moonlight in Hennessy".

The film stars Jacky Cheung and Tang Wei.

Tang Wei, who was banned because of "Lust, Caution", returned to the big screen two years later.

The mainland entertainment industry is watching the fun.

After all, the other party settled in Hong Kong Island through the "Quality Talent Scheme", and now the TV series he starred in is being released in the mainland as an imported film.

The "ban order" issued by the Radio, Film and Television Bureau has become a complete waste of time and has been slapped in the face.

I wonder if Tang Wei's later marriage to a South Korean husband has anything to do with this.

In the crew of "2012", the next scenes were mainly shot in the airplane.

The aircraft is a real object, a small passenger plane provided by Warner Corporation, and has been modified both inside and out.

The main shots were still images in the cabin, plus a few shots in the air. You couldn't really shoot while flying.

After all, if you really want this thing to fly into the sky, you have to apply to the Aviation Administration.

"CUT, Nicole, there's something wrong with your performance. This is a non-property performance. What you see in the plane is the scene of the city being flooded. You have never seen such a shocking and amazing scene before, so you need to express it with your facial expressions..."

Everyone on the plane needs to look down, and in the movie, this is also one of the climaxes of the plot, which is very shocking.

Having the right facial expressions is a must.

Nicole Kidman is also an actress of the best actress level. After listening to it once, she instantly understood it.

"OK, Director, I'm ready."

I shot it again and the effect was really good.

"Click, take a break for ten minutes, and do it again."

"Director, is it still not possible?"

Nicole Kidman came to Gu Wei and asked cautiously.

“You performed very well.

Crystal, your expression just now was not right, your shock was a little too obvious."

In the movie, Gu Wei added Liu Yifei's role to the scene on the airplane.

After she had a conflict with her father (played by Cheng Long), she came to the United States alone. Later, when the earthquake occurred, her father's good friend (played by Matt Damon) found her and took her on a plane to China.

Then the two sides met again in the disaster, and everything was said without words.

Nicole Kidman looked at Liu Yifei, and then recalled Gu Wei's recent overly harsh demands.

It dawned on me instantly.

This is the director training Liu Yifei's acting skills.

"You should be a little confused in shock. This is the first time you have encountered such a situation. Considering your age, you should be at a loss..."

At this time, Gu Wei came and sat next to him, explaining with words and gestures.

Liu Yifei felt a little embarrassed. During the filming period, she had the most NGs and was almost becoming a burden.

"I'm going to take you to the film festival to win awards. Think about those big awards for Best Actress. You can't win them if you don't have good acting skills."

Seeing tears in Liu Yifei's eyes, Gu Wei changed his way of speaking.

"Hmph, wait and see, I'm making rapid progress."

After listening to Gu Wei's explanation, Liu Yifei went to the side alone and gathered her emotions.

This time, the young lady's expression was obviously much better. She looked shocked, unbelievable, and a little confused.

The performance was very good.

"Very good, passed."

Gu Wei shouted loudly.

...

Last year, after "The Secret Code" was introduced into China in the form of a split-revenue film, it meant that the monopoly of major Hollywood companies on imported split-revenue films officially ended.

Profit-sharing does not mean it is better than the buyout method, it just means that independent production companies are beginning to have more choices and rights.

The number of blockbuster films introduced into the mainland basically remains at around 20 per year, of which about 15 are Hollywood blockbusters.

Although the first ten years after imported blockbusters entered the Chinese market seemed to be a great success, Hollywood producers did not actually make any money.

This is true whether it's Titanic or any other blockbuster, and it's not an exaggeration.

At that time, the box office share of imported films only accounted for 13% of the total domestic box office, and a movie only made a few million yuan.

For Hollywood, this amount of money is not even enough to rent office space in the country and cover travel expenses for executives.

Coupled with the rampant piracy in China, the mediocre market economy and the small number of cinemas, many Hollywood films have only gained fame in China but not much actual profit.

However, with the rapid growth of the mainland market in recent years, more and more Hollywood companies have begun to pay attention to China's box office.

First-line stars and directors frequently come to the mainland to promote their films. Cameron did not come when "True Lies" and "Titanic" were released. Now, after "Avatar" became a hit, Cameron came twice in just a few months and even opened a 3D technology branch in China.

But the problem that follows is that the eight major Hollywood companies demanded to increase the import quota and the profit sharing ratio.

In China Film Group, Han Sanping was meeting with representatives sent by the United States.

"Director Han, on the eve of the release of imported blockbusters, the mainland film market was already stagnant and full of sorrow. It was our arrival that broke the deadlock and injected a shot of adrenaline into the mainland market."

The representatives spoke fluent Chinese, and their ultimate goal was to increase the number of imported films.

Movies represented by Hollywood have never been about living Lei Feng. Their purpose is to gain economic benefits and export American cultural values.

However, objectively speaking, it brought shocking and exciting visual effects, advanced film production concepts and technologies, provided reference for domestic films, and found a way to survive from desperate situations. "I understand this, but the domestic market is still not big after all. If too many films are introduced rashly, no one can predict the consequences..."

Deep down, Han Sanping is certainly unwilling to continue to increase the number, but with the current domestic films, he does not see any hope of surpassing others.

At this moment, his heart was conflicted.

“Boss Han, I heard that Director Gu Wei’s company in Hollywood will introduce two films to the domestic market this year.

As far as I know, his company is not very big in Hollywood, and even such a small company has two places, which is not fair to other big companies. "

The other party was obviously well prepared. On the one hand, they were in contact with China Film Corporation, and on the other hand, the issue was raised to the WTO. The major film companies that had tasted the sweetness would also exert pressure to promote an increase in the number of imported films in the country.

"Don't be in a hurry. It's best to take it slow."

Han Sanping, who was left speechless, started to practice Tai Chi. As long as the higher-ups didn't agree, he would just put it off for now!
The two parties had only had a preliminary contact, and after sending the other party away, Han Sanping couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He kept thinking about what Gu Wei had said to him.

"Alas, if you are not as strong as others, you will definitely suffer a loss."

Han Sanping muttered to himself.

...

At this moment, Gu Wei, who was far away in Hollywood, gave the crew a day off. He wanted to go to Warner to see the early special effects production.

Warner Bros.

Gu Wei was surrounded by a group of special effects engineers and visual effects artists, and the person in charge, Weigert, was giving a lecture.

“Even for a single airplane, there are countless people working on it: modelers, riggers, texture artists, and so on.

Once these elements are complete, the animator will assemble them in the computer to create a complete model rig.

After assembly, we usually test to make sure all models are working properly and there are no bugs.”

“Gu, we have a first-class team, don’t worry.”

After listening to this, Mike said something beside him.

"I have great faith in them, and they really did a perfect job."

These are all experiences. He was accompanied by several engineers from his own company. They would usually work with Warner's engineers and take the opportunity to learn the most advanced technology and lay the foundation for subsequent film production.

"Weigert, can you explain this principle to me?"

Gu Wei pointed to the clip that was just filmed a few days ago and said.

The camera shows the scene when an earthquake occurs and various objects are destroyed.

Weigert glanced at Mike next to him, and after seeing the other party nod slightly, he smiled and continued.

“The 3D model is broken down according to the material properties (metal, cement, glass, etc.), which is usually done manually or with the help of automatic processing plugins.

This way, we can realistically simulate twisted metal, broken glass, cracked concrete slabs...

Every model looks the same after being destroyed as it would in real life.”

Weigert is not afraid of having his skills stolen. Special effects production is a real process that requires frame-by-frame processing. It cannot be done without a sufficient number of technicians and equipment.

Hearing this, Gu Wei nodded. It is estimated that the entire film of "2012" will have more than 1400 shots. The entire earthquake scene alone has more than 7000 frames, and each frame takes 20 hours to render, with a total rendering time of more than hours.

This means that if all the rendering processing was done using just one computer, it would take up to 16 years.

And that’s just part of it.

"Gu, just leave these to Weigert and the others. Let's go to the office for a drink."

Mike suggested from the side.

"Let's go, and by the way, let's talk about the release of Despicable Me 2."

Hearing this, Gu Wei said with a smile.

"No problem at all."

...

After leaving Warner, Gu Wei returned to the Rising Star Company.

Warner is responsible for 60% of the post-production special effects, and the remaining 40% is left to Hollywood and domestic companies.

Domestic companies are responsible for about 25% of the total, because these companies have to produce "Titanic".

"Boss, we have completed about 20% of the remake, and we expect to complete the entire production in the second half of next year."

Hearing this, the corners of Gu Wei's mouth twitched slightly. Damn, the gap compared to Warner is still quite big.

"This is our first independently completed 3D special effects movie. We have no experience with many shots. I promise we will be much faster next time."

Perhaps seeing Gu Wei's expression, the head of the special effects department hurriedly explained.

"Well, don't worry, make it perfect."

Now that it has come to this, Gu Wei can only continue to encourage.

After looking around the company for more than an hour, Gu Wei set off to join the filming crew.

"Ryder, if you find suitable special effects engineers, you can continue to recruit them. The more the better."

"Understood, boss."

...

(End of this chapter)