Chapter 370: Hurricane 2

Chapter 370: Hurricane 2

Chapter 370: Hurricane 2

The filming and production of "Gravity" can truly be said to be unprecedented in the field of domestic films.

Not to mention the "pure" domestic space sci-fi movies, which have the most special effects, the best crew members on and off the stage, the highest cost investment, the largest movie scenes, and the most advanced shooting and production technology...

Just recently, the propaganda department and the Film Bureau specially arranged for official media to interview the crew and director Wang Hao.

According to the leaders, Gravity is to be made into a benchmark for domestic science fiction films, and multiple departments including propaganda, industry, aerospace, etc. will work together to promote Wang Hao's project.

Even Master Zhang has never enjoyed such treatment, because now there is only Wang Hao who can make science fiction films that are global box office hits and at the same time showcase my country's achievements in modernization and the new look of big cities.

According to statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Government, Shanghai received 30% more overseas tourists during this Spring Festival, just because the movie "Inception" was filmed there.

The street cafe where Leo and Shu Chang sat in "Inception" and the street in Shanghai that shows the folding of the city have also become important check-in spots for tourists from all over the world arriving in Shanghai.

The slight increase in the number of tourists is certainly not something that the leaders would pay much attention to. What they care about is that as an international director, Wang Hao has the ability to help Chinese culture go overseas.

Moreover, his existence and that of the Galaxy Group also plays a huge role in the development of China's cultural film and television industry.

"The filming and production of Gravity is very different from other film and television projects we have participated in in the past."

Zhao Dong, a young special effects director of the "Gravity" crew, recalled to the reporter from CCTV:

“Whenever someone comes in, no matter what department it is, not necessarily the special effects department, they need about two weeks to understand the whole process and the whole idea of ​​shooting the movie.

This is completely different from previous movies. I'm not going to lie to you, it took a lot of people a long time to understand what we were talking about, because our shooting method is rarely used by any crew in China, no, it should be said that it is rarely used by any crew in the world.

This is a brand new field of film production, which integrates digitization, informationization and electronicization into the filming and production of movies, and has subverted the traditional production methods. "

Zhao Dong spoke eloquently in front of the reporters, appearing both excited and proud.

“For many scenes, the special effects team needs to use the most advanced digital simulation engine to prepare visual previews in advance, otherwise they don’t know where the light should come from, or what special effects pictures to use at this time.

We spent a lot of time on simulation, which was made possible by state-of-the-art equipment and technology.

In the face of new digital production models, the boundaries between special effects and photography have become blurred. There is overlap between the three, but there are no strict boundaries.

As a photographer, he has to deal with more special effects issues than any other photographer.

For me, I have to deal with more issues with photography than any special effects supervisor.

In a movie like this, there's no need to distinguish the two so clearly.

This requires that the behind-the-scenes personnel who will participate in modern film and television production in the future must understand more technology and have more comprehensive skills.

It's not just technical ability, but also communication ability and international vision.

Because we are at the forefront of the international film and television industry, our company's special effects department also has technical communication, discussion and exchanges with many famous special effects film and television companies around the world.

In this regard, the scarcity of all-round talents will be the biggest problem that delays our development.”

……

“This is another great technology of our crew besides the ‘light ball’, the dynamic photography equipment IRIS system independently developed by our Galaxy Group.

This is an intelligent control system that combines a large robotic arm with custom software and can be used in film, architecture, digital manufacturing, and entertainment facilities.”

Wang Hao led a team of reporters from CCTV, walking in a studio that was completely different from that of ordinary film crews, pointing at the special filming equipment and introducing them.

What he said was not wrong. This dynamic photography equipment IRIS system was designed by the Bot & Dolly studio in San Francisco, which was recently acquired by Galaxy Group.

They were founded in 2010 and focus on automation, robotics and film production. They were supposed to be acquired by Google three years later, but now they have been taken over by Galaxy Group's overseas branch.

So it is not wrong to say that this system was independently developed by Galaxy Group.

The IRIS system is based on an industrial-grade arm robot with seven axes of freedom. It can track and shoot up to 10.8 meters, move at a speed of 4 meters per second, and has a static distance of 0.08 mm.

What you are seeing now is the filming of the space scenes in the movie "Gravity".

The actors were fixed to that frame..."

Wang Hao pointed his finger inside the "light ball", where Jing Tian was wearing a half-body space suit, suspended in the air by a basket-shaped frame.

In front of her, there was a robotic arm controlling the camera and filming.

“The IRIS system can precisely control the camera movement, creating the illusion that the actors are tumbling in space, which was impossible for cinematographers in the past.

To be precise, in the effect of the male and female protagonists falling towards or smashing towards the camera in "Gravity", the actors are basically motionless, and only the camera is moving.

This shooting method is not easy, because the staff needs to pay attention to the fact that the camera and lighting equipment are moving at the same time, otherwise there will be problems with the light on the actor's face. "

"Director Wang, we noticed that the space suits on the actors seemed a bit... simple. Is this because they need to be kept confidential?" The reporter suddenly asked a question.

Wang Hao smiled and waved his hand, "No."

“This is because we had already scanned and created a digital space suit in advance, so the actors didn’t need to wear the full space suit during filming.

This technology is very common in Hollywood, and actors do not need to wear heavy and bulky costumes during filming.

During the filming, only their facial expressions were real, and the rest, including the transparent helmets, space suits, arms, and the environment they were in at the time, were all created through CG special effects in the later stage. "Wang Hao's explanation shocked the reporter, who praised the advanced filming and production methods of the "Gravity" crew in front of the camera.

Four days later, a special report about the "Gravity" crew appeared on CCTV's news channel.

At the same time, Wang Hao and the crew appeared for about half a minute in the 7 o'clock news broadcast that day.

[New people, new technologies, and new forces will help domestic science fiction blockbusters set sail! ]

"Recently, a domestic space-themed science fiction film directed by the famous Chinese director Wang Hao is being filmed and produced in full swing.

As a young man born in the 80s, Director Wang Hao has been focusing on the development of domestic science fiction films, and has also achieved remarkable results internationally.

This time, Director Wang Hao will focus on my country's aerospace industry, trying to use the art of light and shadow, as well as modern technology and equipment, to showcase the many achievements my country has made in the aerospace field.

Next, let us follow the on-site reporters and walk into this modern and technological studio to explore how domestic science fiction blockbusters are shot and produced..."

The tall and spacious 1-square-meter studio, the kaleidoscope-like "light ball" light box, the 1:3 replica of the space capsule model, the multi-axis robotic arm controlled by intelligent software, the advanced D camera, the well-organized shooting scene, and even the delicious and nutritious lunch boxes for the crew have all become material for interviews and filming by news channels.

And when all this appeared on TV, it showed the audience how the country's top film and television production team, comparable to Hollywood, shot a domestic science fiction blockbuster.

The audience is also willing to believe that only a creative team that is full of modern industrial atmosphere and technological elements can shoot a good science fiction movie.

The broadcast of the relevant interviews can be said to be a warm-up for the release of "Gravity".

With the good reputation accumulated from his previous films, the audience is naturally looking forward to his new movie.

However, "Gravity" is still in the production process, and there are still seven or eight months before its release in December as tentatively scheduled by Galaxy Pictures.

The good thing for the majority of movie fans is that they can try appetizers and desserts before enjoying the main course.

In mid-April 2012, what attracted the entire entertainment industry and a large number of fans were Liu Yifei's two concerts held in Beijing and New York.

At the venue, Liu Yifei danced and sang passionately, and this was just an effort made by "Taken 2" to promote the movie.

As a work of the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, "Taken 2" is naturally the sequel to "Taken".

Thanks to the previous film's global box office performance of 3.1 million US dollars, Columbia Pictures did not hesitate to invest in the sequel to this film, even though the salary requested by the leading actor Liam Neeson doubled compared to the previous film.

Their investment was a wise choice. The film was released in early April 2012 and earned more than 4 million yuan in box office in China in the first week.

In a less popular month, the fact that Taken 2 was able to achieve such a high box office in China is already due to the dividends of its predecessor and the Galaxy Cinematic Universe.

In the international market, "Taken 2" also achieved great success, with a box office of over million US dollars in North America in its first week.

As for the European and Japanese and Korean markets, the box office performance of "Taken 2" was also very good, which also led to the film's global box office exceeding million in its first week.

Not only did "Taken 2" achieve outstanding box office results, the quality of its story was also above the passing line.

The original version of "Taken 2" is still mainly about the story of the male protagonist saving his family. The only difference is that his daughter has more scenes. The father saves his daughter, the daughter saves the father, and then the husband saves his wife.
Anyway, in addition to the still strong father-daughter relationship, the relationship between the father and his ex-wife is also beginning to "reconcile", and the villain is also motivated by the emotion of "revenge for his son", making the film's "family action film" feature more distinct.

Overall, the original "Taken 2" has some highlights and features in the action scenes, but overall it looks like a product of an assembly line industry. It is tense and has no dull moments, but there are not many surprises.

But the Galaxy Cinematic Universe version of "Taken 2" is different.

In terms of plot, the new version of "Taken 2" continues the plot of the previous "Taken". Brian, the former commander of the Hong Kong Special Police Department, gets into trouble with the cold-blooded Albanian gang and the mysterious killer group "Hotel Continental" in order to save his kidnapped daughter Liu Qianqian (Liu Yifei).

Although the enemy could not act too recklessly for the time being because they were in Hong Kong, a dangerous storm was brewing beyond the notice of the father and daughter.

After a period of stable time, Liu Qianqian, who had just graduated, entered the entertainment industry because of her outstanding appearance and talent and became a young idol singer.

When Liu Qianqian (Liu Yifei), wearing idol costume and full of energy on the stage, appeared, the whole venue was filled with cheers.

The scene at the beginning of the movie was not shot in a studio. Liu Yifei actually took the opportunity of filming to hold a concert.

Therefore, the whole picture is extremely realistic and can be said to be a grand work.

After becoming an idol star, Liu Qianqian certainly could not just stay in Hong Kong. They seemed to have forgotten everything they had experienced in Paris. The retired Brian became his daughter's bodyguard and accompanied her everywhere.

This time they came to South Korea to record a variety show. Originally, this was just an ordinary announcement event. The male protagonist, his daughter, and his wife were also preparing to enjoy a pleasant vacation in this foreign country.

But before their happy vacation even began, two groups of people targeted the family.

One of these groups was the father and brother of the gang leader whom the male protagonist killed when he destroyed the Albanian gang.

After they learned the identity of the male protagonist, they had been waiting for the opportunity, and now they have finally waited for the male protagonist and his family to leave Hong Kong.

This gang set up a dragnet in Seoul, South Korea, preparing to capture the male protagonist alive and kill him in front of the grave of the former gang boss for complete revenge. The first victim is Brian's wife.

The gangsters captured the protagonist's wife and threatened her life, trying to force Brian to surrender and fall into the trap alone.

According to the usual plot design, at a time like this, the male protagonist would lose his mind, take the initiative to fall into the ambush because of his concern for his wife, and then fight back with his skills.

However, as the commander of the Hong Kong Special Police Force, Brian has participated in countless hostage rescue missions and knows very well that this approach will not only fail to rescue his wife, but will also put himself in danger.

So he negotiated with the bandits very calmly, trying to get information from them through conversation, while on the other hand he comforted his daughter gently, and then worked with his daughter to make a plan to rescue his wife.

(End of this chapter)