I am the only one who practices magic: I practice magic in the city

Chapter 564 The Film Industry is About to Change (5400)

Tian Hong didn't show it on the surface, but she was secretly apprehensive.

She originally planned to use the same words she had just spoken to introduce her son to Yu Dan, and that Yu Dan would definitely have to say a few polite words after seeing her son.

People said the young man was really good-looking, no wonder he was the child of Director Chen and Sister Hong, and that he had excellent genes.

At this point, she could naturally steer the conversation toward how well her son's appearance suited the game, and ask Yugo to add a son NPC to the game.

Unexpectedly, the big boss of Yugo Games showed up without prior notice.

Moreover, she didn't follow her expected approach at all, and instead lectured Chen Xiangkong about not playing games.

Most importantly, the other person actually called her "Auntie"!

"Xiang Kong went to high school in the United States and just returned to China. He is currently preparing for the entrance exam for the School of Electrical Engineering." Tian Hong, being a seasoned veteran, composed herself and forced a smile.

Fang Yu suddenly realized, "Like father, like son. With Director Chen and Auntie protecting him in this industry, his future is limitless."

Hearing Fang Yu call her "Auntie" repeatedly, Tian Hong could only pretend not to mind and continue talking with a smile.

“This child has always admired his father since he was a child. After returning to China this summer, he took the initiative to intern in his father’s film crew and then had the idea of ​​becoming an actor.”

“Xiang Kong has been innocent since he was a child. At first, his father and I did not want him to enter this circle, after all, this circle is too complicated.”

"But after watching his performances in some roles, Lao Chen and a few friends felt that this kid was talented. We didn't want to waste his talent, so we agreed to let him go down this path."

Seeing Fang Yu's faint smile, Tian Hong actually stammered nervously.

Seeing that Fang Yu only smiled and refused to respond, Tian Hong didn't know if he genuinely didn't understand or was doing it on purpose, so she could only smile awkwardly.
"Xiang Kong is only 16 years old, and he is not old enough to enter the School of Electrical Engineering. We also hope that he can be exposed to more new things before entering the school."

"Whether it's technology or audiences, the entertainment industry is changing too fast these days. Take our game, for example; it uses a lot of new technologies. Coincidentally, Lao Chen has some new ideas for the game's storyline and needs to add some new characters. There's one character that's quite suitable for Xiang Kong..."

As soon as she said it, Tian Hong felt a little embarrassed.

Over the years, with Director Chen's connections, even for roles they wanted, they had to act as if the production company was begging them to take the role.

Many articles in the Chinese entertainment industry underestimate Director Chen. If you had to choose between Director Chen and Zhang Yimou as your enemy, almost everyone would choose Zhang Yimou, not Director Chen.

It's not that Director Chen has a higher status in the industry than Zhang Yimou, but rather that their influence and influence are different.

Offending Zhang Yimou means at most that we won't work together anymore, and I've lost an opportunity to become a top-tier actress.

But offending Director Chen could really lead to being blacklisted by the industry.

To put it bluntly, Director Chen is just more petty.

Chen Xiangkong had just returned to China when his parents had already secured three or four film roles for him.

Not only that, but the producers and investors of each film also pretended to be pleasantly surprised and said: "Xiang Kong's appearance and acting skills are perfect for this role. We have to thank Director Chen for giving us this opportunity."

It hasn't happened in many years that someone has directly asked for a role like this.

Moreover, this Mr. Fang doesn't seem easy to deal with. Given his background, if he doesn't give Mr. Chen face, not only will Mr. Chen lose face, but he'll also be depressed for months.

"It's a small matter, just adding an NPC, no problem."

Fang Yu waved his hand calmly.

no problem?
Tian Hong, who had been prepared to be rejected, was surprised and delighted. She didn't even mind that Fang Yu called her "Auntie" again.

This Mr. Fang isn't that difficult to talk to.

Could it be that he has feelings for me?
“President Fang, the character of Chang Xi is a bit underdeveloped, and her connection with Yao Ji is weak. Our idea is to add a regular character named Xuan Xi, who is Chang Xi's younger brother. It doesn't matter if he has less screen time than Chang Xi and Yao Ji. He is trying to dissuade us…”

Fang Yu waved his hand: "Let's not talk about that now."

He then turned to Yu Dan and said, "Brother Dan, hire someone to draft a data copyright agreement for Auntie to take a look at."

Is the agreement about to be signed already? This Mr. Fang is quite decisive.

Overjoyed, Tian Hong failed to notice the strange look on Yu Dan's face.

A short while later, Yu Dan's assistant, who was still wearing a tight-fitting skirt suit even in the dead of winter, brought over a paper agreement.

"These are the terms of the agreement, Auntie, please take a look."

Tian Hong shyly accepted the agreement that Fang Yu pushed towards her. After glancing at it a few times, her expression became serious.

The more she looked, the worse Tian Hong's complexion became.

"Mr. Fang, is there some mistake? We just wanted an NPC character in the game, not a contract of servitude. How come after Xiang Kong played your role, his image rights have become the property of Youguo Games?"

Halfway through the reading, Tian Hong couldn't help but look up, trying her best to suppress the dissatisfaction in her tone.

In recent years, with the deep integration of the entertainment industry and the Internet, everyone has become very familiar with related rights such as the right to reputation, the right to privacy, copyright, performer's rights, trademark rights, and the rights of producers of audio and video recordings.

Don't underestimate the entertainment industry just because they may have low levels of education. Every single one of them is constantly thinking about how to protect their rights and how to make money from them. Many of them know more about the legal terms than lawyers do.

Fang Yu looked surprised: "Auntie, you've misunderstood, haven't you? What we're talking about here is that the copyright of all data related to the NPC characters, including their image data, belongs to Youguo Technology, not the digital portrait rights of the actors themselves."

Tian Hong frowned and tentatively asked, "Is there any difference?"

Fang Yu stated confidently: "Of course it's different. Our filming is not about filming the actors' performances, but about digitizing the actors' images and performances to create a 'digital human' NPC."

Tian Hong thought to herself, "A digital human NPC?"

Fang Yu nodded: "Yes, this 'digital human' has the face of an actor, but it is not an actor."

"His memory and way of thinking come from our character design, his appearance and voice come from the holographic model generated by AI based on the actor's image, and his habitual movements come from the director and actor's creation. The actor only helped us to enrich this character, but it does not mean that this character was created by the actor."

"For example, you can think of it this way: if there really is a world of steamed buns... the world of Wuji, your Man God has finished his mission, but the Man God of that world is still there."

“You played the role of the Goddess of Man, but she was the real Goddess of Man.”

"Therefore, Yugo Games owns all intellectual property rights to the relevant NPC characters and may grant personality rights to the digital NPCs in the future."

"So, do you understand?"

Tian Hong was completely confused, feeling that Xiao Fang was even more cryptic than her husband.

She had invested in IT companies and knew that IT companies liked to talk about things like "logic, closed loop, ecosystem, granularity, alignment, convergence, accumulation, profiling, leverage, traction, agility..."

When I first met this Mr. Fang, I was thinking, "Look, he runs such a big business, but he doesn't spout slang like those internet slackers."

Looking back now, it would have been better to just use slang.

"Furthermore, we cannot guarantee how much screen time each NPC will have, because the game world evolves naturally, and NPCs have their own behavioral logic. What kind of interaction they can have with players is their own business."

Fang Yu added casually.

Tian Hong finally understood what he meant.

If you can't guarantee the screen time for every NPC, what's the point of doing it?

“Um… Mr. Fang, this is the first time I’ve heard of this kind of shooting mode. Uh… let’s think about it some more, let’s think about it some more.”

Tian Hong chuckled twice and pushed the agreement back in front of Yu Dan.

Fang Yu waved his hand magnanimously: "It's alright, we should give it more thought."

"To be honest, if Yang Mi and Liu Feifei didn't have a small share in Youguo, we wouldn't have been able to find these top female celebrities to play game characters."

"Moreover, the risks are indeed quite high for actors. This game is different from other games. The language and behavior of NPCs in the game are not scripted, but rather based on their own personalities. There are many uncontrollable factors, which is why we set up so many liability waivers in the agreement."

"It's a bit of a pity that Xiang Kong can't join, but I can understand. With parents like Director Chen and Auntie, there's no need to take this risk."

Hearing Fang Yu say that, Tian Hong herself felt a little scared.

The Taihuang Mountain and Sea Realm is currently very popular. She really wants to use it to give Chen Xiang Kong some exposure, enhance his image, and get him some endorsements. In particular, he can act alongside Liu Feifei and Yang Mi, which will also benefit his future son's status.

But now it seems that the storylines of the NPCs in this game are not created by the game company, but are the result of the NPCs' own actions?
Is this for real? I've never played the game, but it sounds so sci-fi!
But what if it's true? What if this NPC suddenly goes crazy one day and says or does something stupid in the game while wearing the son's face, affecting the son's image?
That would be totally not worth it.

"President Fang is very thoughtful." Tian Hong said with a slightly embarrassed smile, "Alright, President Fang, President Yu, you two go ahead with your work. Old Chen is getting angry again, I'll go take a look."

After saying that, Tian Hong winked at her son, took his arm, and hurriedly walked to Director Chen's side, who was a few dozen meters away.

Director Chen sat in his chair, frowning as he berated a handsome young actor. "What's the point of your brain?! 'Within ten steps, there's bound to be beautiful grass,' not asking you to walk ten steps and search the ground! It's asking you to deliver an expected surprise, understand? I want an expected surprise!"

Judging from his expression, the young actor was completely bewildered by the criticism.

What's the point of calling it a surprise if it's expected?
"Director Chen, I'm sorry, I..."

Just as the young actor was about to stammer an apology, Director Chen saw his wife walking over with their son, looking annoyed. He waved the young actor away impatiently.

"You have five minutes to think about it carefully. You can shoot after five minutes!"

Seeing the young actor retreat to the side in a panic, Director Chen didn't immediately ask his wife what was wrong. He first frowned and glanced at his second son, his tone still authoritative:

"Hold your head up and walk! What kind of cowardly posture is this? Aren't you a script supervisor? Why didn't you inform the director before leaving your post?"

The second son, clearly used to being scolded, quickly straightened his back and glanced at his mother furtively.

"Calm down, you're not young anymore. I saw Yu Dan was here, so I took my son to talk to him about Xuan Xi."

Tian Hong gently comforted her husband, who was already over sixty years old.

Upon hearing this, Director Chen indeed shifted his attention away from his son and, seeing his wife's gloomy expression, couldn't help but stroke his chin.

"Couldn't reach an agreement? Did you miss the point?"

"Don't even mention it, Fang Yu is here." Tian Hong gestured with her lips toward Fang Yu and gave Director Chen a look to indicate which one Fang Yu was.

"Fang Yu disagrees?" Director Chen immediately sat up straight from his chair, his expression becoming serious.

It's not that I disagree.

Tian Hong looked quite awkward: "It's just that we need to sign some kind of digital copyright agreement with them. I took a look, and the terms are pretty unreasonable."

Director Chen frowned deeply: "What digital copyright agreement? Explain it clearly."

Although Tian Hong didn't quite understand what Fang Yu was saying, Chen Xiang was right beside her. Sixteen-year-olds are at the age when they are most receptive to new things and have the strongest comprehension. What his mother didn't remember, he remembered quite clearly.

After listening to his wife and son's back-and-forth recounting the events, Director Chen finally got a pretty good idea of ​​what had happened.

"They said that NPCs are all AI, with their own behavioral logic, and even they themselves cannot control the specific behavior or role of the characters."

"How Xuanxi, this NPC, will develop is uncertain; they also cannot guarantee that she will not do anything that would damage Xiang Kong's image."

"I thought about it and felt the risk was too great, so I didn't sign it."

Tian Hong pouted.

"Not signed!?"

Director Chen got anxious as soon as he heard this and jumped up from his chair. He was quite agile for his age of over sixty.

"You, you, you...you're so foolish!"

Director Chen pointed at his wife with a pained expression.

Upon seeing this, Tian Hong was stunned and her face turned pale.

She always obeyed Director Chen's every command, and although Director Chen had a bad temper, he rarely spoke harshly to her like that.

"Honey, sit down and have some water."

Tian Hong hurriedly took a thermos from her handbag, unscrewed the lid, and handed it to Director Chen.

Glistening tears were faintly visible in her eyes.

Seeing this, Director Chen, though still pounding his chest in frustration, softened his tone: "Tian Hong, Tian Hong, really, what can I say! Do you know... sigh!"

Tian Hong wiped away her tears: "I really don't know why you're angry. I asked you before why you insisted that I talk to Xiang Kong about the role, but you wouldn't tell me."

When Director Chen saw his wife's expression, his heart softened immediately. He reached out and patted Tian Hong's hand, then hesitated for a moment.

"Tian Hong, we've been filming for seven or eight days now. I'm asking you, do you know what that thing is?"

After saying that, Director Chen pointed to a strangely shaped instrument on the side of the field.

There are seven or eight similar instruments in this data acquisition center, and several more on the crisscrossing slide rails on the ceiling.

Tian Hong glanced at it and shook her head.

"This is a 3D full-ray tracing camera developed by YuzTech itself." Director Chen didn't keep them in suspense, his expression quite wistful.

Is this a camera? Tian Hong looked at the strange machine, which resembled a combination of an alarm and a robot vacuum cleaner, with slight surprise.

Although she wasn't interested in electronic products, she had been an actress and producer for many years and was very knowledgeable about cameras.

It doesn't even have a lens; how can this thing resemble a camera?
"To be precise, it is not a camera in the traditional sense."

Director Chen looked at the machine with a complicated expression: "Because it's not filming, it's collecting data."

"This machine is equipped with LiDAR, millimeter wave, and eight 8-megapixel cameras. It can accurately scan the image data of objects within a 30-meter radius and then transmit all the data to the data center of Yugo Games."

“This kind of data acquisition is different from digital cameras that simply convert image information into data. It does not capture images, but continuous motion, and there is no concept of ‘frames’.”

“I know that Li An is experimenting with 120 frames per second movies, but unfortunately, once this machine is born, 90 frames per second and 120 frames per second will all become meaningless.”

"What's even more frightening is that it's not a single machine fighting, but rather they can be linked together."

Director Chen closed his folding fan and gestured around: "So many full-light-tracing cameras, they can all be connected in series."

"The data they collect will be automatically combined into panoramic data information and uploaded to their servers."

"No matter how high-definition a regular camera is, it can only capture two-dimensional images."

"But this camera can recreate a three-dimensional person."

"We can capture every actor's 360-degree performance and use it to generate digital humans for Youguo Games. Do you know what that means?"

Director Chen stared at Tian Hong's slightly bewildered face, speaking slowly and deliberately.

What does it mean?
Are you thinking that this means another major change in the film and television industry?
Tian Hong thought to herself, "This is a bad thing."

"I haven't figured out what this means for the film and television industry yet, but I understand that for Yuzu Technology, as long as they can develop sufficiently advanced AR glasses in the future, these NPCs with actor faces can appear in the sight of game players just like real humans!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Hong's body trembled involuntarily.

"At that time, how much benefit do you think these digital humans with actor faces, who can accompany players up close like real people, will bring to the actor?"

"Furthermore, the film industry is about to undergo a major transformation."

"Heaven's will is difficult to fathom, and human relationships are easily saddened by age."

“We may really be the last generation of people who ‘make’ movies.”

Director Chen let out a long sigh, gazing into the distance with a desolate expression.

Hearing this, Tian Hong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Her husband was still the same old husband; in the end, he still had to recite poetry.

But then she became nervous.

Whether it's an overstatement or not, as the nominal number one beauty of the Great Zhou Dynasty twenty years ago, Tian Hong certainly knows how shocking it is for ordinary people when a truly beautiful actress appears in front of them.

A significant portion of a celebrity's fans were originally just casual observers. However, after seeing the celebrity in person by chance, these people instantly became devoted fans.

This applies to both male and female actors.

If Yuzi Technology really develops this technology, then these "digital humans" that use celebrities' appearance data are destined to become the most important channel for celebrities to expand and retain their fans!
In comparison, the risks of any improper actions are simply not worth mentioning!
"Brother, what should we do?" In her desperation, Tian Hong used her private nickname for Director Chen. "I didn't completely refuse just now, otherwise I'll go again..."

"Let's not go for now." Director Chen said calmly, after a moment's thought, "Haven't you realized yet? Fang Yu is politely declining."

After saying that, Director Chen glanced around the room and his gaze lingered on Liu Feifei and Da Mimi, who were rehearsing their moves.

"Here's what we'll do: go find those two women and ask them to help bring this together."

"Tell them that if they are willing to help, they will be the leading ladies in my next two films!"

(End of this chapter)