Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 473: Pacific Rim Starts

Zhang Chen is unable to change everyone's minds, he can only try his best to influence the people around him.

This is also the reason why he often comes to Beijing Film Academy to share.

Only when the ideas of this group of people change, will he have more like-minded people.

The academic atmosphere at Beijing Film Academy is relatively open, and everything is based on the market.

It’s just a heavy industry movie, so I can only talk about it.

Only when the data is placed in front of people will they truly wake up.

The video of the speech was leaked online on the same day.

Continue fermentation
After waiting for one night, it suddenly became popular.

People are interested in "The Moon" and also find what Zhang Chen said inspiring.

Some media found Xingchen Entertainment and wanted to interview them, but were surprised to find that Zhang Chen had already flown to Hengdian.

Hengdian has the Guinness World Record for the largest studio ever recorded. It was built specifically for Pacific Rim, with a height of 100 meters, a length of 1100 meters, and a width of 80 meters...

At this moment, in the studio, a huge model of "Storm Red" stood in the middle, and around it, all kinds of people were busy.

Zhang Chen followed Guo Fan in and greeted him along the way.

When we arrived at the director's room, all we saw were various design drafts and concept drawings.

Guo Fan found a large pile of information and brought it over: "This is the storyboard, a total of 8023, this is the concept map, 3031, this is the shooting schedule, everything is here..."

Zhang Chen opened it and flipped through it. It was very well organized, with different colored labels on the outside to differentiate between the books.

"Thank you for your hard work~"

Guo Fan's contribution to this film, so far, far exceeds his.

He was responsible for deciding all kinds of trivial matters.

It can be said that the general direction was determined by Zhang Chen, but the specific details were all implemented by Guo Fan.

So far, this guy is doing pretty good.

He already knew the shooting schedule by heart. After flipping through it casually, he looked up and ordered, "Go and notify all the main creators to come to the director's office for a meeting in half an hour. We'll go over it together~"

Guo Fan went to notify them, and Zhang Chen found a chair to sit down and began to slowly look at the storyboard.

Special effects blockbusters usually have a very long preparation period because they require modeling and other things, which is a lot of work.

On the contrary, it will be quick to shoot.

Although a typical Hollywood blockbuster may take more than a year or two to be released, the actual filming time is only three months, with the time being spent in the early and later stages.

The filming of Pacific Rim should have been faster because there were basically no real scenes, all of them were special effects.

Then you don’t have to run around, just perform in front of the green screen.

Half an hour later, he met all the main creators of Pacific Rim.

Art Director, John Barry, Art Director for Starship Troopers;

Special effects supervisor, Richard Edland, has worked on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series;
Director of photography, Song Xiaofei, Zhang Chen’s old partner;
The action director, Bradley James Allen, was recommended by Cheng Long. He was once a member of the Cheng family team and was also the action director of the original "Pacific Rim";

Most of the creative team are foreigners~
There is no way around it. In the field of science fiction films, the best ones are basically all abroad.

Zhang Chen looked around. Behind each of these people was a huge team, and behind Zhang Chen were many assistant directors and executive directors.

On the periphery are representatives of investors sent by China Film, Shanghai Film, Wanda and Lao Li, as well as Smith, the representative of Warner.

"Everyone, please report your progress. If nothing unexpected happens, we will officially start filming tomorrow~"

"Guo Fan, you come first~"

Guo Fan nodded at everyone after hearing this: "Pacific Rim is expected to take three months to shoot, wrap up before May, and enter the post-production stage.

There are currently 3000 permanent staff, and with the later stages, a total of about 7000 people are involved.
The food and accommodation for these 3000 people have been arranged, and the foreign actors are basically recruited international students, who can appear in the film with just a little makeup..."

Zhang Chen nodded. Guo Fan was like a butler, knowing every aspect of the project.

In a sense, his role is more like that of a producer than an assistant director.

Zhang Chen seemed to suddenly think of something: "How is the actor's foreign language training going?"

At this time, a person who looked like a foreign language teacher sitting in the back row raised his hand and answered: "The main actors have no problems with their own lines. Their accents and intonations are all up to standard. They go over their lines at least once a day, and practice daily spoken English in their spare time. Their progress varies, but it will not affect the filming of the movie~"

After the other party finished speaking, Zhang Chen nodded with satisfaction.

Even though Zhang Yimou has been criticized all the time, he is right about one thing, that is, today's blockbusters cannot recover their costs domestically, so they must consider catering to foreign audiences when making them.

Therefore, Pacific Rim has all dialogues in English, which may be a bit disappointing to domestic audiences, but I believe everyone can understand it.

"What about strength training?"

This time it was Bradley who answered: "There is no problem in this regard. The relevant actors rehearse at the hydraulic press every day. They are already familiar with the environment there~"

The strength training that Zhang Chen mentioned was the scene of several mecha pilots setting up their mechas in the cockpit.

It's a tough job.

Not only does the entire driving process involve working with the hydraulic system, it is also very tiring.

And it's very dangerous.

The cockpit is built on an entire hydraulic system, with a height of about 10 meters, equivalent to a four-story building.

There is no protective equipment yet, and it makes me dizzy just looking at it.

This is not the most dangerous thing. In the story, there is a scene where the cockpit is attacked. The hydraulic system will cause the cockpit to sway from side to side, which is a big test for the actors.

"What about safety issues? Have you done any corresponding tests?"

This is the issue that Zhang Chen is most concerned about.

The battles in Pacific Rim all took place in the sea, so during the filming process there were a lot of shots with rain spraying in, sometimes even whole waves.

This places extremely high demands on props.

Those devices are powered by electricity, and it is strong electricity. Weak electricity cannot drive the hydraulic press.

Zhang Chen was afraid that the rain would cause a short circuit in the electrical wires, resulting in casualties.

This time it was the props team who answered: “Don’t worry, we have done comprehensive testing on this and we guarantee there will be no problems.

In fact, before starting training every day, the props team will test it themselves first~"

The props team is confident about this.

They have made special protection for the surface where rainwater may come into contact with it.
Hearing that tests were conducted every day, Zhang Chen felt relieved.

It is a big deal if someone on the crew gets injured.

Not to mention, the roles of several drivers are quite important.

"What about special effects?"

Finally asked about special effects.

Edlan looked at Drizzt beside him, and Drizzt made a gesture, indicating that he should answer.

Edland said: "As for special effects, after discussing with Drizzt, I decided to split the special effects and subcontract them to six companies. These six companies are Industrial Light & Magic, Mirada Studio and Cube Studio in Los Angeles, Star Effects, China Film Digital and Hong Kong's Centro Digital...

The main part was handled by Industrial Light & Magic, including the seven monsters, five hunter mechas, and the giant beast. In addition, the Hong Kong battle and the abyss battle at the end were also completed by them...

The three-minute-plus movie opening was completed by Mirada Studios, including all the monsters and mechas that appear...

The interior of the mecha and all the physical effects were completed by Star Effects, all the renderings of the ocean were handed over to Cube Studio, and the remaining Hong Kong city shots were handled by Centro Digital...

All the screen motion graphics inside the mecha and in the movie are handled by China Film Digital..."

After Edlan finished speaking, he looked at Trist beside him, asking, "Do you have anything to add?"

In terms of position, Trist is Edlan's deputy, but he is a member of the Cube and is considered Zhang Chen's own man.

The special effects are crucial to the final outcome of Pacific Rim, so Zhang Chen must arrange someone from his own team to do this.

He was also afraid that these guys in Hollywood would cheat him.

It would be fine if it was just a scam, but if it affected the quality of the movie, that would be intolerable.

So Zhang Chen was extra careful about this.

Star Special Effects, as the name suggests, it is Zhang Chen’s own company.

A special effects company was set up specifically for the physical model of "Pacific Rim". Industrial Light & Magic was too expensive, so they simply did it themselves.

Anyway, Chinese people have strong hands-on ability. As long as they are given enough money, they can make anything they want.

As for only giving China Film Group a small piece of the pie, that was also Zhang Chen's order.

He was somewhat dissatisfied with China Film Group during their last collaboration on "Moon".

The efficiency is too low.

The current China Film Digital Special Effects Center is no longer the same one that worked with him on "The Shallows".

If he didn't have to give face to Han Sanping, he wouldn't even want to give this little soup. The cube could easily handle it.

Receiving Edlan's gaze, Drizzt nodded and added: "The special effects tasks have been broken down and distributed to various companies. The preliminary modeling work has also been basically completed, but the money has almost been spent..."

After saying this, he glanced at Zhang Chen inconspicuously. Zhang Chen asked him to say this with the purpose of asking for money.

Sure enough, Zhang Chen asked the CFO the next sentence: "What's the situation with the finance department? Has the funds arrived?"

Pacific Rim adopts the Hollywood model.

A shell company was specially set up to carry out various film-related work.

The accounts are independent, and the financial director does not belong to any party. He is an external third-party financial personnel. This is done to ensure financial transparency.

Every penny of the crew's money must be signed by several major investors before it can be used.

The financial director was a woman. Upon hearing this, she pushed up her glasses and said, "At present, the 200 million invested by Xingchen Entertainment and Golden Harvest has been almost spent. The remaining funds have been received by Li's Film and Television and China Film. The funds from Shanghai Film will arrive tomorrow. The investment funds from Wanda and Warner have not yet arrived..."

This is the advantage of a third party: he does not belong to any faction and is not afraid of offending anyone. He only needs to be responsible for the movie itself.

Zhang Chen looked at the investment representative and asked, "When will your money arrive?"

The Wanda representative and Smith were a little embarrassed, and immediately stated: "The investment funds will be transferred to the studio's account within a week~"

"OK."

Zhang Chen looked around: "Does anyone else have anything to report?" Immediately, someone from the publicity department raised his hand: "The chronicle of Pacific Rim has been completed. When do you think it will be announced to the public?"

Zhang Chen thought for a moment and said, "Give it to me later. I'll take a look first. If there's no problem, we can announce it to the public~"

"By the way, how is the release of the comics going?"

"We have selected partners in North America, Hong Kong, and the mainland to publish corresponding versions. In North America, it is Image Comics, in the mainland it is CommonWealth Publishing House, and in the mainland it is Anime House..."

Zhang Chen nodded, and seeing that no one else was speaking, he concluded: "Everyone is a professional in this field, and I hope you will do your best in the filming of this movie.

In the early stages of a film, all funds are prioritized to complete the film.

But I will not treat you unfairly. I promise that if the movie is a success, I will give all the creators a big red envelope.”

The red envelope culture is unique to Asians, but foreigners will not refuse it.

Don't think they don't understand this, every country has Chinatowns.

And when they decided to join the Asian crew of Pacific Rim, their friends around them reminded them!

At this time, all the foreigners had smiles on their faces.

"I have met some of you before, and for some of you this is the first time I meet you. How about this, Guo Fan, let's arrange for us to have dinner together tonight~"

In China, the fastest way to build relationships is to eat and drink together. After a drink, everyone becomes brothers.

We can also be more harmonious when working.

……

The next day, all the crew members of "Pacific Rim" gathered in the main studio.

Today is the first filming for the crew.

The first set of lenses are usually easy to choose, for good luck~
The same thing happened with the Pacific Rim crew.

What we are going to shoot today is the scene where the three siblings of the Fan family appear. Fan Xiaolong, Fan Xiaohu and Fan Xiaoyang are woken up from their sleep by the alarm sound, and the level 4 monster Scythe Head is invading Hong Kong.

"Okay, all departments, get ready~
Camera on~
Recording start~
The scene is quiet~
The stage manager hits the board~"

Zhang Chen shouted while holding the walkie-talkie.

"Pacific Rim, scene 1, shot 1, time 1, action~"

In the cabin, the two siblings were sleeping when suddenly an alarm sounded, and then the radio began to report that a new monster was discovered invading the seabed.

Prince Long and Fan Xiaolong and Fan Xiaohu, played by Zhang Mo, got up from the bed, dancing excitedly, as they were about to go to war again.

Sister Fan Xiaoyang was much calmer, calmly tying her hair and washing...

After a while, the three of them walked out of the sleeping cabin and met in the aisle.

The aisles were already packed with people of all skin colors. The Hong Kong Dome Base was the front line.

Everyone headed towards the command center.

The entire corridor is a physical model built with real entities, with gray walls and thick lines, revealing a strong heavy metal style at all times.

The three siblings followed the crowd through the aisle, passed through the heavy electrical gate, and came to the square.

The electric gate is also made of solid material, with the same heavy metal style. It looks like it is made of some kind of metal, and it has a very heavy feeling.

But it is actually made of plastic, and the heaviness is entirely due to the realistic coating on the surface.

The camera follows the three siblings as the track car moves, first in front, then moves to the side, and then is passed by the three people, creating a sense of movement.

When we got to the hall, everything turned into a green screen.

Except for the real people, everything else here is synthesized through special effects.

Zhang Chen had been watching the monitor. From the first shot, he was very satisfied with the special effects team led by Edlan and Trist.

The special effects team considered the issue very carefully.

Because there was a detailed storyboard, they rehearsed every shot.

I am also very clear about the relationship between near and far scenes in the director's mind.

All close-up shots that are strongly related to the characters have basically been made into physical models.

Green screen synthesis is only considered for mid-shots and long shots.

This makes filming easier and less prone to mistakes, and also reduces the workload of special effects.

As expected of professionals with successful experience, Zhang Chen is very satisfied with the special effects team.

This alone makes it much better than in China.

This cannot be achieved in China, not to mention now, even in twenty years.

Not only the close-ups are not real objects, even the characters may not be real, with all kinds of cutouts.

"Click~"

After calling a halt, Zhang Chen started watching the replay. After a while, he smiled and said, "It's over. It's perfect. Let's get ready for the next one~"

……

On the Internet, Baidu Post Bar
"Pacific Rim" has not been released yet, but the "Pacific Rim Bar" has already been established, and its icon is exactly the concept map of Storm Red.

The bar will announce various matters related to the movie from time to time.

The forum was officially created by the Pacific Rim crew, so internal information is often released there.

Today it’s a concept drawing, tomorrow it’s a photo of a prop model, and occasionally I’ll post a still or two.

It's all for publicity~
Big movies, preheating a year in advance~
There is not much important information in the forum at present, mainly about the various parameters of "Storm Red".

When the concept map of "Storm Red" was announced at the previous press conference, its relevant data parameters were also announced.

Most of the discussions in the forum are about Storm Red.

The most loved thing for the appearance party is his appearance. He is dressed in red with a Chinese logo on his body. No matter how you look at him, you can love him~
The Data Party is obsessed with discussing the feasibility of data.

A bored forum member conducted a feasibility study on various data, wrote a report, posted it, and it became the most popular post in the forum.

Qingcheng Wuji is the moderator of the Zhang Chen Bar and also a member of the Pacific Rim Bar.

He came here today specifically to read this post.

The title of the post is: [With the current technology of mankind, is it possible to create Storm Red?].

Wow, just the name makes people want to read it, click and enter to read:
The article begins: With current human technology, is it possible to build a Pacific Rim mecha? The answer is of course yes, but it’s a little bit expensive.

Next, look down:

【

There is only one Storm Red in the official information currently released, so let’s take Storm Red as an example.

Storm Red is the most advanced fourth-generation mecha, 79 meters tall and weighing 1980 tons. Its shell is made entirely of titanium alloy.

The known titanium alloy on the market is 129 (one hundred and twenty-nine thousand) tons, so Storm Red's entire torso would require 000 (two and a half billion).

After solving the fuselage problem, the most important thing is of course the gravity system.

Storm Crimson is the only mecha that uses nuclear power, so Vaughn used the most advanced TI9 nuclear power device, which is extremely expensive and only costs 3 (988 billion).

In order to make the mecha move, the most important thing is its load-bearing system.

The legs are equipped with 10KT gyro stabilizers, and the double-leg hydraulic power distributors make combat movements smoother.

At the same time, the leg movements are relatively balanced, the knee joints are driven by high-agility torque, and each muscle unit is equipped with 40 engines, which greatly enhances the body's mobility.

The total cost of this package is only 10 (one hundred and five billion).

After the mecha is able to move, the most important thing is of course the weapon system.

The weapons equipped by Storm Red are mainly I-19 plasma energy cannons, which fire charged titanium ion particles that can penetrate the monster's body and burn its insides, thereby preventing the monster's poisonous blood from flowing out.

This one is cheaper, costing only 880 (000 million).

It is also equipped with a dry ice sprayer that can emit liquid nitrogen spray at minus 5000 degrees Celsius. Even a strong fourth-level monster can be easily frozen. Its cost is 110 (one hundred and ten million).

The last one is Storm Red’s final killing weapon, the GB-6 Obsidian Chain Sword. Storm Red is a swordsman, and he is so handsome.

Since it is made entirely of rare metals, its cost is approximately 1 (155 billion).

In this way, a purely hand-made Storm Red came into being. Without considering the cost of manual maintenance and the driver, the total cost of the Storm Red is approximately 56 (037 billion).

】

hiss~
Qingcheng Wuji was speechless for a while~
This guy is so boring~
How much money does it take to build a Pacific mecha?
But why does it sound so reasonable?
The bar friends are indeed Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragons~
Qingcheng Wuji immediately started moving this weird post to Zhang Chen Bar.

To paraphrase Nongfu Spring’s advertising slogan:
I don't produce posts, I'm just a porter of Tieba.

Move, pin it to the top~
There are people hanging out in the bar all the time, and once a post is pinned it will be discovered immediately.

Then start building:
No way, someone is actually studying this?

Yeah, is there really anyone bored enough to study this?
The diesel engines of our great Changzhou have finally become famous. Changchai should pay advertising fees to Zhang Chen.

I’m curious, is it really possible to build a mecha with just over 500 billion?

This is too cheap! It seems even less expensive than an aircraft carrier.

After hearing what the above person said, I suddenly feel that it is very cheap. If there is no rich friend in the forum, please pay to build one and let's see if we can make it.
Do we have such rich friends? I think it is more likely to be raised through crowdfunding. I will make a sample first and I will contribute a dollar~
Come on, the one above, do we need crowdfunding for just over 500 billion?

If every smoker in the country smokes one more cigarette, that would be enough.

One stick probably isn't enough, you'll need at least a box!
I smoke, I am proud, I contribute to national defense, um, why does Yuxi smoke a smell of aviation diesel?
The above person is wrong. You can't buy aviation diesel in Yuxi. At most, you can buy one bullet.
Haha, bullets are fine too~
The atmosphere in the bar was joyful.

That’s how building a building works.

We were originally discussing the construction of Storm Red, but as we were talking, the building started to tilt.

Qingcheng Wuji would also join in the conversation and play around for a while, then he would go to Pacific Rim again to lurk around and see if there was anything else good worth moving.

The news about the start of filming spread quickly in the Pacific Rim bar, and several stills were also released, showing Fan Binbin, Prince Long and Zhang Mo wearing combat uniforms.

The combat uniform looks very handsome~
He was browsing pictures when a pinned news item appeared again.

Generally speaking, this means that the moderator has released something remarkable.

Qingcheng Wuji immediately exited the webpage and returned to the post list, and then saw the pinned content this time - the official version: "Pacific Rim" Chronicles.

(End of this chapter)