Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 591 A Day in the Life of a Post-90s Special Effects Artist at Galaxy (Part 1)
The failed attempts by film industry peers like LeTV, Huayi Brothers, and Star Shine in developing film series and "cinematic universes" are not isolated cases.

Besides them, there are many similar projects.

After all, with Galaxy Group's Galaxy Cinematic Universe as a precedent, Hollywood counterparts such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man Cinematic Universe, and Legendary Cinematic Universe are also developing their own cinematic universes with great enthusiasm. It's hard for domestic capital and film companies not to follow suit.

In any case, the film and television industry has now merged with the capital circle. Many so-called projects are more about film and television companies "telling stories" in order to boost the company's market value. Before the movie is released, this part of the profit has already been earned back from the shareholders.

The Legend of Gods series, Monster Hunt series, Iceman series, SPL series, Integrity series... some made a splash, while others didn't even make a ripple.

However, regardless of how their peers develop, these examples show that the film and television industry's push for "cinematic universes" ultimately benefits [Oriental Galaxy Cinema] and Starlight Fantasy Special Effects Company.

After all, to make a blockbuster, special effects are essential. Whether it's the celestial demons in the Journey to the West series, the Great Buddha and the Dragon King in the sea in the Detective Dee series, the steam chariots in the Tai Chi series, the little monsters in the Monster Hunt series, or the grand scenes in the Investiture of the Gods series.

In the past, some people might have believed in Hollywood special effects teams, but with the rise of Galaxy Group, the numerous positive examples of the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, and the fact that Hollywood blockbusters have to be filmed and produced in China, many domestic film and television production teams have had to choose to watch Starlight Fantasy based on cost and quality considerations.

Because of this, during this year's autumn campus recruitment season, Starlight Fantasy recruited more than 200 recent graduates from animation, computer science, and design departments, attempting to leverage China's abundant talent resources to further reduce the cost of special effects production.

It's important to know that despite the seemingly sophisticated nature of special effects production, it is actually a labor-intensive industry.

The college students were extremely happy and satisfied with getting a job at Xinghe Group. After all, many of them did not come from top universities like Tsinghua or Peking University. Moreover, it was already 2017, and as the real estate economy gradually reached a turning point, those at the bottom were the first to feel the chill.

With universities expanding their enrollment again and again, the number of people seeking flexible employment has reached a new high. The age of 35 has become a major constraint for employees of large companies, and the 996 work schedule and overtime have become the accepted reality. Nowadays, everyone knows what the employment situation is like outside.

As the top and largest entertainment company in China, Galaxy Group may no longer be very competitive in terms of salary after its period of rapid expansion. However, its benefits are so good that they are comparable to those of foreign companies and state-owned enterprises in Beijing.

Early in the morning, Zhao Jianfei, who had just graduated, got up from his single bed.

He was still getting used to the new bedding, and his experience as a new employee made Zhao Jianfei have no desire to sleep in.

However, as soon as he got up, Comrade Zhao didn't forget to install his fully charged OPPO R11 Plus phone onto DJI's newly launched handheld gimbal, connect it via Bluetooth, and then turn on the Douyin live streaming function to prepare to start recording "the good life".

Yes, besides being a recent graduate who just joined Xingdou Culture, a subsidiary of Xinghe Group, Zhao Jianfei is also a video blogger. He often posts funny and spoof videos online, which are quite well-known in the spoofing community, thanks to his special effects editing and dubbing skills.

However, he had been active on Bilibili before, and only switched to Douyin after it was launched. Thanks to his first-mover advantage, he has already gained more than 300,000 followers.

"A day in the life of a post-90s special effects artist after joining Galaxy Group!"

While greeting the viewers in the live stream, Zhao Jianfei began washing up and getting ready. During the process, he also took pictures of the single dormitory room that the company had assigned to him.

Although it was early in the morning, many people were still free at this time, and since he had already announced it yesterday, dozens of people quickly flooded into the live stream, and the number was still increasing.

"Friends, do you know what the most exciting thing is when you join Galaxy Group?"

This is the single dormitory!

After tidying up, Zhao Jianfei took photos of the dormitory, locked the door, greeted several colleagues who were also preparing to report, and introduced them as they took the elevator together.

"Everyone knows how expensive rent is in Beijing. The single dormitory I'm living in now would cost at least two or three thousand outside."

"After joining Xinghe Group, the internship period includes free accommodation, and after becoming a full-time employee, the monthly rent is only 500 yuan."

As soon as he finished speaking, several comments quickly appeared in the live stream chat.

"envious!"

"This is the rent price in Beijing."

"Which company is this? It's so great!"

"Where is this, streamer? What does your company do?"

As Zhao Jianfei looked at his phone screen, the elevator "dinged" and arrived at the first floor.

He walked out of the building and started taking pictures of the dormitory complex with his phone again. While answering questions from netizens, he also made sure to introduce the area:
"The company is Xinghe Group, the largest film and television company in China!"

"We'll dedicate a whole episode to talking about this dormitory later."

"Look, everyone, the residential area we live in now was also built by the company itself. The address is in the East District of the Economic Development Zone in TZ District of Shangjing City, which is relatively close to LF City."

This is already the third housing development our company has built. During my interview, the company's HR told me that all three developments house our company employees, and most of them are subsidized housing.

"This is truly eye-opening!"

"This company is amazing. They built three residential complexes just to provide dormitories for their employees."

Are all the houses rented for 500?

A barrage of comments scrolled across the phone screen. By this time, the number of viewers in the live stream had increased from dozens to hundreds, and the number was still growing.

Zhao Jianfei didn't have time to answer the netizens' questions this time because he had already arrived at the entrance of the community with several colleagues.

Several buses were parked at the entrance. Zhao Jianfei didn't pick and choose, but walked to the first bus, which was almost full, and took out his employee card and swiped it on a machine next to the driver's seat.

"Beep! Employee card!"

"This is also one of our company's vehicles."

Zhao Jianfei found a seat in the back row, smiled at his colleague next to him who was also an employee of Xinghe Group, and then introduced himself to the hundreds of viewers on his phone.

“Our group has a transportation company that is responsible for providing free shuttle service between our two employee residential areas and the company headquarters, and also picks up some passengers in the vicinity.”

The bus was now full of passengers. The driver started the engine, and after a slight shudder and a loud noise, the bus began to move forward. Soon after, it entered the Beijing-Harbin Expressway and headed towards the Oriental Galaxy Cinema.

"As mentioned before, the company has developed three residential buildings as employee dormitories."

On the bus, Zhao Jianfei continued chatting with netizens.

"Each of these housing developments is quite large. For example, the complex where I live now is full of single dormitories, those small single rooms where one person lives alone."

The other two communities consist of half single dormitories and half family rooms, and the family rooms are not all the same. If you have a second child, you can move to a bigger one.

Furthermore, those two residential complexes with family apartments also have attached kindergartens.

"Can I share a single dormitory room with my girlfriend? Yes, the company doesn't have any restrictions on that."

"The first residential area that the company developed is now fully occupied."

The single dorms in the second residential complex are also full. Since I'm a new employee, the complex I'm currently living in is the furthest from the company; it takes about half an hour to get there by highway. "Oh, by the way, I wanted to show you something."

Zhao Jianfei took his phone off the gimbal and patted the thing in his hand.

"The phone I'm using, and the one I'm using to do this live stream right now, are both company benefits I received after joining the company."

This is called a DJI gimbal, from the DJI company that makes drones. You can stabilize your phone by mounting it on this, and it's very easy to use.

The phone is also new, the latest OPPO model, released just a few months ago. It works great. Yes, a shining example of Chinese-made products!

Why did the company send this?

It wasn't a gift; it was bought at half price.

Because our company has invested in the companies that produce these two items, every employee who needs them can enjoy an internal discount price.

Of course, there are also various limitations...

Zhao Jianfei chatted with netizens in this casual way, and what he said wasn't a lie.

The gimbal was something the company specifically assigned to him after he reported his side job when he joined.

As for the new phones, they are part of a trade-in program that every employee in the company can enjoy, with a 50% discount on the purchase price.

So Zhao Jianfei reciprocated by taking advantage of the benefits and promoting these products during a Douyin live stream.

On the Beijing-Harbin Expressway in the early morning, there was still some congestion in the direction of the city, and the speed of traffic was not very fast.

Fortunately, Zhao Jianfei got up early enough, and after more than forty minutes of trekking, he finally arrived near the Xinghe Building. Zhao Jianfei quickly raised his phone and gave the Xinghe Group's office building a close-up shot.

"Look, everyone, this is our company's headquarters office building."

"Does this entire building belong to your company?"

"Wow, that's impressive. No wonder it's a big company in Beijing."

"It doesn't feel as good as those internet companies in Beijing's CBD buildings."

"Hey upstairs, this is a building they built themselves. How can those internet companies compare?"

"Host, go in and check it out!"

A barrage of comments and a few virtual gifts flew across the screen, most of them criticizing the office building of Xinghe Group.

"Thanks, Brother Mengzi, for the megaphone!"

"Thank you, Master Liu, for the little motorcycle!"

"Thank you, thank you everyone in the live stream!"

……

While expressing his gratitude, Zhao Jianfei glanced at the number of viewers in the live stream. The number in the upper right corner had already exceeded 5000 and was still increasing rapidly.

Clearly, his live stream has caught the attention of Douyin's backend, and he has received preferential treatment from the platform in terms of traffic.

"I'm sorry, I can't go into the group's office building right now because my department isn't there."

As Zhao Jianfei spoke, he pointed his phone camera at the other side.

"In addition, our company has more than one headquarters office building. The film and television base over there is also a property of our group, and the company I joined also has offices there."

As he spoke, the bus turned a corner, passed through the huge, film-reel-shaped archway of the [Oriental Galaxy Cinema], and stopped in the parking lot inside.

When the vast Oriental Galaxy Cinema, with its huge, modern film studio, appeared in front of the phone camera, everyone in the live stream couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Zhao Jianfei was quite pleased with their performance, since they were now envious of him.

After getting off the bus, Zhao Jianfei hailed a bicycle and headed straight to the staff canteen inside the Oriental Galaxy Cinema, ready to broaden the horizons of his viewers in the live stream.

The canteen of [Galaxy Cinema] is a four-story, off-white building with a considerable area, located near the central area of ​​the film and television base.

"We employees eat for free in the cafeteria."

As Zhao Jianfei walked into the cafeteria, he introduced the food to his viewers in the live stream while carrying a tray to the food selection window.

"Everyone receives a meal allowance of several hundred yuan, and internal employees can simply swipe their employee cards to eat."

People outside, such as tourists, can scan the code to pay now.

In addition, film crews who come here to shoot movies or TV shows usually order boxed meals directly from the canteen.

Zhao Jianfei took a bowl of mung bean porridge, a plate of fried dumplings, a boiled egg, and some pickled vegetables such as shredded potatoes, diced lotus root, and diced radish. He swiped his card, and it showed that the total cost was 6.32 yuan. This caused the live stream to flood the chat with comments like "So cheap!"

"This canteen has four floors. The first, second and third floors are for employees to eat. In addition to the self-service mode, there are also various kinds of food such as stir-fries, spicy hot pot, noodles and barbecue.

The fourth floor has private rooms, which are sometimes where company or film crew members have gatherings for meals.

Zhao Jianfei found a place to sit down and started eating in front of more than 7,000 viewers in the live broadcast room. The way he ate with relish made many viewers drool.

"If you ever have the chance to visit our [Galaxy Cinema] in the future, I recommend you try these pan-fried dumplings. They're filled with pork and scallions, and the bottoms are fried until golden brown and crispy. They taste really good!"

I heard that the pork used in this dish is specially ordered from a large meat processing plant like Shuanghui by our company, and it tastes very meaty.

Does our company allow outsiders to enter?

Yes, it's open to the public. [Galaxy Cinema] is open to the public. After all, it's a filming location, and there are many film crews and domestic and foreign celebrities in the park. Fans often come here because they want to see the stars.

However, it seems that reservations need to be made through a dedicated "Good Producer" app, and there is a limit to the number of people that can be booked.

Okay, I've finished eating and it's time to go to work. Now, let me show you my work environment.

(End of this chapter)