The Birth of the Best Director

Chapter 246: The world-famous painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights"—Liu Shishi becomes the leading lady!

……

After obtaining Nolan's S-level talent, Lu Zhiyuan was in a wonderful mood.

He habitually closed his eyes and quietly sensed the changes within himself.

"Although obtaining an S-rank talent is good, it doesn't seem to significantly improve my strength."

Nolan's visual immersion can be broadly divided into two parts.

One is to pay attention to clear spatial logic during camera movement and editing.

This technique allows the audience to clearly know where the characters are, where the target is, and where the threat comes from.

Nolan's storylines are among the more complex of all film directors.

He often employs multi-narrative structures.

The frequent interludes disrupt various timelines.

In this kind of narrative, a clear positioning can prevent the audience from getting lost and allow them to immerse themselves in the development of the plot.

In addition, unlike many action films that rely on rapid editing to create excitement, Nolan's action scenes often use long takes and coherent editing.

This is why Nolan's visual immersion is so strong.

This allows the audience to have a stronger sense of participation and tension, which will greatly increase the immersion in action movies.

……

Lu Zhiyuan actually understood all these principles.

In fact, his visual immersion is not much worse than Nolan's.

However, the two have different focuses.

Lu Zhiyuan focuses more on using details and small object labels in special effects scenes and fantasy scenes to increase the audience's sense of immersion and engagement.

Nolan, on the other hand, likes to keep the audience from getting lost in action films, as well as in complex environments and multi-layered narratives.

Both of them have their own strengths.

Nolan's S-level talent did not cause Lu Zhiyuan's strength to increase dramatically, but it did make up for one of his minor shortcomings.

In fact, it's not exactly a weakness.

Having been a director for so long, Lu Zhiyuan's abilities in various aspects can be considered excellent.

Theoretical knowledge goes without saying.

To be fair, Lu Zhiyuan's current strength is not much worse than Nolan's.

In fact, Lu Zhiyuan has officially entered the Top 10 in the ranking of directors in the history of world cinema, while Nolan is still striving to climb higher.

Of course, he and Nolan are both great directors, but they also have similar shortcomings.

That is, their screenwriting ability isn't very good, so they need to rely on their brothers for help.

Lu Zhiyuan needs Xin Yukun, and Nolan needs his brother, Jonathan Nolan.

……

"Although the improvement is not significant, it's a gift from the system. Something is better than nothing."

In the early stages, the system was of great help to Lu Zhiyuan.

This allowed him to achieve a leapfrog development from an ordinary photography enthusiast to a historic director in a short period of time.

Especially Quentin Tarantino's ritualistic violence and Emmerich's destructive aesthetics.

These two people have such strong visual labels, and they're also very useful.

One is used for filming feature films.

One is used to film disaster movies.

With a decent script, they're practically invincible.

However, these two individuals may have been too visually distinctive, relying solely on their North Korean heritage to achieve success, thus hindering their ability to break through and become grandmaster-level powerhouses like Spielberg.

It can only be considered one of the best in its genre.

……

After fully absorbing an S-level talent, Lu Zhiyuan opened his eyes.

He turned his head and saw Zhang Tianai next to him.

Zhang Tianai was quite drunk, and her eyes were somewhat glazed over.

"Xiao Ai, you're drunk. Let me take you home."

Although, probably no one would dare to mess with the people around Lu Zhiyuan.

But it’s hard to say.

What if some bastard, with audacity beyond measure, comes along?

At this moment, Lu Zhiyuan helped Zhang Tianai, preparing to leave the celebration banquet.

Just as the two of them stepped out the door, Dilraba and Gulnazar came over.

"Why is Sister Ai so drunk?"

"Nazha, come and help me get Sister Ai into the car and take her home."

Dilraba didn't think much of it.

Miss Jing Tian showed up at Lu Zhiyuan's door yesterday afternoon, blatantly trying to throw herself at him, only to be scolded by Lu Zhiyuan.

Who would dare to do those messy things in front of Lu Zhiyuan?

Zhang Tianai definitely doesn't have that courage. If she did, she would have become her own sister-in-law long ago.

"Reba, let's go home too. I'm a little tired."

For Lu Zhiyuan, the celebration banquet was just a social gathering. Most of the time, others came to him.

Under normal circumstances, he would give others some face.

Unless those people have ill intentions.

But he was actually very impatient with this insincere way of dealing with people.

……

Go home.

Dilraba changed her clothes and took a shower, while Lu Zhiyuan lay on the bed, leaning against the pillows in a daze.

Ten minutes later, Reba came out of the shower and saw that Lu Zhiyuan seemed to be lost in some kind of confusion, with his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was under a lot of pressure.

She tiptoed onto the bed and hugged Lu Zhiyuan.

"Brother, Real Steel 3 has broken box office records, and the media predicts it will reach $13 billion. With such great results, why do you seem unhappy?"

Lu Zhiyuan reached out a hand and pulled Reba into his arms, so that Reba could lean against his chest.

After a while, Lu Zhiyuan sighed and said, "I understand now what Chen Kaige said back then."

"The leaves of the golden palm weigh down on my shoulders, heavier than the shackles in the palace."

"At the time, I just thought that Chen Kaige had become timid and hesitant because he was criticized by the media and netizens after making the terrible film 'The Promise'."

"To this day, I seem to understand a little about the pressure he was under back then."

"Farewell My Concubine" is a masterpiece in the entire history of Chinese cinema.

Chen Kaige, at the age of 40, made this film.

He was naturally arrogant and considered himself exceptionally talented. He believed that there were very few people in the world who could rival him.

At that moment, at this moment.

The more successful Real Steel 3 is, the greater the pressure on Lu Zhiyuan becomes.

He single-handedly created the "Real Steel" series, which grossed nearly $45 billion at a young age, directly entering the Top 10 of all time.

Of course, he also wants to continue to improve and make an even more brilliant film series.

However, it's just too difficult.

Real Steel 3 combines the cool action combat of Jaeger-Maniacs with the magnificent cosmic spectacle of Interstellar, as well as the religious allegory in Michelangelo's paintings, along with Friedrich's visual style that emphasizes the sacredness of steel.

In a sense, this is Lu Zhiyuan's masterpiece.

He spent four years laying the groundwork for three films before completing this final masterpiece.

This feeling is like the film "Farewell My Concubine" directed by Chen Kaige when he was 40 years old.

Do not!
It should be said that Lu Zhiyuan's filming of this movie was more difficult than Chen Kaige's filming of "Farewell My Concubine" back then!
Chen Kaige also has many influential figures helping him; he personally trained his team one by one.

Besides that, there's another problem.

Even if he wanted to plagiarize later films, Lu Zhiyuan couldn't find a single better film to use as a template.

The advantages of being a reborn person were almost completely gone at this moment.

After all, Interstellar has a 9.4 rating on Douban, and it was voted the best science fiction film by Chinese audiences.

Lu Zhiyuan felt that his "Real Steel 3" had surpassed "Interstellar" in every aspect, including visuals, character development, and special effects.

After all, he originally used "Interstellar" as a template, optimized it to better suit his own visual style, and then filmed it.

He stands on the shoulders of giants.

From this moment on, if he wanted to make a science fiction movie, there was no path forward for him to follow.

"Brother, you've worked so hard."

"Most big Hollywood directors only make one film every three or four years. Even James Cameron only makes one film every ten or more years."

"Comparatively speaking, you are far too diligent."

"Perhaps you should relax and enjoy the fun of making movies. Don't push yourself too hard."

Dilraba actually felt very sorry for Lu Zhiyuan.

Other great directors, after achieving fame and success, all indulge in wild and unrestrained behavior.

A life of glitz and glamour, maybe with a few female celebrities. If all else fails, make some lowbrow films and rake in some easy money.

In comparison, Lu Zhiyuan sets extremely high standards for himself.

Lu Zhiyuan had discussed the script for the movie "Project Gutenberg" with Zhuang Wenqiang several times, and had him revise it about 20 times.

Zhuang Wenqiang is almost going crazy.

In fact, Lu Zhiyuan was under even greater pressure.

Zhuang Wenqiang only changed the script, but Lu Zhiyuan carried the hopes of everyone.

Those investors put money into him because they trusted him.

All the celebrities are eager to work with him because they trust his abilities and know that he can help everyone take off!

Lu Zhiyuan has always been proud and arrogant.

He absolutely would not allow any problems to arise with his own film.

For him, not becoming a viral sensation would be a failure!
“Brother, if you need me, I’ll play the female lead in the movie ‘Project Gutenberg.’ With my popularity worldwide, I should be able to help you increase the box office by at least 5000 million US dollars.”

After filming "Real Steel 3", Dilraba Dilmurat became a legend with her role as Alita.

Before *Real Steel 3*, fans called her Alita the Battle Angel. But after that movie, everyone calls her Empress Alita!

The change in her title also signifies that her character has reached the pinnacle of film history.

She's so charming.

Dilraba couldn't think of any role she could play to further elevate her historical status.
If she can't find a better role, she'd rather not act at all.

Throughout history, beauties and great generals have been forbidden from growing old. And aren't celebrities the same?

She hopes that her beauty and acting skills at the peak of her youth will forever remain in the audience's memory.

Perhaps retiring at the peak of one's career, ending one's career, and disappearing from the public eye might not be such a bad thing.

It will leave everyone with a lingering sense of regret towards her, deepening their impression of her.

Anyway, she already has everything she needs.

There's more money than you can spend.

She is undoubtedly the greatest female star in history!

For her, Lu Zhiyuan was the love of her life!
Everything is there!

Her life was so perfect!

But for Lu Zhiyuan, she was willing to make an exception. Even if it was a bad movie, she was willing to act in it.

"No need."

"Zhuang Sir's first draft of the script could get the movie to gross at least 3 million US dollars at the box office. And the production cost would only be around 3000 million US dollars."

"Such a return on investment is more than enough to satisfy all investors."

"To be honest, I was too greedy."

"With several films in a row grossing over $10 billion, I'm even a little dismissive of a mere $3 million."

Lu Zhiyuan was aware of his bad habits.

To put it bluntly, after the "Real Steel" series was finished, he really couldn't get excited about watching ordinary drama films with box office earnings of 3 to 4 million US dollars.

"In a couple of days, I'll talk to Brother Kun, Inspector Zhuang, and Liu Shishi about this movie."

According to Lu Zhiyuan, the original script for "Peerless" deserves a score of 80 or higher.

He completed the character design for Ruan Wen for Zhuang Wenqiang, making Ruan Wen and Li Wen full of structural symmetry.

In fact, you can tell from their names that they were both painters.

It’s just that one is in the light and the other is in the dark.

It's possible that after Li Wen was arrested by the police, he fabricated a flawless story to protect Ruan Wen, thus exposing Ruan Wen's involvement.

As for Wu Xiuqing, he was merely a scapegoat for Ruan Wen.

In the script, Zhuang Wenqiang made the relationships between these characters very ambiguous, which should result in a good filming effect.

However, the biggest flaw in this script is that it completely ruins the two male protagonists, who were very successfully developed in the early stages, at the end.

Some of them are too wasteful.

Lu Zhiyuan deducted 20 points from Zhuang Wenqiang's score.

Otherwise, this is a near-perfect script.

"Brother, don't think about it anymore, come and do it... let me help you relax."

Reba chuckled and hooked her arm around Lu Zhiyuan's neck.

A man who is serious is the most charming.

Lu Zhiyuan is very serious every day, and he is serious about everything, which makes Dilraba feel fascinated at all times.

……

The next morning, Reba went to school for her exams again.

After what happened to Jing Tian that day, Reba was completely at ease with Lu Zhiyuan. She no longer needed to worry about someone breaking into her house.

……

798 Art Center.

Today, Lu Zhiyuan, for the first time ever, invited Liu Shishi to see an art exhibition together.

Liu Shishi dressed up specially and even sprayed on a little bit of the light perfume that Lu Zhiyuan liked.

Before leaving the house, she checked her hairstyle one last time.

I'm so happy.

This was the first time Lu Zhiyuan had asked her to go to an art exhibition together.

As is well known, before Lu Zhiyuan would give a female celebrity a prominent role, he would take her to an art exhibition. During the exhibition, he would gradually infuse her with his artistic ideas.

Reba and Hanikezi both went through this process.

The previous one was Gulnazar.

But Nazha didn't seem to notice at all, which infuriated Lu Zhiyuan.

Even so, Nazha still managed to get a very outstanding role from Lu Zhiyuan.

"Go, Shishi!"

Before getting out of the car, Liu Shishi's entire team popped their heads out of the car to cheer her on.

After Liu Shishi became famous, she received many commercial endorsements and set up her own studio, employing at least seven or eight people.

……

"Zhiyuan, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Liu Shishi carries the hopes of the entire studio on her shoulders. Even Mr. Cai, the boss of Tangren Media, called to offer his condolences and encouragement after learning about the situation.

When she saw Lu Zhiyuan again, her voice trembled slightly.

The pressure is too much!
"Not long. I just arrived too."

Lu Zhiyuan sensed that Liu Shishi was acting strangely today.

Her face was slightly shy, the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, she wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh too exaggeratedly, and her whole person was filled with an atmosphere of happiness and joy.

Because she doesn't like wearing contact lenses, she specially wore a pair of very sophisticated frameless glasses today, which made her temperament even more elegant.

It must be said, Liu Shishi looks quite beautiful like this.

Lu Zhiyuan looked him up and down a few times, nodded slightly, and then led the way: "Let's go, today's journey may take a while."

Is it taking a bit too long?
Very good!
I have plenty of time!

Liu Shishi was even happier.

Previously, when Lu Zhiyuan was dating Miss Jing Tian, ​​he avoided her like the plague.

She can understand.

After all, Miss Jing Tian, ​​this Shaanxi "old vinegar," is well-known in the industry.

Lu Zhiyuan kept his distance from her because he didn't want her to suffer any undeserved misfortune.

Dilraba is better.

Although Dilraba is also wary of these female celebrities, fearing that they might overtake her, at least on the surface, she doesn't care about Lu Zhiyuan.

……

"arrive."

Lu Zhiyuan stopped in front of a piece of art.

He turned to look at Liu Shishi and said to himself, "This is Hieronymus Bosch's 'The Garden of Earthly Delight'."

"He is an extraordinary genius."

"His paintings look very crazy, yet very delicate, with a pure and harmonious composition. But if you look at the things inside his paintings, you'll find them so strange."

"In short, he used the most vibrant colors to create the most chilling fables!"

The painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" was created 500 years ago.

But if someone who doesn't know it sees this painting for the first time, they might think it's a 20th-century comic book full of all sorts of fantastical scenes.

"what?"

Liu Shishi was dumbfounded.

What is this?

He brought me here to see this painting. What does it mean?
Considering the many naked men and women in the middle of the painting, it looks like they're having some kind of sex party...

Liu Shishi couldn't help but make some connections.

No, I can't go.

But what if he invites me... No, he's not that kind of person.

Just as Liu Shishi's brain was about to shut down, Lu Zhiyuan spoke up, saying, "The painting 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' was a very unique painting in the Renaissance era."

"It is full of moral warnings, but also bizarre and outlandish."

“Look at this painting in the very center… For many people, isn’t it heaven? But that’s just an appearance. In reality, it’s a carnival amidst chaos.”

"Their lack of clothing only added to the mystery surrounding their identities."

At this point, Lu Zhiyuan started saying some inexplicable things.

Although Liu Shishi was wearing glasses, her eyes were starting to glaze over, and she had reverted to being blind.

Depend on!
I don't understand!

Is this the kind of life Dilraba lives every day?

Who can bear it?
Although Liu Shishi's brain was working at overclock, her CPU power was insufficient; it was practically smoking dry, and she couldn't keep up with Lu Zhiyuan's train of thought.

"Okay, I know this is a bit beyond your level."

Lu Zhiyuan glanced at Liu Shishi, stopped talking to himself, and said softly, "It's enough that you have a general feeling about this painting."

Thank you!

You're so kind to me!

Liu Shishi finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Lu Zhiyuan's words.

Then, she looked at Lu Zhiyuan with a wronged expression and said softly, "I'm sorry, Zhiyuan, I've never been exposed to these things before. Please don't be angry with me."

"What's there to be angry about?"

Lu Zhiyuan shook his head, then got down to business: "You should have received the script for 'Peerless', right?"

"Ah."

Liu Shishi nodded.

Although the script for this film is frequently revised, a final version has not yet been finalized.

But the general plot will not change.

Especially the scenes involving Liu Shishi, the second female lead, are actually quite few... you could say they add up to less than 5 minutes.

However, Lu Zhiyuan only needs to do some artistic planning.

Different mediums, different themes, different artistic styles—even with the same story, the resulting films will vary greatly.

But these things won't be written in the script.

"Shishi, the reason I called you here today is to ask you, what do you think if the story of 'Dynasty Warriors' were just a virtual VR game?"

what?
As Lu Zhiyuan spoke, Liu Shishi's mind went blank once again.

"I think so."

"After Real Steel 3, Alita found her father."

"As for Alita, everyone else on Earth is Ms. T's person. In a sense, they are her enemies."

"Therefore, given Alita's cold-blooded personality, she would never come to save humanity. It would be a thankless and arduous task for her."

"After all, she has already died once, so she would cherish life very much. It's impossible for her to just randomly appear and save all of humanity or something."

"In this situation, Miss Raven stayed on Earth. As a human sage, she needed to save herself."

"However, her wisdom alone is not enough."

"AI chips also have their limitations. They can only summarize and generalize data left by predecessors, without any innovative capabilities."

"If things continue like this, humanity will surely perish if it remains on Earth."

"As the human living environment becomes increasingly harsh, in order to prevent humans from starting to riot, Ms. T has developed a sandbox VR game based on 'Real Steel', allowing humans to enter this game utopia and pass the time."

"And Miss Raven also has her own little secret."

"As a senior executive of YG Group and a senior game administrator of the VR sandbox game 'Real Steel,' she used her authority to create a special NPC."

"This NPC is called [Li Wen]. He is a painter who appears every afternoon in the square outside the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. He will paint for tourists. Each sketch costs 10 euros."

“After earning 100 euros, he will go home.”

"And Li Wen, in fact, was Miss Raven's first love."

"Before the end of the world and the extinction of mankind, Miss Raven will transform into Ruan Wen in her spare time and return to the home she and Li Wen once shared."

"In that sunset, in that alley next to the Florence Cathedral, she would receive Li Wen's embrace and smile."

"Those were the happiest times of her life."

"Of course, she did not forget her original intention."

"During her time with Li Wen, she packaged up Alita's [T0] chip and all its data and left it with him, wanting to conduct an experiment."

……

"After all the data was injected into [Li Wen], Miss [Raven] no longer entered the game, but became an observer."

"In the game, when the NPC Li Wen returned home, he found that Ruan Wen was missing. The system AI automatically created a story for Ruan Wen, saying that Ruan Wen had fallen in love with a rich man and left."

"Li Wen suffered from an inferiority complex. In addition, he obtained all the data of the T0 chip, which made him exceptionally powerful, and he became the world's biggest crime boss in one fell swoop."

……

“Miss Raven, in order to train Li Wen’s T0 chip’s computing power, we have set up various extremely difficult challenges for him in the game.”

"After overcoming numerous trials, Li Wen finally produced counterfeit money and successfully escaped various pursuits, completing the game mission... Meanwhile, in an experimental pod, a cyborg body slowly opened its eyes."

"I plan to use this image as the ending."

"As for the character of Cage... I plan to follow Inspector Chong's original plan and treat him as a malevolent alter ego that Li Wen imagined. I'll abandon him at the end."

……

Lu Zhiyuan incorporated elements from "Out of Control," including the concept of NPCs awakening their self-awareness, and also integrated the worldview of the "Real Steel" series.

This makes the story exceptionally complex, fresh, and full of twists and turns.

In some ways, the artistic conception of this story is very similar to Bosch's world-famous painting "The Garden of Earthly Delight".

The beginning is a virtual paradise.

Miss Raven created a paradise for herself and created the NPC Li Wen, which she uses to reminisce about their sweet romance in her spare time.

In the middle, awakening is chaotic.

—Li Wen's AI awakening, and Miss Raven's numerous trials. There's an absurd feeling of watching various battles unfold through a glass fish tank.

The ending is a real-life hell.

This needs little explanation; Earth is on the verge of destruction. Li Wen's awakening in the experimental pod was akin to stepping from an omnipotent game world into a reality where he was powerless to change anything.

……

Of course, Lu Zhiyuan left behind an ambiguous ending.

Miss Raven's original intention was to cultivate a genius similar to Alita.

The reason I chose Li Wen is because he was my first love. He died many years later due to environmental degradation and the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Now, Li Wen has gained the power of the T0 chip and has been resurrected!

Who is this?
Is he the Li Wen of the past, or the cunning and ruthless counterfeit money boss in the game?

Li Wen is shrouded in mystery regarding his identity, and his life is a test of humanity and technological ethics.

……

This version, compared to Zhuang Wenqiang's version, incorporates a dystopian game setting from "Real Steel".

Another addition is a supplement to the character of Miss Raven!

After all, this character is quite popular in the Real Steel series.

Without affecting the overall story structure of "Peerless", Lu Zhiyuan added a backstory for Miss Raven, which is equivalent to helping Liu Shishi gain popularity with audiences all over the world!

of course.

Most importantly, his own character, Li Wen, was born in this way... much like the way villains are created in Universal Pictures' Dark Universe.

……

"Shishi, what do you think of this idea?"

Lu Zhiyuan explained his concept for the script "Peerless" to Liu Shishi from beginning to end.

【瑞雯】 and 【阮文】...these two names sound almost identical when put together!
Otherwise, Lu Zhiyuan wouldn't have thought of this.

The reason he invited Liu Shishi to the art exhibition was because, once this script was used for filming, the character of Miss Raven, even with very little screen time, would undoubtedly be the lead!
Because it was Miss Raven who opened up this world and created Li Wen.

This movie is essentially a spin-off of "Real Steel," telling a story from Miss Raven's past.

The production cost of "Project Gutenberg" was only 3000 million US dollars.

In addition to the spin-off story of Miss Raven, the film also features the gimmick of Lu Zhiyuan, a failed art student who makes counterfeit money... so the box office shouldn't be too bad.

However, after this arrangement, although the movie's female lead used Gao Yuanyuan's face, all viewers knew that [Ruan Wen] was [Ray Wen].

Gao Yuanyuan essentially became Liu Shishi's stand-in.

She'll probably be unhappy!
……

"I, of course I think it's great."

Liu Shishi not only thought it was great, but she was even a little excited!
The overall plot of "Peerless" is still the same as the version written by Zhuang Wenqiang.

However, this story has an additional hidden subplot.

This subplot is interwoven with the story of [Raven]!

Essentially, Lu Zhiyuan added an extra role for her in the Real Steel series!
This makes Miss Raven even more three-dimensional.

After all this, when Lu Zhiyuan prepares to film "Real Steel 4", she will undoubtedly become an important character!

(End of this chapter)