Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 470 Overly Enthusiastic Industrial Light & Magic
In early September, the film and television industry was abuzz with media attention.

Almost every day, major entertainment sections mention Wu Chen and the film "1939".

"It is said that the rehearsal room for '1939' is brightly lit, and Wu Chen is on set every day, but filming has been delayed."

Is there a problem with "1939"?

"It's been so long since I turned it on, I'm so worried."

Industry insiders, the media, and the audience are all very puzzled.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Jiang Wen called to inquire: "What's going on with your movie? It looks like it's about to start filming every day, but it's never actually started."
If you don't open it, I'm going to open it now.

"I still need to prepare a bit more. If you want to open it, just open it. Why make opening a machine sound like a duel?" Wu Chen couldn't help but find it amusing. "What month are you planning to go?"

"The initial plan is October, what about you?"

"I can't decide."

"What exactly are you up to?" Jiang Wen muttered, becoming increasingly curious.

Among the directors whose films have grossed over 100 million yuan at the mainland box office, only Wu Chen, Jiang Wen, and Chen Kaige have not yet started filming.

Zhang Yimou's "A Simple Noodle Story" has finished filming, while Ning Hao's was completed even earlier.

Lu Yang tinkered with his art films, while Feng Xiaogang continued making "Aftershock".
Perhaps they were fed by Huayi.
Rumors have been circulating that Yinghuang offered 100 million yuan to poach talent, and Feng Xiaogang finally responded directly to reporters on set.

"Many large companies want to poach me, and the prices they're offering are all very high, which is normal!"

He paused, his tone becoming extremely firm:
"But I will never leave Huayi! In my opinion, 100 million is too little, far less than the trust and understanding that Huayi gives me."

That sounds very loyal!

The media at the scene immediately wrote the headline: [Feng Xiaogang's Heart Remains with Huayi Brothers: 100 Million Yuan is Too Little!]

On the same evening, at the Beijing Performing Arts Center's small theater, the backstage atmosphere was lively after the curtain fell on the play "Peerless Under Heaven".

More than twenty students from the 02 performance class were present, making it feel like a class reunion.

"I heard that Huayi gave Feng Xiaogang a lot, and Huayi is about to go public."

"Xixi, do you know?" Jiang Yiyan asked in a flattering tone, looking at Liu Yifei who was chatting with Zhou Yang and Wang Jia.

"what?"

Liu Yifei paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"Stop chatting, it's time to present the flowers. Let's go together. Qianqian, you go first, so you can get more exposure and help promote the theater," Wang Jia called out. Liu Yifei didn't hesitate.

After the performance, we had a meal together.
It's all part of the usual class reunion routine.

It was past nine o'clock in the evening when everyone was preparing to leave.
"Sisi, how are we getting back? Do you want to come along?"

Liu Yifei was somewhat caught off guard by Jiang Yiyan's persistent enthusiasm tonight, but she still managed a smile and said, "Wu Chen has come to pick me up."

"Director Wu is here! You should have said so earlier. We should have invited him to come up and eat with us."

Zhou Yang couldn't help but roll his eyes at these words, and whispered in Wang Jia's ear:
"I can't take it anymore, I can't stand her anymore. Why wasn't she this attentive when we were in school?"

"."

Wang Jia also gave a wry smile.

"Jiajia, Zhou Yang, we'll be going now. Drive carefully." Liu Yifei waved, and Wu Chen nodded with a smile.

In the car, Liu Yifei talked about Jiang Yiyan's unusual behavior.

“She was a little too enthusiastic tonight, it’s not normal,” Liu Yifei said. She wasn’t stupid, and then looked at Wu Chen, as if asking for his opinion.

Wu Chen pondered for a moment.

"It might be related to the 'Four Great Constables' that Enlight Media is currently preparing. I recently heard that she seems to have a good chance and is considering an important supporting role, but it hasn't been finalized yet." "'Four Great Constables'? Starry Sky has invested in this project?" Liu Yifei asked subconsciously.

"No, but for some roles, it's just a matter of one sentence."

It's no wonder Jiang Yiyan was having wild speculations; after all, taking Liu Yifei's path was much easier than taking any other path.

"Then do you think we should help her?"

"It mainly depends on you, but there's no need to rush. The movie probably won't start filming until next year."

Wu Chen didn't pay much attention to this matter. For him, the development of the native 3D system for "Interstellar" and "1939" were the key tasks at the moment.

For the former, he needed to clearly define the filming goals for "Interstellar," including the immersive experience of space scenes and the realistic presentation of complex visual effects such as black holes and wormholes.
Hardware R&D and shooting process design are partly the responsibility of our partners, and partly handled in the background.

This is why visual effects come first.

Meanwhile, two invitations to the premiere of "The Founding of a Republic" have been sent to the company!

Han Sanping even specifically asked, "I heard you're going to Los Angeles. Do you have enough time?"

"Yes, let's go over and discuss the details of the development of the 'Interstellar' 3D system. It shouldn't take too long, we have enough time."

"Can't it be done remotely?"

"I'm still worried, and since the visual effects concept is out, I'll go over and check it out myself."

This is also a problem caused by the film industry being far behind, and Wu Chen has no way to solve it, as no domestic company can afford to develop such a system.
A thin layer of mist gently covered the sky over the Bay Area, and the morning sea breeze, carrying a salty scent, blew all the way from the San Francisco Bay Bridge to the front of the Industrial Light & Magic building.

Inside the meeting room, a concept image was projected onto a large whiteboard:
A spaceship is slowly heading towards a deep black hole, where starlight is wildly distorted, and space itself seems to be stretched and folded.
Joe Letterman, Visual Director at Industrial Light & Magic, was looking at Wu Chen and David Lyndon, two important clients.

Putting aside the fact that the R&D project itself is quite expensive, if we could get the special effects and post-production for the entire project, that would be a huge project.

Wu Chen then pointed to the black hole, his finger tracing an arc along the distorted light.

"The gravity of a black hole causes a gravitational lensing effect on light, making it appear like a vortex that devours everything. However, the halo around it is actually light from the star behind it, refracted into a circle."
Can existing 3D camera rendering achieve this?

The R&D manager nodded, but hesitated before saying, "We need to write a new rendering plugin."

"Then write it."

After saying that, Wu Chen straightened up.

Everyone looked up at him, and saw the young Chinese director walk to the control panel and draw a diagram of the curvature of space directly on the canvas:

"A black hole is not a two-dimensional hole; it is a three-dimensional sphere formed by the collapse of spacetime."

Light is distorted and reflected when it passes around a black hole, and viewers can see the starlight being stretched behind it from any angle. I don't want a dead CG image.

After saying that, Wu Chen quickly switched to the next slide, which was a visual concept diagram of a wormhole.

"The challenge with wormholes lies in the moment the audience enters the wormhole."

Wu Chen drew a circle in the air with his hand, then suddenly pushed it inward to indicate the sense of speed in the traversal.

At this time, the domestic R&D center also connected via remote conference.

"Wow, senior brother is awesome! He can even do that!"

"Did you mute your microphone? Don't let Industrial Light & Magic overhear you!"

"They've shut it down, but what's there to be afraid of? Didn't you see Director Wu sitting right at their core conference table, giving orders?"

"."

The carefully selected teachers and students from the major art academies were whispering among themselves, but of course, the people from the Beijing Film Academy were the most proud.

Department head Wang Honghai sighed as he selected personnel, holding some materials collected by the teachers.

He had received an order from Zhang Huijun to make a note of any promising young artists and recommend them to Wu Chen's Xingchen Film Industry later.
(End of this chapter)