Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 492 Native 3D, a Huge Uproar

In the morning, a thin fog still shrouded Beijing, and the traffic on the North Third Ring Road moved forward slowly and steadily.

The greyish-white light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the entertainment editorial department of a media building, casting shadows on rows of figures with their heads bowed.

The blue-white light emanating from the computer screen made everyone's dark circles appear even deeper, and the air was filled with the bitter aroma of coffee and the sound of keyboards clicking.
"There's still no news about Avatar's box office performance, right?"

"No, the statistics will probably be slower on Sunday."

"Ugh, we have to work on Sundays too."

By the window, Xiao Chen was starting his day in his usual way: mechanically refreshing the official websites of various film and television companies, like fishing in a river, his fingertips numbly scrolling the mouse wheel.

A headline suddenly jumped into view.

China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Star Cinema Pictures, Blumhouse Pictures, and Universal Pictures jointly announced the official launch of the Interstellar native 3D film project.

He blinked, then scrolled the mouse back to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Click to read the main text; it's incredibly brief:

"China Film Group Corporation, Shanghai Film (Group) Co., Ltd., Star Cinema Co., Ltd., Universal Pictures, and Blumhouse Films are jointly developing the native 3D film Interstellar."

The film will be directed by internationally renowned director Wu Chen and is currently in the research and testing phase of the native 3D system. It is expected to officially start filming in 2010.

This project will be co-produced and co-distributed by China and the United States, and the film will be a science fiction drama.

There are no superfluous words or slogans, but every single word is enough to send a shiver down your spine.

"Holy crap. Really?"

Xiao Chen stared at the screen, his voice unconsciously rising.

My colleague at the next workstation peeked over and asked, "What's going on?"

"Interstellar, a joint production of China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Star Cinema, and Universal Pictures, is a native 3D film directed by Wu Chen."

"what?"

The brief exclamation drew the attention of colleagues several meters away.

"What? Did you see some gossip news?"

"Yeah, you're making it sound pretty convincing. Looks like you've written quite a few announcements."

The crowd was still joking around, but their steps didn't slow down, their eyes wide and blinking repeatedly.

"Holy crap, it really is!"

"Could this be the second sci-fi film that Wu Chen was talking about back then? I remember there were rumors in the industry, but no one ever explained what he was going to do."

"Quickly check with Global Times."

"."

Everyone returned to their workstations, their hands clapping furiously at the keyboards.
"We found it; Universal Pictures also released it."

"Brunshouse too."

After exchanging glances and remaining silent for a few seconds, the dozen or so people almost simultaneously began frantically typing on their keyboards.

The headline was generated too quickly, but it wasn't just this one media outlet that noticed it; other media outlets also discovered it one after another.

The exclamation "Holy crap!" echoed throughout the entertainment media industry.

Within just ten minutes, headlines of all kinds were flying everywhere.

[Wu Chen Returns to Sci-Fi! Original 3D Masterpiece "Interstellar" Officially Launched!]

[A Five-Party Collaboration Between the US and China: Is "Interstellar" Aiming Directly at "Avatar"?]

[Interstellar to begin filming in 2010, directed by Wu Chen in original 3D!]

Is China's film industry entering the 3D era? Wu Chen's sci-fi film challenges native 3D.

【.】

The news spread like dandelion seeds, carried by a gust of wind, across news aggregation platforms, forums, microblogs, and portal websites.

In less than an hour, almost every film-related media outlet and entertainment website featured this news on their homepage.

For a moment, some directors, producers, and industry professionals who were still immersed in the awe of "Avatar" were a little taken aback by this news.

"Real or false?"

"Is Wu Chen about to make a move?"

"Can he shoot in 3D?"

"."

A barrage of questions arose in an instant. The industry was still reeling, but the audience, especially Wu Chen's fans, were overwhelmed with emotion after confirming the media reports.

"Aaaaaaah!!! Wu Chen is finally going to film his second sci-fi movie!"

"Wu Chen, you're awesome! You're truly worthy of this!" "I knew it! Those so-called experts are still spouting nonsense; sooner or later, someone will prove them wrong."

"This won't do anymore, I'm going to fight back! Let's see what they say now, like domestic directors can't make it, that it'll take years. Damn it, it'll happen this year! Maybe this will even be the second one in the world!"

"."

Netizens, on the other hand, had a much simpler approach. Filled with excitement and anger, they turned their attacks on those who had been disparaging domestic films in the past few days.

If it were just a normal discussion, that would be fine. The main problem is that there are always people who keep slandering and predicting the downfall, as if such people don't exist in China.
Liu Yifei had been following the news online, especially about Wu Chen. She blinked in disbelief, her emotions suddenly erupting:
"These people are so argumentative! They don't even understand what native 3D is, yet they're saying you're converting 2D to 3D!"

She handed the phone to Wu Chen, her eyes filled with anger.

"These people are just nitpicking. They don't know anything and just spout nonsense. Don't they understand the word 'original'?"

Wu Chen slowly picked up his phone, his gaze sweeping over the comments related to the hashtag #Interstellar#:
"They're just talking about shooting in 3D. These days, 3D can be converted. Who knows if Wu Chen's version was converted from 2D to 3D? Cameron shot it in real 3D."

"What does 'developing native 3D' mean? Is it a conversion? I admit Wu Chen does have the ability to shoot sci-fi blockbusters, but I hope he can clarify this. In my opinion, the probability of a 3D conversion is very high, as Cameron controls the 3D shooting system."

Such comments kept coming, which made Wu Chen laugh in anger, and he directly picked up his phone to accept a telephone interview with Sina Media.

"Native 3D refers to shooting in 3D from the very beginning, rather than converting 2D to 3D."

This method uses professional 3D cameras and technology to directly record the three-dimensionality and spatial depth of objects.

During filming, every frame of the subject needed to perfectly align with the viewer's perspective, unlike traditional 2D-to-3D conversion, which results in visual unnaturalness and unrealistic depth.

Wu Chen paused for a moment on the phone, then added:
"We've been working on the native 3D animation for 'Interstellar' for about six months. Elite art teams from several top universities in China have also participated, including top talents from Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Fine Arts, and China Academy of Art."

These words greatly excited the Sina reporter, who quickly signaled to his colleague to check if the universities Wu Chen mentioned had issued any announcements.

"Thank you, Director Wu. May I ask what's up?"

Meanwhile, the person who was searching for information first opened the official website of Beijing Film Academy, where the announcement was at the very top of the news section.

"To support the early-stage technical development of the first native 3D science fiction film in China, the Department of Fine Arts of our college, together with domestic and foreign partners, established the 'Stereoscopic Imaging and Native 3D Shooting Technology R&D Group,' which has now entered the testing and technical verification stage."

This project is a joint research and development effort between the research institute and an enterprise. Related technical details have been covered by a confidentiality agreement and will not be disclosed at this time. An announcement will be made at a later date after the filming is completed.

I then opened the official websites of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the China Academy of Art. The announcements were almost identical, except for the name. The rest of the wording and paragraphs were exactly the same.

At this moment, the entire Sina editorial department was completely busy.

[Wu Chen responds to criticism: This was original filming, not a conversion!]

[Three major art academies participated in the research and development! Wu Chen's native 3D system has been under development for nearly half a year!]

Details revealed about China's first original 3D sci-fi film: Three top art schools involved!

【.】

As the publish button was pressed, these headlines appeared simultaneously on news aggregation platforms, portal homepages, and Weibo trending topics.

Movie fans and netizens immediately started sharing the message.

Supporters were in high spirits, and the comments section became a battleground for rebuttal to previous criticisms.

"Idiot, do you understand now? What is native 3D? If you don't understand, you're just spouting nonsense."

"Feeling good now? 'Reformation'? What the hell are you talking about?!"

"These people need to be cured of their blindness. Can't they even understand the word 'original'?"

"Were domestic film industry teams involved? Speak up."

"."

Those who were previously the loudest have suddenly fallen silent on Weibo, neither forwarding nor commenting, as if they are collectively playing dumb—this is their most proficient tactic.

Of course, there were also a few stubborn people who changed their tune and continued to question things, since they couldn't win this argument anyway, and there were also issues with box office revenue and other aspects.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in North America, the publicity departments of Universal Pictures and Blumhouse naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to generate buzz.

The news has spread across various media outlets, including the Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety.

The accompanying photo is of Wu Chen at Industrial Light & Magic last year – he is gesturing with his hands to arrange the space on the storyboard, with a complex array of props and 3D modeling screens in the background.

The title below is in bold and occupies half the screen:
[Internationally renowned director Wu Chen directs the original 3D sci-fi epic "Interstellar"!]

This news caused the same shockwaves in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and even globally, just as it did in China.

Some people were surprised that Wu Chen was the first to start 3D production after Cameron's Avatar, and it was even native 3D production specifically for Interstellar.

They knew that the increased costs of this kind of research and development couldn't be spread out; they would have to be passed on to Interstellar.
But considering the success of Wu Chen's sci-fi film "The Martian," everyone understands.

If they were Universal Pictures, they would also choose to support them, provided the conditions allowed.

According to the details of the news, the original development of Interstellar has been going on for nearly half a year, which means that if the filming goes smoothly, it will be the second movie in the world to be produced entirely in native 3D, second only to Avatar.

On Twitter, film critic Peter Travers posted a short review with a picture: Wu Chen’s ambition is respectable; the next step is to see if he can match the technology with his story.

The entire North American region was abuzz with discussion.

At this moment, the news of "Interstellar" is like a boulder thrown into still water, and the ripples are spreading at a visible speed from North America and Asia to Europe and even the world.
(End of this chapter)