Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 571 Filming Wraps Up, The Oscar Battle

Late September, Songyuan.

The embers of the fire scene had long since cooled.
The crew is filming the final shot of "Interstellar".

All the staff were in place, but the scene was unusually quiet.

Four consecutive months of intense filming had left everyone feeling physically exhausted, but at this moment, everyone held their breath, their eyes focused on the figure behind the monitor.

Wu Chen wore monitoring headphones, his eyes fixed on the screen.

The camera is moving forward very slowly along the track, capturing a long, complex silhouette.

Time seemed to be stretched at this moment.

One second, two seconds
Only when the shadow cast by that figure in the sunlight merged with the horizon did Wu Chen pick up the walkie-talkie, his calm but clear voice resounding in everyone's earpieces:
"Cut! Passed!"

After a brief pause, he took a deep breath, stood up, took off his headphones, and shouted with all his might:
"I hereby announce that filming for Interstellar has officially wrapped!"

The scene was initially deathly silent, then erupted into thunderous applause and cheers.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their tired faces beaming with the brightest smiles as they hugged and high-fived each other.

Matthew McConaughey walked over and gave Wu Chen a big hug: "Wu, this is the most incredible shoot I've ever had. Thank you."

“Matthew,” Wu Chen patted him on the back, “believe me, when the movie is released, you will be Cooper.”

"I like this farmer."

Matthew was very happy and clearly liked the role very much.

Moreover, as the lead actor, he was all too aware of the film's potential.

That afternoon, the large film crew began returning to Beijing from Songyuan in batches.

Wu Chen's movies already have an astonishingly high level of popularity.

The media naturally wouldn't miss such a milestone as the wrap-up of filming, and immediately gave it extensive coverage.

[Filming for "Interstellar" in China wrapped up; production complete! Wu Chen spent four months creating this sci-fi epic!]

[Wu Chen's new film has wrapped filming, and movie fans worldwide are eagerly anticipating it, hoping it will create another box office miracle!]

[A source of national pride! "Interstellar" successfully wraps filming, showcasing a new height for the Chinese film industry!]

Fans eagerly awaited the film, leaving numerous comments on Wu Chen's Weibo, discussing everything about the movie, from plot speculation to the cast, keeping the buzz high.

The next day, after seeing Matthew and the others off, Wu Chen and Liu Yifei were leisurely lounging on the sofa in their villa on the outskirts of Beijing, petting "Dongdong" and "Xixi".
Wu Chen didn't want to move at all; he just wanted to rest quietly for a few days.

Just then, the phone rang.

Wu Chen glanced lazily at the caller ID before answering.

"Chairman Han, I don't want to go anywhere or move around these next few days."

Han Sanping laughed heartily on the other end of the phone:
"Don't worry! It's not something that requires you to do anything. It's about the Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film this year; the bureau has already started the selection process."

Currently, the focus is mainly on your film "1939", Zhang Yimou's "Under the Hawthorn Tree", and Feng Xiaogang's "Aftershock".

What I mean is, let '1939' go.

Wu Chen sat up slightly, and the cat in his arms meowed in dissatisfaction.

He stroked the cat's head soothingly and said slowly:
"Mr. Han, I estimate that '1939' won't perform too well at the Oscars. After all, the Oscars aren't one of the three major international film festivals; our film is purely patriotic."

“Of course I know that. But ‘1939’ won the Golden Bear at Berlin, so it carries the most weight. Let’s leave it at that for now. Just keep that in mind, and we’ll wait for the final notification.” At the same time, in the Huayi Brothers office, Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei also received the same message.

Feng Xiaogang's desire for awards, especially Oscar recognition, far surpasses that of Wu Chen and Zhang Yimou, who have already won numerous awards.

"This time, we must give it a shot!" Feng Xiaogang's tone was unusually firm. "Wu Chen's '1939' has too much of a patriotic label and is a war-themed film. It has no chance at all. At best, the Oscars will give it a chance and put it in the top nine."

Although Zhang Yimou's "Under the Hawthorn Tree" is an art film, the story is too limited by the era, making it difficult for foreigners to empathize with it.

Our "Great Earthquake" is different!

He stood up and paced around the office, becoming more and more confident as he spoke:

"We're talking about natural disasters, family bonds, and the redemption of humanity! These are emotions that the whole world can understand! In terms of the chances of winning the Oscar, we have the greatest potential!"

Wang Zhonglei nodded.

Although he doesn't expect Feng Xiaogang to actually win an Oscar, "Aftershock" has already grossed 6.5 million yuan at the mainland box office, and many overseas distributors are negotiating the price.

If they can leverage the "Olympic bid" as a pretext to make another push, they might be able to sell the copyrights from Europe and America for an even better price.

This is business!

"Alright!" Wang Zhonglei slammed his hand on the table. "Huayi will definitely do everything in its power to help you win this!"

Although the final decision rests with the bureau, the opinions within the industry and the discussions among the public still have some influence.

That evening, many film critics and related media outlets began reporting and analyzing the "Olympic bid" competition.

Driven by Huayi Brothers, public opinion has clearly begun to lean towards "Aftershock".

A well-known film critic wrote:

"Although '1939' has won the Golden Bear, its cold, pseudo-one-shot style and war narrative are more in line with the aesthetics of European film festivals, but may not be the taste of Oscar judges."

"Under the Hawthorn Tree" is emotionally delicate, but its scope is somewhat small. Pure love stories are extremely rare in the history of Oscar-winning foreign language films.

In contrast, "Aftershock" uses a Hollywood-style disaster film shell to wrap a heart-wrenching Chinese family story, finding a perfect balance between art and commerce, national and international themes.

In the office of New Pictures, Zhang Weiping looked at these reports with disdain: "It's obviously the work of Huayi."

Zhang Yimou, standing to the side, remained quite calm.

His film "Under the Hawthorn Tree" performed quite well at the box office and received positive reviews. It was hailed by industry insiders as his "comeback film," and he was already very satisfied with it.

Although I know that Huayi is manipulating public opinion behind the scenes, I have to admit that what they said makes some sense.

A pure love story like "Under the Hawthorn Tree," which bears a strong imprint of Chinese history, is indeed unlikely to be favored at the Oscars.

"Forget it," he waved his hand, "this time, we won't argue."

Meanwhile, netizens are discussing it extensively.

"Of course we'll send '1939'! It won the Berlin Golden Bear! Isn't that enough?"

"Although I think Wu Chen has a higher chance of winning at the Oscars than others, '1939' is a completely different story compared to the Oscars and the three major film festivals. 'The Great Earthquake' definitely has a better chance, as its subject matter is universal."

"Under the Hawthorn Tree is also very good. It's filmed so cleanly and artistically."

"Actually, I feel that no matter who we send this year, they're all destined to be just there for the show."

(End of this chapter)