Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 629 Does Starry Sky Visual Effects have a special quality that attracts bad movies?

The premiere of "The Warring States" was an exceptionally grand affair.

Starlight Pictures booked out the entire National Convention Center and laid out a 100-meter-long red carpet in front of the entrance.

Director Jin Chen, along with the main cast including Sun Honglei, Jing Tian, ​​Wu Zhenyu, and Kim Hee-sun, stood at the end of the red carpet, welcoming the guests who came to show their support.

Lu Zheng enthusiastically helped with the reception.

This time, the premiere of "The Warring States" invited many CEOs of domestic production companies and people from theater chains.

Lu Zheng clearly intended to take this opportunity to fully establish the "Starry Night" brand.

Wu Chen's arrival instantly triggered a deafening roar of cheers from fans on both sides of the red carpet.

As the host, Lu Zheng immediately stepped forward to greet them, followed closely by Jing Tian and the others.

"Director Wu, welcome, welcome!"

"Director Wu!"

"Senior brother."

"Congratulations!" Wu Chen smiled and nodded to everyone.

"Director Wu, come this way. Chairman Han and General Manager Zhang have already arrived." Lu Zheng led the way, smiling happily.

Although other big-name directors didn't come, Wu Chen alone is enough; he's better than anyone else.

"By the way," Wu Chen asked casually as they walked, "I saw the media reports a couple of days ago saying that you, Mr. Lu, announced a box office target of 300 million?"

"Hey!" Lu Zheng rubbed his hands together a little embarrassedly. "We have to have some confidence, right? A little more box office revenue shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Besides, someone has to bear the pressure. If I misspoke, everyone can laugh at me, but it's even worse to put all the pressure on Tiantian."

His words made it seem as if he was considering the actors' interests in every way, leaving no room for error.

Seeing this, Wu Chen smiled and didn't say anything more.

Inside the banquet hall, Han Sanping was sitting in the front row, chatting with Zhang Lin from Wanda about something.

When he saw Wu Chen coming over, he smiled and waved.

"Haha, Director Wu, the press conference for the start of filming is the day after tomorrow? Your new film is so mysterious. I heard that all the media in Beijing are going to be drawn to it."

Zhang Lin smiled and shook hands with Wu Chen, jokingly saying...

"It's alright. They're just sitting around doing nothing anyway, so I guess I'm just creating business for them." Wu Chen joked.

Han Sanping gave Wu Chen a deep look. Based on what Wu Chen had said to him on the phone, he had a vague guess in his mind, and he felt it more strongly than ever before.

However, he couldn't ask too many questions in this situation, since he would find out the day after tomorrow anyway.

On stage, Jing Tian and other key members of the production team, guided by the host, began sharing interesting anecdotes from the filming process.

Wu Chen looked up and noticed that the lead actor, Sun Honglei, hadn't taken off his huge sunglasses from beginning to end, and his reactions to the host's questions seemed rather bland, even perfunctory.

Ordinary viewers might not notice anything, but those present were all seasoned veterans in the industry.

Many people felt a sense of unease.

"I'm afraid this film won't work?"

However, everyone tacitly understood and didn't say anything, since it wasn't their business anyway.

Soon, the movie screening began, and the lights in the theater went completely dark.

"You must have seen the finished film beforehand, right? The special effects and post-production were all done by you," Han Sanping asked casually in a low voice.

"Hmm." Wu Chen nodded. He knew exactly what Han Sanping wanted to ask, so he gave a meaningful reply: "Chairman Han, you can see for yourself."

"."

Han Sanping turned his head and looked at Wu Chen's silhouette in the darkness, feeling that his words sounded strange no matter how he looked at them.

However, after the movie started playing and nearly two hours had passed, Han Sanping finally understood why Wu Chen had said those things.

He only remembered one word throughout the entire process—

"It's too brutal." The logic of the plot, the motivations of the characters, and the common sense of history have all been brutally crushed by the director and screenwriter.

As the end credits rolled and scattered applause rose from the audience, Han Sanping turned around, patted Wu Chen heavily on the shoulder, and exclaimed sincerely:
"The special effects are really well done and very well made!"

He could tell that although the plot of the film was terrible, the effects of the massive battle scenes were undeniable.

The nearly 20 million yuan special effects fee for "Starry Night" was real money, and it wasn't wasted.

"Right, Chairman Han?"

Wu Chen was about to boast when Han Sanping's next words choked him up.

"China Film Group has quite a few projects this year, but not many are large investments," Han Sanping said with great interest, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"We have a big-budget film we're looking to direct, called 'Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.' How about we entrust the special effects to your Starry Sky Visual Effects team?"

Wu Chen's smile froze instantly.

Holy crap! Is his special effects company some kind of professional bad movie producer, with a special physique that attracts bad movies?

We just finished watching "The Warring States Period," and now we have "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains"?!

Seeing the smile freeze on Wu Chen's face, Han Sanping assumed that the other party didn't like the project and quickly explained:

"What, you look down on me?"
Let me tell you, this film, "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains," is spearheaded by China Film Group and involves several other companies. We plan to seriously invest 3000 million US dollars in its production!

In terms of special effects, we aim to meet the standards of a Hollywood A-list production!

"Well, no, that's not it!"

Wu Chen quickly waved his hand, unsure whether to cry or laugh.

He certainly didn't look down on the deal.

With a budget of 30 million US dollars, special effects are definitely a must. For StarCrystal Visual Effects, this is another order that will keep the company's employees busy for more than half a year.

Moreover, he knew in his heart that as long as the money was right, with the capabilities of Star Effects' team, they could indeed create extremely eye-catching visual effects.

But
It must be said that "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" is no less impressive than "The Warring States Period".

Just as he was internally complaining, the lights in the theater came on completely, and the host began inviting the main cast and crew to the stage to interact with the audience.

The media reporters in the audience, like sharks smelling blood, began to stir and prepare to surround the bigwigs in the front row.

Wu Chen and Han Sanping exchanged a glance, both seeing a tacit understanding in each other's eyes: "Let's make a quick getaway."

They all knew that staying for an interview in this setting was inappropriate.

Especially Wu Chen, are you expecting him to say to the camera, "The special effects in this movie are exceptionally good"?

This is somewhat self-praise, and I feel bad about it.

But if you ask him to praise the plot or performance of "The Warring States Period", that's a different story.
He genuinely couldn't find a suitable word.

"Director Wu, Chairman Han, won't you wait a bit longer? There's a cocktail party later." Seeing the two getting up, Lu Zheng quickly came over to persuade them to stay.

"No, no, Mr. Lu." Wu Chen replied with a perfectly measured apology and a smile, "Mr. Lu, Chairman Han and I have some business to discuss right away."

Han Sanping nodded slightly, his face solemn, as if there was a business deal worth hundreds of millions waiting for them to make a decision.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng, though still a little regretful and wanting to hear Wu Chen's most honest opinion as an Oscar-winning director, couldn't insist on keeping them any longer and could only politely see them out of the theater.

That same evening after the premiere, media and film critic reports filled the major entertainment pages as expected.

Surprisingly, yet predictably, the online response was overwhelmingly positive.

"The Warring States period war drama is extremely grand, with 20 million yuan spent on special effects to create epic visual effects!"

"Stars including Sun Honglei, Kim Hee-sun, Wu Zhenyu, and Jing Tian gather for 'The Warring States,' kicking off the April box office battle!"

"Jing Tian's dance performance with Kim Hee-sun, South Korea's number one beauty, added a bright touch to the film."

"."

When Wu Chen got home and saw these reports, he was stunned.

As expected of a writer with superb professional skills, they precisely avoided all pitfalls such as plot and acting, focusing all their praise on the film's grandeur, extravagance, and the beautiful women.
(End of this chapter)