This director lacks vision.

Chapter 309 The Witch's Choice

CCTV is also very good at generating buzz.

They saw the box office battle between Jiang Yifeng and Zhou Xingchi as very exciting, so they seized the opportunity and broadcast a documentary.

Riding the wave of popularity was very effective.

The documentary "Sailing Out to Sea" not only achieved high viewership ratings, averaging over 4%, but also garnered a massive number of views online.

In just one day, the video received over 2000 million views, and the topic generated a lot of discussion.

After heated discussions and deliberations, netizens discovered that while Li Sisi's words were somewhat exaggerated, they were also true.

In the past two years, Chinese films and television dramas have been exported overseas, including Dark Glory, Back to 20, The Hunt, Pacific Rim, and John Wick, all of which are indeed works by Jiang Yifeng.

Apart from Jiang Yifeng and Fengxing Media, the other companies and directors really don't have any outstanding achievements.

Now, Cheng Kaige directing Marco Polo and Zhang Yimou directing The Great Wall are also benefiting from Jiang Yifeng's influence.

Just as Li Sisi said, the real power lies not in Chinese films and television dramas, but in Jiang Yifeng.

In an instant, the haters disappeared, and Jiang Yifeng was showered with praise online.

On the afternoon of February 27th, after finishing his work at the company, Jiang Yifeng took a car to Monster Studio.

Besides Jing Tian, ​​Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer were also with him.

After taking the beauty potion, Jing Tian became increasingly radiant, not only with a captivating figure but also with an even stronger air of wealth and sophistication.

She sat next to Jiang Yifeng; the man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, their yin and yang complementing each other perfectly, and the two really did look like a married couple.

Tian Qianwei looked at Jing Tian with envy and took the initiative to start a conversation, saying, "Boss, you're amazing! Everyone online is praising you, and everyone is looking forward to the Pacific Rim movie."

Song Zu'er chimed in, "And a witch!"

The online praise and acclaim for Jiang Yifeng were also channeled by Fengxing Media, drawing attention to the two upcoming films Jiang Yifeng will be making: "Pacific Rim: Uprising" and "The Witch".

The consistent narrative was that Jiang Yifeng didn't film the second season of Stranger Things and the sequel to John Wick because of these two movies.

Let's generate some buzz for these two movies.

Jiang Yifeng glanced at Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer, and nodded in satisfaction.

After more than a year of training, the two women are even more beautiful than before.

Their words, actions, and overall demeanor have all improved significantly.

Beautiful women are cultivated; beauty requires financial investment.

Many people say that there is a gap between celebrities and ordinary people.

That statement actually contains an element of boasting.

If there really is a wall, it's a wall of money.

The sophistication and glamour of celebrities are all created with money.

Poor packaging is simply piling on makeup and designer accessories, plus lenses with full filters, to create a false sense of beauty;

Excellent packaging is cultivated like Jiang Yifeng's.

They not only found a team to train Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer, standardizing their words and actions and cultivating their star quality;

Furthermore, they stimulated competition among them by raising them like venomous insects.

Over the course of a year and a half, Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer trained hard and practiced martial arts diligently, which greatly improved their physical fitness and gave them a vibrant inner energy.

Jiang Yifeng's development has been remarkably effective.

He coughed and said slowly, "Get ready. Today I'm going to assess your abilities and decide who will play the witch."

The atmosphere inside the car immediately became tense after these words were spoken.

Tian Qianwei clenched her fists, while Song Zuer nodded without saying a word and subconsciously bit her lip.

For them, the role of the witch is too important!

Especially after John Wick's global box office reached 6.71 million US dollars, the Witch's story, which is also a spin-off of Pacific Rim, became even more valuable.

Whoever gets to play the witch can rise to the top overnight, become a popular actress, and even, with some packaging, become an international star.

Besides resources, Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer also had a rivalry over pride.

The two women competed for a year and a half, bickering and saying all sorts of hurtful things to each other.

Nobody wants to lose now; nobody can afford to lose face.

Hearing Jiang Yifeng's words, Jing Tian was also surprised. She asked, "Is it really going to be decided so casually today? I thought you would organize a special competition."

Jiang Yifeng patted Jing Tian's head and asked, "Why?"

"Because both of these young girls have powerful backers!"
Song Zuer has the support of Shu Chang and Liu Yifei, while Tian Qianwei has the support of Meng Ziyi and Nazha.

You should gather them all together and have them compete to see who wins!

Jiang Yifeng: "..."

Jing Tian's words had a hint of sarcasm and teasing. Jiang Yifeng flicked her fair forehead and said, "I won't let external factors interfere with my casting. This time, when choosing the witch, I'll only look at your performances."

These words, seemingly directed at Jing Tian, ​​were actually meant to tell Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer that underhanded tactics were useless and that they still had to rely on their own abilities.

Both Tian and Song understood, but they became even more nervous.

The car drove to the Monster Studio, and Jiang Yifeng went inside.

After five months of renovation, the studio's area and space are more than twice as large as before.

Not only has the environment improved, but many new devices have also been introduced.

For example, a motion control shooting system customized with Nikon.

Jiang Yifeng named this system the Monster Shooting System.

This system uses a track and a long mechanical arm to enable the lens to switch between different angles in three-dimensional space without blind spots, thus capturing a variety of wonderful scenes.

In addition, the control system can achieve precise shooting with multiple lenses, capture and synthesize scenes, and has built-in visual motion testing and post-processing layer overlay technology. It can also seamlessly connect with various post-processing special effects software, making it convenient for special effects production.

This shooting system was customized by Jiang Yifeng based on Nikon's Titan shooting system launched in 2019.

Currently, the monster-shooting system does not meet Jiang Yifeng's requirements because it is not intelligent enough.

Future Titan shooting technology, combined with AI assistance, could achieve semi-intelligent shooting.

Before filming begins, the directing team translates their desired shooting trajectory and shot sequence into instructions and inputs them into the system.

The system automatically controls the movement trajectory of the robotic arm to complete the shooting work of various lenses.

The actors only need to rehearse repeatedly in the pre-built set.

This is an incredibly powerful technology.

Traditional cinematography requires shooting from multiple cameras and angles, followed by editing by the director.

This shooting system can have the lens designed in front, so you can start shooting intelligently with just a few keystrokes, achieving a truly seamless one-shot experience.

For directors who like to show off their skills with one-shot techniques, this is an absolute game-changer.

This system not only produces excellent shooting results but also eliminates the hassle of editing and facilitates post-production special effects, greatly improving work efficiency. The film *The Wandering Earth 2* used this shooting system.

Many viewers marveled at how smooth the cinematography of The Wandering Earth 2 was, with no visible signs of editing. In fact, there was very little editing; many rotating shots were filmed in a single take.

However, in 2013, AI technology was not advanced enough, and it still needed to accumulate experience in areas such as visual effects motion capture, VR photography, image transmission technology, and deep programming.

Developing an intelligent program for the monster-shooting system was also one of the tasks assigned by Jiang Yifeng to the Classic of Mountains and Seas Laboratory.

Currently, monster-shooting systems still require manual operation, with users inputting various commands into a control panel to complete the task.

When Jiang Yifeng walked under the robotic arm, he saw Guo Fan standing in front of the control panel, studying the various instructions with great interest and a very focused expression.

"So, how's this device? Is it easy to use?"

Upon hearing Jiang Yifeng's question, Guo Fan suddenly looked up.

"President Jiang, you're here!" Guo Fan said excitedly, "This equipment is so useful!"
You see, when I control the camera from point A to point B, the lens doesn't just move in a simple straight line, but has seven or eight axes, which can achieve various angles and curves.

This camera movement is so convenient!

The renovation of Monster Studio cost over 3 million yuan, and all the equipment is among the most advanced in the world.

Guo Fan was so excited when he saw it that he completely forgot that Jiang Yifeng was the decision-maker for the studio renovation and knew all about these things. He continued to talk non-stop: "And that 270-degree circular screen, which is composed of 18 LED screens, can not only create various scenes, but also enhance the rendering effect of special effects modeling. It's much better than traditional green screen scenes!"

Guo Fan has acted in the third season of the Pacific Rim TV series and has some knowledge of science fiction blockbusters.

Seeing so many new devices right now really makes me itchy to get my hands on them.

He added, "President Jiang, I'm applying to be the assistant director of Pacific Rim! With this equipment, Pacific Rim will definitely be a success!"

As the saying goes, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood.

After the monster studio was renovated, the shooting effect of special effects scenes can be greatly improved.

With the Pacific Rim team's prior experience in modeling and special effects, the Pacific Rim movie truly felt like a natural progression.

Not only Guo Fan was full of confidence, but the entire Pacific Rim team was too.

Everyone was holding their breath, eager to show the world China's special effects blockbuster!

The situation in China is particularly strange right now.

Monster Effects Company has top-notch special effects production capabilities, and its prices are cheaper than those abroad.

However, major companies still need to hire foreign special effects teams to produce their films.

This is both a boycott of Fengxing Media and monster special effects, and a blind faith in foreign special effects.

Upon hearing Guo Fan volunteer, Jiang Yifeng nodded and said, "Okay, then you should go abroad to film first."

Guo Fan: "..."

Guo Fan, who wanted to experience advanced shooting technology in a studio, was instead sent abroad to shoot establishing footage.

The main problem is that current photography technology is not advanced enough, and the monster shooting system does not yet have mature remote shooting technology.

Jiang Yifeng toured the photography studio and was very satisfied with the renovation results.

After the tour, he said to Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer, "My plan is to film Pacific Rim and The Witch back-to-back."

We need to decide on the female lead for the witch as soon as possible and start special training for the movie character.

You guys go and do some simple makeup, change into a new outfit, and then perform two plays.

One scene depicts the family's reaction after being murdered, while the other is a fight scene in an underground passage.

Upon hearing that Jiang Yifeng wanted to choose the female lead for the film "The Witch," many staff members gathered around in the studio.

About half an hour later, Song Zuer and Tian Qianwei came out.

Jiang Yifeng took a closer look and concluded that, in terms of appearance, Tian Qianwei had a more witch-like feel to her.

Song Zuer is very beautiful, but the only pity is that her philtrum is too short, which makes her look fierce, but she lacks ruthlessness, and she is also not tall enough.

Tian Qianwei has more striking features and more blank space on her face. She looks like a sweet girl on the surface, but upon closer inspection, she has a very wicked look, creating a kind of contrasting tension.

"Let the performance begin!"

The two women began to take turns auditioning.

Song Zuer has natural acting talent, and she has also learned a lot from Shu Chang, so her acting is really good.

Not only were her crying scenes natural and emotionally rich, conveying heart-wrenching pain, but her action scenes were also performed in a standard and methodical manner, with powerful and forceful movements.

In contrast, Tian Qianwei's acting skills were quite poor.

His reaction to the murder of his entire family was expressionless, with only a couple of twitches in his facial muscles, leaving Jiang Yifeng speechless.

However, her action style caught Jiang Yifeng's eye.

Before the fight started, Tian Xiwei first did a catwalk-like walk.

Seeing this, everyone was puzzled, but they felt that Tian Qianwei walked so coolly, as if she had the wind on her feet, which was very impressive.

Once the fight started, Tian Qianwei's movements were sharp and fierce, and she would pause from time to time to add a few lines, her fierceness mixed with a touch of childishness.

After the performance, Jiang Yifeng asked, "What kind of movement style is that? Where did you learn it?"

Tian Qianwei replied, "I watched The Fast and the Furious many times and imitated Jiang Ning's style."

I think fighting moves are just a form; the key is to look cool and stylish, and to convey a fierce and sharp feeling.

Upon hearing Tian Qianwei's words, Song Zuer immediately sensed something was wrong.

She focused too much on honing her acting skills and didn't delve enough into the details of action sequences.

Sure enough, Jiang Yifeng said, "After careful consideration, Xiaotian is more suitable to play the witch."

Jiang Yifeng can be trained in acting skills, but his physical talent is harder to develop.

After watching the fight scene between Song Zuer and Tian Qianwei, Jiang Yifeng felt that Song Zuer was like Zhen Zidan and Tian Qianwei was like Li Lianjie.

Song Zuer also played well, but due to her physique and physical condition, she didn't seem as good as Tian Qianwei.

As soon as Jiang Yifeng made his decision, Tian Qianwei immediately cheered and jumped up and down a few times.

She then excitedly jumped into Jiang Yifeng's arms, kissed him on the cheek, and exclaimed, "Thank you, boss! You have such good taste!"

Jiang Yifeng felt a fragrant breeze waft towards him, and found himself in the arms of a slightly immature and beautiful young girl, his face soft and moist.

Looking at her again, Song Zuer was pursing her lips tightly, trying to appear strong.

But her emotions were out of control, and large tears slid down her beautiful eyes.

Song Zuer's acting career has been quite smooth, and she herself is very talented.

Unexpectedly, he suffered consecutive defeats in his competition with Tian Qianwei.

She failed to get the role of the nation's little sister in the audition for "Back to Field" before, and now she has failed to win the lead role in "The Witch".

She was very unwilling and felt very wronged.

She worked very hard, trained diligently without interruption, and had excellent acting skills, but she still lost.

(End of this chapter)