This director only directs blockbusters.

"We need real atmospheric electrical data." Yang Ning took out a USB drive from his bag. "This contains lightning observation data from the MIT lab, from morphology to spectral analysis, it has everything."

Han Duoduo took the USB drive, her hands trembling slightly: "Where...where did you get this?"

"I got it done through a friend." Yang Ning didn't elaborate—he couldn't very well say it was directly exported from the system. "You can use it as a reference. What I want is to combine scientific truth with visual impact."

Liu Yong leaned over to look at the data, his eyes widening as he read: "Holy crap... they even have statistics on the bifurcation angles of lightning..."

"So, can you do it?" Yang Ning asked.

Han Duoduo took a deep breath: "Yes. But time..."

"I'll give you the time," Yang Ning said. "This scene will be the climax at the end of the final cut. I want every single shot to be wallpaper-worthy. We have the money, the equipment, and the data. The rest is up to you."

After saying that, he got up and walked to the door.

"Director Yang," Liu Yong called out to him, "You really believe we can do it?"

Yang Ning turned to look at him.

"Three months ago, when you were building the city wall model, someone asked the same question," he said. "Now that model stands in Huairou, and it was filmed in one take for seventeen minutes."

He paused.

"I don't believe in 'can,' I believe in 'must be able to.'"

The door closed.

The server room was silent for a few seconds.

Han Duoduo plugged in the USB drive and opened the file. The screen was filled with dense data and charts.

"Duoduo," Liu Yong suddenly said.

"Um?"

"We... might really be about to do something extraordinary."

---

At 10 a.m., Yang Ning held a meeting with the publicity team in the conference room.

Seven or eight people were sitting around the long table, including Lao Xu, who was flipping through a stack of promotional plans.

"The promotional period for the Spring Festival film season is divided into four phases." The head of the publicity team, a woman in her thirties named Lin Wei, with short hair and a fast speaking pace, said, "The pre-heating period, the peak period, the final sprint period, and the continuation period. The feedback from the pre-heating period is very good, and the buzz from the press conference is still ongoing."

She brought up the projector, which displayed a graph.

The search index line started climbing in October and quadrupled by early November.

"The problem is," Lin Wei turned to the next page, "that in the two weeks leading up to the Spring Festival, traditional media attention will shift to New Year's goods, the Spring Festival travel rush, and the Spring Festival Gala. Film promotions are easily overwhelmed."

"So we need to detonate it ahead of time," Yang Ning said. "We'll release the final trailer in mid-December."

"Isn't it too early to release it now? There are still two months until its release."

"It's not too early." Yang Ning shook his head. "What I want is not the hype of the week before the release, but to plant the concept of 'watching Zi Xiao during the Spring Festival' in the minds of the audience two months in advance."

He tapped the table: "Starting in December, all promotional materials should be directed in one direction—what else can we do during the Spring Festival besides eating New Year's Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala? Watch movies. What movies? 'The Purple Cloud Era'."

Old Xu raised his hand: "The feedback from the cinemas is that they are still observing the situation regarding filming during the Spring Festival. After all, there's no precedent for this before."

"Then let's set a precedent for them," Yang Ning said. "China Film Group will take the lead, uniting ten major cinema chains, to organize a 'Spring Festival Moviegoers' Benefit Event.' Tickets will be 20% off, popcorn will be included, and family packages will be discounted. China Film Group will subsidize part of the cost, and the cinema chains will subsidize the rest."

"That must have cost a lot of money..."

"This money, once spent, will bring us the entire Spring Festival film market." Yang Ning looked at the people present. "What we are doing now is not promoting a movie, but cultivating a market."

Once the market takes off, all films will benefit—but the first to try something new is always the one that gets remembered the most.

Lin Wei lowered her head to take notes, the pen scratching softly on the paper.

"There's another problem." She looked up. "How can we coordinate the overseas promotion? President Jiang said that the Asian region can do it simultaneously, but Europe and America will be two weeks behind."

"Then let's create two promotional strategies," Yang Ning said. "Domestically, we'll promote it as a 'Spring Festival blockbuster,' while overseas, we'll emphasize its 'Eastern science fiction.'"

The trailer was edited into two versions: the domestic version emphasizes emotion and visuals, while the overseas version highlights the world-building and production quality.

He thought for a moment: "Also, let's contact those YouTubers overseas who do movie analysis—yes, the kind of channels that specialize in analyzing shots and special effects."

Give them our behind-the-scenes footage and special effects analysis materials, and let them make videos. That's much better than just creating something from scratch.

"What is a YouTuber?" someone asked quietly.

"Content creators on overseas video websites," Yang Ning explained. "They're similar to online film critics here, but with a greater focus on technology and behind-the-scenes work."

In 2002, YouTube had not yet been born, and the concept was too new to everyone here.

Yang Ning paused for a moment: "In short, we need to find influential people in the film fan community and have them speak on our behalf."

The meeting lasted until 12:30 pm.

After the meeting, Lao Xu stayed behind and went downstairs to have dinner with Yang Ning.

"Yangzi," Old Xu said as they walked, "what you just said... I feel like you know more about it than those who've been doing propaganda for decades!"

"I've just seen a lot," Yang Ning mumbled.

The two went to the cafeteria, got their food, and sat down.

I had just taken two bites when my phone vibrated.

A text message from Fan Binbin: "What are you doing?"

"Have a meal."

"Are you free this afternoon? I'd like to go to the computer lab to check out the special effects."

"Come on in, Liu Yong and Duoduo are both here."

"Shall I go there now?"

"Let's finish eating, I'll be there too."

Putting down his phone, Lao Xu winked and asked, "Fan Binbin?"

"Yeah, I want to see the special effects."

"Oh, this relationship..." Old Xu lowered his voice, "Filming's wrapped up, and you two..."

"Things should be done this and that." Yang Ning picked up a piece of braised pork. "The filming is over, but life goes on."

"Aren't you going to give them an explanation?"

"What do you mean?" Yang Ning laughed. "Old Xu, you know this industry better than I do. We might be together today, but we could go our separate ways tomorrow. Promises are too heavy to bear."

Old Xu sighed, "That's true. That's just how this industry is; people come and go too quickly."

After finishing my meal and returning to the computer room, Fan Binbin had already arrived.

She was wearing simple jeans and a white sweater, her hair tied in a ponytail, and she was standing behind Han Duoduo watching the screen.

The screen displays a test version of the animation depicting Lu Ran's awakening.

Lightning crackled around his body, and purple light burst from his eyes.

"This is the previous version," Han Duoduo explained. "Director Yang said it needs to be redone to make it more realistic."

Fan Binbin watched intently: "It's already very good as it is."

"That's not enough." Yang Ning walked in. "What I want is for the audience to believe that such superpowers really exist after watching the show."

He walked over to Fan Binbin and pointed at Lu Ran's hand on the screen: "Look at the lightning now, it's so neat, like a specially designed special effect."

Real lightning should be violent, uncontrollable, and constantly changing every frame.

Fan Binbin turned her head to look at him: "You know so much."

"I'm just learning as I go." Yang Ning pulled out a chair and sat down. "Duoduo, bring up the new reference data and show it to her."