Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 158 started a bidding process.

After the casting was confirmed, Luo Jinnian sent the complete script to Chen Yuanfan, asking him to conduct a review from a scientific perspective.

Two weeks later, Chen Yuanfan sent back a detailed feedback, marking several values ​​and descriptions that needed to be adjusted, and adding a sentence: "The calculation formula for time dilation near the black hole and the suggestions for correcting the orbital parameters have been compiled in the attachment. You can modify the corresponding lines and scene descriptions according to these adjustments."

Luo Jinnian revised the parts of the script involving scientific principles by comparing them line by line with the feedback, including the calculations related to time dilation and the gravitational slingshot effect.

He noted the basis for each change and its version number to ensure that subsequent discussions could be traced back to the specific data source. After confirming that nothing was missing, he updated the script's version number from the first draft to the second version and sent it to the relevant actors.

After receiving the updated script, Duan Yihong sent a message: "I've read the second version. Could the pacing of a few lines be increased a bit?" He included page numbers in the message. Luo Jinnian replied, confirming which sections were information-dense and stating that adjustments could be made during rehearsals based on the actual rhythm. He explained that the script wasn't a fixed format and minor adjustments could be made during rehearsals as long as the core content remained unchanged.

In late September, the production team held a script reading in Beijing. All the core actors were present, sitting around a long table in the conference room, each with a printed copy of the script in front of them. Luo Jinnian sat at one end of the table and began reading the first scene in order. After reading the scene where Cooper discovers the anomalies in Murphy's room, Duan Yihong paused and then said, "Cooper..."

"When Perle saw the books fall from the bookshelf, he should have checked to make sure Murphy was alright before looking at the bookshelf." Luo Jinnian nodded and made a mark on his script.

When Tan Zhuo was reading Dr. Brand's lines, she paused at the end of one sentence, seemingly assessing its rhythm and relationship to the context. Luo Jinnian noticed her pause and, after the reading, went over to confirm the emotional direction of that passage with her, suggesting subtle adjustments to the tone. After listening, Tan Zhuo made a few notes on a piece of paper and drew an arc next to them as a marker.

The day after the reading session, Luo Jinnian received more feedback than the official record suggested. Yi Hong's wife sent him a message saying that after returning home, he had been sitting on the sofa reciting his lines, and told his wife that this role would be the most important challenge of his acting career. When Luo Jinnian saw this message, he was in a restaurant discussing storm effects design for the planet's surface with the special effects team. After reading the message, he put down his phone, made no comment or response, and simply added it to his record as known information.

The visual effects team presented several concept tests during the meeting regarding the visual representation of black holes, including the bending effect of light at the edge of the event horizon and the color changes and brightness distribution of the accretion disk from different viewpoints. Luo Jinnian noted that the halo effect in one set of tests was closer to the theoretical calculations of gravitational lensing, while the other set was more balanced in overall visual performance but might deviate from scientific accuracy. He made a compromise between the two and proposed a middle ground so that its rationality could be verified in subsequent development.

After reviewing the results of the preliminary concept tests, Chen Yuanfan approved of the accuracy of the halo effect, pointing out that the correspondence between the tests and the theoretical model was sufficient for film production. Upon receiving confirmation, Luo Jinnian archived the feedback and notified the visual effects team that they could proceed to the next stage of production.

The visual effects preview was submitted in the third week, along with the first complete sequence. After reviewing it, Luo Jinnian noticed two areas needing adjustment: firstly, the light distortion transition during wormhole travel wasn't smooth enough; and secondly, the information density of the time visualization segments in five-dimensional space was insufficient.

The level of detail was slightly higher than expected, which might affect the audience's reception of key information. He filled out a feedback form and attached specific suggestions for improvement.

Filming has not officially started yet, but preparations are covering more and more areas. The relevant departments and personnel are gradually taking their positions, and all preparations in the preparatory stage are progressing step by step according to the planned schedule, with no key milestones being delayed.

Preparations lasted nearly four months. By mid-October, most preparations were nearing completion. The visual effects team had finished pre-visualizing key scenes, the scene design team had completed the production of Cooper's family farm, the spaceship's interior cabins, and the astronauts' equipment, and the crew had selected filming locations in Iceland, Norway, and in Xinjiang and Qinghai, China. Luo Jinnian changed the project status from "Preparation Stage" to "Filming Stage" and then sent the filming schedule to all departments, marking the arrival times and handover points for each team.

Filming began on a sunny Thursday at the Cooper Family Farm location. It was a temporary farm situated on an open plain in northern XJ, consisting of a two-story wooden cabin with an aged exterior and a planting area in front. Luo Jinnian arrived at the set about half an hour after sunrise; the morning light slanted across the cabin's exterior, just covering the left side of the porch. He glanced at the composition in that direction from the edge of the set, making no adjustments. The camera crew had already set up their positions the day before, and the lighting crew was conducting final tests; the position of the sunshades seemed generally suitable to him.

Duan Yihong, dressed in Cooper's costume—a faded plaid shirt under a dark jacket, collar slightly open—stepped out of the makeup cart, walked a few steps on set, and sat down on the steps in front of the porch. He looked down at his hands, didn't look at the script, and sat there quietly. He needed to stay in this position for a while, letting the weight of the character press down on him, penetrating directly into his body without any intermediate steps.

The final task before filming began was a coordination meeting between the actors and various departments. Luo Jinnian, the casting team, and the visual effects team confirmed several points in the shooting schedule involving visual effects interactions and listed important notes. They then confirmed the items on the checklist.

Once everything was completed, Luo Jinnian looked up to indicate that everything was ready.

The first scene filmed involved Cooper chasing a runaway drone on a farm, testing the coordination between Duan Yihong and the special effects team. High-speed cameras were used for filming, the drone was added in post-production, and prop models suspended by thin wires were used on set to determine its trajectory. Duan Yihong needed to run in an open area, tracking a non-existent target with his eyes, maintaining a reasonable relationship between his head orientation and the direction of his body movement. He confirmed the route and speed points with the action director before filming.

The actual filming was conducted five times. In the first take, Duan Yihong's gaze deviated from the intended trajectory during the run. In the second take, speed control was more accurate, but the distance parameters didn't match the set spacing. The third take was generally good, with acceptable completion, but Luo Jinnian noticed that the landing point at the end of the action wasn't in the center of the composition. The fourth and fifth takes met the requirements in terms of speed and trajectory. After reviewing the playback, Luo Jinnian confirmed that the movement trajectory of the fifth take matched the storyboard's expectations. He added a sixth take and then stopped filming, marking it as a backup.

The filming progressed smoothly over the next few days. Tan Zhuo completed several scenes in Dr. Brand's NASA office, and Jiao Huang completed Professor Brand's monologue reciting his mission on the third day of filming. Gu Yanxi's scenes were concentrated in the middle of the filming schedule. She completed several dialogues between young Murphy and her father in the cabin. In one scene, she needed to disassemble an old model airplane while talking to Duan Yihong. Gu Yanxi's rhythm and the spacing between Duan Yihong's lines were perfectly controlled, requiring no adjustments.

On the tenth day of filming, the crew encountered a technical delay. The camera crew discovered that the high-speed camera would start up with a delay of about three to four seconds in low-temperature environments, affecting certain shooting windows that required specific lighting conditions. After coordination, Luo Jinnian adjusted the shooting schedule for three consecutive days, swapping the low-temperature scenes with the normal-temperature scenes during that period. Three days later, the equipment adjustment was completed, and the camera's startup response time returned to normal.

On the fifteenth day, the scene where Cooper bids farewell to Murphy in the cabin was filmed on location in XJ. The weather turned cloudy that afternoon, and the lighting conditions were not as planned. The lighting crew made adjustments on set, setting up strong reflectors outside the cabin to supplement the sunlight.

The sense of directionality of the light made the light coming through the doors and windows appear at an angle of incidence similar to that of a sunny day. Luo Jinnian confirmed the adjusted effect on the monitor, and the deviation from the original storyboard reference value was within the tolerance.

Before the scene began, Duan Yihong stood in the shadows of the porch for a while. Then he went in, sat down by Murphy's bed, and said the line: "I will always love you."

His tone was lower than usual, and the landing point was consistent with what he had previously confirmed with Luo Jinnian.

When Luo Jinnian saw that scene on the monitor, he didn't take notes. The scene was filmed in two takes and was approved; the second take was kept as a backup.

Filming is progressing according to schedule. Next week's plan includes interior scenes in the high-tech lab and dialogue scenes in the spaceship cockpit. All equipment, sets, and actor schedules have been confirmed, and filming can proceed as planned.