I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

More importantly, it was the soldiers' eyes.

That kind of weariness and vigilance, along with a numb and indifferent look in the eyes, can't be acted without more than a decade of performance experience.

Moreover, these actors were not the Eastern actors he was familiar with; they looked like extras.

Are extras these days really this good?

Or did the director directly find real war veterans to play these minor roles?

Justin knew that some directors, in pursuit of realism, liked to cast actors with relevant experiences, such as casting pregnant women to play pregnant women or disabled people to play disabled people.

It's fair to say that, in Justin's opinion, the opening few scenes alone made him realize that this movie was something special.

On the screen, the group continued walking forward when suddenly, a monster's roar came from afar. The soldiers immediately became alert and raised their crossbows in the direction of the sound.

The silent yet tense atmosphere reached its climax with the music abruptly stopping. Justin felt as if he were in a deep, dark forest, becoming one of those soldiers, facing unknown monsters, cautiously aiming his crossbow.

He instinctively grabbed the armrest of the sofa.

The camera peers into the depths of the forest from a first-person perspective, with the slight rise and fall of breaths creating a highly realistic effect.

The forest scene is dark, but every detail is clearly visible.

In the industry, many special effects shots are set at night, such as monsters fighting and destroying cities, or dazzling robots flying around in the sky. Most of these are done at night.

This is mainly because nighttime special effects are easier to produce. People can't see things clearly at night, so the special effects don't need to be very detailed. They just flash by and no one in the movie theater pauses the film, which can effectively reduce costs.

Special effects during the day are more complicated, especially those involving real-life scenes, which are much more difficult than using a pure green screen.

This results in many movie special effects shots being very dark. In a movie theater, the bright lights combined with the surrounding darkness make it barely noticeable, but at home, it looks completely dark, and you can't see anyone clearly.

But in the current scene, although the surroundings are very dark, every plant and tree in the forest is clearly visible, just as Justin described it, as if he were observing it with his own eyes.

This creates an ultimate sense of immersion.

Just as Justin was trying to find the source of the sound in the forest, the soldier at the front suddenly seemed to remember something and turned his crossbow around to aim at the direction.

The camera pans to reveal a giant, silver-gray wolf with six legs and four eyes, pouncing towards them.

Whoosh whoosh—

The others immediately fired their crossbow bolts, which pierced the wolf's body. However, the wolf seemed oblivious to the pain, tearing at the unfortunate soldier. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and half of the soldier's body was flung away, leaving his upper body still in the wolf's mouth, struggling.

The battle was exceptionally fierce. Justin could clearly see the intestines and entrails flowing out of the bodies bitten off by the giant wolves. Warm blood splattered on the ground covered with decaying leaves. Red and black, life and death, civilization and savagery created a tragic yet somewhat beautiful scene.

This series of shots is completely unedited, an astonishing long take. The soldiers' fighting and coordination, the ferocity and savagery of the giant wolf, all become increasingly tense and realistic against the backdrop of this long, breathtaking take.

Just as the group finally dealt with the giant wolf, and everyone was covered in wounds and exhausted, more howls suddenly rang out from all directions.

The camera zoomed in on the face of one of the surviving soldiers, his face covered in blood as he looked at his comrades with eyes full of despair.

As the camera zooms out, looking down at the soldiers who are hurriedly standing up to organize resistance, and the giant wolf gradually approaching, the entire forest appears on the screen. It is an incredibly vast forest, with no end in sight. The dark trees are towering and block out the earth. With a gust of wind, the canopy of trees surges like a tide, and occasionally the shouts of soldiers and the howls of giant wolves can be heard.

Finally, as everything came to an abrupt end, the title "The Tide of Deception" appeared on the screen, signifying the end of the introduction and the official start of the film.

After watching this scene, everyone present forgot that they were still holding beer.

"Was that a special effect?"

Professor Armitage asked uncertainly.

The battle scenes were extremely bloody, with the flying limbs creating a very realistic and shocking spectacle. Some directors are very good at showcasing the aesthetics of violence, placing violent shots right in front of the audience's faces and using extreme battles to make the audience feel exhilarated. Other directors are good at using realistic wounds to evoke the audience's instinctive fear and using the visceral impact of punches to make the audience feel like they are there.

The battle scenes in "Magic Tide" are extremely brutal, yet they also contain a sense of tragedy and mission, much like the scenes of humans fighting against wild beasts in ancient times—thrilling and breathtaking.

Rick loosened his grip and found his palms were sweaty.

His initial vision for "The Tide of Magic" was completely shattered in the few minutes before the film's title appeared.

Such movies, such visuals and scenes, are not really from Hollywood, but rather achieved by other countries through their own efforts?

Whether it's special effects, props, costumes, or acting, the level has completely reached the top level of Hollywood. In fact, he was somewhat reluctant to admit that it might have even surpassed the level they were aware of.

How exactly was this made?

Chapter 310 A Community of Shared Future

After the title, there is a description of the background and background, which points out that the world is often attacked by the demonic tide through the relationship between the young soldier Birmingham and his family and comrades. The main theme of the film is obviously to resist the demonic tide.

Upon seeing this, Professor Armitage's biggest impression was that the actors' performances were simply superb.

He teaches at a film academy and has been to many film sets. He knows that the most troublesome part of filming is not the performances of the stars and main actors, but the lighting setup and the extras.

While natural light photography is certainly authentic, in reality, due to issues such as angle and light intensity, photos taken with natural light are either too dark or too bright, especially indoors. Without supplemental lighting, they are simply unwatchable, much like an ordinary person taking a selfie in their room with their phone – the reality is stark.

Once the lighting is set up, the actor's face sometimes becomes a limited angle; it only looks good from that angle, and other angles are not suitable. Therefore, when shooting indoor scenes, the lights sometimes have to be moved around, which takes a lot of time.

However, in this film, Armitage doesn't feel the unnaturalness of artificial lighting at all. It seems to have been filmed entirely with natural light, yet the brightness is just right—dark when it should be dark, and bright when it should be bright. It's as if he stayed there for several days to capture this scene, and only managed to shoot this set of shots at the perfect moment.

As for the extras and passersby, Armitage was even more shocked.

Normal extras, regardless of their looks, mostly have terrible acting skills and a lack of seriousness. The kind of extras who, like those in some movies, agonize over how to fall down and have to talk to the director about the scene, are practically nonexistent.

Therefore, the more people there are, the more difficult it is to coordinate.

Sometimes one extra is serious while another is slacking off; sometimes both extras are slacking off. A timeline where everyone is serious simply doesn't exist.

Therefore, in those movies with many extras, if you watch carefully, you'll find that those extras seem distracted and fake, and there are often continuity errors.

However, in "The Tide of the Demons," the people from Birmingham's childhood town who appeared alongside him, and the passerby soldiers in the Ranger Corps, all looked quite professional. Armitage couldn't find any flaws in their performances, as if they really lived in that world.

Armitage had heard of directors who, in order to achieve the most realistic effect, had the entire cast live in a small town for three months, allowing the actors to adapt to the environment, become familiar with the streets, and immerse themselves in the story.

Is that how this movie is made?

After all, we live in a modern society now, and Armitage probably can't find any towns with the classic style of those in the movies anymore.

"This movie is amazing."

Armitage glanced at Rex beside him.

Rick was already dumbfounded. More than the audiovisual experience of the movie, he was surprised by the overall visuals, the actors' performances, and the occasional shots that he couldn't quite tell if they were special effects.

However, the only thing Rex was certain of was that when those who used magic appeared, there were definitely special effects added.

The first half of the film unfolds in a tense atmosphere, revealing the world's landscape through the portrayal of Birmingham, a seemingly insignificant character. Commoners are filled with awe and fear of the demonic tide, while rangers stand guard on the front lines, preparing for battle for their families and land. The mages of the Grey Tower observe the Black Forest, working tirelessly to prepare for the arrival of the demonic tide. Even those in the Grey Tower, located in the rear, do not underestimate the demonic tide. The entire world is united in its efforts to resist this natural disaster.

This was a very novel experience for Lake.

Because this disaster movie-like opening is common in Hollywood, but in most cases, these movies, either for political correctness, to insert their own agenda, or for dramatic conflict, will portray some foolish politicians who will hinder the protagonists' efforts to save the world, create trouble for them, or continue to scheme against each other even when disaster is imminent.

Some movies also portray extreme saintly figures who act foolishly when faced with danger, causing the death of their teammates because of their kindness. Of course, there are always black characters in Hollywood movies, either sacrificing themselves to save the protagonist or being the protagonist himself.

However, this movie doesn't have those convoluted plots; everyone is striving for the same goal, giving it a strong sense of a shared human destiny.

In Reck's view, it was somewhat unreal, yet also somewhat hopeful.

More importantly, these storylines are not boring.

With the arrival of eternal night and plague, the situation becomes increasingly critical, and the whole world seems to be on the verge of collapse. The suspense hangs like a heavy stone in the hearts of the viewers.

With the constant build-up of tension and the oppressive atmosphere, Rick had no time to think about anything else; he just wished time could slow down so the people in the movie could have more time to prepare.

That's why, when he heard that wolf howl, Rick felt as if his heart and lungs had stopped.

Of course, at this point, Rick still harbored a sliver of hope, expecting "Magic Tide" to flop.

Because so much has been built up in the early stages, it means that the later demonic tide will definitely be a true climax, and the scene must be magnificent enough.

Some movies have great pre-production hype, but the final battle scene is disappointing and looks extremely shabby, which leads to a lot of criticism.

The current "Magic Tide" has good initial rendering, but if it can't hold up later on, it will definitely drag down the overall viewing experience.

Like some works, the suspense is huge in the early stages, with all kinds of people acting like they are hiding some earth-shattering secret, and the situation is extremely critical and there seems to be no way to solve it. However, the protagonist is confident and looks like he has nothing to be afraid of anymore. In the end, it just can't be finished and it is a mess. Good works need a long time to polish, but all it takes to ruin it is a stupid ending.

However, what Rex didn't expect was that once the demonic tide began, he would no longer be able to think about those lucky ideas.

With a gust of wind, the camera soared upwards, landing above the Black Forest.

At the top of that vast forest, a fierce wind raged, blowing fallen leaves into a torrent that surged and undulated like waves. This might be why the demonic tide is called the demonic tide, because it is as unstoppable as a tide.

Accompanied by the howling of wolves, clouds gathered in the sky, forming a massive storm unlike any seen before. Silver lightning flashed within the storm, and with the sound effects, Rick felt as if a gale was blowing across his face. Amidst the thunder and lightning, a small mountain appeared in the camera's view.

No, that's not a mountain peak, it's a wolf.

Chapter 311 Realistic Special Effects

When Rice, one of Rick's friends and a producer, saw the giant wolf that towered like a mountain, the last trace of doubt in his heart was dispelled.

The texture of that giant wolf's fur is something that ordinary special effects studios definitely cannot achieve.

The rendering of hair has always been a major challenge for special effects teams. At the beginning of the century, an industry leader went bankrupt trying to create realistic hair and almost had to close down.

Even now, most films use a cheaper and more conservative approach to the hair of virtual characters. They either fix the hair and only make a few fixed movement trajectories, or if they have extra resources, they separate some models to make subtle movements. The kind of special effects that used to make every single hair move regardless of cost was too much effort and not worth the effort.

But the giant wolf's fur was incredibly detailed.

Those who have owned pets may have noticed that when an animal is in the sunlight, its fur reveals more detail. Many of these fur hairs are longer than the fur that covers most of its body. As the animal moves, the movement of these fur hairs is also very complex, and it is not something that can be shown by a few simple swaying motions.

Rice himself owns a husky that loves to destroy things, and that's why when he saw the giant wolf's fur, he was instantly reminded of his own silly dog.

This almost made him think the director used real animal fur for the filming, but the subsequent appearance of a smaller winter wolf shaking off from the giant wolf's fur dispelled that idea. There was no doubt that it was a special effects shot.

This is such a realistic shot!

With the appearance of the giant wolf, the story reached its true climax.

The boulders launched their catapults, shattering the charging wolf pack. The surging wolf pack quickly closed in, bypassing the stones and rushing forward. The sight was simply breathtaking. Rice held his breath, as if he himself had become a member of the city's defenses. Facing the oppressive wolf pack, he couldn't help but tremble.

He felt as if he had returned to his childhood, to the time when he was accidentally locked in a warehouse, in that cold, dark, damp, and cramped space, experiencing a fear that stemmed from instinct.

As the wolf pack approached the fortress, a beam of light suddenly rose up.

The appearance of this light immediately warmed Reston, whose nerves were already stretched to the limit.

All the tension, anxiety, and fear vanished, as if this ray of light alone could withstand everything.

And the wolves did indeed lose momentum under the light, as if they were afraid of the light.

One beam after another of light rose in this snowy world, giving people a feeling of warmth, like a candle shining brightly on a cold, rainy night.

What Rice didn't notice was that the others in the screening room also had dazed expressions, like babies seeing milk, children seeing toys, or adults seeing milk.

This feeling is like hope.