Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 366: You can act while lying down
Now that Yutu has been successful in many movies and TV shows, it is qualified to stir up trouble. Anyway, the same old saying applies: neither make money nor let the competitors have an easy time.

Yutu has now accumulated a certain amount of capital, but this capital will be invested in the production of "Gravity".

The film is planned to be invested with 5 million yuan, which is about 7100 million US dollars, which is three times the production cost of "Now You See Me" and is not inferior to Hollywood super movies.

Our labor costs are definitely not as exaggerated as those in Hollywood, and the actors' pay will not be as exaggerated as theirs.

For the leading role, Liu Tianxian, she was given a few million, and the other supporting roles were given hundreds of thousands for better ones and tens of thousands for worse ones.

This is equivalent to 99% of the costs, all of which will be invested in production.

For example, "The Great Wall" was said to have a production cost of 1.4 billion yuan, but Mark Damon alone took million dollars, which is equivalent to million yuan.

So although the production cost seems very high, one actor took more than one-tenth of it, not to mention other actors.

Moreover, the budget of "Gravity" is the minimum standard, with no upper limit. It is equivalent to investing all the money accumulated before into making this movie.

But this does not affect the normal operation of Yutu, because the money is spent over several cycles.

From early preparation to mid-production and then to post-production, it basically takes three cycles.

Other movies probably go through the same cycle.

Yutu also continues to have box office revenue, copyright income, etc. For example, the copyright fees for movies from three or four years ago have expired, and it can collect copyright fees from streaming media, television, and copyright distributors again.

It’s just that the copyright fee is not as high as it was a few years ago. After the novelty wears off, it’s good to earn hundreds of thousands or even millions.

"Gravity" was invested with 500 million yuan, an investment that no one dares to shoot or gamble on at this stage, except Fang Hong.

If someone else shoots the same film, they can't even make a fraction of the investment, 5 million, or at least 15 billion to recover the cost. China does not have such a large single-movie box office market yet.

Of course, money laundering is another matter!

But Fang Hong dared to gamble. He didn't need to explain to anyone. He could just smash it and it would be his money.

His goal is to improve the overall level of Jade Rabbit production and special effects. These cannot be bought with money, and require practice and accumulation of experience through one movie after another.

The film is now about to start its preliminary preparation and discussion meeting, and any difficulties or demands can be raised.

The chief producer is Chen Zhixi. It would be difficult to push forward a movie like this without a senior executive in charge. Someone with a lower position would not be able to keep it in check. After all, this is the first time such a large-scale special effects movie has been shot.

There is also another producer, Yao Qi, who is also the general manager of the special effects company and also works part-time as a special effects director.

With him in charge, the entire visual effects can be taken seriously.

The special effects director was Xu Jiandong, who later designed "The Wandering Earth 2" and "Assassination of Novelist".

He also designed the special effects of "Zhengtu". You couldn't tell whether it was a lion or a dog, but it was very realistic.

The special effects director and special effects supervisor have different divisions of labor. The special effects director needs to design special effects shot creativity and post-production.

The special effects director plays a coordinating role and is responsible for special effects scene guidance and communication to ensure that the special effects are shot as required.

There is also an assistant director named Guo Fan, who is equivalent to Fang Hong’s assistant and only needs to shoot according to Fang Hong’s requirements.

To help him accumulate experience and prepare for the filming of "The Wandering Earth".

Others include director of photography Liu Yin, art director Li Anran, editor Tu Yiran, special effects and set design team leader Chen Xiuwei, etc., who are all part of the core team.

Some joined later, and some have been following all along.

The film will be produced by a staff of 1600 people, with the visual effects department alone accounting for about 65%, or about 1040 people.

Visual effects are the most important part of this movie. The vast universe and deep space, as well as the unparalleled suspension details in "Gravity" are all visually endowed.

In addition, there are about 100 people working on special effects. Special effects and visual effects are two different fields.

Visual effects are feelings, that is, the feeling and atmosphere you see, it is visual creation, which is also the importance of visual effects in this movie.

What is different about special effects is that they use graphics, digital synthesis, model making and animation to achieve effects that cannot be achieved through traditional shooting.

For example, things like debris and explosions in space, as well as car chases in other movie blocks, are also achieved through special effects.

It’s impossible to actually go out and film a car chase in a neighborhood.

In addition, there are about 200 people in the art department, about 80 people in the sound department, and very few other people in the costume, editing, director, assistant director, filming crew, production management department, screenwriters, etc.

The clothing is just a space suit with a tights underneath. You will wear the same clothes when you return to Earth. There is no need for any clothing design at all.

There are a little more prop workers, but not too many. A hundred or so people are enough, and this is only because this movie does not require many scene changes, so there are very few people moving things.

There are also many special jobs and specialized software that have not been involved before, such as machine engraving cartographers, animation capture, and engines, etc.

It is the Unreal Engine that can be used to make games. This is why Fang Hong wants to develop the engine himself. It can be used not only for games but also for movie special effects.

If you use other people's things, you will have to pay for them in the end.

1600 people is considered an upper-middle level for a blockbuster, but of course it cannot compare with those top Hollywood blockbusters.

The largest cast of other films reached 2,000 to 3,000 people. But they had a lot of extras, while Gravity had no extras at all, not even two actors, they were all behind-the-scenes personnel, and most of them were professionals.

So you don't really need that many people.

In a large conference room, there was a long conference table with dozens of people sitting there. They were all the main creators of "Gravity".

The actors haven't come yet, and the actors haven't been selected yet. The preparation period is very long, so there is no need to notify them first. It is impossible for everyone to come. Those people are not yet ready to join the group and participate in decision-making.

In the conference room, Chen Zhixi stood at the head and talked about the production budget of "Gravity" and the size of the production team.

Some people have computers on their desks, and some are taking notes with notebooks.

This was the prepared plan, and everyone had a serious look on their faces, simply because this was the first time they were participating in such a big movie.

Fang Hong also sat down and listened.

"This film production is currently Yutu's largest and also the highest-level film in the country. I hope you will spend more time and effort on it after you go back, and strive to plan every link and detail well." Chen Zhixi finished speaking.

Fang Hong looked at everyone and said, "This movie has been planned for half a year. You probably all know the effects and conditions required. To achieve the free floating effect like in space and the zero gravity effect, this kind of shooting is the first time and has never been tried before. Let's see if there is a solution."

"I watched documentaries and American movies about the postures of astronauts in space, and I also consulted experts, who said that astronauts are powerless in space.

I found that except in certain circumstances, their bodies are mostly motionless, and what moves is the space. What is the space? It is the camera.

That is, the actors mostly stay still, so the camera can create the illusion of tumbling in space, but I don’t know if it can be achieved.” Guo Fan proposed the idea.

This question was thrown to Liu Yin, who is the director of photography and has more knowledge in this area.

"I have investigated this before and found that Bot&Dolly's dynamic photography equipment IRIS system can achieve seven-axis free-axis shooting and tracking shooting." Liu Yin said.

Everyone looked at each other, confused, not knowing what he was talking about? Fang Hong didn't understand either, so he said, "Please make your words clearer."

This can't help but make people smile. Why do you talk so high-end?

Liu Yin was also quite depressed and began to speak in human language: "To put it simply, the actor is fixed on a frame, and IRIS controls the movement of the camera to create the illusion that the actor is tumbling in space."

He picked up a pencil and raised it, and began to demonstrate: "For example, this is an actor. When he wants to hit an object, he doesn't need to move. All he needs is the camera and the lights to move at the same time. If the lights don't follow, there will be problems on the actor's face."

So that's how it is. Everyone understood it this time. To put it simply, the actors can act while lying down, and the camera will help them move. It's very high-tech.

"If that's the case, then the actors only need to shoot their facial expressions. The actors are wearing space suits, so their figures certainly can't be seen. We can also use a stand-in." Guo Fan immediately figured out that the actors only need to contribute their faces.

Others can be replaced by stuntmen to improve efficiency, shooting the face over there and the body over there.

"This is good, because it can be continuously debugged to simulate real space movements." Fang Hong said.

This would save Liu Tianxian a lot of trouble. She probably wouldn't be able to act out the feeling of being in space since she has never experienced it.

It would be much easier if we used computer simulation and professional actors to perform instead.

"That's the theory." Liu Yin nodded.

"Has it been introduced?" Fang Hong asked.

"Not yet. They just sent me the design plan. I will go to the United States to inspect it again. If there is no problem, we will introduce it." Liu Yin said.

"What does this company do? I don't think I've ever heard of such a photography company." Chen Zhixi asked curiously.

This involves the purchase of professional production equipment.

"This company is located in San Francisco and it makes motion-controlled robots. Its current business is to provide automatically controlled robot camera systems to Hollywood producers," said Liu Yin.

Movies have even reached the field of automatic robots.

"If there is no problem, introduce this thing as soon as possible. Don't delay. Once the shooting starts, there will be no time for you to study it slowly." Fang Hong requested.

Once the shooting process begins, there are thousands of people in the crew eating, so there is no time to wait and see whether they will use it or not.

It is allowed to accumulate experience from small problems, but it is not allowed to not know how to use them.

"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible." Liu Yin nodded.

Guo Fan looked thoughtful and touched his chin. "If this photography technology can be realized, then can we make a bigger box with the inner wall made of LED panels? The panel can play whatever scene the actors need. In this way, the actors don't need to imagine facing the green screen and will feel as if they are in the scene."

He added: “For example, if an actor is in space and you ask him to reach out and grab a door handle, there is definitely no door handle on the scene, but the actor can see it through the LED, which can add to the realism of the performance.”

"In this case, the picture will look very rough." Li Anran objected.

LED panels are small square pieces, so the pictures taken will be very rough.

"Computer CG rendering in post-production."

"."

(End of this chapter)