Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 574 Benshan Visits the Set
Pacific Rim 2 filming set

"Action~"

At the director's command, two motion capture actors covered in reflective dots began their performance in front of the green screen.

Today we're filming a scene where the protagonist, after entering the inner world, engages in hand-to-hand combat with the local skeleton monsters.

If this scene had been filmed during the production of "Pacific Rim 1", it would definitely have been entirely created using special effects.

But for this film, "Pacific Rim 2", Zhang Chen incorporated motion capture technology.

As the two actors moved, two digital models were displayed on a monitor next to Zhang Chen. Although there was no background, every movement of the two actors could still be clearly seen.

Andy Serkis played the role of the Primordial.

This man, hailed as the "father of motion capture performance," is a benchmark figure in the field of motion capture in Hollywood.

Gollum in The Hobbit, King Kong in King Kong, and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes were all played by Andy Serkis.

Even Cameron's Avatar, which is currently being filmed, makes extensive use of motion capture technology.

Although motion capture technology is widely used in Hollywood, it is still a blank in China.

The first animal capture company in China was not established until 2010.

At this point, Andy Serkis was covered in reflective dots, with 156 on his face alone.

During filming, high-speed infrared cameras located around the perimeter record the positions of these reflective points, and then the motion capture software directly generates digital characters.

Andy Serkis is known as the "father of motion capture performance" because he was adept at conveying complex emotions through body language and facial micro-expressions, deeply integrating technology with performance, and transforming himself from a "technical tool" into a "performance art".

"Click~"

Looking at the digital model in the software, Zhang Chen knew that the filming of "Pacific Rim 2" was not fast, and it was his first time using this technology. He was very careful with every shot.

Around him, besides the staff of the Hollywood motion capture team, there was a group of people with Asian faces learning.

These are all employees of Zhang Chenxin's company.

Zhong Lifang was very efficient, completing the acquisition and initial integration of the special effects company in just one week. These people were the staff of Tiangong Yicai's motion capture department.

Software can be bought, but workflows and performance styles can only be learned gradually.

Zhang Chen treated it as training; his contract with Andy Serkis's team included training.

After filming "Pacific Rim 2", at least his motion capture department should be able to complete some simple tasks. Even if the movie is not good enough, it should at least be able to undertake the development of the game.

Upon seeing Zhang Chen call "Cut," the assistant quietly approached and said, "Director Zhang, Master Benshan and his apprentices have come to visit the set!"

Zhang Chen turned around and saw Zhao Benshan standing not far away with a smile on his face. Wen Song, Song Xiaobao and Cheng Ye were also there.

"Uncle Benshan, when did you arrive without saying a word?"

"Hehe, I just arrived too. I saw you were filming, so I didn't dare disturb you..."

"This is what you are doing?"

Old Zhao has also acted in movies, and even his apprentices have acted in movies.

But I've never seen anything like this before—wearing a motion capture suit and covered in reflective dots!
"This is Hollywood motion capture technology, specifically used for filming action scenes with virtual characters..."

"Oh~"

Everyone pretended to understand, but they didn't actually understand; they just felt it was impressive but incomprehensible.

"Did I disturb you?"

"It's alright~"

Zhang Chen asked his assistant to inform the crew to take a ten-minute break, "What made you guys decide to visit the set?"

Zhao Benshan laughed and said, "I just remembered that we're filming around here too. We knew you were coming, so we came to check on you..."

Zhang Chen then remembered, "Is it 'The Laughing Swordsman'?"

"Correct."

The full name of "The Laughing Swordsman" should be "The Laughing Swordsman: My Own Swordsman", which is a product of the collaboration between Star Entertainment and Benshan Media.

The first "Treasure Hunt" movie did well at the box office two years ago. The second movie was supposed to be filmed last year, but Zhao Benshan was too busy with the Olympics and the Spring Festival Gala, so it was postponed to this year.

"It's almost dinnertime. Are you guys still filming tonight? If not, let's have a drink, you two brothers~"

Zhao Benshan was very approachable; he was old enough to be Zhang Chen's father, yet he still treated him like a brother.

"Okay~"

That evening, we found a restaurant, and the group ate and chatted in a private room. This time, director Shang Jing was also there.

"How is the filming of 'The Laughing Swordsman' going?"

"Smooth sailing, these are all old acquaintances, easy to communicate with~"

Zhao's troupe are experts in comedy. They were unsure of themselves before because they couldn't grasp the pulse of the film market, but after their last collaboration, they have gained some understanding.

The script for this film, "The Laughing Swordsman," was written by Zhao Benshan's troupe.

As they chatted, the conversation turned to "City of Life and Death" again.

The online criticism of "Nanjing Nanjing" has not stopped.

Zhang Chen: "First it was 'Lust, Caution,' then it was 'City of Life and Death.' I think our film censorship system is too lenient on art films."

"Yeah, that kid's a bad seed~"

Zhao Benshan's apprentices echoed his sentiments.

Shang Jing: "Lu Chuan is really shameless~, a Chinese director, doesn't understand what kind of perspective this is!"

Lu Yang: "The key point is that this time, even film critics aren't on his side. This is no longer a question of whether the film itself is good or bad..."

Lu Yang didn't have any projects on hand recently, so he came here specifically to be his assistant director, mainly to learn how to shoot science fiction movies.

Guo Fan landed a multi-million dollar project right away, which even made Lu Yang a little jealous.

"But Director Lu Chuan got a great deal. Judging from the box office figures for 'City of Life and Death,' it looks like it's going to break 100 million..."

Breaking 100 million is nothing to Star Entertainment, but it is still the ultimate goal for other companies.

For example, if "The Laughing Swordsman" can break 100 million, Zhao Benshan will be laughing in his sleep.

Cheng Ye: "I heard that the movie cost 8000 million yuan to make. Wouldn't that be a huge loss?"

Zhang Chen shook his head: "On paper, it's definitely a loss, but that might not actually be the case."

Now even Old Zhao was interested: "Tell us the ins and outs of this!"

As the saying goes, "a trade is like a mountain to someone outside it."

Despite his background in comedy sketches and a few film appearances, he doesn't really know the ins and outs of filmmaking.

"The investors behind 'Nanjing Nanjing' are China Film Group and Stellar Media."

China Film Group only supports domestic films, investing a token amount; the bulk of the funding comes from Stellar Media. Do you know where Stellar Media's money comes from?

The crowd shook their heads.

"To put it simply, Xingmei and Heaven on Earth are owned by the same person."

"Oh~"

Everyone showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

Heaven on Earth, that's quite a famous place.
Even if you haven't been there, you've definitely heard of it.

"I heard a story that Lu Chuan herself said that the funds were used very haphazardly when filming 'City of Life and Death'. A set of lights cost 3500 yuan, but they made 18 sets, which cost more than 6 yuan, and then it was all gone in a blur..."

"You mean they ..."

"Just knowing is enough."

Old Zhao interrupted his apprentices' idle inquiries and changed the subject: "So, how much can you sell in overseas markets?"

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Chen shook his head again: "I doubt it'll fetch a good price."

He paused, took a sip of tea, and seeing everyone's 'just tell us' expressions, he continued, "The Western world isn't interested in the Asian theater of World War II. They're just as indifferent to it as we are to Auschwitz."

"Not even Southeast Asia?"

"In Southeast Asia, only martial arts and action films sell well, such as your 'The Laughing Swordsman,' which should do quite well there. This is largely due to the past dominance of Hong Kong films in Southeast Asia. People still appreciate action films from Chinese-speaking regions. However, they themselves don't favor World War II themes..."

This isn't just Zhang Chen making things up; later generations have proven it. Films like *The Flowers of War*, *City of Life and Death*, *The Tokyo Trial*, and *Assembly* didn't sell well in Southeast Asia.
After a pause, Zhang Chen continued his explanation: "If you study those big-budget Hollywood movies closely, you'll find that their core themes are very simple: father-son relationships, revenge, good deeds being rewarded, love, and so on. These are universal values, emotions that are recognized worldwide..."

Conversely, some regional best-selling products may sell well in their home country, but they are not recognized internationally.

Because the local cultural characteristics are too strong.

This is especially evident in the comedy genre, because comedy itself is very localized.

Take our recently released "Lottery" for example. It'll probably only sell domestically; forget about the international market because it's too localized.

"Can you give me a discount?"

"That's not how it works. In the overseas market, it's not like if you can't sell it for 500,000, you can sell it for 300,000 if you lower the price. The concept is that if you can sell it, there is a price you should pay. If you can't sell it, it's 0, not a single cent."

After several rounds of drinks, everyone had drunk quite a bit.

Zhang Chen then realized that the "Laughing Jianghu" crew was filming in another studio not far from them.

However, their progress is much faster, and they will be almost done filming in another half month.

Seeing that everyone had drunk enough, Zhao Benshan said, "Brother Zhang, when would be a good time to release my 'The Laughing Swordsman'?"

Zhang Chen then realized that Lao Zhao's visit to the set was a pretense; his real purpose was to confirm the episode with him.

"Hey bro, are you trying to play tricks on me?"

Zhang Chen used to call Benshan "Uncle," but now he calls him "Brother."

Uncle Benshan laughed heartily: "I'm not playing tricks, this is a pilgrimage. All of us mediocre writers combined are no match for you, Zhuge Liang. We'll all listen to you. You say when it'll be released, and that's when we'll release it..."

Well, those words really stumped Zhang Chen.

Uncle Benshan is being so humble, Zhang Chen definitely has to give him face.

"May: *The Witch*, June: *White House Down*, July: *Gravity*, August: *Train to Busan*, October: *Aftershock*, or maybe you should schedule it for September, we don't have any movies releasing in September..."

Zhang Chen thought about it and realized that none of the movies released in 09 could beat "The Laughing Swordsman," so it would be best to release it in September.

"Okay, September it is then~"

Zhao Benshan readily agreed.

The meal was a pleasant one for both host and guest, and the two parted ways at the restaurant entrance.

After Zhao Benshan and his group had walked away, Lu Yang said, "During dinner, Teacher Fu called, but I didn't answer. I wonder if something happened..."

Zhang Chen said "Oh," and then added, "I'll reply to the teacher."

I dialed Fu Donglai's number, and after a while, the call was answered.

"Teacher Fu, is there something you need?"

Fu Donglai could tell that Zhang Chen had been drinking, and said, "It's nothing serious. I see you've been drinking. How about I contact you again tomorrow?"

Zhang Chen understood that if he said he would contact him again tomorrow, then there must be something important. So he said, "It's nothing, I didn't drink much, it won't be a problem. What's up?"

The person on the other end hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's nothing, it's about you and Lu Chuan, your conflict, is there any way to mediate?"

Zhang Chen was taken aback: "Someone came to you for help?"

There was a hum of approval on the other end. "They are school leaders. After all, they are all graduates of Beijing Film Academy. There's no need for them to fight to the death."

Actually, the school leaders are biased towards you, Professor Jiang Shixiong. He's Lu Chuan's teacher, so the school leaders have to give him face. As for me, it's just a formality..."

Teacher Fu sees things very clearly.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen felt relieved: "Okay, just say I disagree, and that's it. There's no way Lu Chuan and I can ever reconcile..."

In the original timeline, Han Han and Lu Yang had a fierce argument, but they eventually reconciled.

Han Han also posted a photo of the two of them having dinner with a group of people, including Lu Chuan.

But it's impossible for Zhang Chen to reconcile with him.

In the film industry, it would be too boring if there wasn't someone arrogant and looking for trouble.

Fu Donglai immediately understood: "Yes, I know what to say..."

He never intended to make things difficult for his students.

Zhang Chen joked, "They asked you to do this favor, but they won't give you any real benefits?"

"Of course!" Fu Donglai on the other end said happily.

"In a few days, I'll be the vice dean of the film academy. I'll skip the department head position and be promoted directly to vice dean, all because I have a student named Zhang Chen~"

Fu Dong joked that his position as vice dean was not responsible for any practical matters; his only job was to coordinate with Zhang Chen.

To put it bluntly, the school leaders also know that Zhang Chen's connection with the Beijing Film Academy rests entirely on Fu Donglai.

"That's great, you deserve it. By the way, we've submitted 'The Message' for the Golden Horse and Golden Rooster Awards. Once it wins, no one will have anything to say about it anymore!"

"You're talking as if you're guaranteed to win an award."

"Of course."

"Thanks to you so much~"

"Please don't stand on ceremony with me. If it weren't for you, there wouldn't be Zhang Chen today."

Fu Donglai also knew that he hadn't taught the other party anything at all. Zhang Chen's gratitude towards him was entirely because he had helped out in the first movie.

A drop of kindness deserves a spring of gratitude in return.
(End of this chapter)