Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 443 Then tell me, what's so good about me? Mission Impossible filming in Dubai

……

Weibo.

A tech account's post went viral; it contained only one picture, a subjective viewpoint taken from the entrance of the creative park looking inside.

The building on the left has a sign for "WeChat," and the building on the right has a sign for "Tencent."

The accompanying text reads: "What do you all think about Gu Bei joining Linlang Technology's instant messaging team right next to Tencent's Guangzhou branch right after the 3Q War ended?"

The first top comment represents the trend on Weibo: "Hahaha, Tencent is so stupid. Gu Bei is still as vindictive as ever. He was just forced to block Zhou Hongyi's account, and he immediately retaliated."

The consequences of Tencent's loss of credibility are already beginning to appear.

"Although it looks pretty cool, I'm a little scared. Director Gu is just a small director, and Weibo is just a small company. Can they really go toe-to-toe with a behemoth like Tencent?"

"Don't be afraid. Zhou Hongyi can only escape to Xiangdu. Gu Bei is currently in North America, and the penguin's reach doesn't extend to North America yet!"

"Your information is outdated. Gu Bei and Liu Yifei are currently filming a movie in Dubai. However, the conclusion is correct. Gu Bei is not afraid of Tencent's underhanded tactics."

"Not only is Gu Bei not afraid, but Linlang Technology's products are also not afraid of Tencent. Weibo only has web and mobile versions, and WeChat only has a mobile version."

"Penguin wants to force us to choose one of two options again. They can't possibly make us unable to access Weibo while also allowing us to log in to Penguin, can they?"

"Am I the only one who thinks WeChat is pretty good? Unlike the QQ app on mobile phones, which is laggy and has many functions that are unusable or difficult to understand, WeChat is much simpler. I didn't even teach my dad; he picked it up and used it right away."

……

Dubai.

"How come this generation of netizens knows everything?"

Gu Bei was scrolling through Weibo when he discovered that people actually knew the Mission: Impossible crew had arrived in Dubai. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"Of course! My fans are following my every move!" Liu Yifei said with a touch of smugness.

"is it?"

Gu Bei couldn't resist clicking on that person's profile picture and conducting a home visit.

Then, he placed the large Leonardo DiCaprio background image from the other person's homepage in front of Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei's face immediately turned embarrassed.

It seems... she was a little too decisive!
Subsequently,

She bit her lower lip, took Gu Bei's phone and carefully checked that person's photo album. She finally discovered that there really wasn't a single picture of her in the album; it was full of pictures of Western male stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise.

I'm so angry!
Liu Yifei immediately felt her face getting slightly hot.

She rarely boasts about her fame, but she still ended up making a huge blunder.

"Alright~ Does our Empress Qian's fame need her alone to prove it?" Gu Bei pinched Liu Yifei's cheek and said with a smile.

So moist!

Liu Yifei's face has very smooth skin.

Even after being swept away by Dubai's sandstorms, it still feels as smooth as silk to the touch.
The smooth, jade-like texture of her cheeks, combined with the slight flush from embarrassment, gave the feeling of holding warm jade.

"Whose house is this?!"

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes at Gu Bei, then puffed out her cheeks as if trying to pry open Gu Bei's fingers that were pinching her cheeks, just like a goldfish.

It certainly has its uses.
Gu Bei's fingers clearly couldn't hold on any longer.

He looked at Liu Yifei with amusement, feeling that her puffed-out lips, which she had puffed out with all her might, would burst out like a deflated balloon.

"Hum~"

When Liu Yifei saw that she had broken free from Gu Bei's grasp, a happy expression immediately appeared on her face, and her eyes seemed to say to Gu Bei, "I'm awesome, aren't I?"

but,

Liu Yifei was clearly unaware that

Her childish yet arrogant demeanor made her seem like someone who was easy to bully.

It's a pity they're on a film set right now, otherwise Gu Bei would have been tempted to tease her.

After a pause,

Liu Yifei reverted to her previous Weibo post.
She glanced at it, and as she handed the phone back to Gu Bei, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Didn't you say before that the later WeChat was exposed, the better?"

Why did you immediately move Zhang Xiaolong's team back to the creative park in Guangzhou this time? It's like you're afraid Tencent won't target you.

“In the past, WeChat had too few users, so we wanted Tencent to find out as late as possible. We originally planned to delay it until January next year.”

Gu Bei took back his phone and explained with a smile, "But things are different now. After WeChat version 2.0 was launched, the growth rate of users far exceeded Zhang Xiaolong's and my expectations."

Once you reach this user base, you can no longer rely solely on user growth; you must start investing heavily in marketing to attract users to WeChat through various channels.

Since we can't hide it anymore, we might as well just let everyone compare WeChat to Tencent!

"Tricky marketing!"

Liu Yifei blurted it out immediately.

Gu Bei: “…”

This was his last review of Huayi Brothers' Lunar New Year film, If You Are the One. After Gravity grossed over 1 billion yuan at the mainland box office, If You Are the One started marketing itself as a science fiction film, and Gu Bei criticized it as a marketing ploy to piggyback on that success.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yifei heard this word and immediately used it on herself.

Although it's not a nice word, it's quite fitting here.

He said with a hint of helplessness, "You could say that!"

"That doesn't seem like a good word, does it?"

Liu Yifei realized this too late.

"There's no problem!"

Gu Bei replied with a smile, "To the penguin, I am the villain!"

From Tencent's perspective, they were entangled with a rogue company called 365, and their final, desperate attack failed to gain public approval. At this point, Gu Bei, who had been fueling the fire, jumped out and launched WeChat to take back the market they had lost.

This is definitely a villain template!

"No, you're a good person!"

Liu Yifei shook her head, unwilling to admit that Gu Bei was the villain.

"Then tell me, what's so good about me?" Gu Bei crossed his arms and teased Liu Yifei with interest.

"you……"

Liu Yifei's eyes widened in disbelief. How could there be such a shameless person in the world? Just then,

Tom Cruise walked over from a distance, accompanied by a white man wearing black-rimmed glasses.

Tom Cruise greeted Gu Bei with a smile: "Bruce, let me introduce you. This is Christopher McQuarrie, the screenwriter I met on Target Hitler. You are both directors who started as screenwriters, so you should have a lot in common."

"Hello, Mr. Gu, I am amazed by the script you wrote!" Christopher said earnestly, looking at Gu Bei with a slightly excited tone.

Gu Bei looked at Christopher in front of him.

He knew this person very well; he was practically Tom Cruise's future director and screenwriter.
The two collaborated on several projects, including the Jack Reacher series and the four Mission: Impossible films (5, 6, 7, and 8), becoming a rare golden duo in Hollywood.

Although both actors have had disastrous films like Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, it's actually hard to say whether the strange pacing of those two movies was Christopher Reece's doing or Tom Cruise's.

After all, looking at Christopher's resume,
The director has a blockbuster like Mission: Impossible 56 that bridges the gap between the past and the future.

The screenwriting credits are even more impressive, including the Mission: Impossible series, the Jack Reacher series, Edge of Tomorrow, and Top Gun 2, as well as uncredited works such as X-Men, Wolverine, World War Z, and Rogue One, covering a wide range of blockbuster genres.

He smiled and extended his hand to shake Christopher's: "Thank you, I also really like your 'The Very Suspect'."

The Usual Suspects, which earned Kevin Spacey an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, is also based on a screenplay by Christopher Nolan.

“Bruce, we talked about this before…” Tom Cruise said to Gu Bei with a friendly smile.

“No problem, I will prepare a spot for Christopher in the production team.”

Gu Bei didn't seem to mind at all and readily agreed.

"Thank you, Bruce!"

Tom Cruise breathed a sigh of relief.

He was worried that Gu Bei would think he was there to seize power, since Christopher was skilled in screenwriting and directing, and he was the key figure who brought him along. Some directors might really hate this kind of behavior where an actor interferes with the director.

Actually,
Gu Bei genuinely hoped that Christopher would take over the remaining Mission: Impossible series.
If Paramount hadn't offered the rights to the Interstellar project, Gu Bei wouldn't have wanted to take on the Mission: Impossible series. Even though Paramount gave him a director's share, making money from his own projects was definitely more profitable than making the Mission: Impossible series.

To gain global recognition
Gu Bei already has one Spider-Man series, which is enough for him.

Isn't Spider-Man's IP value far greater than that of the Mission: Impossible series, which has a much larger audience?
After the two finished discussing the sensitive topics,

Tom Cruise said to Liu Yifei next to him, "Crystal, we're about to film a running scene. Do you need me to slow down? I'm used to long-distance running!"

“I can do that!”

Liu Yifei smiled and declined Tom Cruise's offer.

Tom Cruise just smiled. He's always been quite amiable on set, making it hard to imagine that such a gentle person would believe in Scientology.

"The scene in a bit is very simple. You're chasing an enemy, Tom Cruise, and you just run as fast as you can. Then, as you're running, you see Crystal walk right past you."

When you see her, I need a complex emotion, a feeling that transcends the image of an omnipotent secret agent, a feeling that belongs to a middle-aged man about declining physical function.

Gu Bei explained the scenes to the two people.

Commercial films, unlike art films, do not tend to be more restrained in their emotional expression.

A burst of emotion can actually make the audience feel that the acting is good.

This scene is actually a classic running scene from the Mission: Impossible series. From running on the bridge in Mission: Impossible 1, to running between two choices in Mission: Impossible 7, and running after the death of an old friend in Mission: Impossible 8, it can be considered a continuation of the classics.

Tom Cruise nodded in agreement.

He's been making movies for so many years, and his acting skills are actually quite good.
After failing to win an Oscar in the last century, he shifted his focus to commercial films, leading people to mistakenly believe that he lacked acting skills.

"Very good, prepare the blower!"

Gu Bei began to skillfully coordinate the various departments of the crew. This was already a piece of cake for him, having experienced the filming of large-scale productions such as La La Land, Spider-Man, and Hangzhou Trip.

"Bruce, why are we using a wind machine for this scene? Wouldn't it be easier to just shoot with a green screen?" Christopher couldn't help but ask from the side.

"Do you think this kind of texture can be achieved by shooting against a green screen?"

Gu Bei laughed and grabbed a handful of sand and dust blown out by the crew's wind machine, showing it to Christopher.

Tom Cruise agreed with Gu Bei's idea: "I agree with Cruise on this point. Green screen effects can never replace the realism of live-action shooting, so I also try not to use stunt doubles, but to run myself."

Christopher glanced at Gu Bei: "But... gravity?"

"Gravity is a clever trick. Once the story is set on Earth instead of in space, and the brightness is increased, you'll notice the unrealistic feel of the special effects."

Gu Bei shook his head. In the field of special effects, darkness can cover up a hundred mistakes, and even viewers might not be able to spot the bloopers.

As they were talking,
The props team has everything ready.
The filming area was filled with swirling sand and dust, making it look like a real sandstorm had struck.
Of course, this only applies to the ground level; special effects will still be used for the sky above, as the power of nature cannot be perfectly simulated by current technology.

This is also why Hollywood special effects may actually regress after the pandemic.

In this era, most foreground shots rely on live-action footage and props, while the background uses special effects. This kind of special effects shooting strikes a balance between realism and low cost.

Since the pandemic, many Hollywood blockbusters have been made entirely with special effects, and the uncanny valley effect has become more and more frequent.

Once a film like F1 appears, combining live-action shooting with special effects, its reputation immediately skyrockets, indicating that the people involved are still the same, but the production companies no longer like this approach.

Tom Cruise arrived at his position.

He looked at Liu Yifei behind him and asked again, "Crystal, are you sure you don't want me to slow down? This is real footage."

"I will catch up with you!"

Liu Yifei said firmly once again.

Tom Cruise sensed Liu Yifei's determination and couldn't help but say, "With this kind of attitude, you're sure to become a top actress in the future!"

"Action!"

Gu Bei called out.

Tom Cruise immediately started running, chasing after the enemy ahead and entering the fake sandstorm created by the film crew without hesitation. However, with the visibility obstructed, the enemy's figure became increasingly invisible.

The film crew's vehicles followed Tom Cruise closely, with multiple cameras capturing his performance.

at this time,

Liu Yifei caught up with him from behind: "Is he up ahead?"

Tom Cruise turned to look at Liu Yifei with a hint of doubt, nodded instinctively, and then watched as Liu Yifei quickened her pace and overtook her, a complex emotion immediately showing on her face.

The best thing about Mission: Impossible 4
It's about portraying Ethan Hunt as a real person.

Rather than just being an omnipotent agent, this character adds greater dramatic tension to the plot and is a small part of his overall logic.

Looking at Tom Cruise on the monitor, Gu Bei felt that he should be showing some genuine emotion at this moment.

After all, he was running at full speed, and he was actually overtaken by Liu Yifei, whom he had questioned twice, giving him a feeling similar to "on your left" in Captain America 2.

(End of this chapter)