Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
Advanced chapters available on Patreon. Also, a bonus chapter will be released, if you buy me a kofi.
In the huge studio, the personnel were busy, yet orderly, without making excessive sounds.
Standing in the center of the studio, several tall actors were wearing tights, surrounded by head-mounted cameras, and dense, regular green capture points on their faces. They were working under the camera and motion capture action.
“It’s amazing.” Zhu Xufang stood not far away, squinting with glasses and looking at it with emotion.
Lin Meng was next to him: “It’s amazing.”
The shooting of “Dengxian Road” was progressing very fast. The real-world shooting had temporarily come to an end, and now it had entered the stage of special effects shooting.
In the studio next door, there was a huge green screen. The actors had been shooting in front of the green screen these days.
And now they were in a temporary motion capture shed- located in the capital of the province where City L was located. They had hired the largest motion capture studio in China to capture the scene. After obtaining their consent, Lin Meng had paid the high price rent, while the other party actively set up a temporary shed at City L and moved the equipment inside.
The cost of this motion capture shed was nearly 70,000 a day.
But the money was really worth it.
Zhu Xufang said with emotion: “Xiao Lin, fortunately you didn’t listen to this old guy and my wayward thoughts at that time, otherwise the finished product would be too regrettable.” He shook his head.
In “Dengxian Road”, since it involved the two realms of immortals and demon, it was inevitable to have a grand scene, the appearance of demons and monsters had to be perfect, and so on.
According to Zhu Xufang’s experience, these could be solved by the prop master, special effects makeup artist, and a small number of special effects. However, this was the team’s second cooperation with Dream Entertainment for providing light and shadow special effects, so they knew that Lin Meng was not stingy in spending money, and was not a person that would be swayed by Zhu Xufang’s suggestions.
First, they mainly shot background category through the green screen and then produced by the animation team of the special effects company.
Then they introduced the appropriate motion capture.
Lin Meng apparently… didn’t understand, she made six or seven phone calls with the person in charge of Guangying Entertainment the other day and watched some of the industry’s famous special effects shots under his recommendation. Finally, she made a decision. She talked to Leader Zhu several times, and finally persuaded stubborn director Zhu with the authority of the producer and the requirements of the future boss.
“The movie technology is progressing too fast.” Zhu Xufang also felt incredible now. In order to reassure him, the special effects company yesterday made a 30-second clip at Lin Meng’s request to show him the finished effect.
These action actors did not need to sit there for 10 hours with special effects makeup or wear elaborate thick clothing. Just this shot, after the special effects were completed, would become dazzling on the screen.
The expression was more detailed than his imagination, and it clearly showed a strange face that added various monster characteristics which he could not even distinguish from the original look in his mind. Even when the face was slightly enlarged, and the actors raised an eyebrow, the lines on the skin were completely clear.
He was glad to the extreme. If he had followed the original plan, he was afraid that he would not only spend money but also not get good results. Instead, he would delay the efforts of so many actors and not live up to Lin Meng’s support.
And with the addition of special effects shooting, most of the scenes that were originally set in his mind could become reality, and even take less time than before. The only thing that tangled him was communicating with the special effects company, as they did not necessarily understand what Zhu Xufang wanted.
Fortunately, Lin Meng communicated in the middle, otherwise…
Lin Meng glanced at Zhu Xufang and was a little worried: “Director Zhu, Ning Qi and I will go back to talk about the release in two days. During this time, when I am not here, don’t quarrel with people.”
At this time, she finally understood what was called the real Party A.
When Zhu Dao described the scene he wanted, the adjectives he used were simply amazing.
“What I want is not this effect, it’s the kind of… look that is deep and dark, it has the feeling of deep sea, but at the same time it can’t be too dark, otherwise it will be lumpy on the big screen, the far-reaching effect must be obvious, feeling deep to the bottom. The overall hue can’t be bright, but it’s better to have a faint glow.”
“This is similar to what I thought in my heart, but it’s similar, but it’s still a kind of feeling, you know, it’s a feeling.”
Finally, watching the crashing light and shadow special effects docking, Lin Meng found a way. Every day during the filming, she would use a tablet to show Zhu Xufang various materials, including clips of other videos, aerial documentaries, etc. Zhu Dao circled out the parts closest to his ideas in order to compare his requirements, all of which were adjusted by the special effects company.
Zhu Xufang’s old face blushed: “You can rest assured, I will definitely not argue with anyone.”
In fact, the main scenes were almost done, just the details were not complete, and there was nothing to be noisy about.
Lin Meng shook her head helplessly. Those people who had been fighting for the same thing for half of their lives actually had some “simple” overdoing in their natures. Sometimes they recognized one thing and it was impossible for even eight horses to pull them back. She had to coax and persuade them to help find a compromise solution, but at the same time she could not completely destroy their artistic pursuits.
“Ms. Lin, is it convenient for you now?”
Lin Meng was patted on the shoulder, and she turned back and called her Sui Yan.
“Convenient.” Lin Meng did not alarm others and followed Sui Yan quietly out of the shed.
Sui Yan was estimated to have just finished filming next door, as the makeup had not been removed, and he was walking in the specially customized costume, which with the light wind, was very imposing.
This suit was made according to Zhu Xufang’s manuscript, but it almost stumped people in terms of fabric and pattern design, how could they achieve the desired effect.
Lin Meng had had a lot of clothes over the years. From luxury high-line dresses to hand-made cheongsams and Chinese dresses, she had everything. At her suggestion, the clothing designer chose three fabrics to blend together and only then did he make this costume for Sui Yan.
In fact, the cost of this set of clothes was not too much, and the cost of the cloth was more than the cost of manual work. However, the labour required to study it was enough to be astounding.
“Ms. Lin, I’m sorry.” Sui Yan looked ugly and smiled bitterly. “I might be dragging down the crew.”
“What happened?”
Sui Yan was still in high school this year, when she was chosen as female No. 1 by Zhu Xufang. After taking that first film at the age of 16, she had a high starting point. Her resources were beyond the reach of the circle. This year, she had just passed thirty and she was already a Grand Slam-level actress, but she “condescended” to come to the crew of “Dengxian Road”, which caused much discussion outside.
Sui Yan whispered, “I’m going to divorce.” After graduating from college, she married the CEO of Chengming Entertainment in the circle, Yu Chengming, and was also signed under the name of Chengming Entertainment. In recent years, Yu Chengming signed many new people under the name of Sui Yan, and tied Sui Yan to give the company’s new people a chance to play.
“Divorce has no effect on our drama.” Lin Meng said indifferently, these were the ages, if the husband and wife in the circle separated, there was not much discrimination.
“No, it has an impact.” Sui Yan started shaking as if it felt cold, “Ms. Lin, you probably don’t know, Chengming Entertainment has had a big problem since it started three years ago, and the capital chain has been broken for a time. To allow the company to survive and have the opportunity to come back, Yu Chengming pulled me and the investor to sign a gambling agreement.”
Lin Meng was silent. She knew the gambling agreement, but she did not expect Sui Yan to sign: “What about the agreement?”
“The content of the agreement is simple. Within three years, the net profit of Chengming Entertainment needs to reach the investor’s investment amount, otherwise the investor must be repaid at 1.5 times the investment amount.”
“What’s the amount? If I didn’t guess wrong, I’m afraid the amount would be too big.
There was a tremor in Sui Yan’s voice: “600 million.” She looked pale. “I have worked hard for three years, but the money I can make was not enough to fill this hole. Yu Chengming previously hid my investment in a movie. After its weekly release, the first week at the box office of the movie was 10 million.”
She worked hard to restore her calmness: “I originally thought that the company still has working capital, plus my work income, this hole of 600 million can be filled, but today Yu Chengming sent me a message, he told me that the public money on the account and the money in the joint account of our husband and wife have previously been misappropriated as investment. Now, except for the deposit of less than 10 million in my own card, everything is gone.”
Sui Yan took a deep breath: “I know this show is the hard work of Zhu Dao. I originally wanted to help him, but I didn’t expect to harm the show. Fortunately, there is still room for recovery now, or if the news of me playing the role of investor comes out, I’m afraid it will affect the box office.” She looked at Lin Meng,” I…I still have some connections in the circle, I see if a contact can make up shots, I’m really sorry.”
She bowed deeply, it was the standard ninety degrees, and didn’t get up for a long time.
Lin Meng could feel the nerves on her forehead jump. Feng Liangliang and her said that an accident had happened.
Sui Yan was right. In recent years, domestic public opinion had become increasingly disgusted with dishonest people and defrauders, let alone Chengming Entertainment which was a listed company. Once it declared bankruptcy, it would affect shareholders, and public opinion would be even more ugly.
Lin Meng asked, “If I remember correctly, you only have six scenes left, right?”
“Yes.” Sui Yan didn’t dare to look directly at Lin Meng. She was frank in her life, but she did not expect the director who had pitted people and had a sense of gratitude.
“In this way, I will talk to Director Zhu and ask him to focus your scenes together. After you finish shooting, go back and deal with the matter on the other side. You should divorce, and terminate the contract.” Lin Meng said this, and could not help but ask, “Do you plan to continue this marriage? Sorry, I didn’t mean it…”
“I understand, I was going to divorce as soon as possible.” Sui Yan shrugged her shoulders, pretending to be relaxed. “I’ve dragged myself down with the company these years, dragging him till now was enough, and one more reputation for abandoning her husband in crisis will have no effect on me.”
“As for the future, don’t be too negative. Public opinion may not be as bad as you think. This time, I will pay you according to your original film, but I still hope that you can complete the shooting. I will let Zhu Dao prepare the second plan. It is really impossible for other people to replace this role.”
“Okay.” Sui Yan nodded and moved out of the back office where she had to come to look for her. She adjusted her condition and entered the shed again.
There was a beginnings so there must be an end, and since Lin Meng hoped that she would finish shooting, she would finish the film and then leave.
Lin Meng pondered for a moment and found a contact in the address book to make a call.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
Please support me on Ko-fi if possible or become a patron on Patreon.
Discord Server Link: https://discord.gg/bUtjSUQpNq
I’ll be able to post more chapters if you support me
Previous • Table of Contents • Next