China Entertainment: The happiness of being a director is as simple as that

Chapter 22 "X" Special Effects Company

On May 5, the 9th Cannes Film Festival opened.

Nearly a month ago, the current Cannes Film Festival announced the list of shortlisted films for each unit.

This time, a total of 23 feature films were shortlisted for the main competition, of which only two Chinese-language films were shortlisted, and both were from Wanwan.

They are from "The Name of the Rose" by Hou Hsiao-hsien and "What Time Are You Over There" by Tsai Ming-liang.

Neither Hong Kong nor Mainland China has a single film shortlisted for the competition this time, and Stanley Kwan's "Lan Yu", which was previously optimistic, also missed the shortlist.

Compared with last year's Chinese-language films, Edward Yang's "Yi Yi", Jiang Wen's "The Devil Is Coming", and Wong Kar-wai's "In the Mood for Love" three Chinese-language films were shortlisted for the main competition.

Therefore, many domestic media have made negative voices, and the atmosphere is like a certain ace event in the Olympic Games missing the top three.

But fortunately, there are still mainland filmmakers in the short film section.

There are 12 shortlisted films in this short film unit.

One of them came from Lu Pingan, who just won the Berlin Short Film Silver Bear Award a few months ago.

This time, Ping An Lu was shortlisted for Cannes again with the short film "Black Hole" and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.

Of course, there is another mainland filmmaker shortlisted for the short film. His name is Yang Chao, and his work is called "Waiting to Die", but he signed up for the film cornerstone unit, which is not as valuable as the short film unit, one of the official competitions. He was very tall, and Lu Pingan was already famous, so few people would report on him.

Lu Ping'an's short film was shortlisted again, and many reporters approached the school to interview him.

Lu Pingan directly pushed the interview to Hu Qingquan on the grounds that the post-production of the "Tuner" movie was very busy.

So the media soon knew that this short film called "Black Hole" was only more than two minutes long!

Then all kinds of discussions came out.

There are positive ones, which account for the majority, and there are also negative ones.

Positively speaking, it is short and concise, and it must be wonderful.

Negatively speaking, the time is too short, and it is almost impossible to win the big prize.

Some people even said that Lu Pingan didn't take Cannes too seriously.

2 minutes, this is the record for the shortest short film in Cannes, right?

With the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, such discussions have gradually heated up.

The six princesses also joined the report, first reporting on the two Chinese films that were screened, then reporting on Lu Pingan, and finally saying that Yang Dechang and Li An were in the judging, and then wishing Lu Pingan another award.

Therefore, Lu Ping'an's name has also become a top player in the film industry to a certain extent.

This situation is actually helpless.

Who made Cannes not have a mainland movie this time?

It would be nice if there were none of them, there is only one Lu Ping An, who would you talk about if you don’t talk about him?

Lu Pingan himself doesn't care about this.

He is now concentrating on the post-production of the movie, and will wait until the few days before the awards ceremony to go and see it.

. . . . . . .

The post-production work of the big movie of "The Tuner" went smoother than expected.

On the one hand, Zhang Yifan and Lu Ping'an have already cooperated once, so this time they cooperate again, the tacit understanding will be much higher.

On the other hand, it is due to the "X" special effect software given by Goldfinger.

The one-stop special effect generation software from 2050 is really advanced!

After the film was finished, Lu Pingan spent two days researching this thing.

Goldfinger is very powerful. After Lu Pingan received the reward, all the information about "X" entered his mind, that is to say, he can use the software proficiently now.

However, if you want to use it in reality, you need related hardware facilities.

This will cost a lot of money.

After all, it is 2001, and the computing power of a smart phone 20 years later can surpass the computing power of an ordinary computer today.

So if you want to make "X" run smoothly, you have to spend a lot of money.

Lu Pingan deliberately went to find out.

The current mainstream computers on the market use 64M processors, AMD processors, only a pitiful 4M video memory, and only 6.4G hard drives. Looking at it 20 years later, many people may doubt that this kind of computer can be used?The hard drive is full with just a few software installed.

But how much do such computers sell now? 18000!

The hardware performance is too backward.

Fortunately, the software provided by Goldfinger has multiple grades to choose from, and you can use the lower grade, which greatly reduces the hardware requirements.

Lu Pingan directly rented a new office building of more than 200 square meters, and then registered a special effects company, named "X (Ex) Special Effects Technology Co., Ltd.", and then spent more than 20 yuan to purchase equipment, filling the entire office, So a special effects company headquarters with only one person was done. If those mining in the future see it, they will definitely think that Lu Pingan is a fellow.

After the equipment was set up, Lu Pingan entered the source code into it through the golden finger, and then the world's most advanced and blackest special effects software "X" appeared on his computer screen.

And there is no need to worry about being stolen, because "X" is bound with you.

As long as Lu Pingan feels unsafe, he can take it back at any time, and the computer will be formatted without leaving any traces.

Of course, Lu Pingan can also learn programming by himself or recruit relevant personnel, split "X" into various software, such as Nuke, PS, 3Dmax, etc. that already exist in the world, and then compete with them, and because of the generation gap, the competition You can definitely win, so it must be no problem to make a lot of money.

But Lu Pingan didn't think about this for the time being, it's too troublesome, let's talk about it later.

More than 20 yuan was spent, which can support "X" to run.

Its efficiency is no better than a 20-odd computer mainframe 1 years later.

Poor, but good enough.

There are not many special effects needed in the big movie "The Tuner", just a rabbit, which takes less than 1 minute in total, and there is no need to shoot additionally.

But this lifelike rabbit is basically impossible to make based on the current level of domestic special effects.

Fortunately, Lu Ping An now has an "X", and such a simple special effect only needs to be pulled out from the material library in the software and adjusted.

Of course, the "X" software is not a panacea. Shots involving real people still need the assistance of some external props and equipment.

Although Lu Pingan doesn't use these advanced special effects for the time being, he already has the idea of ​​forming a complete special effects team. After all, he has to prepare for future blockbusters, but he is not in a hurry now, and the timing and funds are not enough. Take your time.

Pull out the material library, enter the required instructions, and after a day of tinkering, the special effects will officially start to be generated slowly.

Lu Pingan estimated that at most one week, all the special effects shots of the big movie would be completed.

This greatly speeds up the post-production process.

Finally, on May 5, all the special effects shots of the "Tuner" movie were completed.

. . . . . .

"Who did you do this special effect for?"

On the 17th, Han Sanpin watched the lifelike rabbit with almost no special effects in the editing room several times, and finally asked the question in his heart.

Lu Pingan replied very calmly: "Of course it is Laomei, how can it be made in China now."

Han Sanpin asked again: "How much did it cost?"

Lu Ping'an continued to be calm: "This time I didn't spend much. I was looking for a friend of my dad's before. He knew someone who did special effects in Laomei. The other party also wanted to open up the market, so he gave a friendly price, 6 US dollars. Just 50 RMB."

This time "The Tuner" has a total budget of 400 million. Up to now, because the scene is relatively simple, it is very economical. Except for special effects, only 347 million is used, which means that there are more than 50 left for special effects.

And Lu Pingan only spent a little over 20 yuan to purchase the equipment, which means that he earned about 30 yuan for this ticket.

And this is not a one-ticket business, and you can still make money by using special effects in the future, just need some electricity and maintenance costs.

As for 50 yuan for special effects, is it expensive?

The special effects also depend on the quality. Wumao special effects are naturally incomparable with the current special effects of "Tuner", and it is still in 2001. This kind of special effects is the top in the world, so of course it is not expensive, and it is even worth it. Han Sanpin thinks so of.

"This level of special effects is top-notch in Hollywood. It's almost invisible. It's worth $20!"

Han Sanpin was a little surprised. He originally wanted to introduce a special effects company to Lu Pingan, but he didn't expect them to be more wild in this respect than him.

Lu Pingan shook his head and said, "It's worth it, but I think few people in China will use it."

Han Sanpin also agreed: "Indeed, the domestic film market is still too small."

Zhang Yifan also said sadly: "Without that soil, top-notch things can't grow naturally, and the old beauty is still amazing."

"Isn't it?"

The three of them sighed in their hearts, and then stopped discussing the special effects.

Then Han Sanpin asked again: "You will go to Cannes tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, the ticket for the evening."

"Then I wish you the best of luck again."

"Haha, thank you Mr. Han."

After finishing work, Lu Pingan first went to pick up Yan Danchen.

Yan Danchen will also go to Cannes this time.

So for Lu Pingan, whether he won the prize or not is actually the second priority, and playing in France with Yan Danchen is the most important thing.

On May 5 local time, Lu Pingan, Ning Hao, Zhang Songwen and Yan Danchen landed in France.

Ning Hao came here this time and said that he wanted to lay a foundation for the future. He already has plans to start filming the next movie, but it's not "Incense". Lu Ping'an said he was looking forward to it.

It was still Hu Qingquan who came to pick up the airport. He had already come here a week before the opening of the film festival on May 5.

So this time he can still work part-time as a tour guide.

After picking up the plane and getting into the car, Hu Qingquan drove everyone to the hotel.

"France, the country of Fa (four voices), this romantic capital is different."

Before the car left the airport, Ning Hao in the back seat began to sigh with emotion at the big white girl outside the window.

"It's not the same, I think it's the same. Look over there, it's all rubbish."

Lu Pingan pointed to a corner full of black plastic bags and complained.

"I didn't see it, I didn't know it, I didn't admit it."

Ning Hao turned his head and continued to look at the big white girls on the street.

On the way, Hu Qingquan informed everyone of the itinerary.

"Ping An, after we settle in the hotel, we will meet Director Jiang Wen first. After the meeting, if there is free time, we will have another activity together. Are you going to the venue to watch a movie or something?"

Lu Pingan said with a smile: "Of course, let's eat French food first, so that the stomach can get used to it."

This proposal was approved by everyone.

Then began to discuss whether French food really needs to be eaten for several hours.

What are you eating these few hours?

After discussing along the way, everyone arrived at the hotel.

(End of this chapter)