After laughing for a while, everyone began to watch the film.

This time, I watched the film to see the unedited video materials, but when Xiao Yao wrote the script, it was based on the finished film of "" in his previous life, and the video pictures produced were very streamlined, and there were not many superfluous things. All the footage adds up to about two hours, which is about the same length as a typical film after a rough cut.

In order to provide a time baseline for video production, Xiao Yao himself carried out the initial original dubbing of all the characters.

Tong Luo's company is a special effects animation production company, which used to mainly help games do CG animation and some game special effects. Doing CG animation and game special effects will also involve sound effects, and Tong Luo's company also has talent resources in this area, so Xiao Yao also handed over the sound effects to Tong Luo's company's technicians to be responsible for production. After Xiao Yao carried out the initial original dubbing for the character, the technicians of Tong Luo's company also completed the production of sound effects when producing the video.

The initial soundtrack and sound effects are there, but now these video materials are completely blank in terms of soundtracks

Although there is no soundtrack, such video material looks like the effect will be much worse, but it can already show the storyline of this movie relatively well. Huang Shi and He Ying are both senior actors, it's not that they haven't seen the video materials before the release or broadcast, and their judgment ability in this regard is far beyond that of ordinary people, and it is completely possible to make a basic evaluation and standard judgment of this animated film through such materials.

Hearing that Xiao Yao not only invested, but also the director and screenwriter of this animated film, Huang Shi and He Ying were amazed, and their interest in this animated film was a little greater than before they came. Even if there is no soundtrack, they are very serious and dedicated.

Xiao Yao's reputation for genius is outside, and their expectations for Xiao Yao to spend more than two years to make this movie are not low, but what they didn't expect was that after watching the video material of this animated film, it gave them a much better feeling than they expected.

In terms of subject matter, this animated film is definitely an animated film in the science fiction genre. Making science fiction genres, whether it's film or television, requires an extremely rich imagination. Whether it's a live-action movie or an animated movie, it takes a certain amount of courage to dare to play sci-fi, and the slightest carelessness will be criticized as useless.

However, in this animated movie, whether it is the scene on the earth in the future or the scene inside the spaceship in space, it is very outstanding. Not to mention the exquisite picture, various details also reflect a strong sense of science fiction, giving people at least no worse than those Hollywood science fiction animated movies.

In terms of theme, the animated film is mainly about love, but the ruins of the earth make people unconsciously think of environmental protection, and the images and behaviors of the humans in the spacecraft are a subtle satire of some unhealthy lifestyles.

It is normal for young people to make a movie about love, but in the atmosphere of love theme, these questions of great social significance are raised in a hidden form, which shows the ambition and height of the creator at the ideological level, making it hard to believe that this is a script written by a young man in his early twenties. This is also Xiao Yao's reputation for being precocious and genius, otherwise Huang Shi and He Ying would definitely wonder if this script was really written by Xiao Yao.

What surprised and surprised the two of them was that there were many novel, very creative and distinctive places in terms of character setting and presentation in terms of content.

Robots are unable to make obvious facial expressions and have difficulty expressing emotions. It is very surprising that this animated film uses robots as the protagonists to tell the story, but I didn't expect the two robot protagonists designed by Xiao Yao to be two characters who don't even talk much.

Many robots in the consciousness of ordinary people have the ability to speak, that is, they can speak. But the two robots who are the protagonists in this movie rarely speak, and they can basically be regarded as the two characters who can speak the least. The two protagonists are the least talkative characters in the whole movie, and they are robots who are difficult to make obvious facial expressions, whether it is a live-action movie or an animated movie, such a setting is extremely rare, at least Huang Shi and He Ying have never seen such a movie.

Such a character setting of a robot that can barely speak is likely to make people feel bored, and it feels extremely risky at a glance, but after really watching it, Huang Shi and He Ying found that such a setting made them a lot more fun when watching.

First of all, they found that they could still feel the emotions expressed by the two main characters in the movie. In the movie, the different forms of the robot's eyes and some simple hand movements express the robot's emotions well, making people feel as if they have seen their expressions.

In addition, even if the main character doesn't speak, and there is no soundtrack for these materials, they don't feel bored at all when they watch it, but it feels very exciting and interesting.

For example, in the first fifty minutes of the movie (the original film in the previous life was forty minutes, but the material is more or less extra), there are only these two robot characters and a cockroach that can't speak at all. Aside from a brief introduction to the name, the two robots basically don't speak, almost giving the impression of watching a silent movie. But the first 50 minutes were the 50 minutes that He Ying and Huang Shi were the most moving and very interesting at the same time.

In addition, the animated film also includes a real-life, live-action movie clip. There have been movies in this world that have included animated characters to accompany the performances in live-action films, but the inclusion of clips from other live-action films in an animated film is the first of its kind in this world.

It is worth mentioning that the part of the former CEO of BNL in the original version of this movie is a live-action performance, but Xiao Yao did not find a live-action performance, and changed this character to an animated character, but retained the real movie clip, and replaced the clip of "Hello, Dolly" with a classic American song and dance movie clip from this world. However, for Huang Shi and He Ying, who have not seen the original version in their previous lives, just adding real movie clips is enough to surprise them.

"Awesome!" After watching the footage, Huang Shi and He Ying both applauded Xiao Yao from the bottom of their hearts.

Although Xiao Yao has written, directed and acted in short films, and has also made many amazing MVs, after all, feature films, short films and MVs are not the same. For a young man in his early twenties, it is already a very remarkable thing to be able to make an animated feature film, but Xiao Yao not only made an animated movie, but this movie can also give them a great shock in many aspects, and the two have to sigh again that Xiao Yao is really a demon who can't judge his ability and talent by age.

"Thank you for the compliment!" Xiao Yao smiled, "These are still materials, and there is still a lot of post-production work to be done later." In addition, you two don't just praise it, do you feel that something is wrong, you can also say it and remind me of this junior. While we haven't done it yet, it's easier for us to change it. ”

"Director Xiao, as a director and screenwriter, you are not my junior. Huang Shi smiled, "I think it's great, there's nothing to change." ”

"What about Sister He Ying?" Xiao Yao looked at He Ying again.

"There's nothing wrong with the film, but I have a problem with myself. He Ying said.

"What's the problem?" Xiao Yao and Huang Shi both looked at He Ying.

"You said before that I should be the heroine, right?" He Ying smiled, "But the heroine of this movie is the robot Eva, and it seems that there are few words from beginning to end, is my task too easy?"

"Do you want to play another role?" Xiao Yao asked.

"It's not like it," He Ying said, "This character is very cute, I like it very much, and I won't change it with others." But just a few words, I think I'm embarrassed to ask you to pay, it's better to follow what I said in the show that time, this time I made a cameo appearance, and I will help you match this role for free. ”

"Yo, He Ying, have you saved this guy money?" Huang Shi said with a smile, "This guy is so famous now, and he has shares in several companies under his name, where do you need you to help him save this little money?"

"Brother Huang Shi, are you or my brother?" Xiao Yao deliberately looked at Huang Shi angrily.

"As far as I know, when you helped Xiao Yao make that short film a few years ago, you also starred in it with zero pay, why didn't you ask him for remuneration at that time?" He Ying looked at Huang Shidao with a smile.

"We're not in a different situation. Huang Shi said, "It's not that I don't want it that time, it's that he said in advance that he won't be paid and asked me to help." Besides, at that time, he didn't have the same fame as he is now, he didn't work with Yin Xi to engage in fashion brands, he didn't invent a hand-disc to open a musical instrument company, and I didn't know that he had a stake in a modeling company. ”

"Also," Huang Shi continued, "all the investment he made in that short film at that time was his own savings, and he didn't ask his family for money. After the short film is made, it can't be released in theaters, there is no commercial future, there is no return, and I am embarrassed to mention money to him. And I didn't star in it completely zero, and later his short film won an award in France, and after selling the copyright to a video website, he also paid me. ”

"But I heard him say that he has invested all his income in this animated film for the past two years. He Ying said, "We all know that making animated movies is very money-burning, and there are only two investors in this animated movie, except that he is Mr. Tong's company, and I have never heard of Mr. Tong's company." ”

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tong, I don't mean to be offended," He Ying said to Tong Luo, "It's just that I'm also in this circle, but I haven't heard the name of you and your company, so I guess your company is not a strong big company." ”

"It's okay," Tong Luo smiled and waved his hand, "You're right. My company used to mainly do CG animation and special effects for game companies, and it was really not a big company. In this movie, Xiao Yao is the big one, accounting for more than me. ”

"So I think Xiao Yao really invested all his savings in the past two years into this animated movie. He Ying continued, "In addition to the production of a movie, the cost of publicity is not small. It's a good movie and I hope it gets good publicity in the future. I'd better keep my share of the remuneration and spend it on publicity when the time comes. Also, if you have any difficulties in terms of publicity funds, you can come to me, and I will do my best. ”

"There really are no other investors in your movie?" Huang Shi was said by He Ying, and also remembered the question of investment, and turned his head to ask Xiao Yaodao. With the effect of these materials, it is hard to believe that this is the money of an individual and an unknown small special effects company.

"Not really. Xiao Yao smiled.

"Is it convenient to tell me how much the production cost?" Huang Shi asked again, but after asking, Huang Shi immediately added, "It's inconvenient." ”

"It's estimated that the total amount is less than 200 million yuan," Xiao Yao and Tong Luo glanced at each other and said an approximate figure, "It has cost more than 100 million at present." ”

The original animated movie in the previous life was released in 2008, and Xiao Yao's movie was only produced in 2018 in the present life. In horizontal comparison, the production time is at least ten years late, and the scientific and technological development of this world is still slightly ahead of the same period in the previous life, many of the previous life 08 years were still the leading animation technology in the United States, and the 18 years in this world are not only not only not in the United States, but even in other countries, it is not the leading technology that only large companies have mastered.

In addition to the reduction of technical costs, the labor costs of Tong Luo's special effects company in Huaxia must be much lower than that of Pixar Studios in the United States.

The director, screenwriter, character image design, and later soundtrack of this animated film were all completed by Xiao Yao himself, although these were also converted into costs, but at least a lot of communication was always saved.

In addition, dubbing, editing and other post-production personnel will also be found in Huaxia, and the cost of these aspects is also greatly reduced.

Another point is the gap in the amount of material produced. The original version in the previous life was made according to the general film process, and there must have been a lot of material cut out during editing, but Xiao Yao had a finished film in his head, and it took about two hours of material to make a movie of more than 90 minutes, and the cost saved in this regard was not a little bit.

Animated movies are indeed very money-burning. The official production cost of the original animated film in the previous life was 180 million US dollars, and Xiao Yao relied on the above advantages to control the production cost of this animated film within 200 million yuan.

"It sounds like a lot, but it's a lot less than I expected. Huang Shi said, "But in this case, you will at least invest tens of millions, right? If there are difficulties in the back of the funds and you need to invest, I can also count one." ”

"I don't think so. Xiao Yao said with a smile, "I do the soundtrack in the later stage, and in terms of publicity, we must find a distribution company, which is their business, the cost of the movie, not the cost of our producer." In addition, we can also do pre-sales overseas. ”

"Don't talk about your money, I haven't even touched my family's money. Xiao Yao continued, "In fact, at the beginning, we also thought about finding investors, but then we slowly found that we could persevere, so we didn't look for investors anymore." Not to mention other investors, haven't you noticed? We don't even have advertising placement in this movie. ”

The closest Xiao Yao came to making this animated film was that after that trip to Germany, he planned to add a few shots of vehicles with BMW logos to the garbage heap in the earth part of the front of the animated film, and then ask for BMW to sponsor him. However, after finding that the funds could be supported, Xiao Yao finally dispelled this idea and decided to make a more "pure" movie.

"That's right," Huang Shi said suddenly, "I just realized that there are no advertisements in this movie! ”

"Is it some kind of spiritual cleanliness?" said Huang Shi with a smile.

"This ~ barely counts. Xiao Yao hesitated for a moment and nodded.

Although the production cost of this animated film in the previous life was as high as 180 million US dollars, the global box office also reached more than 500 million US dollars, which is not a loss in terms of box office alone. The film market in 2020 is much higher than that in 2008 in the previous life, although Xiao Yao never thought that the box office of his animated film could reach as much as 500 million US dollars, but the cost of only 200 million yuan, making money is basically guaranteed. Xiao Yao tried not to invest in other ways, and ensured that his investment accounted for the majority, but also in order to be able to obtain greater economic benefits in the future.

Of course, these words are definitely not suitable to say to Huang Shiming now, and Xiao Yao's first movie does have some ideas of spiritual cleanliness, and I hope that the fewer people who participate, the better, and the greater the proportion of myself in this movie, the better, so I will admit it according to Huang Shi's words.