In the more than a month since he left Hong Kong, Wang Xiaohu was most concerned about the construction of the set of the "Suspended Heavenly Palace" in "Mythology". 【Reading.com】

In front of Wang Xiaohu, Lucas, and Grant is a field the size of a football field, on which more than 4 meters high scaffolding rises, and dozens of workers are busy welding on the scaffolding.

"Boss, what are they doing?" Lucas asked, puzzled.

Wang Xiaohu smiled and said: "To build a special effects studio, you should know that our special effects need to be carried out in a closed environment, and there is no venue in the world that can meet the scale of my shooting, so I can only build it myself." ”

Lucas pouted, he wanted to tell Wang Xiaohu that these special effects could also be done in the studio of "Star Wars".

Wang Xiaohu smiled, did not explain much to Lucas, and walked along the construction passage into the studio.

After Lucas followed Wang Xiaohu into the studio, his first feeling was to quit the show, under the illumination of hundreds of headlights in the studio, there were people everywhere, some moved boxes, some installed camera tracks, some erected scaffolding, and all of them were very busy.

When Lucas got used to the sight of the shed a little, he was stunned by the building in the center of the shed!

If just now Lucas was conceited that the special effects of "Mythology" could be completed with a set of equipment and sets of "Star Wars", then now, he wants to retract these words.

In the entire special effects studio, two meters above the ground, stands a building that emits a faint light, just like the palace in ancient Greek mythology, which brings him a great visual impact.

It is not so much a building, but a building complex, in addition to the main hall in the middle, there are four slightly smaller buildings on each side, they and the main hall reflect each other, from the perspective of Lucas, it can be found that these four buildings are scattered with different terrain heights, and there is a hidden meaning of surrounding the main hall, although the four side halls are also very exquisite, but they are far less than the main hall to give people a sense of awe.

“my-god！ Am I back in time? I saw such a majestic building. Lucas said to himself.

"George, to correct it, it's not ancient Greece, it's the Qin Dynasty in ancient China, the historical environment in which our film takes place." Wang Xiaohu patted him on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Man, the building you just saw is a small model made according to the palace drawings built by the emperor of the Qin Dynasty, this architectural style was very popular in ancient times, in our Chinese words called Taixie-style architecture." ”

"It's incredible." Lucas said, speeding forward under his feet, trying to see a little more clearly.

But Lucas only walked less than five steps before Wang Xiaohu reminded him to "be careful", Kankan stopped and looked, and a layer of cold sweat suddenly aroused on his back, because under his feet were about 50 centimeters deep tunnels, seeing these pits, Lucas couldn't close his mouth in surprise again.

From Lucas's feet, about fifty meters or so, neatly visited a series of vivid ancient warriors, all dressed in black armor, with their hair combed on their heads, or holding a strong crossbow in their hands, or holding a long "big spear" (actually Ge. Or on a war horse, or standing on a chariot with four horses together, with a solemn and majestic expression.

This was not enough, and Lucas saw that many of the staff were still assembling the fighters.

"Boss, this is what you call terracotta?"

There is no word for terracotta warriors in English, and Lucas is also transliterated, which sounds a little awkward, but it does not prevent Wang Xiaohu from understanding, he nodded and said: "Yes, these are the soldiers who guarded the emperor of the Qin Dynasty!" ”

Wang Xiaohu is now very satisfied with everyone's set speed, from the construction progress of the site, the "Suspended Heavenly Palace" has not been perfected, when the palace with the "Afang Palace" as a reference is completed, the front of the palace should be paved with "white marble" square, the square will visit the bronze statue of the twelve golden people, and other auspicious sculptures, a "volley" of the "white marble" steps will lead to the palace for a long time.

Of course, at present, the site has only completed the construction of the main hall and the four side halls, and it will take some time to complete the steps.

"Looks like the real thing, doesn't it?" Wang Xiaohu said to Grant, who followed behind him.

"That's true, boss, you Hong Kong people are far higher than Industrial Light & Magic in terms of scenery." Grant said with admiration, in fact, he was also stunned by such an imposing palace setting.

"How many dollars does it cost to set up a set like this?" Lucas asked suddenly.

Without waiting for Wang Xiaohu to answer, Wang Jiaxin walked over with Zhang Yuan, and from a distance, Wang Jiaxin said: "George, these things don't cost much, such as this palace, don't be intimidated by its appearance, it's just a model, if you look closely, you will find that it is not as perfect as it is now." ”

Zhang Yuan added with a smile: "It's very rough and ugly, but we can't see clearly from a distance, and the lights on it are very hazy to cause such an illusion." ”

Lucas rolled his eyes and looked like he was defeated by you, this time he fully appreciated the local materials and "fooling" methods of Hong Kong filmmakers, but everything looks very good, at least he believes that this expert fools him to be true.

"What about these warriors? How do you do that? "Lucas is like a curious baby now.

"The inside of the terracotta warriors is all plastic foam, and the outside is painted with two layers of glossy black paint." Wang Xiaohu said a word, and after looking at Zhang Yuan, he said with a smile: "Of course, these also need lighting cooperation when actually shooting." ”

Zhang Yuan scratched his head embarrassedly, everything he wanted to say was said by Brother Hu.

At this time, Yuan Heping, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuan Biao and others also came here.

"Ah Hu, how is it, you can basically fool the past, right?" Sammo Hung said.

Wang Xiaohu nodded and said: "It's no problem for these people to fool around underground, after all, they are all blurry in the lens, as long as there is a reference, it's OK, but don't be so stingy with those models in mid-air, make them exquisite, otherwise it's easy to goof." ”

Sammo Hung frowned in embarrassment, and finally pulled Wang Jiaxin over, "Old Wang, you tell Ah Hu again the question you asked me this morning." ”

"Oh?" Wang Xiaohu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "There are still things that our king of Hong Kong scenery can't do." ”

Wang Jiaxin grinned and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal, it's just that those models are too heavy, and it's not good for us to fix them in mid-air, and I heard that you still have to stand on them and shoot scenes, so I mentioned it to Sanmao." ”

After Wang Jiaxin finished speaking in Cantonese, he translated to Lucas and Grant in English, Lucas shrugged and said: "Actually, it doesn't have to be so complicated, our post-synthesis methods can be easily solved, but the boss is too demanding, we need more time, yes, such a huge scene will take at least half a year." ”

A year ago, Lucas didn't dare to boast about such a Haikou, but since the remake of "Star Wars", in addition to completing the remake, he and the Industrial Light & Magic team have studied how to improve the machine for real-life pictures and special effects picture compositing, and so far great progress has been made, which can be seen from the greater breakthrough between the "Star Wars" and the original picture that Wang Xiaohu has seen.

Overall, Lucas didn't squander Wang Xiaohu's money, at least he was improving the equipment to make the special effects more realistic and delicate, wasn't he?

Wang Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Old Wang, the question you raised is no longer a problem. Our experts can help. ”

In fact, Wang Xiaohu now especially hopes that Lucas can invent the computer processing method of "source sequence", because after having that thing, he will not be as troublesome as he is now, and he can completely use computers to produce them, and even clone and copy hundreds of them after getting a picture

Of course, this is just his own heart, he is not a master of computer stunts, and many things still need Lucas and others to continue to develop and expand, and being in a hurry cannot solve the problem. However, this also reminded Wang Xiaohu that he must select a few computer talents to be placed in Industrial Light and Magic, otherwise Lucas and others will need to help every time, in case there are differences in cooperation in the future, or Lucas, Spielberg and others have other ideas?

Wang Xiaohu's current construction of the studio and the general film shooting studio has an essential difference, first of all, from the appearance, this studio is several times larger than the other scale, in addition to building a "suspended heavenly palace", "underground labyrinth", "trap", there is a lot of remaining space, Wang Xiaohu will divide it into a number of scenes, after all, hard to set up, after filming "Myth" can shoot other movies.

Secondly, in terms of function, the studio with all the outer walls closed is dark, but many lamps and lanterns are installed on the roof, walls, and ground as needed, and the light stand on the roof can be adjusted in height and angle.

In addition to the comprehensive lighting fixtures, the most important thing is the layered scene frame, orderly camera car tracks, trampolines for various purposes, WIA tracks, etc., which can be adjusted at any time according to the shooting needs of the film.

In the whole of Asia and even the world, only Wang Xiaohu is willing to spend these unjust money, this is the first special effects studio he built, and it will be useful in the future.

After returning from the studio, Wang Xiaohu arranged for Lucas and Gran Court to rest, and then returned home to enjoy the happy life of "wife and children hot kang head".

In the process of waiting, Wang Xiaohu, Lucas, Grant, Wang Jiaxin, Yuan Heping, Sammo Hung and other key members brought models to the site every day, and asked two terracotta consultants from the mainland.

Such a busy work persisted until mid-January 1979, when the Spring Festival, the busiest time for Hong Kong films every year, arrived.

After all, almost 80% of the costumes and fashion sets in Concord Studios are considered comprehensively, and there are rockeries and temples in temples, if you want to shoot the picture of the small bridge and flowing water in the south of the Yangtze River, Concord Film and Television City can also meet your requirements.

This year's Spring Festival file is similar to the summer file, and Concord has no other films except for Sammo Hung who took the time to shoot a "Fat Dragon Across the River" to pay tribute to Bruce Lee.

On the contrary, the Shaw Brothers films, which have gradually withdrawn from the film industry, have a lot of output, such as director Chu Yuan's filming of Gu Long's classic martial arts novel "The Peerless Double Pride", which won 4 million Hong Kong dollars in 16 days of release.

Wu Siyuan's company released three films to the film market at the beginning of this year, namely "Golden Knife Lover" and "Butterfly Change" directed by Tsui Hark, and at the same time parody a sister flower of "Drunken Fist" "Laughing Fist Tricks", which earned more than 5.44 million Hong Kong dollars after 19 days of release.

This made Wu Siyuan even more excited, because after more than four years of hard work, the current Siyuan company has become the third large-scale film production company in Hong Kong in addition to Concord and Shaw Brothers.

Wang Xiaohu doesn't care about this, and still goes back and forth between the film and television city and his family every day, and by the way, he also pays close attention to the signs of the new wave directors.

If "Jumping Ashes" and "A Little Soldier" are the prelude to the new wave, and Tsui Hark's "Butterfly Change" is a combination of martial arts, detectives, mystery, horror, and spectacle, and the traditional martial arts films are science fiction and futuristic and are evaluated as "futuristic martial arts films" by "Film Fortnightly", then Wang Xiaohu has this theatrical plan in his hands, Xu Anhua's "Crazy Robbery", Weng Weiquan's "Rules of Conduct", Xian Qiran's "Enemies", and Yu Rentai's "Inside and Outside the Wall" are further signs of the entire new wave's rapid progress.

These four directors are all representatives of the new wave in Wang Xiaohu's memory, and it is precisely with their appearance on the Hong Kong film stage that the truly glorious ten years of Hong Kong film road began to appear.

"Hey, I have to suffer again!" Wang Xiaohu knows that the box office of these four movies is not ideal, and they are all arranged between the Spring Festival and the summer season, because it is a small investment, and the four directors are not as famous as Tsui Hark, so they have a long way to go.

Wang Xiaohu thought about it, and finally extended the screening cycle of the four movies by a week, don't underestimate this week, maybe it will increase the box office results a lot, at least it can make them recover their costs and improve their self-confidence, right?

(To be continued)