In addition to the technical complexity of the film special effects, the production process is also very complicated, to put it simply, the beautiful scenes and realistic effects we see in the cinema are the crystallization of a lot of human labor.

Of course, now that technology is developed, many tasks can be done with computers, but after all, computers are cold machines, which can be outrageously accurate, but they will always replace people to judge which is beautiful and which is real. If the special effects of a movie want to be realistic enough to make the audience believe it, there is only one way - artificially made zuò. For a one-second special effects shot, a team of hundreds of people is used to make a frame by frame of the photo from 0 (under normal circumstances, 25 frames are used to form a second, and the number of frames per second of the movie is much greater than 25). This is the same as clothes, the most fitting clothes are always hand-sewn, even if it is a top brand clothing such as Armani and Chanel, it is not as hand-sewn as a top sewing master.

This brings up a problem, the labor in the United States is the most expensive in the world, so in Hollywood, the price of special effects lenses has always been high. At present, in Hollywood, the price of special effects lenses is calculated in seconds, with an average of 80,000 US dollars per second, and the price of industrial light and magic is 90,000 US dollars per second, because it has the best special effects artists in the industry and is also the most technically strong special effects company. The second is light and shadow special effects, which are second only to industrial light and magic in the industry, and the price has reached 85,000 US dollars per second.

Although the average price of $80,000 per second is very high, it is still low compared to the cost of special effects companies. Sun Ziming opened his own special effects company, so he knows the cost, if it weren't for opening a branch in the mainland and outsourcing a lot of low-end business and the most labor-intensive work to the branch, the cost of light and shadow special effects would have reached a staggering $78,000 per second. It is precisely because of the cheap labor in the mainland that the cost of light and shadow is controlled at about 42,000 US dollars, which is why the special effects of "True Lies" were discounted by 9% at the market price, and James Cameron had a big quarrel with Sun Ziming after knowing the real cost.

In other words, Hollywood's special effects companies do not make as much money as they imagined, their profits are only between 5 and 8 percent, and only companies like Light and Magic can reach about 10 percent.

This is also the reason why Lucas was reluctant to give shares to employees after ILM completed its technology development and began to enter a stable profit period. He invested all his family property for Industrial Light & Magic, and provided the best treatment in the industry to his employees, but when it came time to harvest the results, he had to give up most of the results, and it was difficult for anyone to accept them.

Of course, if there was no Sun Ziming, a spoiler, maybe Lucas would have been able to create a movie myth. Because just before "Jurassic Park" came out, that is, before 1993, Industrial Light & Magic monopolized 70% of Hollywood's special effects business, so that Lucas can invest hundreds of millions of dollars a year in research and development of various technologies, far ahead of all his peers.

After seven years of research and development and nearly a billion dollars of investment, the technology of light and shadow has become closer and closer to the gap between light and magic, especially "Jurassic Park 1 and 2" and "Batman Forever" came out, which immediately broke the monopoly of light and magic. In particular, "Braveheart", which was released last year, used computers to produce war scenes of tens of thousands of people, which made the audience watch the blood at the same time, and also announced that in the future, large-scale military-themed films, light and shadow will replace light and magic as the producer's preferred special effects company.

Now, after being almost the same as Light and Magic in technology, Light and Shadow has finally begun to show its fangs, relying on its overall strength and strong capital, it has begun to challenge Light and Magic, the overlord of nearly twenty years. Industrial Light & Magic has finally encountered the biggest trouble since its establishment, and the business of traditional partners will be robbed, and the initiator is the investor they rejected - China Ming.

……

Looking at the technical backbone cultivated by his company, packing up his things one by one and leaving with cartons and boxes, the proud Lucas finally couldn't sit still.

For Light & Magic, which has been established for nearly 20 years, it is nothing to take a few technical backbones, and every year there are people who resign to start their own businesses, and more than 2/3 of the small and medium-sized special effects companies in Hollywood are all from the hands of former Light & Magic employees. The big names are better off, just to vacate their positions and give way to energetic young people. Special effects rely on technology and creativity, no matter how good experience and technology are, they can't compare to that flash of inspiration! China Ming's bastard is to tinker with his own blind-eyed computer technology and close the technological generation gap with Light and Magic.

But what is terrible is this naked/naked, sparing effort to dig the foot of the wall!

That Chinese kid didn't know what medicine he had taken wrong, as long as he was a person of Light and Magic, whether it was an executive or an ordinary technician, he would not refuse to come, and he would be given 10% higher treatment than Light and Magic. If he only poached those executives, Lucas would still be desperate, but he would not only want executives, but even ordinary programmers!

In the words of their new general manager, Benjamin Reno, the former president of MGM, we are not a light and shadow special effects company, we do not pursue commercial profits, we pursue the creation of visual spectacle!

Isn't it that China Ming's bastard is not bad for money, and wants to use money to smash out a second industrial light magic? Don't think I don't know, that kid has been transplanting advanced special effects technology back to his home base - Chinese mainland! As long as he transplants Hollywood's special effects technology completely, his Hong Kong Light and Shadow Group can become a film and television overlord in Asia!

Asia, where there are billions of people, even if only 1/100 of the people go to the cinema, that bastard can become the king of world cinema!

Asia, Lucas suddenly felt that his vision was too shallow, and when that bastard proposed to buy shares, why didn't he agree? Even if you don't agree, why don't you look down on others and keep an eye on him all the time? He was able to set up a branch in Chinese mainland, where labor is cheap, why didn't he think of it?

But in this world, there is no regret medicine at all, and with Lucas's pride, it is impossible to take that soft. He simply kept waiting, waiting for Sun Ziming to help him clean up the company and clean out those who couldn't keep up with the company!

When the wave of resignations reached its climax, and even his most loyal followers, John Knoll, began to waver, Lucas finally waited for the moment he wanted, and the company's high-ranking old courtiers were gone, and he finally threw out his reform plan - the project leader system in the field of transplant engineering, and distributed the company's shares to employees in disguise.

"Yes, for example, John Knoll was the head of the special effects project for Regeneration. Then the company will take technology patents and equipment as shares, and John's team will use manpower as shares, and everyone will work together to complete the project and dividends according to shares. ”

There was silence in the conference room, even John Knoll was silent, this is indeed a good benefit-sharing plan, but how do those patents and equipment calculate shares?

Lucas was not as rough as last time, and patiently explained, "We can calculate it this way, calculate the cost of manpower with everyone's salary, take the company's expenses as the company's cost, and treat each party's cost as a share." Of course, everyone's salary is still paid as usual, as long as the bank interest is paid to the company......"

The cost of special effects is mainly two, one is the investment in technology research and development, and the other is the labor cost. Everyone bowed their heads and exchanged ears for a while, and some people took out calculators to calculate quickly, and they understood in a few minutes, which was equivalent to the company adding 12% of everyone's salary according to the light and shadow.

The people who can stay in the company are either people who have a strong sense of belonging to Light & Magic, or they are aiming for the vacant positions. Now Lucas took the initiative to give everyone a salary increase in disguise, which naturally won warm applause.

When Lucas heard the applause, he also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and the company was stable. Isn't that little bastard building a branch in China because the labor costs there are low enough? What does it matter, if he can pay an annual salary of 20,000 US dollars, I will pay 40,000 yuan! He poached my American employees, and I poached his Chinese employees, loyal because the price of betrayal was not enough!

It is indeed as he thought, when he sent someone to Hangzhou Light and Shadow Special Effects Company to poach people, he offered an annual salary of 40,000 US dollars, and the employees of Hong Kong Light and Shadow Group Special Effects (Hangzhou) Company began to fluctuate. Those who are preparing to set up a branch in Chinese mainland also follow the advice of those new employees and choose the branch in Beiping, giving a big political achievement to the parents of the capital. As for the legal risks that the lawyer warned about, both Lucas and Scott, who was in charge of the branch of Industrial Light & Magic (Beiping), scoffed at it, which was a backward authoritarian society. In that kingdom, power is greater than law!

Industrial Light & Magic, the king of the world's film special effects, will invest $300 million to establish a branch in distant Beiping, and the news has caused a sensation in China and even Hollywood. Lucas became the hero who turned the tide, and Benjamin Reno's light effects became a laughing stock - shooting himself in the foot, no wonder he was fired by MGM!

The technology is readily available, and as long as the equipment is shipped, the cost can be reduced to about 2/5 of the original. This is simply pie in the sky, and Lucas is laughing in his dreams, eager to send a big wreath to Sun Ziming to thank him for his outstanding contribution to the cause of industrial light and magic.

Time is money, Industrial Light & Magic (Beiping) Company immediately began to prepare, its theoretical cost also dropped sharply, and it also began to trade everywhere to pull business, and the light and shadow affected by digging the foot of the wall began to retreat in an all-round way.

The business that has been snatched away by light and shadow is impossible to turn around, but the business that has not been swallowed by it has poured into light and magic like a tide - "Chrono Contact", "Mercury Evaporation Order", "Snake Eyes", "Giant Ape Joyan", "Galaxy Pursuit", "Magic Little Warrior", ...... The blockbuster is all supported by special effects, with a total contract value of $678.5 million. If calculated at the current cost of Light and Magic, they will make a profit of more than $300 million, and Light and Magic will soon become a dollar printing machine!

Sun Ziming, who is busy with the special effects production of "Apollo 13", has also been following the progress of this matter, and when he heard that several senior officials of the Ministry of Culture attended the opening ceremony of Industrial Light and Magic (Beiping) Company, he did not know whether he should cry or laugh.