"This is the latest movie picture rendered by our special effects team, and Mr. Fang will see if he is satisfied."

Sun Jianqi signed a long-term contract with Nebula Special Effects last year, and took the option of the vice president position.

After the contract is signed, the interests and fate of the Nebula special effects are naturally bound together.

At present, the project that Nebula Special Effects is doing is the special effects of a foreign science fiction movie.

This is a project that Sun Jianqi brought back from abroad, he has been abroad for more than ten years, and has also made achievements in the special effects circle, so he naturally has resources and connections.

Therefore, he brought some projects to the Nebula special effects production.

Fang Xing looked at the computer screen, there was an infinite deep space, a spaceship flying outside the planet's atmosphere, and the picture had a thrilling beauty.

After watching this three-second special effects shot, Fang Xing nodded and praised: "Yes, this shot is very good." ”

Sun Jianqi continued: "Mr. Fang, this project will take about three months to complete, and after completion, there are no other projects to do for the time being.

"I've heard from some colleagues that there may be new projects coming into the way, so I wanted to ask if I needed to do special effects.

"If the demand for special effects lenses is not large, I consider flying abroad and pulling another project back to do it."

Presently.

Projects that require first-class special effects are basically special effects blockbuster-level movies.

In fact, there are not many special effects films produced in China every year, and the number of special effects films with an investment of 500 million yuan is even less.

Among these special effects films with an investment of 500 million, some will go to foreign special effects companies to do special effects, and some will find long-established domestic special effects companies such as InBev special effects to produce.

Although the current technical level of Nebula special effects has reached the first-class level in China and the quasi-first-class level in the world, it has just risen, and there are not enough resources and contacts.

Therefore, if you want to do a big project, Sun Jianqi needs to go abroad to find previous contacts and projects.

Fang Xing looked at a few more special effects shots and said: "Don't take on big projects first, since the level of special effects has come up, it's time to try to make a special effects film to test the water." ”

When Sun Jianqi heard this, he basically understood, and asked, "Are you going to do special effects this year?" Or wait until next year? ”

Generally, a special effects blockbuster, from preparation to shooting, to post-production special effects, often takes two or three years.

Especially in the preparatory stage, the time is not counted.

After all, special effects blockbusters have an investment of 3 or 500 million yuan, and there are even 700 million investments.

If there is no film and television investment company optimistic about this kind of investment scale, it will take a long time to invest in it.

However, with Fang Xing's speed of making movies, it has always been very fast.

As long as the project is approved, the investment will be in place immediately.

Because so far, the movies made by Fang Xing are basically the main investment of Ark Culture, and no one wants to vote, so his own company directly invests all of them.

It's not like any other film and television company.

In general, when preparing a project, the film and television company needs to go through many discussions to determine the script, and then the film and television company evaluates the script, sets a rating, estimates the approximate investment, and then starts to attract investment.

After the film and television investment company sees the project plan, it should also conduct an evaluation to determine whether there is investment value.

After such a tug, a few months passed.

If the film and television investment company is not optimistic about this project, then the main creative team may have to take the initiative to talk to the film and television investment company and "turn the fate" everywhere to attract investment.

During this period, it is necessary to constantly revise the script and revise the plan to win the favor of investors.

After such a set of processes, more than half a year has passed.

Then there are the audition actors, and if the actors' schedules are not suitable, they have to wait for the schedule.

After everything is coordinated, you can start shooting.

After the shooting, you have to see how much money is left, and then go to the special effects company to talk about the special effects production.

If the investment is not enough, and the shooting stage spends too much money, and there is not enough money to do special effects, this stage will also be stuck, or the level of special effects will be reduced.

In short, a movie has to go through a lot of difficulties from project approval to shooting, and it has to pass all the hurdles before the movie can be made in the end.

However, none of these things will happen to Fang Xing.

From the beginning of pulling investment, Fang Xing's movies have an attitude, you love to vote or not, don't vote and pull down, vote yourself.

Then audition actors, and the actors' schedules can't be coordinated? If you like to act or not, if you don't act, you will change it.

Anyway, from filming TV series to filming "Crazy Stone", Fang Xing already has a stalk in the film and television industry, and the pedal dog can be popular.

Although this is not very polite, it is not rough.

Especially in "Crazy Stone", the leading actors are all unknown young actors, and as a result, a movie has a box office of 2.4 billion, and it has directly soared to become a movie with box office appeal.

When it was time for "Infernal Affairs", two actors were invited to watch one of them, which can be regarded as cooperating with big names.

And the actor who cooperated with him also gained a lot by relying on "Infernal Affairs", and Liang Youhua even won the "difficult to get" Best Supporting Actor award.

Therefore, Fang Xing's project, from project investment to casting, a set of processes down, is very fast.

This is the efficiency of the three-in-one of investors, producers, and directors.

However, this model will not work in ordinary film and television companies.

Because the three-in-one investor, producer, and director means that this person is the emperor on the set, if it is Mingjun, it is easy to say, if it is a faint king, if he makes a bad movie, he will lose all his investment.

Therefore, Fang Xing's model is something that other film and television companies dare not learn and can't learn.

For the average film and television company, a project is not afraid of being done slowly, as long as it can make money, it is a good project, and as long as it is successful in the end for two or three years, it is worth the extra time.

……

Therefore, after a brief communication with Sun Jianqi, Fang Xing confirmed: "Just this year, if you are fast, you can start doing special effects in the middle of the year." ”

Even if Sun Jianqi knew that Fang Xing was very efficient in making movies, he was a little surprised.

However, since the big boss has arranged it like this, it is better to arrange it like this.

Moreover, the schedule of work can be adjusted according to the progress of the project.

If the progress of the project is slow, you can pull the project again.

……

After watching the latest level of special effects of Nebula Special Effects, Fang Xing was very satisfied and felt that he could start a movie that he had always wanted to make.

The next day.

Fang Xing convened a meeting of the management of Ark Culture, which was also attended by the directors of subsidiaries such as Nebula Special Effects.

"Today's meeting is due to a new project to be launched, so all departments need to cooperate with the project preparation." Fang Xing opened the meeting and directly released the purpose of the meeting.

When Wang Yutao heard that there was a new project, he hurriedly asked, "Is it a movie?" Or a TV series? ”

Since filming "Crazy Stone", Fang Xing has not filmed a TV series in person.

"It's a movie." Fang Xing replied.

"What type?"

"Science fiction."

Qiao Yinghong saw that the two directors of Nebula's special effects were there, and immediately guessed: "It's a special effects film, right?" ”

"Yes, special effects."

Fang Xing said and passed the synopsis of the script printed on A4 paper to everyone: "This is the synopsis of the story, let's take a look at it first, it is probably such a story." ”

Sun Jianqi was a little surprised to see this plot synopsis printed on only one page of A4 paper.

There is not even a script, just such a piece of paper, and it is necessary to set up a project to attract investment.

If this kind of thing were to be put in Hollywood, it is estimated that people who apply for projects will be kicked out by the management of film and television companies.

In the highly industrialized film industry, if you want a film and television company to agree to a project, then the limit plan must be beautiful.

It is best to have a complete script that also meets the standards of the film industry.

And this standard will be very strict.

Especially in Hollywood, the number of pages of a movie's script is fixed, and there is even a position dedicated to counting the number of pages of the script.

In the Ark culture, things are different.

Fang Xing often sets up projects with one sentence, and this time he can take out the synopsis of the script, which has been carefully prepared.

Wang Yutao took the A4 paper and read out the contents: "In 2075, there will be a solar crisis, the sun will be destroyed in 100 years, and the terrible solar radiation will destroy human civilization and make the entire solar system unsuitable for human existence."

"In the face of this crisis, humanity will start the 'Wandering Earth' plan, trying to escape the solar system with the earth and find a new home for mankind......"

After reading the synopsis of this story, Wang Yutao suddenly lit up.

Although it is only a short page, the story already contains a lot of eye-catching ideas.

The sun is destroyed, and humanity cannot survive.

This kind of apocalyptic type of story has been around for decades, and the subject matter is not unusual, but the story is very novel.

A similar apocalyptic theme used to be the most convincing prophecy of the 2012 end of the world.

The difference is that the causes of the end are different.

And for an excellent apocalyptic movie, the reason for the apocalyptic crisis is very important.

The most classic reasons, one is the great flood, in the legend of human civilization, there has been a legend of the great flood destroying human civilization.

There is also a virus, a real-world virus that has caused very terrible disasters.

And the story that Fang Xing came up with, the cause of the apocalyptic crisis is not the great flood or the virus, but the sun above his head that gives warmth and life to human beings.

In human culture, there are many legends about the sun.

For example, Hou Yi shoots the sun, Kuafu chases the sun, and the sun god bird.

In the history of human civilization for thousands of years, the sun has appeared in many images, both good and evil.

As humans learned more and more about the sun, they realized that it was a big ball of fire, not a divine bird, and it could not be shot down with an arrow.

However, in the legend of Hou Yi shooting the sun, one thing is possible, that is, the sun does have the potential to destroy human civilization.

Of course, it is not because there are nine suns, but because if the sun ages rapidly, it will continue to expand, and finally swallow the earth in it.

The story of the wandering earth is about the apocalyptic crisis caused by the destruction of the sun.

In order to survive and continue the flame of civilization, human beings need to solve the crisis of the destruction of the sun.

After reading the synopsis of the story, Wang Yutao's eyes lit up: "Director Fang, this story is new, and this story is very big, if it is filmed well, it can even be filmed several times." ”

In terms of directing ability, Wang Yutao is also level.

So he can see at a glance whether a story has the potential to be made into a movie.

Moreover, as far as the story of "The Wandering Earth" is concerned, the concept is too big.

It is basically impossible for a movie to finish this story.

If you have to finish this story with a movie, then the whole story will be told like a dragonfly, and it will not be able to capture the sense of oppression that the apocalyptic crisis requires.

The movie itself, in the final analysis, is still about the story of people.

If there are no people, what does it matter if the sun is destroyed?

In a few million years after the destruction, a new solar system may be formed.

But human life cannot survive this apocalyptic crisis.

Therefore, the movie with the theme of apocalyptic crisis is not about the end of the body, but the spirit and courage of human beings struggling to survive and fighting against fate in the apocalyptic environment.

Wang Yutao took the initiative to ask: "Director Fang, I want to join the director team." ”

After "Do You Know" won the annual ratings championship, Wang Yutao, as one of the directors, has already become famous.

If he wants, he can always pick up TV series projects outside.

Fang Xing raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you sure?" It's too condescending to be an assistant director. ”

Wang Yutao was not ambiguous at all: "I am interested in this story, I have long wanted to shoot the deep space universe, I like that boundless sense of picture, I want to shoot." ”

Fang Xing thought about it for a moment and asked, "If it's a TV series project, and this movie project, let you choose." In the case of the former, you take the guide tube, and the latter cannot. ”

Wang Yutao raised his eyebrows and only thought about it for a few seconds: "I choose this Wandering Earth movie." ”

He has a personal pursuit, if it was just for money, in the two years when Fang Xing was resting, he could go out and find a TV series project to do it alone.

Fang Xing saw that he was indeed interested in this story, thought about it for a moment, and said, "Then so be it." If you are really interested in this film project, you are the executive director. ”

An executive director is different from an assistant director, but he is not the chief director.

This situation is common in the film industry.

The bigger the production, the more the executive director is used.

To put it simply, an executive director is a higher position than an assistant director.

On the set, the producer and director have the most say, and these two are generally the producers who have more say in the matter, but if there is a conflict between these two positions, it will be very troublesome.

Therefore, by default, the producer is in charge of the money, and the director is in charge of the shooting.

Under the director, it is the executive director who has more power to speak, and then the assistant director.

Of course, if the leading actor is an actor, or a popular top-notch, the right to speak is not small, but this situation cannot be viewed as normal.

When Wang Yutao heard that it was the executive director, he was even more happy: "Okay, thank you Director Fang." ”

Fang Xing really needs an executive director, especially when he wants to act in person, and a lot of director work needs to be done by an executive director.

Subsequently, Qiao Yinghong asked the question she was most concerned about: "What is the investment budget?" ”

This time it was a special effects film, which must have burned a lot of money.

Qiao Yinghong, as the president of Ark Culture, needs to control the investment in the project.

Fang Xing replied directly: "The initial budget is 500 million, and it will be increased or decreased depending on the specific shooting situation." ”

In terms of making movies, Fang Xing highlighted a freewheeling, anyway, to shoot the best effect.

If the budget is not enough in the end, increase the budget.

Other film and television investment companies don't invest, so they invest themselves.

The meeting discussed the preparations for the "The Wandering Earth" film project, and then the heads of various departments began to get busy.

The investment department, the production department and other departments were launched almost at the same time.

Can a movie like this one be made? Will the market accept this movie when it is made?

These issues are not discussed at all.

It was the first time for Sun Jianqi to participate in such an efficient ideal meeting, and in one morning, a film project with an investment of 500 million yuan was approved.

There's not even a full script, just a synopsis.

Moreover, not only the preparation of the project, but also the casting started almost at the same time, a few days late at most.