Ever since he saw 3D movies shoot from Cameron, Mu Rong has developed a deep curiosity about this stereoscopic film shooting technique.

3D movies are not a new concept, as early as seventy or eighty years ago, 3D movies appeared.

It can give the viewer the illusion of being there when watching a 3D movie through a special kind of glasses.

In the fifties, Hollywood made 3D feature films such as "African Adventures".

At that time, the slogan was "The lion is on your lap, the lover is in your arms", and the main theme was "natural perspective".

But at that time, 3D movies were all shot in real life, and it was only through technical means that the movies presented a three-dimensional effect.

The combination of 3D stereoscopic technology and computer CG special effects technology is still at the forefront of exploration in the film industry.

After seeing the material effects of "Avatar", Mu Rong decided that this kind of 3D film is bound to lead to changes in the entire film industry.

Traditional kung fu martial arts movies are no longer reinvented, and if you want to find a new path, you must use the help of new technology.

This "Painted Skin" is his work to test the waters.

"Painted Skin" is from "Strange Tales from Liao Zhai", also known as "Ghost Painted Skin" and "Painted Skin Ghost".

Like "Baolian Lantern", this is an old IP, whether it is a traditional opera or a movie or TV series, it has been adapted into countless versions.

In terms of audience acceptance, this story doesn't need to be cultivated anymore.

And the painted skin ghost in this story has always been the most attractive element to the audience, which is very good for the popularity of the actress.

Liu Yifei has played many roles, but she is either a fairy with a fluttering spirit, or a well-informed lady, but she has never played this kind of seductive female ghost.

This is also an opportunity for her to expand her acting career.

Since before Mu Rong started to be a director two years ago, he had already told the company to pay attention to the acquisition of suitable scripts.

The script of "Painted Skin" was bought by the company from a rookie screenwriter in Xiangjiang.

The story structure of this play is relatively simple, and the scenes are mainly focused on a few leading actors.

But in order to create a world of fantasy and horror in the movie without losing the oriental charm, Mu Rong still spent tens of millions of dollars to build a Jiangdu palace in Zhenbeibao Film and Television City in Ning Province.

Zhenbeibao Film and Television City is located in Yinchuan and is a real ancient city.

As early as the Hongzhi period, a border fortress was built here, and Zhenbei Fort was the name that was handed down at that time.

Later, in the fifth year of Qianlong, the ancient castle of Zhenbeibao was destroyed due to natural disasters, and a new border pass was built not far away, called Zhennanbao.

Nowadays, the people here call Zhenbeibao Mingcheng and Zhennanbao Qingcheng, and they have all been rebuilt into film and television bases.

Because of the unique quaint, primitive, rugged and desolate northwest atmosphere here, since the 80s, it has been favored by many crews and has come here to shoot one after another.

Among them, the most famous is the "Wrangler" about whether Lao Xu wants a wife, and Zhou Xingchi's "Journey to the West" that year.

The story of "Painted Skin" takes place in the Western Regions, and Mu Rong chose the filming location here.

It's okay to go to the Western Regions Province to shoot, but the Western Regions Province is too big, and the last time he filmed "Myth", Mu Rong had already suffered enough.

If you go to the Western Regions Province to shoot, you have to walk half the distance, and the supporting facilities in all aspects are not so perfect, so there is no need to run so far.

However, the environment here is not much different from the environment in which "Myth" was filmed at that time, Jiang Xin is chattering, she seems to have regained the feeling she had when she filmed "Myth" the year before last.

Mu Rong thought so, judging from his figure, Jiang Xin had indeed returned to the past, and even surpassed it.

But this is not Jiang Xin's problem, she sacrificed herself for the sake of the play this time.

She just finished filming a TV series called "Ugly Girls Are Crazy" and played in the play

An ugly girl named Leaf.

For this drama, she gained twenty pounds, and now she has just lost six pounds.

In addition to filming "Painted Skin" this time, she also plans to ask Mu Rong to help her adjust and lose weight.

This is naturally not a problem for Mu Rong, he already has experience.

Jiang Xin played a demon slayer this time, and there were a lot of scenes.

So, in the month before the start of filming, Mu Rong did not arrange a scene for Jiang Xin, but asked her to practice and practice swords outside the set.

However, Jiang Xin's lazy character, Mu Rong is very clear.

She had only practiced for a few days before she cried out bitterly.

Seeing this, Mu Rong learned from Leslie Cheung's experience in filming "East Evil and West Poison", and told Jiang Xin that he buried a few watermelons in the sand dunes outside the set and asked Jiang Xin to dig watermelons in the sand dunes.

If she can dig up watermelon, she will eat it as her dessert.

In order to lose weight, Jiang Xin ate very vegetarian, and all kinds of boiled dishes were tasteless.

And she also likes to eat watermelon, so she has a strong motivation to dig watermelon.

But in fact, Mu Rong didn't bury the watermelon at all, he just wanted Jiang Xin to run back and forth.

Jiang Xin dug for several days, but she didn't find a watermelon, so she was so angry that she picked a pick, and refused to go to the sand dunes to eat sand again.

At this time, Mu Rong unhurriedly invited her to eat half a watermelon and let her continue to practice swords.

After a few days of running around the sand dunes, Jiang Xin's physical fitness has increased a lot, and sword training has been much easier for her.

So she happily practiced her sword and stopped complaining.

She really has no qualifications to complain, compared to Wang Baoqiang, she is not too easy.

Wang Baoqiang's performance in "Fuse" was good, so Mu Rong brought him into the crew of "Painted Skin".

He plays the lizard spirit Xiao Yi in the play, and he is the entourage of the fox spirit Xiao Wei.

He doesn't play too much, but it's very difficult.

Because he needs to add a lot of post-production special effects to his body, he must wear green close-fitting clothes, be hung by steel wires, fly back and forth, and fly for an hour.

However, Wang Baoqiang did not complain at all, because he did learn a lot.

Since filming "Fuse" with Mu Rong, he has known that making kung fu martial arts films is not as simple as he imagined.

The action design in "Fuse" is designed by Mu Rong by combining traditional kung fu and modern fighting techniques.

There are no so-called moves in the plays, but they are extraordinarily real.

In order to shoot that sense of realism, Mu Rong is very selective about the details, every punch, every kick, every collision, every fall, he has to shoot close-ups, and strive to be realistic.

This also makes the actors filming miserable, because every action has to be learned and practiced, and if you are not careful, you will get injured.

However, after the filming of the whole scene, the number of injuries to the actors was only a handful.

The few injuries were also caused by the actors' own carelessness, and in the process of fighting with Mu Rong, they didn't even suffer a slightly serious injury.

Wang Baoqiang has a deep understanding of this.

He was beaten the worst by Mu Rong in the play, and he was directly beaten to death.

But after the filming of those scenes, he didn't even suffer a single injury.

This is all thanks to Mu Rong's free strength, as well as the actions he taught Wang Baoqiang to protect himself.

Therefore, after filming "The Fuse", Wang Baoqiang recommended himself again, wanting to follow Mu Rong to continue to open a new drama.

He knew that following Mu Rong could really learn something.