Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 24 Science Fiction Props from the Future

The year when Wang Hao was reborn was 2005.

For most people in this era who are still using traditional button phones, perhaps the P13 smartphone released by the company 20 years later can indeed be called a science fiction creation.

This is the important prop that Wang Hao prepared for the leading actor in the movie "Buried Alive", which runs through most of the plot.

According to his original idea, he was going to randomly choose a mobile phone from the ones being sold by the sponsor as a prop for the advertisement.

However, after seeing most of the current models of mobile phones, Wang Hao couldn't help but complain, "They are too ugly!"
After all, it was only 2005, and most of the mobile phones on the market were still flip-cover and sliding button phones. Especially for their sponsor BBK, whose mobile phone business had just started, most of its products were low-end and their appearance was unbearable to look at.

If it were any other director, this wouldn't be impossible, after all, this is the reality.

However, faced with this situation, Wang Haosi thought about it and finally made a decision.

change!
What they want to shoot is a commercial science fiction film, a story that takes place in the future. In this case, they have to pay attention to reflecting science fiction elements in various details.

For this reason, the mobile phone, an important prop in the movie, naturally becomes one of the carriers of science fiction elements.

In science fiction works, whether novels or movies, imagination and vision of the future is an eternal topic.

This is not to mention the electric submarines (1869 "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"), spacecraft (1865 "From the Earth to the Moon"), holographic projection (1848 "The Carpathian Fortress") and helicopters (1886 "The Conqueror of Rober") mentioned in the novels of Jules Verne, the pioneer of the scientific and technological revolution.

Take the famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, for example. He once described life more than half a century later:
"Communication will become visual and audible, you will be able to see the person you are talking to, and satellites hovering in space will allow you to make calls directly from any location in the world, including a weather station in Antarctica.

Computers will be greatly reduced in size and become the "brains" of robots. Unmanned vehicles with such "brains" have begun to be tested, unmanned spacecraft can land on Mars, and manned expeditions are being prepared.

The global population may reach 65 billion, and the gap between the rich and the poor will accelerate.”

Judging from the imagination of these predecessors, the "smartphone" that Wang Hao has come up with now seems to be not worth mentioning.

However, in Zhang Yang's eyes, even these were enough to make him admire Wang Hao wholeheartedly.

"Boss, what on earth is wrong with your brain? You can even think of a phone like this."

Zhang Yang looked at Wang Hao sitting in front of the computer, his eyes full of admiration.

Just a few days ago, when Wang Hao handed him the design drawing that recorded various parameters, indicators and functions, he was already immersed in it and deeply fascinated by this little thing with a sci-fi atmosphere.

There is no male who would not be interested in it, especially a technical geek who likes science fiction and models.

So this guy became addicted to it, and improved it bit by bit according to the information and data provided by Wang Hao, and finally made a qualified "smartphone" setting set in a few days.

The notebook in Wang Hao's hand not only records the appearance and shape of the phone, but also Zhang Yang's improvement on the phone's performance after consulting the information.

For example, the camera model on the back of the phone, the internal battery specifications, the approximate internal structure layout, the material and color used for the shell, and the screen resolution.

Zhang Yang did his best to guess and mark these. Although Wang Hao thought the marked data was a bit cautious and not bold enough, and the relevant parameters would not be reflected in the movie, Zhang Yang's seriousness, meticulousness, and enthusiasm for science fiction movies made Wang Hao very satisfied with him.

The production of science fiction films requires this kind of meticulousness and rigor.

Not to mention anything else, as far as Wang Hao knows, when director Guo Fan was filming "The Wandering Earth" in his previous life, he drew more than 3000 concept design drawings alone, ranging from the personal biography of the protagonist to the various components of the planetary engine, striving to build a real and complete new science fiction world so that the audience can have an immersive feeling.

Although "Buried" is not a big production like "The Wandering Earth", it is also part of the "science fiction movie universe", so the design of such subtle details naturally has to strive for perfection.

“Not bad, very good, but the parameters could be written a little bolder. After all, it’s a science fiction film, so it’s okay to be a little exaggerated.

And this is just the hardware. The movie also needs to reflect the supporting software functions of the mobile phone, such as voice and video calls, map positioning, and encyclopedia queries. It would be best if all of these could be reflected.

We have to shock the audience the first time they see it, and at the same time make them feel that the technologies in the movie may really happen in the future.

Only when this kind of real texture is conveyed, can the "science" in our science fiction movies stand out, and avoid being reduced to a "dog meat under the guise of sheep meat" horror film. "

Zhang Yang listened carefully and wrote down everything Wang Hao said in a notebook, occasionally asking his own questions.

For him, the filming process of "Buried Alive" can be said to be a rare experience.

He had never even imagined that his roommate, with whom he had lived for so many years, would be so secretive.

He could even say that Wang Hao's understanding of science fiction films and commercial films might be more profound than that of many teachers in the school.

At least during the time he worked with him, Zhang Yang believed that he had learned a lot of knowledge.

"What do you think about the 'mobile phone' props used in filming?"

After Wang Hao finished explaining, he asked another question. Zhang Yang thought for a moment and then said:

“Regarding the ‘cell phone’ prop thing, here’s what I thought.

First of all, we certainly can’t make a real mobile phone, and special effects cost a lot, so model props are a good choice.

In this regard, I have channels for playing with models in the past, and I can find some small factories to process the shells and so on. The key is the content displayed on the mobile phone.

According to what is written in your script, scenes such as making phone calls, map positioning, video calls, and encyclopedia searches need to appear.

We don’t have real phones either, so if we don’t use special effects, we can only make the corresponding videos in advance, and then play them at the right time during the filming, and let the actors cooperate.”

"This method is fine, let's do it this way."

Wang Hao nodded, agreeing with his idea.

(End of this chapter)