China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 267 Found a treasure

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I heard that your next movie will be related to the space theme, so I called Director Ren here. Director Ren has always been very curious about you. This time I will tell you

He couldn’t wait to come over.”

Qin Zhonghe quickly turned the topic to Chen Jingxing's new movie. Winning over DreamWorks and deepening cooperation with DreamWorks is also the direction he wants to advance, so he attaches great importance to Chen Jingxing's intention to cooperate.

It is no exaggeration to say that DreamWorks is currently the most creative cultural enterprise in China, and it is also one of the few film companies whose brand has market appeal.

From a commercial point of view, it is definitely profitable to cooperate with DreamWorks to develop film and television projects, and the performance pressure of state-owned enterprises is not light.

Moreover, the country advocates the need to make movies with the main theme and tell the story with the main theme. This is not easy to achieve. As the "eldest son" of the film and television industry, this task falls on the shoulders of the National Film Group.

Telling the main theme story well is easier said than done.

Leave it to yourself, if the audience won't like it, leave it to a truly capable filmmaker. They have artistic pursuits and their ideologies may not be the same as yours.

If you want everyone to be happy and have positive energy, they will film tragedies for you, and you want to promote the spirit, and they will bring you private goods. In short, the advanced productivity and creativity of the film and television industry are not the same as yours.

From "Signal", "Source Code" to "Mekong", and then to "Gravity", Chen Jingxing can perfectly integrate the value of the main theme with a form that the audience enjoys, and it is also rare in China with science fiction themes or

It can be shown in the form of genre movies and can also be exported abroad.

For Qin Zhonghe, establishing a closer relationship and cooperation with DreamWorks is a direction he really wants to advance, and it is even related to the future development strategy of National Film.

"Before you came, Director Ren and I had a bet. I guessed it was about the moon landing, but Director Ren had a lot of imagination and guessed about the story of the exploration spacecraft in the universe. Are you making a bet?

I was caught off guard, haha..."

The production of "The Martian" is actually much easier than that of "Gravity". The number of special effects shots is not the same, and the main post-production visual effects work can also be completed by Mo Lai. Although the script has not been written yet, according to me

It is estimated that up to 350 million can cover the cost."

After listening to Chen Jingxing's story of great optimism about space exploration, both Qin Zhonghe and Director Ren fell silent.

Chen Jingxing shook his head: "The production cost of "The Martian" is far less than that of "Gravity". Almost every shot of "Gravity" is CG rendering. There is no special effects studio of this level in China. We use Hollywood

It is naturally expensive for special effects companies to make such CG movies.

But the overall tone of this novel is one of despair. No matter how optimistic you may be in the early stage, and you bicker with old cats and talk about cross talk, except for the deus ex machina, how can there be any hope for two human beings who have lost the earth and live alone on Mars?

?

Science fiction movies are related to Mars, which is a conventional idea. Growing potatoes on Mars is not something that normal people can think of.

Although "The Martian" is a science fiction film, not a scientific documentary, and does not necessarily have to be reasonable, Chen Jingxing's positioning of this film is actually similar to "Gravity". They are both near-future space disaster films, and the core is

A quality that cannot be lost.

After all, the story takes China’s aerospace industry as the protagonist, and the final script must be tested by China’s aerospace expert consultants, especially since Chen Jingxing changed the content of international cooperation in the end, whether it is the use of Changjiu or Chang5, or transporting supplies or

Any direct rescue plan using a gravity slingshot really requires the advice of professionals.

DreamWorks is not the largest film and television company in the country, but even he found this desperate courage unbelievable. Generally speaking, such large productions in large studios often require one or two years of preparation before they can pay for it.

Various actions are taken to attract other investors to the market in order to diversify risks.

In fact, it is quite feasible. Director Chen, why do I feel that you have wanted to grow potatoes on Mars for a long time? You have spent a lot of time thinking about it, right?"

Science fiction is just the skin, and the core idea that the director wants to express is the essence. This is of course understandable, and this is true for most classic science fiction films.

Of course, this is the future, and the script of "The Martian" has not yet been formed, and it needs consultants or experts from the aerospace department to help improve it. This is not Chen Jingxing's modest words.

The most special quality of "The Martian" is that the director did not add any in-depth artistic thinking. The same type of "Mission to Mars", "Interstellar" and even the original version of "Gravity" are sentimental and sad in a bad way.

And cliche.

Director Ren was startled but quickly realized what he was doing and nodded hurriedly.

And the deus ex machina and the intelligent civilization of Mars can easily destroy the hard-core science fiction temperament of the story.

Such a down-to-earth story about growing potatoes seems quite magical when it is associated with Mars.

"You are a Martian version of Robinson Crusoe..." Director Ren gave a more accurate summary after finishing the whole story.

"My leader, you are saying this as if I have trouble with my country's space vehicles. This time is not a space disaster. The main story is that an astronaut was dropped alone on Mars due to an accident and relied on Mars to grow potatoes. The story of surviving for more than 500 days and waiting for rescue."

Wherever it is reasonable, rigorous and scientific, we should try our best to do it.

He has never seen another company boss in this circle who does not regard money as money and has almost no sense of risk. As expected, those who can achieve such success in two years are either madmen or geniuses.

This novel is similar to "The Martian". The difference is that the setting of "Death on Mars" is more extreme. After the earth disappears, only the male protagonist in the Mars base and the female protagonist in the Mars orbiting space station are left.

, and an artificial intelligence called Lao Mao.

The special thing about "The Martian" is that it has an extremely strong spirit of scientific optimism, without any negative connotations. When a problem arises, it is solved, whether it is the male protagonist who is alone on Mars surviving, or whether it is the protagonist on Earth.

The aerospace sector has and only solves problems.

Just because there is no spare time for publicity does not mean that the aerospace department does not want to publicize it. The power of publicity can be seen from "Mekong". Officials have also begun to advocate more commercial productions with this main theme.

The "Edge of Tomorrow" that Guo Fan is currently filming is a science fiction blockbuster with a RMB 300 million level. He knows this. "Gravity" has not seen the money back yet, and he is going to start another big project with a RMB 300 million level.

Director Ren is the aerospace industry leader who Qin Zhonghe once mentioned to Chen Jingxing and was full of praise after watching the preliminary version of "Gravity". He is a technical officer and is also the reviewer of the corresponding department of this film.

Director Ren thought about it and said: "It sounded a bit unreliable at first, but after listening to it, it feels a bit feasible... Director Xiao Chen, I feel that you have a deep understanding of aerospace technology.

"The Martian" is indeed adapted from a novel, and when Chen Jingxing was perfecting the script, he also thought of another science fiction novel about Mars, "Death on Mars."

Chen Jingxing quickly explained the main plot of the entire story, including how the protagonist was dropped on Mars, how he built a "vegetable greenhouse" after surviving the disaster, and what method he used to grow vegetables on Mars.

Potato.

Naturally, there is little energy and funds to pay attention to publicity.

Qin Zhonghe was actually very excited, but when he thought about the investment cost of "Gravity", he still felt a little nervous. Was it too risky?

While many science fiction movies explore grand themes and even view space exploration with compassion, "The Martian" seems to be quite different.

Use the rocket fuel of the Mars landing module, which is hydrazine, first use platinum to decompose hydrogen, and then mix it with oxygen to burn to produce water... Use compressed and dried feces as fertilizer... Use hexadecimal algorithm to transmit messages...

After driving these emotions away from his mind, Qin Zhonghe turned to look at Director Ren, who seemed to be still thinking about some details in the story of "The Martian", and sighed with a smile: "Director Ren, your aerospace port picked it up.

Treasure!"

The Mars spacecraft uses Hall thrusters to fly... This is actually a focus of current research.

But silent action has the power of silence. Constantly calculating, thinking, failing, and starting over is a huge power in itself.

Faced with the ridicule of professionals, Chen Jingxing could only be modest: "I was inspired by a science fiction novel by chance. Besides, doesn't it still depend on your opinion? The script hasn't been written yet."

China's aerospace department is incomparable to the military or other departments. The annual funding is quite limited and the money is spent carefully. Compared with the current achievements and the grand blueprint of the plan, it is completely disproportionate.

There is also what method the Chinese Space Administration will use to rescue the male protagonist.

From Chen Jingxing's perspective, "Die on Mars" is not as commercially viable as "The Martian".

"Director Xiao Chen, what kind of space disaster do you want to cause this time? Which space project of our country do you want to destroy?" Director Ren, who was full of energy and had an intellectual temperament all over his body, asked with a smile,

Although the question seemed like a joke, there was a hint of curiosity and expectation in his tone.

Even though Chen Jingxing had previously said that his next movie would be about space, Qin Zhonghe and Director Ren were still not mentally prepared for the movie story he told.

"Hmph, 350 million is not a lot. You are getting 350 million for real. Apart from your DreamWorks, do you have any movies with such high cost in China? I really don't know where you got so bold to produce so many high-investment movies.

." Qin Zhonghe was relieved, but he was still secretly stunned by Chen Jingxing's tone.

Qin Zhonghe only felt that every time he communicated with Chen Jingxing about projects, he couldn't keep up with the young man's thinking, and he felt like a mental patient had a broad mind.

The argument of "eating grass when you are poor and drinking the wind in the West" is not unheard of. In recent years, due to the joint promotion of the space station and the Chang'e Project, China's aerospace industry is currently relatively quiet. There have been no major eye-catching actions for several years, and there is also a need for related films and TV shows.

Works to promote space.

This is Chen Jingxing’s sincere words, and it’s not meant to deceive. There are not as many special effects shots in “The Martian” as in “The Wandering Earth” in the past life. Of course, the overall special effects level is still higher than “The Wandering Earth” with a budget of 350 million.

Not nervous.

It is completely incomparable to the military, maritime affairs, air affairs, and Bayi Film Studio. It has produced various military-themed TV series and even movies. Even after the unprecedented success of "Mekong River", it turned its attention to

This kind of military action blockbuster.

But that doesn't mean that "Death on Mars" doesn't have the value of being adapted into a film or TV series. It may even be of great value. It will be good in the future whether it is a TV series or a movie.

Judging from Chen Jingxing's tone and expression, it was obvious that he had made up his mind to take the photo. This young man deserves to make money.

DreamWorks is giving away pillows, and they are giving away two three-piece sets.

"Your "Gravity" hasn't even been released yet. The 800 million yuan might be wasted. How dare you invest huge sums of money in another space science fiction project?"

It’s just that in the past, China had almost no science fiction movies, let alone space science fiction movies.

"What I'm worried about right now is that each of your more entertaining space movies has lifted the spirits of our people, but the aerospace industry can't keep up." Director Ren said with emotion, both jokingly and seriously.

"Don't worry, leaders. Our country's aerospace industry has made rapid progress in small steps over the years, and everyone has seen it. We are not the kind of country that talks big and only talks but does not practice.

These space-themed science fiction movies are spiritual encouragement and footnotes of progress. They not only allow everyone to raise their heads and look at the space, but also enhance national self-confidence. There may be ridiculing voices abroad. Don’t pay too much attention to it. As time goes by,

With the passage of time, everyone can see that we are really doing it, and our stars and the sea are not just words."

(End of chapter)