China Entertainment special effects started in 1997

Compared with the cool special effects scenes of later generations, "The Matrix" is more outstanding for its grand and advanced worldview. Even 20 years after the birth of the film, it is still the pinnacle of science fiction movies.

But this does not mean that the special effects scenes of "The Matrix" are not good. On the contrary, it gave birth to a great keyword in the history of film technology-"bullet time", that is, super slow motion.

This special effects scene was later imitated by many movies. From the perspective of future people, it seems nothing special.

But in the year when the movie was released, the viewing effect it brought to people was absolutely explosive, otherwise it would not have won the Oscar "Best Visual Effects" technical award.

Originally in history, the crew placed 120 cameras accurately, shot according to the time and sequence predetermined by the program, input them into the computer for post-processing, and then merged with the background to get 360-degree smooth movements. In this process, motion capture and virtual photography are also used.

Of course, Jiang Heng has a super microscopic computer, so it will not be so troublesome. It is enough as long as the actors make corresponding movements according to his predetermined requirements.

In the newly built green screen studio, Jiang Heng patiently explained the play to Wu Yizu, Yuan De and others.

Jiang Heng planned to keep the most exciting scene of dodging bullets on the rooftop strictly confidential, as a surprise to the audience after the release.

The scene where the male protagonist awakens and can raise his hand to stop all the bullets was planned to be filmed first and asked the main creative staff to see the effect.

"Then, wait, you get up from the ground, they turn around and shoot at you, you can't hide, you have to raise your hand, as if you can see the trajectory of the bullet!"

Wu Yizu suddenly realized, "Wow, so powerful?"

Yuan De, who was wearing a suit and holding a prop gun in his hand, wondered: "Are you going to shoot how the bullets come?"

Jiang Heng smiled, "Yes, I want to shoot how the bullets come!"

As an action director, Yuan De was in trouble. He was not afraid of designing actions for others, but he really didn't know how to shoot bullets!

After thinking for a while, he said, "It has never been filmed before. In our Hong Kong film industry, the director who knows special effects best is Director Xu Ke. Why don't we ask him for advice?"

Jiang Heng shook his head slightly: "No need for that. I know how to film it. Just do what I say."

Yuan De smiled bitterly when he heard this. He wanted to say a few more words, but he held back when he saw Jiang Heng's confident look.

As for the other two agents on the scene, they were just extras and would not say anything.

After all the staff on the scene were ready, Jiang Heng shouted "Action!"

Wu Yuzu, who was lying on the ground, stood up blankly. Yuan De and others who played the agents turned their heads, raised their guns, and pulled the triggers of the prop guns.

Wu Yuzu did as Jiang Heng said, raised his hand and stretched out five fingers. There was no panic on his face. His expression was like a wizard, summoning something.

Yuan De and others put down their guns blankly. Although they all wore sunglasses, they still had to show shock.

Wu Yizu stretched out his hand and pinched the empty space in front of him, as if he was holding a bullet, looked at it and threw it on the ground.

He tilted his head to look at Yuande and others, and then looked at the ground, as if all the bullets had fallen.

In the eyes of the staff on the scene, this part was shot inexplicably, but Jiang Heng felt that it was already well acted.

But for better results, Wu Yizu, Yuande and others were asked to do it again several times.

At night, the crew finished work, and the cast and crew talked about the scenes they had just shot.

Yuen Wah said with a particularly gossipy expression: "Hey, do you think that what he filmed can be successful?"

Yuen Tak shook his head slowly, "I think it's not good enough. In our Hong Kong film industry, it's okay to shoot some kung fu comedy, zombies, and gun battles, but special effects? Humph, I think he will go bankrupt after he finishes filming!"

Yuen Wah sighed slightly, "That's a pity, it cost a lot of money!"

Yuen Tak said: "He insisted on filming like this and didn't listen to advice at all. What can we do? We have to pay for it!"

Yuen Wah said: "That's right, we work for money, why think so much, but the world is not doing well. After these two films are finished, I don't know when we can start work!"

The overall environment of Hong Kong films was not good in 1997. Yuen Wah currently only has two film contracts, "The Matrix" and "Ma Yongzhen", and they are both unimportant small roles. The pay can be imagined. He is really worried about the film and himself.

Although Yuen Tak has several film contracts as a martial arts instructor, he didn't make much money.

Listening to the complaints of his senior brother, he was also a little worried, "Hey, you said that there was still hot money pouring in a few years ago, why did it suddenly become unbearable?"

Yuen Wah said: "How do I know? Maybe I'm a little tired of it. Maybe it's really like Jiang Heng said, the future will be the era of special effects blockbusters!"

Yuan De became more and more irritated after hearing this, "Hey, let's not talk about that, let's drink!"

The two brothers didn't drive, they walked out of the set and walked to the restaurant arm in arm.

On Jiang Heng's side, when he was about to leave after sorting out the film materials, he saw Li Meiqi wearing a beige suspender skirt. The style was very similar to that in "Naked Agents", bright and beautiful.

"Aren't you afraid of the cold with so little clothes?" Jiang Heng said with a smile.

"Wearing leather jackets and leather pants all day long is going to give me prickly heat. It's still hot now, so I want to wear something cooler!"

Jiang Heng thought, "Then you can wear something cooler!"

"Do you want me to take you back to the hotel?"

As the only artist under the company, Jiang Heng treated Li Meiqi well. He still let her stay at the Kerry Hotel and rented a car for her to travel, but Li Meiqi often took Jiang Heng's car.

"Don't want to go back so early, want to have a drink?"

Jiang Heng hesitated. As the special day approached, the public security situation in Hong Kong had improved a lot.

But taking such a beautiful woman to the bar would still cause trouble. He would make a lot of money quickly to avoid trouble.

"I have things to do tonight, so I can't drink too much. Why don't you come to my house? I still have some wine in stock. Let's drink as much as we want!"

"Okay!"

The two drove from the Clearwater Bay studio to Jiang Heng's home in Causeway Bay.

It's called a thousand-foot mansion, but it's only 92 square meters.

But for Hong Kong people, whose per capita housing area is less than 5 square meters, 92 square meters is definitely a mansion, not to mention it's located in Causeway Bay.

Li Meiqi had been here for a while and had some understanding of the property market in Hong Kong. After entering the house and looking at the area and decoration of the house, she couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect the house you live in is so good?"

Jiang Heng took a can of beer from the refrigerator and handed it to him, and opened another one for himself, smiling and saying: "It's nothing, one day, you will have a better and bigger house than this?"

Li Meiqi took a sip of beer, looked at the night view outside the window and murmured: "Will it?"

Jiang Heng sat on the sofa, with a firm expression, "Believe me, you will be famous!"

"You are more confident than me?" Li Meiqi sat in front of Jiang Heng, her bright eyes were scary.

"In short, just believe me!"

Jiang Heng put down the can, got up and took the red wine collected by his father.

Seeing him leave in a panic, Li Meiqi smiled secretly.

She didn't have too many ideas after getting the role of the heroine.

She just wanted to get closer to him. If the film didn't work, she would look for another opportunity.

If the film sold well, it would also help her gain more benefits.

Soon, Jiang Heng took out a bottle of red wine, briefly explained the past, opened the wine to wake him up, and then leaned on the sofa to chat casually.

"You said last time that you would shoot a set of special effects shots soon. Is it today's scene?"

"Yes!"

"Then, how to do it?"

"Edit the materials shot today and send them to the special effects company, and let them do post-production according to my requirements!"

"Is it that simple?"

"It's that simple!"

...

Special effects production in reality is of course not that simple, and it can even be said to be very troublesome.

But Jiang Heng's purpose is just to make money, and setting up a crew is more to cover up, so many steps are omitted.

As for time, it is even faster. He decided to show the finished special effects shots to the main creative staff in a week at most.

To avoid being pessimistic and thinking that he will go bankrupt after shooting.

The next day, Jiang Heng woke up from the sofa and there was no trace of Li Meiqi.

Just when he was wondering, he heard a sound from the kitchen. He walked over in a daze and saw Li Meiqi wearing his shirt and shorts to make breakfast.

"Sorry, wine spilled on my clothes, and I wore yours without your consent!"

"It doesn't matter. It's worth it to eat the breakfast you made, not to mention wearing my clothes, even burning my clothes as fuel!"

Li Meiqi smiled lightly: "I didn't expect you to have such a humorous side!"

Jiang Heng smiled, "There are so many things you can't think of!"

After the two had breakfast, Jiang Heng first sent Li Meiqi back to the hotel, and then drove to the set to continue filming the film.

Putting aside the advanced and grand world view and the explosive special effects scenes, the gunfights and action scenes in the original work are also extremely outstanding, thanks to Yuan Heping, the "world's number one martial arts director".

Although Yuan De's level is not as good as Jiang Heng's, Jiang Heng's knowledge is advanced.

With the joint efforts of the two, the action scenes were shot brilliantly.

Especially because Yuan De and Wu Yizu both have kung fu skills, these fighting moves are more swift and fierce than the original.

A few days passed in a flash, and Jiang Heng felt that he could bring out the finished special effects scene shots.

When he arrived at the set that day, Jiang Heng took out a notebook from his bag and said to Wu Yizu, Li Meiqi, Yuan De and others who gathered around: "The special effects company has sent the finished shots over. Everyone take a look and see if there are any changes!"

Everyone's heart was in their throats when they heard it.

Although they didn't have too many expectations for this movie, it was made with hard work anyway. Who doesn't want the movie to sell well and get some credit?

As an action director, Yuan De has a lot of say. He rubbed his big bald head with his hand and said: "Hurry up, open it and take a look. I can't wait any longer!"

Jiang Heng took the mouse and clicked on a video file on the desktop, but saw that the green curtain at the original shooting scene had turned into a dark wooden wallboard, with not only clear texture, but also visible mold spots on it.

"Hiss!"

The people around the notebook all took a deep breath.

They were all people who participated in the live shooting and still remembered the scene clearly. They also thought about the rough appearance of the post-production lens made by Jiang Heng, but they never thought it would be so realistic.

"Are the special effects level of foreign countries so high?"

Yuen Wah said subconsciously, but no one answered.

Because the video on the computer was playing the scene where the agents (anti-virus programs) played by Yuan De and others fired together, but countless bullets stopped in front of the male protagonist.

It would be fine to make the bullet stop, but what surprised everyone was that the semi-transparent trajectory was clearly shown, as if the male protagonist really stopped the bullet.

This shot was very short, less than a minute, but it made everyone stunned and unable to react for a long time.

Especially the main creatives such as Wu Xianzu, Yuan De, and Li Meiqi, who originally thought that this film had no hope, are now full of confidence!

"Director Jiang, do the entire movie have special effects of this level?" Wu Yanzu suppressed his inner excitement and asked softly.

The moment he saw Jiang Heng nodding, Wu Yanzu couldn't help but make a cheering gesture.

He is a Chinese-American and has watched too many American special effects movies and science fiction blockbusters.

I originally thought that "The Matrix" was a futuristic and ambitious concept, but now that I've seen scenes that rival American special effects blockbusters, I'm even more looking forward to the film's performance after its release.

Li Meiqi gently covered her mouth, looking at Jiang Heng with more admiration and excitement, and she felt more and more that the future was promising.

The appearance of special effects shots shook the morale of the entire crew and caused quite a stir in the Hong Kong film community.

The reason is simple, that is, Xiangjiang is too small, and the film and television industry in Xiangjiang is too small, so many things will spread throughout the day.

Not far away from the crew of "Ma Yongzhen", Liu Zhenwei heard that Jiang Heng had made a very cool and realistic special effects shot. He was stunned for a while, took a long puff of cigarette and said: "No matter how cool the picture is, it must be done well." The story is what matters. In terms of film looks, who can be better than the King of Sunglasses (Wang Jiawei)?”

Hearing what he said, Yuan Biao, who was originally happy for his brothers, calmed down and said with a smile: "That's true, but if you can make cool special effects shots, I guess you won't lose money!"

Liu Zhenwei originally wanted to say, "That's hard to say," but then he thought that it would be a slap in the face to his good brother Wang Jiawei, so he held it back.

But he said: "In Xiangjiang, the quality of a movie depends on one thing. If you want to make money, you have to look at the distribution. "Fist of Heroes" is so good, but it only cost more than 16 million!"

Yuan Biao nodded when he heard this, "I hope everything will end well!"

…

At Yongsheng Film Company, Xiang Huasheng, who had just been preparing to make a comeback after a serious illness, was sitting in the office reading documents when the phone next to him suddenly rang.

Xiang Huasheng answered the phone and listened for a while, "Is there such a thing? Special effects blockbusters require a lot of investment. Do you know who the financial backer is? If you don't know, go check it out and give me an answer as soon as possible!"

After hanging up the phone, Xiang Huasheng stood up and stood by the window, looking at the scenery outside with emotion in his heart.

As the last overlord of the Hong Kong film industry, Yongsheng Film Company has been in decline.

First of all, I got seriously ill a few years ago and spent too much time recuperating. Secondly, the contracts of Zhou Xingxing and Andy Lau have expired, and director Wang Jing has set up his own business. It has been a long time since he has produced a good film.

If the so-called Jiang Heng can really create a special effects blockbuster comparable to Hollywood, we can cooperate with him.

Thinking of this, he called Hua Sheng and said, "Make an appointment with Jiang Heng and tell him that I want to treat him to dinner!"