Huayu started as a lecturer at Beijing Film Academy

Chapter 51: The ritual sense of worshipping gods in science fiction films

Just when the crew took out the incense used to worship gods and distributed it to the main creators, Guo Fan suddenly ran out from nowhere carrying a backpack.

"Teacher Gu, use this to burn incense and worship gods. It's very powerful!" Guo Fan said with excitement.

"What the hell is this?"

"Hey!" Guo Fan took out a bunch of props from his bag and placed them on the table.

They are mechanical wooden fish, electronic incense, LED candles, and Lego fruit offerings.

Guo Fan said with a proud look on his face: "This is a domestic science fiction film, and it should have a sense of ritual. It would be boring to use ordinary incense candles!"

Zhang Miao: "Nonsense! Where are the children playing house? We are worshiping God very seriously. We want to bless the crew for smooth work."

"I think it works. Using these things is not only fresh, but also environmentally friendly!"

Chen Baoguo doesn't care about whether he worships gods or not. When he was young, he was just making movies. Where did the worship ceremony come from? It was different from normal filming. These are strange customs passed down from the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles.

In the past, when filming in the Hong Kong film industry, there were many sophisticated instruments in the photography crew, such as cameras, lighting units, cranes, etc., any small problem could cause the entire section to collapse, affecting the entire crew. People are waiting.

The key is that many of the problems are very mysterious. No one can know why the machine has problems, so the larger crews will burn incense and pray before starting the machine to appease the machine spirit and pray for smooth filming.

This habit was gradually brought to the mainland as people from the Hong Kong and Taiwan film and television circles moved north, and then the mainland crew also became popular to worship God before starting the filming.

"I think it works! As the saying goes, burn electronic cigarettes and worship cyber gods! It's quite suitable for a science fiction movie."

Gu Zhongyu remembered that Guo Fan in his previous life also used electronic incense when filming The Wandering Earth. It was quite fun to do this.

As Gu Zhongyu, who has even experienced time travel and rebirth once, he would rather believe in the theory of ghosts and gods now.

"Would you like to sing another binary prayer to praise Om Messiah, the almighty God of all machines?" Gu Zhongyu suddenly thought.

"Teacher Gu, you actually play Warhammer too?" Guo Fan never expected that Gu Zhongyu was actually a Warhammer friend! After all, the Warhammer 40k series is an absolute niche culture in China.

"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding, let's worship God with this electronic incense!"

From then on, when Zongheng Film and Television produced science fiction series, they switched to using electronic incense to worship gods when they started filming.

And every time director Guo Fan offered incense, he would mutter strange mantras such as "Sing in unison to praise the God of all opportunities" and "Start the engine, ignite the turbine, and inject life"!

In the afternoon, in an old city of Yanjing, this was the first scene shot after "Ball Lightning" was started.

"Life, life is this thing..."

"Everything is unpredictable, everything is probability and chance, just like a small branch floating in a stream, tripped by a small stone, or trapped by a small whirlpool..."

"Actually, son, it is not difficult to live a wonderful life. Listen to dad teach you: You choose a recognized world problem, preferably a mathematical problem that only uses a piece of paper and a pencil...

"So, the key to a wonderful life is what you can be obsessed with. For example, your dad and I are obsessed with painting, even though I know I can't become Van Gogh!"

The protagonist's father, played by Wang Jinchun, took a sip from his wine glass and started a long sermon with the actor Wu Lei, who played the male protagonist as a child...

Wang Jinchun, a veteran actor who graduated from Chinese Opera, is now an old man in Zongheng Film and Television. He made his debut in 1998 and has known Gu Zhongyu for a long time. He is also the absolute leading actor in the company.

This time he plays the father of the male protagonist Chen Guang. He doesn’t even have a name, and the scene only lasts for less than a day. It is a free cameo. After filming the first appearance of ball lightning, he will be able to finish filming. .

Playing opposite him was Wu Lei, a famous child star who later became a popular niche actor in domestic entertainment.

Wu Lei, who is only 12 years old this year, still looks very young, and his immature appearance is not inconsistent with acting as an eight or nine-year-old child. The little man sat on a chair, looked at the birthday cake and Wang Jinchun in front of him, and listened to his father's talk with seriousness on his face.

Wu Lei's role as a child also ends today. With the male lead's parents passing away, the next person to play Chen Guang is Gu Zhongyu.

What is filmed here is the prologue to the original novel, which tells the story of the male protagonist Chen Guang. When he was a child, he was gathering with his family to celebrate his birthday. On a stormy night, he accidentally encountered mysterious ball lightning.

Ball lightning passed through the house wall and turned Chen Guang's parents into two piles of ashes, turning the young protagonist into an orphan.

But this also made the male protagonist Chen Guang become obsessed with the weird physical phenomenon of ball lightning. He secretly vowed to spend his whole life pursuing it and analyzing it. From then on, he embarked on the path of becoming a scientist, which led to the following. A series of stories.

I have to complain about Da Liu. The novel "Ball Lightning" is written in the first person with the male protagonist Dr. Chen. However, from beginning to end, no one in the book mentioned the protagonist's name. It was always Xiao Chen, Chen The doctor shouted.

Liu Cixin herself doesn’t know whether she is too lazy to make follow-up additions or has forgotten it, so it has been so long since the novel was finished that no one knows the full name of the male protagonist, Dr. Chen!

It may be possible to write a novel like this, but when making a movie, the protagonist still needs a name, so Gu Zhongyu named the male protagonist Chen Guanglai.

"Haha! Teacher Gu, I found that you and Wu Lei look a bit like each other!" Ni Hongjie, Gu Zhongyu and others stood behind the camera, looking at Wu Lei in the camera and laughed.

"That's right, if we don't find someone who looks a bit like him, it won't be convincing!"

Ni Hongjie became famous for starring in the TV series "Wulin Wai Zhuan" as Zhu Wushuang, but she is not doing well now, far worse than Guo Dazui and Yan Ni in the same crew. So this time, she was invited to play the role of the male protagonist's childhood mother in the movie "Ball Lightning", and she was still very excited, even if the role was only half a day.

"Okay, it's your turn in the next scene, Teacher Ni." Director Guo Fan reminded at the right time.

"Just watch!" Ni Hongjie carried the dishes, changed into home clothes and walked into the camera, reciting her lines: "Yes, idealists and cynics think each other is pitiful, but they are actually very lucky..."

Then the ball lightning appeared and turned the protagonist's parents into ashes, but this thing is all special effects, so it can only be added in post-production. The three people on the scene could only stare at the air in amazement.

Wu Lei's performance was really good. At such a young age, he has actually acted in dozens of plays. With his full experience, he completed this non-property performance without many NGs.

The shooting in Yanjing is basically such indoor scenes, focusing on the male protagonist Chen Guang's childhood to college. If everything goes well, it will take less than a week to finish all the shooting. Next, the crew will move to Mount Tai, and Comrade Da Mimi will also meet them there.

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