Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

It was already 6 p. m. when I left Mr. Li's company.

Looking at the sky, it was a May evening, and only the twilight over the city reminded everyone that the day was coming to an end.

At this time, pedestrians were coming and going from work in an endless stream, and vehicle horns were blaring.

Meng Shu picked up the contract in her hand, glanced at it, and smiled gently.

This is a temporary employment contract, serving as proof that Mr. Li has been invited to work at the company as a director.

The official effective date will be four days from now until the end of E3 Expo.

These four days are for recruiting people.

Mr. Li is in charge of the actors involved in the performance. He said he would contact his students tonight to borrow a team of people from him.

So this effectively solved Meng Shu's subsequent work, making things quite comfortable.

As for Mr. Li himself, Meng Shu didn't expect it to go so smoothly, and they even reached an agreement without much effort.

He had assumed that this meeting would mostly involve bargaining.

The result was simply that Director Li himself wasn't confident, but he wanted to try a horror-themed stage play, so he thought of meeting to discuss it in detail.

This was exactly what Meng Shu wanted.

It doesn't matter if Mr. Li isn't familiar with it; he can lend a hand in this regard.

After all, the initial plan was to find a highly capable professional who would listen to advice.

Director Li's abilities are beyond question. When it comes to listening to suggestions, perhaps no one would be qualified to offer suggestions for other styles of stage plays.

But this was his first time trying the horror genre, and he had no experience with it.

Therefore, Meng Shu's role became apparent: to explain things to him and help him avoid detours.

The collaboration between the two is like two swords working together, and the effect will definitely not be bad, and it will definitely go according to his ideas.

Meng Shu nodded in satisfaction.

After putting away the contract, I called a ride-hailing service and headed to a nice hotel for temporary accommodation.

The next day, he hurriedly returned to Shencheng and began his second round of plans.

Meng Shu considered many things in order to promote "Dead Space".

Virtual 3D stage plays are just the first step.

He's participating in this exhibition to offer hands-on demos; he has genuine products.

According to the exhibition materials previously sent by Supervisor Lian, the organizers of each E3 Expo will transform it into a game park and divide it into multiple areas.

The industry media and players who come to exhibit here basically have no shortage of food, drink, and entertainment.

You can even see many companies setting up cosplays of their own game characters in their own areas to attract attendees.

A game version of Disneyland.

Therefore, the spacious location allowed the organizers to prepare 10 independent venues that can accommodate thousands of people, specifically for companies to hold game launch events.

However, Supervisor Lian clearly stated that only 5 of these 10 venues are used each year.

The reason is that it's too expensive. Holding a press conference requires paying the organizer tens of thousands of yuan, and there are also regulations that the press conference cannot exceed 2 hours.

Therefore, unless it's a large company or a globally renowned IP, small and medium-sized companies generally don't rent separate venues at E3 Expo to hold their product launches.

At most, you can rent an area in a crowded venue and set up a few computers to showcase the new game.

Therefore, it is understandable that the organizers did not allow any set decorations or renovations on the stage.

But since these stages can't be moved, surely the large outdoor space can?

Therefore, Meng Shu's second plan was to build a haunted house in her own exhibition area.

The style was designed to resemble the Seonggok tunnel from Dead Space, and then a few staff members were dressed up as Necromorph and wandered around inside.

If attendees want to experience a demo of Dead Space, they must first pass through the "Seonggok Passage," which is filled with Necromorph, to reach the demo area.

This method of bringing games into reality is sure to be very effective for publicity.

Moreover, Meng Shu had this idea a long time ago.

The main inspiration came from the E3 Expo of "Resident Evil 2 Remake".

The game company at the time set up a haunted house called a "Police Station corridor" at the venue and had its staff dress up as zombies and wander around inside.

Only by passing through this haunted house can exhibitors reach the demo area.

This is a very good idea and example, and Meng Shu naturally wouldn't let it pass.

But the problem is, how do we find workers to build this temporary haunted house?

After all, the E3 Expo is held in America, so we can't bring our workers from China along, can we?

Therefore, the best approach is to pay the organizers to implement it, while you simply provide a rough sketch of the scene.

The staff who play the Necromorph can be hired from the stage production crew, saving a lot of trouble.

Of course, we'll still need to trouble Supervisor Lian to handle the communication regarding entrusting the E3 organizers with this matter.

I'm responsible for developing the demo version and directing the stage play, so I'm simply overwhelmed.

And there is another important thing, which is music.

In Horror Games, the importance of music is self-evident.

The most famous and most memorable is the classic children's song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," which is known to every household and has been passed down for more than two centuries.

In the original Dead Space trailer, this familiar children's song was sung a cappella by an adult female voice in an ethereal, slow, and slightly hoarse tone over the radio.

The melody carries a distinctive electronic sound, conveying weariness, despair, and helplessness. It seems to be a soft, gentle song sung in a state of utter exhaustion and isolation.

Coupled with hellish scenes of severed limbs, mountains of corpses, and seas of blood, as well as striking images of blood-stained walls and eerie symbols influenced by religious themes, this originally uplifting and cheerful children's song was instantly transformed into a funeral dirge for the dead!

It left a deep impression on me and is unforgettable!

Of course, the children's song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" does not exist in this world.

If it were directly recreated in "Dead Space," the effect would definitely be greatly diminished without the added childhood nostalgia factor.

Using the world's native children's songs?

It's not that it's impossible, but you can't just choose any song. At the very least, it has to be a song that everyone can sing along to, and the theme has to be about stars and the universe.

However, Meng Shu had only been in this world for a year and had long forgotten the original owner's childhood memories, which also meant that he knew very little about the nursery rhymes here.

We can't possibly look for them in the world's three hundred children's songs, can we?

Therefore, Meng Shu assigned this task to the company's newly established sound effects department, asking them to find suitable domestic and international children's songs.

I hummed a recording of the accompaniment and sent it to them as a reference, asking them to find something similar as soon as possible.

Two days had passed by the time all these things were arranged.

Mr. Li also arrived in Shencheng as promised, bringing his students and stage troupe with him.

There were exactly 20 people in total.

Meng Shu immediately arranged for them to stay at the best hotel nearby and treated them to a good meal to welcome them back.

Mr. Li himself was also very happy, feeling an inexplicable excitement of returning to public life. He also had a sense of anticipation for encountering new things.

This mindset led him to ask Meng Shu for the script that very night, as if he was preparing to study it late into the night.

Although Meng Shu was satisfied with Mr. Li's positive attitude, he had just arrived in a new place and was of advanced age, so he should get some rest first.

So Meng Shu told him not to rush, to rest well, and to talk about everything tomorrow.

Although Mr. Li persisted, he eventually gave up after being persuaded by Meng Shu.

By 8:30 the next morning, before Meng Shu Shuren had even arrived at the company, Animator Xu Hong sent him WeChat. He said that Mr. Li and the others had arrived at the company early and were already waiting in the conference room, and that the script had been sent to them.

This proactive approach made Meng Shu feel somewhat ashamed.

At the same time, I also feel a sense of admiration for Mr. Li's sense of responsibility.

At least it doesn't have the kind of highbrow aloofness and arrogance portrayed in melodramatic TV dramas.

Therefore, when Meng Shu entered the company, she saw Mr. Li and the stage crew gathered around the conference table, practicing their lines and dialogues.

Because motion capture actors and voice actors are separate, only those who need to practice speaking are required to do so.

The motion capture actors simply went through the script with everyone else.

However, since there were no visuals, Mr. Li made every effort to explain and give pointers on both the dialogue and the narration during the script reading.

So much so that even Meng Shu, who was standing outside the glass door of the conference room, didn't notice.

This shows how much effort they put into it.

Meng Shu listened for a while, Knock, went in, and greeted everyone.

Then he sat in a corner and watched with great interest as everyone worked on their first day.

His eyes kept glancing at Mr. Li, who was listening to the script practice while occasionally jotting something down in his notebook.

He seemed very reliable, which truly pleased Meng Shu.

They would also interrupt the practice from time to time, reminding me of the tone I should use for this line and the tone I should use for that line.

As an experienced stage director, even in horror genres he has never directed before, his skill in conveying the nuances of dialogue is evident.

The actors did not show any impatience or frustration; they simply followed Mr. Li's reminders and made changes in order to achieve the best effect.

Soon, after a morning of simple practice, everyone was familiar with their lines.

In the afternoon, Meng Shu led them into the Motion Capture Room.

But as rehearsals actually began, problems started to emerge one after another.

One of the things is that it's the first time the actors have played monsters.

Lacking experience, they had no idea how the monster attacked or moved.

Therefore, Meng Shu spent a lot of time providing action guidance.

Then, the actors didn't know how to express the eerie and twisted horror through physical movements.

Meng Shu personally demonstrated this.

In the original world, there was a popular standing movement in the dance community called the ' Zombie Rise '.

The main imitation is of the zombies with twisted limbs and bizarre movements in the movie "Train to Busan".

This set of movements refers to a person lying on the ground who can perfectly get up without relying on their hands and feet, by using their waist and twisting their body.

To onlookers, this act of getting up was as if a corpse had been suddenly pulled upright by a mysterious force, a truly astonishing sight.

When you put it on a zombie, the sense of terror and danger instantly hits you.

The stiff joint movements after getting up further reinforce the feeling that 'this is definitely not human'.

Therefore, if this set of movements were used on Necromorph, combined with an already terrifying appearance, the effect would definitely be outstanding.

So Meng Shu demonstrated ' Zombie Rise ' and 'stiff movement' on the spot to show the motion capture actors that these are the basic movements of a monster.

Because this way of getting up was unheard of, the people present were dumbfounded, as if a new world had been opened to them, leaving them speechless with amazement.

Some people even exclaimed in surprise, "You can actually get up like that?!"

Even Mr. Li couldn't help but marvel at how interesting the idea of getting up and moving stiffly was, claiming that even if a human did it, let alone a monster, the sense of horror would not be diminished.

After that, there was a lot of practice. After Meng Shu personally demonstrated, the motion capture actors began to learn.

After giving instructions for a while, he didn't rest. He went straight back to his office and began to focus on developing a demo version of Dead Space.

As the days went by, the busy Meng Shu basically shuttled between the Motion Capture Room, the office, and home, working day and night.

On several occasions, he even slept soundly in the office until dawn.

Fortunately, their efforts paid off. After two weeks of rehearsals, the actors were very familiar with the content of the play.

The sound effects department also found a well-known children's song with an accompaniment melody very similar to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," called "The Shining Stars."

This is a children's song from Russia. After being translated into Chinese, it was included in elementary school music textbooks and is a must-learn song in music class.

Therefore, this song is very popular and well-known.

After listening to the songs, Meng Shu herself couldn't help but marvel at how similar the two songs were, to about 60%.

Although the lyrics and some of the accompaniment are different, the differences are obvious.

But the childhood nostalgia and popularity of this song are enough to perfectly replace "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

Therefore, Meng Shu did not hesitate to instruct the person in charge of sound effects to contact the copyright holder of the song and purchase the usage rights.

In addition, a 30-minute demo version of Meng Shu was also temporarily created.

It is now June 9th.

It's time to head to America.

This chapter has had a lot of filler dialogue and music production scenes removed. I had no choice; I've been working until 10 PM for several days in a row, and the pace has been very slow. I had to combine several chapters to improve the pacing. I've been incredibly busy lately, especially with the end of the year approaching. Sorry!