Industrial Winning Studies

Shen Shanden's creative approach to Wuxia Film and Kung Fu Film gave Han Sanping a fresh perspective.

Compared with traditional wuxia films, which relied on sound effects and editing to convey inner force and display kung fu, what Shen Shanden described was undoubtedly far more breathtaking.

Perhaps this was what industrial upgrading meant. Perhaps this was Industrialized Film. This was the true Film Industry.

Han Sanping thought to himself.

"Director, this way. To bring into reality the physiological-level 'Internal Qi, Blood, and Flesh,' we've established a dedicated task-force department."

Shen Shanden led Han Sanping to a work area that had been specially cleared out.

He wanted Han Sanping to fully understand the difficult situation he was facing.

In China, the closer a department or sector was to the front lines and the market, the more aggressively—almost obsessively—it pursued New Technology.

At a time when domestic films had yet to escape their struggle for survival, China Film Group spared no expense in investing in and upgrading film equipment.

It kept its eyes fixed on Hollywood's most advanced technologies, especially the Digital Wave, terrified of falling behind.

Its moves in this regard were even more adventurous than those of Hollywood's major studios and associated theater chains.

Thus, China Film Group absolutely possessed the country's finest film-production equipment at present, especially in film shooting, development and printing, and the emerging field of digital post-production.

It could even measure up against Hollywood's major studios.

It still lagged behind, however, in scale, the cutting-edge quality of its equipment, especially technological application and adoption.

But China Film Group could hardly be blamed for that. Technology and equipment still required people to use them.

At present, only directors of major productions got to use China Film Group's top-tier equipment.

Shen Shanden wanted to use it too!

And he wanted Han Sanping to help coordinate things—preferably at a friendly price, or even by freeing up some equipment for him at no cost.

Han Sanping was no fool; he could see what Shen Shanden was after from the setup alone.

But Shen Shanden's brilliance lay in making it impossible for him to refuse.

Han Sanping was even more anxious than Shen Shanden himself.

Han Sanping said directly, "Whatever difficulties you have, just say the word. We'll figure out a solution together."

Shen Shanden knew even less about being polite. "After technical validation, the effect we want can absolutely be achieved. The problem is that the road we're taking is No Man's Land. Every issue is a brand-new issue."

The presentation of Internal Qi, Blood, and Flesh was the greatest challenge of The Grand Director, and also its biggest selling point.

The Grand Director had a production budget of only a little over ten million. By current film standards, it could indeed be considered a mid-budget production.

But compared to period blockbusters that cost hundreds of millions, or even several hundred million, it was nothing.

They couldn't afford Hong Kong and Taiwan Stars, nor could they afford mainland stars who had made even a modest name for themselves in Hong Kong and Taiwan circles.

Wu Jing would not ask for much when filming in Hong Kong circles, but if he returned to the mainland and charged market rate, he would be no cheaper than Chen Daoming.

That was the state of the industry at the time.

Of course Shen Shanden knew mainland stars had box-office appeal, but it was useless!

If no one had proven it, then it was useless.

The mainland's younger generation—more accurately, already the New Mid-Generation—Chen Kun and Huang Xiaoming, were both thirty.

If people like them could not land roles in commercial blockbusters, then they had no Movie Stardom.

Stardom was something intangible, yet very real.

First, in terms of media coverage.

Those with stardom received much more column space and came with their own traffic.

An entire industry chain had already formed around it.

Hong Kong and Taiwan Stars commanded such enormous premiums, so naturally their companies had the money for marketing.

Mainland stars could not secure matching paychecks, so they had no spare money to spend on marketing.

Second, for audiences, casting Hong Kong and Taiwan Stars was also a display of sincerity.

Maybe it wasn't right, but it was expensive.

Audiences could feel respected—at least respected on the surface.

Perhaps it was not merely surface-level, either.

Because audiences had never experienced genuine respect.

They had never experienced, in a commercial blockbuster, how good local stars could be: accents that did not feel out of place, no need to dub dialogue in sync, acting that crushed Hong Kong and Taiwan Stars, and far stronger expressiveness.

Having never enjoyed it, audiences had no way to tell true respect from false respect.

Without a successful precedent, it could not be turned into a marketing point.

And as for the public-opinion environment of 2007—those who understood, understood.

Driven by public opinion, The Grand Director likewise could not use the weight of history, pride, and internal logic as selling points.

The moment they marketed those things, ridicule, deconstruction, and criticism would swarm in like a tide. If it got serious, they might not even be able to survive in the industry.

Audiences would be left bewildered too.

Just like the actors, audiences had never tasted the thrill of a Grand Narrative.

They had always been suppressed.

Audiences had never experienced the righteous pride of being proud of their own history in a cinema. They did not know how exhilarating it felt to win.

A Grand Narrative could only be the icing on the cake.

Or rather, to reach a certain upper limit, such things could not be absent.

But to secure the lower limit—to survive first—The Grand Director had to give audiences something tangible, something they could see and receive.

A star-studded cast could not provide that at a glance, nor could a Grand Narrative.

The only things it could offer were a smooth, exhilarating plot, exquisite and lavish Costume, Makeup, and Props, and big-screen effects that shook the heart.

Of course, Shen Shanden could have simply given up.

He had timed the release against Paperclip, so it already had buzz. Even without China Film Group pulling strings, the film would not lose money.

But Shen Shanden felt that if he was earning the audience's money, he still had to provide them with a certain degree of service.

After all, no one's money was blown in on the wind.

"Our team has already contacted outstanding domestic model makers and prop masters. Film and television production bases such as Hengdian have some truly formidable technical talents."

Shen Shanden introduced the specific progress. "We've given up on green screens. There are barely any green-screen stages in China, and overseas ones are beyond our production budget. Digital creature technology is even further out of reach."

"So we're studying The Terminator, feeling our way across the river by grabbing onto Hollywood's backside—by grabbing onto Cameron."

Han Sanping voiced his agreement. "We must boldly learn from successful experience."

After making the rounds, Shen Shanden did not want to disrupt the crew's work, so he brought Han Sanping into his office area and explained in greater depth.

"We've tentatively decided to use detachable resin models, filming them frame by frame. Through stop-motion Animation + Miniature Models + Optical Synthesis, we'll create the effects we want."

"With medical consultants involved in the design, we'll produce Anatomical Models of human flesh and blood, making them as realistic as possible."

"The film's climactic battle is the Chajiangnan Major Case. The protagonists face Old Man Withered Wood, a Martial Arts Grandmaster who has lived for a hundred and fifty years and was hired by the Sun Family, Suzhou's powerful clan. We've invited Teacher Ji Chunhua to play him, and his human model must cover as much of the entire body as possible."

"For the other characters, limited by production costs, we can only make partial models."

"Then there's adding the circulation pathways of 'qi' to the Anatomical Models of human flesh and blood. For now, we plan to use LED Strip Lights to simulate glowing meridians and Mechanical Transmission Devices to represent the flow of qi."

"For this part, we need to find precision model makers, and there's also the issue of motor precision. We're talking with motor manufacturers as well, to see whether they would be interested in partnering with us to produce motors precise enough for our needs."

"As for cost, we'll still use a 'physical elements first + digital enhancement' approach—using real models to capture the base lighting and shadows, then adding qi-flow effects with CG in post-production. It's cheaper than pure CG and more controllable than purely physical effects."

"The difficulty lies in realistically presenting the glowing qi meridians alongside actual flesh and blood, especially in fight scenes—how to precisely synchronize the flesh-and-blood models, the circulation of inner qi, and the actors' movements."

"For now, we're first developing a simple mechanical arm to drive moving points of light."

"Cost-wise, for the flesh-and-blood Anatomical Models and the qi meridians, if no hospital provides assistance, it will cost us four to five hundred thousand out of pocket."

"Custom lighting devices, mechanical transmission systems, and motors—without sponsorship, that will probably run over a million."

"We also need Motion Capture Suits. Then, with basic effects shots calculated at twenty thousand per second, a four-million budget only buys two minutes."

"If China Film Group can help us with equipment, and we tighten the belt in post-production, reducing the cost of effects shots to ten thousand per second, then we can make four minutes of effects."

Shen Shanden summed up, "Only truth has power, and only power can create genuine emotional impact."

"Sci-Fi Film is also a Western fantasy about technology and the future. They have the foundation of technological superiority, and they use cultural products to deepen that impression. From cultural products to commercial products, they form a positive cycle, sweeping aside all obstacles."

"They have even created a situation where only Hollywood gets to imagine the future, and a stereotype that only what America plays with counts as high technology—even when their ideas are clichéd and their technology exists only in PowerPoint presentations."

"But we have never played this game, so the right to interpret it lies in their hands."

"I think Martial arts films based on real history can also become a romantic fantasy of Chinese culture. We possess the foundation of authentic historical records, as well as the foundation of Kung Fu Film. As long as we achieve a cultural upgrade, we can also use cultural products to deepen the impression of our ancient nation."

"We might even create a situation unique to us. After all, they have no documented history. Perhaps in the future, if they want to understand their own past, they will have to do so through our films. Who their ancestors were, and the right to explain the source of their legitimacy, will rest in our hands."

"If we can forge this path, combined with the standardization and tiering of kung fu, we can carve out a new route on the big screen—a genre belonging solely to Chinese Cinema."

Shen Shanden spoke in a rushing torrent, recounting everything as though it were his personal treasure.

The more he spoke, the more excited he became. His thoughts opened up, and he habitually began painting a picture of a splendid future.

Even if they achieved only part of it, it could be like how The Wandering Earth opened the road of heavy industry for Chinese sci-fi—blowing Hollywood's space operas straight out of the water.

It would be an achievement worthy of being carved into film history.

"Xiao Liao, write this down. China Film Group will give its full support to The Grand Director project."

Han Sanping gave his promise without hesitation.

He was moved!

Before this, Han Sanping's work could only be described as "filling the gaps in Chinese Cinema"—ensuring that the film industry was not crushed by Hollywood while catching up to Hollywood's level of development as much as possible.

But if they could do as Shen Shanden described, that would be pioneering.

As for holding the right to interpret foreign history, Han Sanping did not yet dare to imagine it.

The win would be too enormous.

The old comrade had been scared of losing; he had never tasted the flavor of this Industrial Winning Studies.

Liao Yun nodded heavily. He was already used to it.

The old man had been completely wrapped around his finger.

And Zhang Nengshou, the accompanying Production Director, saw Han Sanping being so easy to talk to—how could he withstand such a shock?

His heart was filled with immense astonishment.

And immense relief.

The moment he had joined the crew, he had put himself in the right position. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.