Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1594 Credits
Han Xingzhi came in with a broom: "I've already swept this floor! Where else do you need to sweep?"

Are you sure you've swept it all clean?

"Hmm, it's swept very clean."

"Okay. Now take the format painter and copy and paste the cleanliness information here to other floors. You know how to use it, right? It's just like a mop."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Oh, right, I forgot to mention—Big Brother! I knew you always thought of me when something good happened! Thanks!"

He went out, and Shangluo took a sip of tea: "See, I told you so, he'll thank me."

"So he's part of your team?"

"You could say that," Shangluo replied. "I always need some of my own people. This kid may be a bit clumsy at work, but at least he's an honest person. Besides..."

"And another thing is that she has a beautiful older sister?"

"Hmm? I'd almost forgotten." He put down his teacup. "Xiao Han, come here for a second!"

"You're here!" Han Xingzhi appeared quickly at the door. "Big brother, do you know me?"

"Call your sister and ask if she still needs internship points. If she does, she can come over with you."

"Alright. But, is it better if we have as many people as possible?"

"Do you have other candidates?"

"There are quite a few people who are behind on their credits. I heard there will be curriculum reforms in the next two years? Internship credits will become increasingly difficult to obtain."

"Speaking of which, where did you get your internship points from before?"

"Our history department's internship assignment used to be to do manual labor in the Yellow Register Archives. But as you know, the Imperial Academy's ability to intern in the Imperial Court's confidential departments is due to the ancestral system."

The practice of transferring students from the Imperial Academy to various confidential departments, including the Yellow Register Archives, was a rule established during the Hongwu era. At that time, the court was newly established and there was a shortage of personnel everywhere, while the students of the Imperial Academy were often just one step away from passing the imperial examinations. Therefore, rather than waiting to go through the formalities, it was better to send them out for practical experience in advance.

After all, the Imperial College had been free since the Hongwu era. It was reasonable to have those who ate for free do work to repay their meal expenses.

However, the work of the Yellow Register Repository is extremely arduous—otherwise, it wouldn't be the students of the Imperial Academy who would be doing it.

The internship at the Yellow Register Archives was not just about clerical work. Some tasks in the Yellow Register Archives were not done regularly and were only performed when students came. In addition to checking the Yellow Registers from previous years, another important task was to maintain the paper documents, which meant taking all the documents out to air them, repairing them, and then archiving them.

In recent years, the Yellow Registers repository has undertaken an extremely arduous task: since the imperial court began using punched cards to organize the Yellow Registers decades ago, a massive amount of historical information has needed to be entered. Even during the Wanli era several hundred years ago, the total number of Yellow Registers had already reached 150 million volumes, and now it's even larger, like a mountain.

Even now, the data entry work is not yet complete. Every year, the History Department sends someone to work at the Yellow Register Archives for a summer, and each student is required to be selected at least once during their four years of university. If you are lucky enough not to go in the first three years, then it is assumed that you will go in the fourth year.

"What about this year?"

"We can't even go to the Yellow Book Repository this year! They're not hiring. And that's a big problem. Because although the Yellow Book Repository is tough, it's a reliable source of points. In the past, because of the Yellow Book Repository, our internship destinations were already decided. Now that the Yellow Book Repository isn't hiring, everyone is stunned."

I checked. The Yellow Registers database has started using an automated tabulation machine, operated by Tianyi Guiren. No one needs to file them anymore.

"Times are changing so fast."

So who is driving this era forward?

“Alright.” Shang Luo shook his head. “It’s my fault, really. I’ll take care of the internship issue. I’ll see how many people the crew needs.”

[I have a question. Your school has a history department, not a film department. Where do you find so many people to make movies?]

"Filmmaking is a job that can be done in many ways, it doesn't matter who does it. Besides, the professional work is handled by Tianyi Guiren, and everyone else just needs to do the work I assign."

Shangluo said, "Take a count of how many people can't find internships. Start from the upperclassmen and work your way down, then give me the list. I'll make the arrangements; we happen to be short-staffed here."

"Okay, shall I go back now?"

"No need to go back, just report here. You have other work to do later. Let me first count how many spaces we can make room here."

"Well, there are quite a few people." Half an hour later, Apollonia did a preliminary count.

In general, the five core teams—director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and art director—each need their own members. Leaving aside the version directed by Master Sa, this film has two directing teams, currently with Master Sa and Yanqiu each in one. Shangluo plans to open two more directing teams, bringing the total to four teams (A, B, C, and D). Besides the general director of team A, the other three directing teams each need their own personnel.

Specifically, we need script supervisors, lighting technicians, sound recordists, and so on. We also need assistant directors to coordinate different areas of the set, such as the assistant director who coordinates the extras.

He was in charge of the production team, which was mainly responsible for logistics and external liaison, as well as managing other teams.

The art department is responsible for costumes, makeup, props, and set design.

The scriptwriting team's main task is to thoroughly read and understand the script on behalf of everyone before conveying it to them. Because Master Sa often revises the script, the first draft does not represent the final result, and each version may be revised at any time.

"So many people are needed. Great, this should be enough to squeeze in quite a few people."

[Seriously, what do you call this? Senior and junior students supporting each other—isn't that academic clique behavior?]

“What academic clique? This is called mentoring and guiding,” Shangluo replied. “Besides, the requirement for me to mentor my fellow students was set when I entered the Imperial Academy. Now, what I’m doing is entirely in line with the expectations placed upon me back then—I’ve taken a look, and what we need most in our production and logistics department right now is production assistants. Also, we need screenwriters; they haven’t systematically read any scripts yet. We need to get more people to read them. Initially, we’ve decided that 450 people should be enough for the first batch. Is that too many?”

[That seems like a lot. In comparison, it's a huge number. If you do it this way, the total number of people in the entire production crew will probably exceed 3000. The Imperial Academy doesn't have that many interns.]

"That's enough. Because most of the work is actually handled by the Nobleman Tianyi—do you think anyone actually knows how to do things like filming? That requires professionals. Our people are just carrying around a camera."

How could you trust them to come and film?

“You see, this is different,” Shangluo replied. “When we make movies here, the main shooting method isn’t a camera.”

They don't need cameras when they rent this studio. Everything that happens in the shooting area is recorded chronologically. What Shangluo and his team need to do, or rather, what they need to do in post-production, is to select a scene and "shoot" it again based on the shooting schedule.

The studio itself will record everything that happens as "history." The production crew's job is to edit the already filmed footage into segments that can be shown on screen.

In other words, what is being filmed here is actually 3D footage, and there is absolutely no visual focus.

3D movies can make it difficult for viewers to focus their attention because there are so many things happening on screen. In such cases, a "second take" is necessary. This second take is similar to traditional filming techniques: selecting a perspective, capturing the events within the frame, and generating a sequence of images.

However, since the 3D video has already been fully generated, there is no need to "rush" the camera; it can simply be edited slowly in the background.

"Also, some scenes need to be reshot," Shangluo added. "The Romans sent over some cameras before, which can process special effects in real time during filming. This part is mainly used by Master Sa. Because Master Sa can handle these kinds of camera issues. We're not that professional here, so we can leave that to post-production."

Other issues, such as props and makeup, will have solutions later.

"Brother, we just called to do a count, and the academic affairs office said there are 229 people who need internships."

"Not too many. Are there any students from other departments who haven't done their internships yet? I can take in 500 people."

"500? That many?" Han Xingzhi was stunned for a moment. "Brother, are we making a movie? Doesn't making a movie require professionals?"

"Yes, for example, makeup requires professionals."

"What if our classmates don't know anything? What should we do?"

"It's alright, I have a way. Put this beauty bead on first."

"Beauty beans? Oh, these are amazing!"

Half an hour later, Han Xingzhi's sister, Han Xingsi, arrived at the scene.

She brought the list provided by the Academic Affairs Office, mainly from the History Department; the other departments were still compiling their lists. However, since the History Department had solved their immediate problem, Han Xingsi sent it over ahead of time.

"That's about it." Han Xingsi put the file down. "I'm leaving now. I could have sent it electronically, but it seems more reliable to deliver it to you in person. Hmm? What are you doing here?"

She noticed that Han Xingzhi was also standing in the room. At this moment, Han Xingzhi had changed his clothes, wearing a flashy soft hat, and was checking his props in front of the dressing table, looking just like a makeup artist.

"Um, Senior Han, could you please sit over there?" Shang Luo stood up and pushed her toward the dressing table.

"What?! What are you going to do?! You're not going to ask her to do my makeup, are you?! This guy can burn an egg, how can he do makeup?"

"Don't worry, just sit down first, we'll take care of the rest."

Although he verbally disagreed, Han Xingsi was still pulled over because the other person was his younger brother.

"Fine. If you want to practice, then practice," Han Xingsi said helplessly. "What can I do? You're my brother, after all. Remember to put it back in its original state after you're done."

Before she could finish speaking, Han Xingzhi turned her head to face the mirror.

"Hmm," he said, scrutinizing Han Xingsi's face from head to toe, as if analyzing a rough stone.

"What's with that look? It's giving me the creeps. Don't you dare scribble on it, or I'll tell on you when I get home."

"Do not move."

"Huh? What are you trying to do? Try to rebel?"

"I told you not to move." He reached out and turned Han Xingsi's face back—but Han Xingsi didn't tolerate him at all, and with a quick grab, twisted his arm back.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! What are you doing, sis?!"

"Are you trying to prank me?"

"No way! I just want to help you with your makeup!"

"What kind of look was that on your face just now?"

"Those aren't my eyes! They're the eyes of a beauty bean!"

"Beauty beans? What are those?"

"It's the Heavenly Nobleman who knows makeup. I'm just an assistant, I'm just holding the brush. The beauty bead is scanning your face and then applying color blocks to your face. Then I'll apply a specific color to a specific area of ​​your face according to the requirements. How should I put it? Pigment? Anyway, I can't even tell what these colors are, you can see that."

Han Xingzhi showed off his foundation box, which contained as many as 60 different shades of skin tone, and they all looked almost the same light flesh color.

"Oh!" Han Xingsi's eyes lit up. "They even have this shade? They're really professionals."

"Of course. Everyone in the crew is like that. Once our people arrive, they just need to work under DouDou's guidance. It doesn't matter if our people aren't professional, because DouDou is."

Lighting, sound, makeup—these tasks, though seemingly trivial, all require professionals. It's impossible for a history student you just randomly brought in to handle everything properly.

However, the crew has many highly skilled individuals who can guide the work visually. When they can do so, everyone else simply needs to follow their instructions.

Regarding makeup, the Nobleman of Heaven will provide feedback after scanning the face. As for lighting and sound, the Nobleman of Heaven will directly provide the trajectory of the reflectors and microphones, which are generated according to the script. The person responsible for carrying the equipment only needs to move along the trajectory.

Most of the technical work on the entire production was done by these "Heavenly Noblemen." The students who were brought in were mainly responsible for tasks requiring physical strength. Because Heavenly Noblemen lack physical strength, they could only assist others and could not complete tasks independently.

"Looking at it this way, you really can absorb quite a few people here." Han Xing thought for a moment. "No wonder you just said you could recruit more people. How many do you need in total?"

"Any number under 2000 is acceptable."

"That's too many. The Imperial Academy isn't very big, and there aren't that many people doing internships each year. Except for the History Department, most of the others have their own places to go. However, it seems that quite a few people in our Social Engineering Department can't find internships either."

"So, Senior Han, do you have a place?"

"I interned at Zhengshitang last year. But since you're short-staffed, why don't you sign me up too? Do you pay wages here?"

"Payed according to the basic wage, 48 yuan per hour."

"That's alright, it's about the same as working at McDonald's. I'll work here for the summer then. Tell him to put down the makeup box, his eyes were disgusting. Let me be the makeup artist, at least I can tell the shades."

(End of this chapter)