Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 128 Let you see enough!
Liu Yifei attributed the last time she invited Li Qiutang to watch "Crazy Racing" to normal interactions between friends, or polite work entertainment.

Someone handed the script to her personally and treated her to a meal, so it shouldn't be a big deal for her to treat her to a movie in return.

It was Li Qiutang who suggested going to the movies, but Liu Yifei paid for it later. Even though she was ignorant of the ways of the world, she knew that she couldn't finish someone else's meal and then let them treat her to a movie.

I have to say, "Crazy Racing" is really good.

After the movie, Li Qiutang sent her home, and the next day she went back to the restaurant parking lot to pick up her car.

He was still complaining, saying that he had parked his car for a whole night and he wanted to ask Li Qiutang to reimburse him for the parking fee of more than 100 yuan.

The two never met again after that, but kept in touch through phone calls and the Internet.

During the text message communication, Liu Yifei learned that "In Time" had just been prepared and nothing had happened yet. Li Qiutang also told Liu Yifei the worst possible outcome for the crew: "It is possible that the filming will not start in the end." It was not known whether it was a joke to scare her or if this was really possible.

But no matter what, Liu Yifei knew that this movie was very difficult to make because there was no precedent in domestic films.

And even if Li Qiutang didn't say it, Liu Yifei knew that she would not be the only candidate for the role of Lan Xin. She was not so narcissistic as to think that Li Qiutang would write a role specifically for her. Moreover, judging from the script, Lan Xin was a young girl who came from a wealthy family but later awakened and joined the revolutionary struggle. Many actors in the circle could play this kind of role, and it was not necessary for Liu Yifei to play it.

With such a large crew and a well-known director like Li Qiutang, there will definitely be fierce competition for each role. When the time comes, the investors will come out and Li Qiutang may not be able to speak. Liu Yifei feels lucky to get the script in advance and spend more time preparing. What she can do now is to read the script carefully, understand the character, and strive to stand out in the audition.

As for why she was able to get the script in advance, Liu Yifei felt that Li Qiutang helped her out of consideration for their friendship as classmates, otherwise her trip to Australia would have been in vain.

Recently, Li Qiutang has been noticeably slower in replying to messages. Sometimes he would reply every few minutes, sometimes it would take seven or eight hours, and sometimes he wouldn't reply at all.

Liu Yifei felt that he was probably too busy. With so much on his shoulders, it was normal that he couldn't keep up with the messages.

But in fact, Li Qiutang is not that busy. The director does not have much work to do during the preparation period of the crew. The director is busiest after the filming starts.

But who told him to be in the United States during this period, with the time difference?
Li Qiutang would sometimes reply to Liu Yifei's message, but sometimes she would be so busy that she would forget about it. When she remembered to reply again, she felt that it was too late to talk about anything else.

Weta Digital agreed to Li Qiutang's offer of $170 million. The motion capture requirements for "In Time" were not high, so 570 million was indeed a rip-off, but 170 million was still a profit.

After receiving a verbal commitment, Li Qiutang further proposed to visit Weta Digital's New Zealand headquarters and sign the contract there.

This requirement was easily met, and Li Qiutang and others took off the next day.

Li Qiutang is not a crazy technology fan like Cameron, but she is also very curious about cutting-edge technology. This trip to Weta Digital Headquarters is an opportunity to learn.

Huang Jianxin's feelings were even more shocking! Not to mention the films he made when he was young, the films he supervised after marketization did not use special effects, but the ones he watched in China were incomparable to the ones he saw at the Weta headquarters now.

"We are a makeshift team, and we really are." The gap is indeed huge. Huang Jianxin not only saw the technical gap, but also something deeper. "The key is that you see their post-management, which is standardized and meticulous. We still have a lot to learn."

Although there is a gap, Li Qiutang is very confident about future development: "If you learn slowly, you will catch up."

At Weta headquarters, Li Qiutang saw some of the visual effects content of "Avatar" that they were working on, and took a photo with a three-meter-tall Na'vi sculpture. At Weta headquarters, Li Qiutang and their general director Joe Letteri exchanged many visual effects technical issues.

Joe Letteri believes: "3D technology will definitely change the world's cinema!"

But Li Qiutang holds the opposite view: "2D will never disappear, and 3D is at most a supplement to 2D."

Joe Letteri predicted that Avatar, which will be released next year, will definitely bring about a global 3D movie-watching wave: "Just like Titanic did back then, James will once again lead the upgrade of film technology worldwide."

Li Qiutang disagrees with this view: "Even if Avatar is a global hit, the high cost of 3D projection technology will make theaters reluctant to update their equipment, and 3D shooting technology faces the same problem."

Joe Letteri certainly took the cost issue into consideration. He felt that if the time was extended to give 3D technology 10-20 years, then both 3D projection and 3D filming would replace 2D.

"3D movies are a whole new world!"

Li Qiutang complained in his heart: "Of course you said that, and you still have to work with Cameron to fool the world and sell your 3D technology."

But he still reminded Joe Letteri: "Let me ask you a question, Joe, are there more special effects blockbusters that need 3D, or more general feature films that don't need 3D? And are the benefits brought by 3D worth the crew giving up the already mature 2D solution? This is the difficulty in promoting 3D technology."

But technology fanatics like Joe Letteri refused to listen to Li Qiutang's words and still firmly believed that 3D was the future. But he also took a step back: "3D and 2D will exist at the same time and coexist for a long time. Neither can replace the other. This may be the final result."

After staying in New Zealand for two days, the group left. They gained a lot from the trip. They confirmed that Weta would do motion capture for the crew and also visited Weta's headquarters. In just two days, they learned a lot.

Li Qiutang and others landed in Shanghai and rested there for one night. The two Koreans returned to Korea, while Li Qiutang and Huang Jianxin went north to Yanjing.

Li Qiutang only saw the message Liu Yifei sent him the day before yesterday after landing in Yanjing:
"I've finished reading the script of In Time, but I don't quite understand what you're trying to say."

Li Qiutang called Liu Yifei back:

"I'm sorry, I'm overseas these days, so it's inconvenient for me to reply to messages." He explained first, "I'll make a list of books for you, and you can read them first.

"It's no use for you to communicate with me now, you have to understand it yourself. Remember, Outline of Modern Chinese History, written by Guo Tingyi... Why read history? You will know what I want to express in Time Planning Bureau after reading it. The second book is History of Modernization of China, written by Xu Jilin. These two books are enough for modern history. Then you can read History of D, The Prince, Wage Labor and Capital, and State and Revolution. Finally, read the five volumes of Selected Works. If you have time, you can read The Manifesto, which is not long, less than 5 words. After reading these, you can read the script again and you will know what I am talking about."

"Ah? These books are not easy to find." Liu Yifei felt overwhelmed when she heard the titles of these books.

Li Qiutang laughed and said on the other end of the phone: "You can't get some books, and your biological father can't get them either?" In fact, these books are not difficult to get, they are all publicly published.

"Oh, I understand." He was very obedient and said that he would finish reading the books carefully.

Doesn’t Liu Yifei like reading? I’ll let you read as much as you want!

It’s better to read these than chicken soup and spiritual exercises!

(End of this chapter)