Chapter 9

So-called CG films, in a broad sense, refer to films that are primarily shot in real scenes with real actors, but incorporate a large amount of virtual scenes and special effects. The usual approach is to use CG technology in traditional films to add virtual scenes, characters, objects, and special effects, aiming to blur the line between reality and fiction and enhance the visual impact.

In a narrower sense, a CG film refers to a film where all visual elements (scenes, characters, objects, special effects, etc.) are entirely computer-generated. However, its visual effects are distinctly different from traditional 2D animated films.

Chen Xin naturally wanted to produce the latter.

In fact, the production cost of a true full-CG film is extremely high.

Back in the day, Square (a famous Japanese game company) almost mortgaged everything to produce "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," but the film flopped, nearly bankrupting the company. This also laid the groundwork for the later merger with Enix.

Blizzard Entertainment has also repeatedly considered turning "World of Warcraft" into a film, but the investment has always been the biggest obstacle for this classic MMORPG to reach the big screen.

Rumors have it that the opening animation for "Wrath of the Lich King" cost nearly $20 million, including various internal expenses and the lengthy process of concept art, storyboarding, and model design, which occupied a significant amount of game developers' time.

Someone calculated that the CG length of "Wrath of the Lich King" is 198 seconds, with a cost of $100,000 per second. If a 90-minute film (5400 seconds) were to be made, it would require $540 million, plus a significant number of Blizzard employees.

Moreover, to avoid impacting product development, a lot of work would need to be outsourced to professional special effects teams, further increasing the cost with marketing and promotion expenses.

It's worth noting that "Avatar" had an investment of only $500 million, and Blizzard is unlikely to take such a huge risk.

Another point is that even if we set aside the astronomical development costs, Blizzard itself does not have the capability to produce a full-length CGI film.

This is not to say that Blizzard's people are incapable, but rather that Blizzard lacks the software and hardware technology required. A 2-minute cutscene and a 200-minute film have vastly different software and hardware requirements.

Just look at how few companies can afford to produce CG films. Weta Digital, for instance, grew through "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and later achieved legendary status in the film special effects industry with "King Kong" and "Avatar."

As for Industrial Light & Magic, it's no exaggeration to say that almost every major special effects film in Hollywood over the past three decades has had its involvement.

CG studios like Blur Studio can at most produce post-production special effects or short animations for games and films, but producing a full-CG film would be a stretch.

In fact, these few companies still primarily focus on providing post-production CG special effects for live-action films. The only one that can profit from full-CG films is Disney Pixar.

However, this is understandable, as their true selling point lies in their meticulous storytelling and various lovable cartoon characters, not to mention the peripheral profits from things like Disney theme parks.

Once Chen Xin made his decision, he immediately took action.

However, he soon realized that CG films were not as simple as he had imagined.

Firstly, there was the script issue. Chen Xin himself could not write one, and having Gange write it would be a joke. Gange, after all, is just a robot. Its "Survival Rules of the Galaxy" relies on creativity and a documentary-style writing approach. Asking it to create from a human perspective is simply impossible.

Then there was the director. Chen Xin could only be considered an ordinary film enthusiast, lacking even the most basic knowledge of film theory. If he were to create a short CG film about China's future aircraft carrier battle group, he could do it easily because these scenes have been simulated countless times in his mind. But making a CG film with a smooth plot and stunning visuals would be a tall order.

Additionally, due to Gange's presence, Chen Xin could not entrust these tasks to professionals and had to do everything himself. The thought of voice acting, music, editing, and other miscellaneous issues made his head spin.

It's worth noting that producing a high-quality 5-minute CG short film typically takes a small team (20 to 30 people) about half a year. Even the animation in "Wrath of the Lich King," despite its high production standards and artistic value, was only considered medium-level in terms of scene complexity and implementation difficulty at the time. It featured only three characters, with no large dynamic animations. The scene was simple, with no complex long shots, and many were matte paintings. The art director must have carefully refined the storyboards, and the core team must have spent a lot of time establishing the basic concepts.

Films like those produced by Pixar require hundreds of people working for about a year and involve investments in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Chen Xin had not considered the scale of his project. After carefully considering the current challenges, he decided to start by producing a CG short film to practice.

The concept of micro-films only became popular in the past one or two years. As the first true advertising "micro-film" in history, "One Touch, One Kill" starring Wu彦祖 was a prototype of micro-films.

Before 2010, short films were categorized as live-action dramas, animated dramas, student projects, and online videos.

Online short films evolved from Hu Ge's "A Bun Caused a Bloodbath" to the "Old Boy" and "Father" by the Chopsticks Brothers, gradually becoming known as "micro-films." Compared to the massive investments in films, short films have lower requirements in terms of equipment, funding, team, and process, making them suitable for practical operations by graduates of film schools.

However, micro-films primarily rely on embedded advertising and other means for profit. Chen Xin's main goal was to practice and build the reputation of his studio.

Before this, he registered a special effects studio called Cybertron Digital through an intermediary.

...

BJ.

Director Shi Nansheng of the Intelligence Bureau held a file marked "Top Secret" and hurriedly entered Peng Guochen's office, saying, "Minister, this is the analysis report completed by the technical department after extracting data from the Super Base Camp forum."

Peng Guochen took the file, glanced at it, and nodded. "Comrade Nansheng, you can go back now. Don't forget to prepare the analysis report for 'Dawn Goddess.' We'll meet with the central leadership this afternoon."

"Understood!" Shi Nansheng stood at attention, saluted, and left Peng Guochen's office.

Peng Guochen put on his glasses and carefully read the file. Although it was only four or five pages long, it took him half an hour to finish. He then picked up the secure phone on his desk, dialed a number, and said, "Connect me to the 705 Project Office."

Despite the "Dawn Goddess" incident gradually calming down due to the mutual understanding of various governments, it remained a hot topic online. The original post on Super Base Camp, in particular, received over ten million views and more than 300,000 replies in just one week, bringing nearly 100,000 new registered users to the site, 20% of whom were foreigners. It was the most疯狂 post in Super Base Camp's history.

Even the media published articles analyzing this online event.

...

Chen Xin had been worrying about the script for the past few days, but he couldn't find a satisfactory one online.

Later, he asked Gange, who crossed his legs and counted on his fingers, "How about we shoot 'The Way of the Buddha'? Or 'Zhetian'? Or 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'?"

Chen Xin rolled his eyes and said, "We're making a micro-film, a micro-film, do you understand? How can I adapt such long novels? 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' isn't even finished yet, with Old Demon Han still grinding in the Spirit Realm, and the day of ascending to the Immortal Realm is far off. Even a long TV series would be difficult to produce."

Gange shrugged and said, "Then I can't help. You find something else. I need to go write, the readers are demanding updates."

With that, he slumped and melted back into the computer.

Chen Xin was helpless. Since discovering that his novels could earn a lot of money, Gange had become increasingly difficult to manage. Especially after his novel went online, it received over 15,000 subscriptions in 24 hours, breaking the record for new authors on Qidian and becoming a legendary success.

With no other choice, Chen Xin logged onto QQ and sought support from the "Gange Support Group."

In just a few days, the "Gange Support Group" had reached its maximum capacity of 1,000 members. When Chen Xin proposed the idea of making a micro-film, a member named "Bored" quickly replied, "Why not shoot 'Survival Rules of the Galaxy'? Let us see what the legendary Cybertron is like."

Chen Xin was speechless and typed, "That novel has already been reserved, so we can't shoot it."

At this point, "Watercool" chimed in, "Then how about 'The Three-Body Problem' or another short story by Liu Cixin? I'm a big fan of Liu Cixin."

Chen Xin replied with a smiley face, "I'll invest in 'The Three-Body Problem' when I have the money. I'll find the best actors in the world and make a global blockbuster."

"Watercool" responded with a disdainful emoji.

However, Chen Xin was reminded by "Watercool's" suggestion.

Liu Cixin was not unfamiliar to Chen Xin. He often saw his works in "Science Fiction World" during high school.

Works like "The Wandering Earth," "The Three-Body Problem," and "The Mountain" left a deep impression on Chen Xin, especially "The Wandering Earth." He had considered adapting this novel but later decided against it. The novel contains too many classic and grand scenes, and if made into a film, it could easily surpass classic disaster films like "2012." Making it into a micro-film would be a waste.

Chen Xin had only read the first part of Liu Cixin's famous "The Three-Body" trilogy, which was back in 2006. After his parents' incident, he stopped following such news, but he occasionally heard friends recommend it, saying that each part of the "Three-Body" series was better than the last.

Chen Xin thought for a moment and decided to download the electronic version of Liu Cixin's collection of short and medium-length science fiction stories to see if there were any suitable ones for adaptation into a micro-film.

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