Chapter 400: Immortal Emperor

This place could have a spaceship or space station model hung up, with the background switched to outer space, and you could create a scene of a spaceship floating in space—still pretty nice.

While the few of them were chatting, Liu Tianxian held a flashlight and ran back and forth inside the Digital Space, the camera swaying with her from side to side, automatically controlled.

Give her the tools and she could even climb a stone wall.

And on the cliffs of the Digital Space, the scene shifted along with her movement, the flashlight beam clearly visible on the rock face.

"Alright, alright, don't break it playing around—that background alone is 400,000 US dollars." Fang Hong pulled her out.

Just this little spot, plus the photography and systems, and other equipment, the cost runs into several million dollars.

"So realistic, just like Tomb Raider."

Liu Tianxian sighed in wonder, then asked: "Hey, is this green screen or what?"

"No, it's LED. Eventually this whole place will be enclosed and turned into a giant Digital Space." Yao Qi drew a big circle with his hand.

Basically forming a circle—if you drive a car or motorcycle inside, it feels like street racing through a city.

Liu Tianxian could picture that scene, the panoramic virtual effect—very stunning.

"Sister Fei, you've worked hard, come have some water." Fang Hong rested one hand on Liu Tianxian's clothes, eagerly twisting open a bottle of water for her, like an Assistant.

"Don't think that just because of this I won't hit you." Liu Tianxian still remembered what happened earlier, opened her mouth and took a sip—still warm, pretty nice.

"If hitting me makes you happy, then go ahead and hit me, hit me a few more times." Fang Hong said it quite convincingly.

"Hahaha."

Liu Tianxian was coaxed into a good mood—at this rate she couldn't bear to beat up this man.

Seeing her laugh so prettily, Fang Hong suddenly leaned in to kiss her.

Liu Tianxian instinctively tilted her head to dodge, but his mouth still grazed her cheek, and she lifted a foot to kick Fang Hong's butt.

So many people around, and he doesn't watch the occasion!

The others pretended they hadn't seen anything—out of sight, out of mind; those who saw it just couldn't stand these two. Yao Qi said: "General Manager Fang, let's go take a look at the Light Box."

"Sure." Fang Hong gestured for them to lead the way.

The group followed to another place—there were no fancy facilities here, just what looked like a hollow box.

This box was quite big, 6 meters tall—about three or four person-heights—and around 3 meters wide.

Chen Zhixi and Guo Fan were here checking the equipment—this was the real device for simulating outer space, for simulating a spaceship's interior cabin.

Lu Dabo was also here; this was where he worked—arranging people to move things, supervising and the like. Of course, he also supervised at this film and television base.

As Fang Hong's lackey, naturally he had to help keep tabs on the specific developments of the businesses under Fang Hong's banner.

"Principal, Fairy Sister." Lu Dabo was very perceptive.

Fang Hong patted his shoulder and said: "I heard you made over a million from stock trading."

"That's all thanks to your good fortune, Principal, and thanks to Fairy Sister's good fortune too." Lu Dabo's flattery came out like it was free.

"What's it got to do with me? I never taught you to trade stocks." Liu Tianxian said.

"I caught your good fortune—without your good fortune, I definitely wouldn't have made money either." Lu Dabo's sweet words came out like they were free.

"Good that you made money, I'm happy for you too." Liu Tianxian said casually.

Maybe this is how small-timers survive.

"Having this awareness is a good thing, not bad."

Fang Hong casually tossed out a compliment, then ignored him, and said: "Can we take a look inside the Light Box?"

You couldn't tell anything from the outside—the real marvel was all inside.

"Sure." Guo Fan gestured.

Since the Light Box's space was limited, that many people couldn't go in—only Fang Hong, Liu Tianxian, and Guo Fan went inside.

The others could see the scene inside through monitors and computers; the light and imagery inside were all computer-controlled.

The three of them entered the Light Box, as if entering outer space—their feet stood on a galaxy, countless starsystems of all sizes swirled around them, and a lifelike planet materialized before their eyes.

Just like what you see in 3D, except they were inside the 3D, merged with the scenery as one.

"Tianxian, look at this."

Fang Hong finished speaking and casually crushed a planet floating before him.

That planet shattered and exploded, the shockwave spreading far and wide—the simulation was fairly realistic.

This was controlled by the console outside; they could see a full 360-degree, no-dead-angle view of what was happening inside. If a woman were wearing a skirt inside, even her underwear could be seen clearly.

"Let me try too." Liu Tianxian was curious.

Liu Tianxian reached out and made a grasping motion in the air, and a planet appeared in her hand out of nowhere—actually her hand held nothing, it was just a visual effect.

Her eyes lit up, and she laughed: "Does this count as plucking a star with my hand?"

"Yes, you've already become an immortal—nickname Immortal Emperor, sovereign of this universe." Fang Hong teased her.

"This Immortal Emperor will smash you to death." Liu Tianxian gripped that planet and hurled it at him.

That planet really did fly toward Fang Hong.

"Ah! Immortal Emperor, spare me, I'm dead!" Fang Hong clutched his chest, looking like he was about to die.

Seeing him act up, Liu Tianxian playfully smacked him, but it was pretty fun—today's filming technology was this advanced now.

Seeing the two of them having such a good time, Guo Fan was speechless—they came in to see what this thing did, not to play around.

The two fooled around for a while, then remembered they came in for serious business—after all, they had to understand it before knowing how to film—so they reined it in a bit. "The inner walls here are made up of 196 LED panels, each panel measuring 0.6 by 0.6 meters, with 4,096 LED lights on each panel, similar to that cube-shaped Tiantong."

Guo Fan continued the introduction: "The brightness and color of the LED lights are controlled by computer; their function is to assist the camera with lighting—everything you see is made of light."

"This is better than green screen—at least when we're acting, we know what kind of environment we're in." Liu Tianxian said.

With green screen, you'd just be acting against air—awkward.

"But the imagery displayed on the Light Box's inner walls is still relatively rough. The good thing is the director can see the fusion of the actors and the space background on the monitor." Guo Fan said.

Fang Hong nodded, indicating he understood.

What this means is that this place can only serve as a supplement; all the backgrounds still need to be rendered through post-production CG, so the audience will find it more realistic.

"About the Iris System you mentioned earlier — the free-tracking filming, how do you simulate the tumbling in space?" Fang Hong asked.

Guo Fan pointed to a spot, and from the corner of the wall extended a long mechanical arm, very flexible, able to move freely.

And around the camera were white lighting fixtures; as the camera moved, the lighting equipment moved in sync.

"This only requires fixing the actor to a rig, and the camera can create the illusion that the actor is moving, floating."

Guo Fan gave a brief explanation, then gestured: "Let's go out and see the demonstration effect."

"I'll perform here, and at the same time experience this kind of space filming method, to get a feel for it," Liu Tianxian said.

"We have professional stunt actors for this," Guo Fan said.

"I want to try it," Liu Tianxian said.

"There's really nothing to feel. During filming you only need to contribute your face — get the expressions right; there aren't many shots that need your body," Fang Hong said.

After all, she's wearing an Astronaut Suit, so her figure can't be seen. In the film, only in the segment aboard the spaceship does the female lead take off the Astronaut Suit — that part will definitely need Liu Tianxian to do it herself.

"I still want to try. After all, this is my first time being involved in a space sci-fi film like this," Liu Tianxian said very seriously, not joking at all.

"Fine, let her try," Fang Hong gestured.

"Tianxian, come with me over here," Guo Fan gestured for Liu Tianxian to follow, then walked out of the Light Box.

After leaving the Light Box, they were back in the real world; inside it had really felt like being in the universe.

Now they began to demonstrate the tumbling and floating in space. Liu Tianxian put on her performance suit, was fixed to the rig, and prepared to start the demonstration.

The performance suit was form-fitting, similar to the kind used for motion-capture dots; the helmet, Astronaut Suit, arms, etc., could all be handled with post-production CG Best Special Effects.

Fang Hong came to a small room — this was the control console. Several technicians sat in front of computers, editing footage and controlling the lighting inside the Light Box.

From here you could see the scene inside the Light Box: Liu Tianxian was fixed to a rig, the rig wrapped in green screen to be removed in post.

"Stay relaxed, no need to move," Guo Fan instructed, then left the Light Box.

Liu Tianxian held her pose casually, watching the scenery around her transform into a dim, boundless, unfathomably mysterious universe — no end in sight.

And she was like a tiny speck of dust, filled with a sense of infinite loneliness.

Fortunately there were countless scattered stars, spread like a chessboard, so it wasn't too dark; an environment like this could easily make a person despair.

"Tianxian, we're starting," Fang Hong's voice came through inside the Light Box.

Liu Tianxian nodded, signaling she was ready. The loneliness she had felt vanished the instant Fang Hong spoke.

She was still on Earth, not in space.

Once everything was ready, the camera controlled by the Iris System tracked and filmed around Liu Tianxian.

And on the computer screen, the visual was of Liu Tianxian tumbling continuously in space.

"It has that zero-gravity visual effect," Fang Hong felt it was good.

If you only looked at the footage shown on the computer screen, and didn't look at the image inside the Light Box, there was indeed that zero-gravity effect.

"Hollywood's old technique was to hang a person on a rig and manipulate them like a puppet to achieve the zero-gravity effect," Liu Yin explained from the side.

"Meaning the person can't control themselves — it needs the system to control them," Fang Hong said.

"Exactly. If the person controls themselves, there's a sense of force, and it stops being realistic," Yao Qi said.

The group discussed the brilliance of this Light Box plus Iris System setup: Liu Tianxian inside didn't have to move to finish the scene — she couldn't feel herself tumbling, and didn't need to watch for the camera.

"That's enough!" Fang Hong felt it was about right.

The technicians operated the camera to stop rotating; the image inside the Light Box returned to normal, and Liu Tianxian was taken down from the rig by several crew members.

Liu Tianxian took off the performance suit, and as she walked out, she happened to see Fang Hong and the others.

Fang Hong asked: "How did it feel?"

"It felt very lonely. If a person were alone in space, how desperate would that be," Liu Tianxian said, flipping her long hair.

The performance suit she had just worn had her hair tucked inside it as well.

"Then that's right."

Fang Hong took out a down jacket and put it on her from behind: "Let's go, time to head home."

Liu Tianxian stretched out her arms, put on the down jacket, and brushed her hair back; the strands happened to drift across Fang Hong's face — fragrant.

They had also seen the studio, including the filming setup of "Gravity."

After preparing for a few more months — getting the spacecraft and space station models done — they could basically start shooting.

The only question was whether the Tiangong could be blown up.

(End of chapter)