Chapter 590: Humanity's Mother

Chatting as they went, Liu Tianxian told her mother, "Wait for me here. Once I finish filming a few scenes, we'll go eat."

As she said it, she glanced at Fang Hong too, meaning he should wait and eat with them.

"Go ahead and film, no rush." Liu Xiaoli was happy to sit here for a while and look after her daughter; it had been a long time since she'd joined the crew to take care of her.

Chen Zhixi greeted Fang Hong and went off on her rounds again. She wasn't just the manager—she was also the Producer, and she had a lot on her plate.

There were plenty of people on set: Xu Laoguai, Zhang Duo, Li Xue, and even that American actor who played Thanos was there too.

It was Zhang Duo's first time seeing the Principal, so he stole a few extra glances, a kind of awe in his eyes.

A lot of people in this circle felt that same awe when they saw Fang Hong. He wasn't the type to buddy up with you; he gave off a real sense of distance.

Fang Hong exchanged a few words with Li Xue, just a quick greeting.

That Thanos actor, though, seemed out of place next to everyone else—very withdrawn, which was normal: the language barrier, no common tongue with the yellow faces, and total strangers to boot.

Soon the crew was ready to start shooting. The lighting and set dressing were all set up—though there wasn't much set dressing, just a big green screen, with green cloth underfoot too.

What they were filming was a scene of the female lead's consciousness space, casually zipping through space—rushing off to Bali, Tenerife in Europe, to the Himalayas, and so on. They obviously couldn't actually go to all those places, so they'd use top-tier special effects as a stand-in.

And she could freely rewind through time.

There were also shots of the female lead's brain being developed almost to its limit, calculating the mysteries of the universe.

In the original cut, this was the part where the brain was developed to over ninety percent, almost a hundred percent—a pretty stunning cosmic image.

So all Liu Tianxian had to do was sit in an ergonomic chair.

Xu Laoguai ran through the scene once more with Liu Tianxian, then sat down in the director's chair.

Fang Hong, Liu Xiaoli, and the others just watched the filming.

Of course, on set you couldn't actually see anything—you just saw Liu Tianxian sitting in the chair, putting on a show as if she could see something, as if there were something there to see.

That's what acting without real props is like; you basically have no idea what you're doing.

That's why a lot of actors have no clue what the finished product looks like, or whether it's a stinker. Your own performance might be fine, but the production team is a bunch of deadweight.

Even if you're a "god," you can't carry them.

Gong Huang only became a legend when she met Lao Mouzi; Liang Chaowei only became a legend when he met Mojing Wang. That's just how it works.

The visuals and the feel all live inside the director's head.

"This rotating shot—feels familiar, right? It's borrowed from your old one, the rotating shot in Now You See Me." Xu Laoguai noticed the Principal standing beside him watching the monitor's feed, so he pointed at the monitor and said with a smile.

Back then, the rotating shot in Now You See Me was off the charts, and he'd put it to use here too.

Though comparatively toned down—not nearly as fast!

"Not bad. How many special-effects shots does this film have?" Fang Hong asked.

"Close to a thousand. That's just the plan, though—a lot of the visuals haven't been designed yet," Xu Laoguai said.

Fang Hong nodded and said nothing, just watching the monitor, watching Liu Tianxian perform—her almond eyes blinking as if she could see something.

The camera circled around her, though there were close-ups too; it wasn't a single continuous shot.

"It's just this final stretch I don't know how to express—that concept of omniscience. The visuals and the perspective are still up for discussion. Any suggestions?" Xu Laoguai looked at him, asking for guidance.

In his eyes, the Principal was a great director too. And his Gravity was so good, and it brought out a lot of other directors as well—he was someone worth learning from.

Forget awards and seniority; in terms of pure value, he couldn't compare to the Principal.

But the mainstream of the film circle only recognizes the mainstream and seniority, not seniority—those old-timers, how they sit in their sinecures and hold court.

And capital recognizes it too. After all, they've got a track record of success. Just look at how Wang Jin always has someone bankrolling his films—even if he's past his prime, his value is right there on the table.

What he was referring to was that final stretch of the vast cosmos, and what perspective should be used to present the female lead's consciousness world.

From the female lead's point of view, or from an observer's? That was still being debated; the art and special-effects directors hadn't reached a conclusion.

After all, filming had just begun, and those things were post-production!

"If you want to convey boundless energy, you can liken it to cosmic energy. You could use a holographic God's-eye view to depict the universe, and the concept you mentioned," Fang Hong said.

"God's-eye view?" Xu Laoguai mulled it over; a vague idea was forming in his head.

"You could use editing techniques—montage combined with special-effects shots—to serve the kind of conceptual expression we just talked about, as well as the God's-eye view and the protagonist's point of view," Fang Hong said again.

That is, through cuts, express the passage through time and space, the God's-eye view of the cosmos, letting the audience see the awe of the universe.

And through that kind of cutting, also show that the female lead is that God—that it's she who's calculating the origin of the universe and the birth of life.

If this sequence is shot well, it'll be absolutely stunning, the kind of thing that makes people think.

Xu Laoguai looked thoughtful, half-understanding. He had a vague concept in his head, but he couldn't quite picture what those visuals would look like.

"Then how do we depict the birth of the universe and the Big Bang?" he asked.

"That's where you guys have to break through your imagination. I've never seen what the universe is supposed to look like either," Fang Hong said.

"Heh heh heh! I figured since you'd filmed sci-fi before and read scripts like this, you'd definitely have ideas—rich imagination." Xu Laoguai laughed, a hint of teasing in it.

The rumor in the streets was that the Principal was a badass filmmaker, surpassing Lao Mouzi, surpassing Xu Laoguai, surpassing Chen Daren—but he didn't exactly look all that badass.

"Believe it or not, I really do have ideas." Fang Hong signaled a crew member to bring over a pencil and a few sheets of drawing paper.

He sat down on a little folding stool, laid the paper across his lap, and started sketching right there on the spot—no hesitation at all.

He drew the Earth reassembling from countless rocks, recreating the birth of the planet, then extending out to the Big Bang—countless nebulae rushing toward a Black Hole like sperm, and dark-matter neurons stretching out like endless vines.

The drawings were pretty stunning. Xu Laoguai standing beside him was stunned silly—this imagination was off the charts; the guy really did have ideas.

The others stood farther away and didn't see it, nor could they make out what he was drawing. Besides, this was confidential—before the film was released, ordinary people weren't allowed to see it.

"No color, but that's roughly the idea." Once he finished, Fang Hong handed him the stack of white sheets.

Xu Laoguai looked at the first sheet, then the next, going through them one by one, exclaiming, "Not bad, not bad—the Principal's imagination really is something."

He hadn't expected Fang Hong to actually pull it off. The style was delicate, the composition sound, the visual impact strong.

All of this was something Fang Hong had drawn from fragments of that movie in his previous life—the cosmic Big Bang at the end really had left a deep impression, and it was thrilling to watch.

"Ah, it's all the result of learning. Learning is painful. As long as you study more, someday you'll be as talented as me." Fang Hong's words carried a teasing tone as he clapped Xu Laoguai on the shoulder, not a shred of modesty.

"Heh, true enough." Xu Laoguai gave a dry laugh.

This was saying he was shallow and unlearned in culture, still needing to grow, and nowhere near as talented as the Principal—completely unpretentious, not modest at all.

At his age, being spoken to like that by the Principal, he could only take it—who could blame him, the man was the moneybags.

Still, his films looked good, but the plots really fell far short, and he had never filmed this kind of genre before, so he certainly hadn't seen the specifics the way Fang Hong had.

But if he slowly mulled it over, he would surely figure something out.

Just as the two were chatting, Liu Tianxian had finished her shoot over there; next up was the scene of Liu Tianxian and an ape, their fingertips touching.

"Director Xu, we're still short a stunt actor to play the ape—are we still filming today?" an assistant director came over and asked.

"You can't find one?" Xu Laoguai countered.

"We did, but the one for today has another performance and says he can only come tomorrow," the assistant director said.

These kinds of simulated animal performers were specialty stunt actors found from outside, the type who specialized in imitation.

And they all had their own performance troupes, with irregular schedules—after all, those who did this professionally made their living from imitation, so naturally their own performances came first.

This was just a job taken on temporarily.

"Then find another actor!" Xu Laoguai was unwilling to wait—who knew if that person would even be free tomorrow; nothing certain about it.

There were only one or two scenes to shoot, and once done it was over, wouldn't take much time. The main thing was that after they finished shooting, the crew needed to relocate to Macau to film the live-action scenes.

He looked at Fang Hong beside him, thought for a moment, and said, "Principal, would you be interested in making a cameo?"

"A cameo—as an ape?" Fang Hong was surprised; he had heard what the assistant director said just now.

"Right, cameo as an ape, let the female lead enlighten you, foreshadowing that you're Earth's first evolved human, you two promoted the propagation of mankind—and it just so happens you're a couple too, so there's chemistry." Xu Laoguai, to get him to do the cameo, made up a story that actually sounded quite plausible.

The only thing was, he didn't know how an ape and a human could have any chemistry.

Actually, he just had a mischievous streak, wanting to see the Principal play an ape.

"Yifei, what do you think?" Xu Laoguai happened to see Liu Tianxian walking over, so he asked her opinion.

His girlfriend saying it would surely have more effect than an outsider like him saying it!

"What?" Liu Tianxian was puzzled.

"Let the Principal cameo as an ape—what do you think, would that work?" Xu Laoguai said.

"Sure!" Hearing this, Liu Tianxian immediately became interested, then looked Fang Hong up and down and said, "Don't I know it, it's actually quite fitting, quite the look."

"You!" Fang Hong made a move as if to hit her.

"Hahaha!" The people around all laughed, even Liu Xiaoli, who had been sitting there watching the show, laughed too.

This girl really was something—even her own husband wasn't spared!

Liu Tianxian shrank her neck and dodged, behaving as if she were very scared, but her eyes curved like crescent moons with laughter, not looking the least bit afraid.

But Fang Hong didn't actually strike her; instead, he flicked her forehead with a bent finger as payback.

If they were in bed, he'd have to spank her—but then again, Liu Tianxian would end up suppressing him in return.

Liu Tianxian let out an "Ouch!" and said, "It was just a joke, just act in it, treat it as playing around."

She hadn't acted with this man in a long time; the last time was during "Big Shot," and after that Fang Hong had never appeared in front of the camera again.

Now the labels people gave Fang Hong were Jade Rabbit CEO and Liu Tianxian's boyfriend.

The label "actor" was already gone, and even "director" had faded somewhat, but as soon as it was mentioned, everyone knew he was a director.

"Alright then, I'll do a cameo, play a scene with you." Fang Hong agreed—it was no big deal.

"Aiya, you're the best after all." Liu Tianxian was delighted, looking quite a bit lively.

Originally, seeing her mom and Fang Hong come today had already put her in a good mood; she had no worries, just this very lively look.

Filming animal scenes like this required wearing a Motion Capture Suit, after all, on the big screen it wouldn't be a real person.

So one needed to wear a special costume, then handle it in post-production—of course, you had to make the corresponding realistic animal-like movements, otherwise it would look unreal.

Just like "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," it was all real-person motion capture, rendered into apes in post-production.

Several crew members helped Fang Hong put on a tight Motion Capture Suit; the Motion Capture Suit was gray, so it wouldn't be easy to overlook.

And the Motion Capture Suit was covered all over with those glowing diodes and sensors.

And on the head, he also needed to wear a hood, then stick signal-emitting capture points—glowing diodes—on multiple areas.

These could remotely control brightness; every move the actor made would be converted into signals, captured by special camera lenses and transmitted to the computer terminal.

However Fang Hong moved, the character on the film terminal moved the same way.

And on his face, a large number of marker points also needed to be drawn—these were densely packed, after all, there were many facial expression muscles.

In close-up shots, every detail could be seen on the big screen; the body just needed to look like a monkey.

The face had to move, making subtle expressions.

So Fang Hong's face was covered with a large number of marker points, densely packed, like a face full of pimples, then he put on the kind of helmet with a capture camera, his face facing the camera.

But he wouldn't put it on yet—he'd put it on when they started shooting.

This whole process took several busy hours; Fang Hong's body looked like a glowing object, and his face was covered with those densely packed glowing markers.

"Not bad, looks like a good fit." Liu Tianxian walked over, looking him up and down.

She touched his arm, checking what material it was.

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh." Fang Hong suddenly puffed out his cheeks like a monkey, making a breathy call.

Mimicking a monkey's movements, he stretched out five fingers and comically swiped at her.

"Ahhhh!" Liu Tianxian ran off happily, like a nimble rabbit.

Fang Hong followed behind like a monkey, arms dangling, forelimbs and hindlimbs alternating, chasing after her.

Don't I know it, he really did look like a monkey.

The antics of the two drew laughter from the onlookers around; cinematographer Liu Yin swiveled his camera, turned it on, and filmed this scene—quite fun, could be used as a behind-the-scenes extra.

Liu Xiaoli watched the two of them, also covering her mouth and laughing "hehehe," looking very happy.

These two really were something, so full of joy; it seemed her daughter had found the right person—at least her daughter was very happy, very joyful.

Although they faced some doubts and challenges in the early stage, thankfully both of them pulled through, which is quite a relief.

Of course, this was Liu Xiaoli's first time seeing the two of them like this; in the past, when the two were filming on set, this happened often too.

Many people who had been with them for a long time were already used to it.

"Honk honk honk!" Liu Tianxian bent over, hands braced on her knees, laughing in spasms, out of breath, as if about to pass out.

Seeing her laugh so happily, the others around her couldn't help but laugh along too, all infected by Liu Tianxian.

The two had stopped chasing each other by now; Fang Hong once again asked the crew to check whether his Motion Capture Suit was worn properly.

To avoid discovering a problem only when filming started, which would mean reshooting, and that would be quite troublesome.

It wasn't easy to put on this time either, which was also the reason Xu Laoguai was unwilling to wait for that person.

"Clap clap clap, alright, everyone get to work, filming starts immediately." Xu Laoguai clapped his hands, signaling the crew's logistics staff to get ready.

So some handled the lighting, some set up the camera positions, arranged props, placed set pieces, controlled ambient noise, confirmed the actors' blocking—except that one spot which still couldn't be changed.

The script supervisor also checked Liu Tianxian's before-and-after makeup and styling, comparing the makeup from the previous shot with the next one about to be filmed, to see if there were any differences.

If there were, it had to be restored to the original.

This was to avoid continuity errors—the audience's eyes were very sharp.

Sometimes in films, between consecutive shots, the props might be placed differently or the characters might be standing in different positions; this is a matter of detail.

Take Zhou Xingchi's "Changjiang Qihao" for example—there were many obviously consecutive shots that contained plenty of continuity errors, which netizens had pulled out to mock for decades.

"Journey to the West" was the same way.

Getting ready to start filming, Liu Tianxian was still sitting in that ergonomic chair; Fang Hong, wearing a tight-fitting capture suit, had a camera mounted on his head, facing his face.

This way his facial expressions could be captured.

And around the two of them in the background was, of course, a green screen; underfoot was a small rocky stream—this was a pre-arranged set, combining the real with the virtual.

Because later Fang Hong had to imitate a monkey drinking water, and needed those realistic movements, a set was built for the shoot.

"Principal, can you imitate a monkey? Want to practice a demonstration?" Xu Laoguai stood behind the monitor.

"Sure, you demonstrate first."

Fang Hong had just said it casually, just joking around, but Xu Laoguai actually walked over to demonstrate the monkey movements for him.

These big-name directors really did have a different attitude.

Xu Laoguai squatted with his legs spread apart, leaned his body forward, placed both hands on the ground, scooped up the "water" from the ground, and brought it to his mouth to drink.

Of course this was fake drinking—he couldn't actually drink it.

Then he was seen pouting his lips, making a monkey's face, looking at the person in front of him with a bewildered, stupid expression, as if there really were someone there, then cautiously extending a finger.

"I think you're more suited to playing an ape than I am." Fang Hong laughed, saying the imitation was quite convincing.

Liu Tianxian also pressed her lips together in a smile, then held it in; she could laugh at Fang Hong all she wanted, but she still had great respect for Xu Laoguai—after all, he was a top-tier director.

"Principal, you flatter me. I'm just trying to get this wrapped up quickly. Do either of you have any issues?" Xu Laoguai looked at the two of them.

"No problem!"

"No problem, let's just go!"

The second line was said by Fang Hong. Xu Laoguai returned behind the monitor and signaled the script supervisor to get the clapperboard ready.

Seeing the two of them take their positions under the script supervisor's guidance, there was a sharp "clack": "Action!"

There was more than one script supervisor; some were in charge of the clapperboard, some recorded the shooting takes, and some, like the one just now, checked the actors' makeup or the on-site setup for any continuity errors.

The filming location was quiet. At the shooting spot, Fang Hong's whole body was covered in flashing diodes, his face densely dotted with them too; he squatted on the ground, his hands dangling down to the floor.

Like a wild monkey, he scooped at the stream in front of him with his hand, tilted his head back to drink, the movements realistic.

"Acting pretty well." Xu Laoguai said with a smile to Chen Zhixi beside him.

"Not bad!" Chen Zhixi had come back again, making a special trip to watch the Principal act as a monkey.

In the shot, Fang Hong saw a person appear out of thin air in front of him; his eyes revealed curiosity and bewilderment, along with a hint of ferocity. With a "hiss" of a roar, he was very angry that this person had barged into his territory.

Liu Tianxian saw how monkey-like he was and let out a "pfft," bursting into laughter.

"Cut!" Xu Laoguai called out.

"Sorry, Director, I really couldn't hold it in." Liu Tianxian waved her hand, looking embarrassed.

Fang Hong was also helpless—he had been acting just fine.

"No problem, one more time, starting from when you reach out your hand." Xu Laoguai said.

The previous shot was aimed at the "monkey"; the female lead had no frontal shot, only wide and side shots, so they could start from the finger reaching out.

Liu Tianxian composed herself; upon hearing "Action," she extended one finger.

Fang Hong gripped the ground with both hands, pushed his body forward with his legs, his eyes revealing a bewildered look, raising his hand as if wanting to touch but not daring to.

Finally, hesitantly, he touched that hand.

"Cut!"

Hearing that sound, Fang Hong thought it was over and stood up, only to hear Xu Laoguai say: "One more time."

"Why again?" Fang Hong was puzzled.

"Yifei, your eyes need to convey a kind of wisdom, a kind of maternal radiance. You have to think of yourself as a human mother, because you are thinking—this touch of yours is the origin of humankind." Xu Laoguai said.

"Okay, Director, I'll try again." Liu Tianxian gave Fang Hong an apologetic look, as if to say, this time it's not my fault.

Fang Hong was helpless once again, squatting on the ground imitating an ape.

Starting again, Liu Tianxian's gaze softened, she extended one finger, and the two of them touched.

"Cut! One more time, your eyes need a sense of depth, that's what makes it look wise." Xu Laoguai wanted to reshoot again.

Filming was like this—one shot might have to be taken dozens of times.

There was nothing to be done; Fang Hong had to squat on the ground and imitate a monkey again. He wished he hadn't taken the job.

"Cut!"

"Click!"

"."

After several attempts, Liu Tianxian still couldn't produce a deep gaze—she could only radiate tenderness, which was a quality unique to her.

But it had nothing to do with wisdom, and couldn't meet the director's requirements.

"Director, how about we try again?" Liu Tianxian said.

"Take a break. You can think it over." Xu Laoguai felt that shooting over and over wasn't the way to go—they needed to mull it over.

Liu Tianxian looked at Fang Hong, who was already sitting on the ground. He didn't want to get up anymore. After filming for so long, he'd thought it was just a simple shot, but they had filmed dozens of takes—he was exhausted!

"Won't you at least give me some ideas?" Liu Tianxian squatted in front of him.

"How could I give ideas? I myself have no wisdom, no depth—who knows if Xu Laoguai is doing it on purpose." Fang Hong had reason to suspect.

"How could that be? The female lead has already surpassed humanity—she must have her own way of thinking. What Xu Laoguai said is right." Liu Tianxian saw that the script was written exactly that way.

The female lead possesses a great love—a kind of "selfless great love"!

Fang Hong thought for a moment, felt her words made sense, and lowered his head in thought.

Liu Tianxian didn't disturb him either. The surrounding crew were all preparing for the next shoot. Xu Laoguai took a sip of water, also pondering the problem.

"Actually, a deep gaze doesn't necessarily mean wisdom. It can also be a kind of emotion—using the eyes to replace words.

Do you know Liang Chaowei? His eyes speak—they're very deep." Fang Hong said.

"I know him. And then?" Liu Tianxian didn't understand.

"Try conveying an emotion to me, speaking to me silently. Whether you love me, whether you miss me—just tell me with your eyes whatever you want to say. Give it a try." Fang Hong said, thinking it through.

(End of this chapter)