Chapter 640

After the power-on ceremony, filming began immediately.

The story's setting is on the Pangu Continent plain on Mars; Pangu Continent is the name given to it.

Since this movie must have Chinese cultural characteristics, it naturally needed a name fitting Chinese culture for one of Mars's continents.

This continent has low elevation and a pitted terrain, so astronomers believe it was once an ocean or glacier, giving it high scientific value.

In short, it's about sending six astronauts to dig up soil and bring it back to Earth for research.

The terrain will be filmed using drones.

The protagonist played by Liu Tianxian is the lowest-ranked among the six astronauts, with no decision-making authority—she can only make decisions if she's the last one alive.

That is, while carrying out their mission on Mars, they encountered a Storm, an accident occurred, and Liu Tianxian was struck on the head by a lid, left alone on Mars.

Her teammates assumed she was dead, but she wasn't—she was half-buried in reddish-brown Martian regolith.

The plot begins filming here, capturing Liu Tianxian's solo survival on Mars, followed by scenes of the others encountering the Storm.

That sequence is difficult to shoot and requires filming inside a studio.

At this moment, the crew is setting up the scene: after the Storm, machines scattered everywhere, debris everywhere.

Fang Hong, wearing a baseball cap, is here with art director Li Anran, cinematographer Liu Yin, visual effects designer Chen Xiuwei, and assistant director Shen Ao, inspecting the terrain and simulating shooting angles.

"The color palette on Mars should be primarily orange-red, rust-colored, and warm brown—do you think it's shootable?" Fang Hong asked Liu Yin.

"It's shootable; we can adjust it later," Liu Yin said.

Fang Hong nodded, looked around at the environment, and discussed the visual style for filming with them.

Then he checked whether the other recording equipment, lighting gear, tracks, jibs, lifts, and monitors had been properly set up.

Shooting a scene is complicated—it requires many preparations and a lot of equipment to be assembled.

But everything proceeds in an orderly fashion; his filming team is The Ace, a unit he'd trained for six years.

At this moment, Liu Tianxian is getting her hair cut, trimming her long hair into a short style.

Because she believes female astronauts all have short hair.

She's seen Chinese female astronauts like that—each with neat, practical short hair.

The ones from the United States aren't so strict about it.

"Miss Xixi, cutting off such beautiful hair—don't you feel sorry?" the female hairstylist said behind her, scissors in hand.

One snip, and her flowing long hair fell away!

"Sorry for what? It'll grow back," Liu Tianxian didn't care at all as her dark locks were cut.

"Won't you feel like you've lost your image? Your fans will unfollow you," the hairstylist said.

"I'm doing this for the role, to match its needs—they'll understand," Liu Tianxian said.

If they don't understand, let them unfollow.

The hairstylist asked again. "What about the Principal? Does he agree?"

"He agrees—he supports me," Liu Tianxian said, having merely informed Fang Hong, without seeking his approval.

Actually, her hair could've been tied up, but Liu Tianxian wanted to cut it.

"I'm so envious—you have a husband who supports you so much. I think the Principal is a great person too, but people keep spreading rumors about him cheating and you two divorcing—it's all deliberate lies," the hairstylist puffed out her cheeks, clearly indignant.

They're clearly fine together, yet people keep slandering them.

On the internet, articles like this pop up constantly, claiming Fang Hong is having an affair.

Rumors and little essays circulate, written with vivid detail, saying Liu Tianxian endures humiliation for resources, that the Principal's power is too great, forcing her to stay by his side.

"It's all for traffic—let them do what they want," Liu Tianxian didn't care.

"Miss Xixi, you're so generous—if anyone else, they'd have gotten angry and sued," the hairstylist said.

"What else can I do? I can't shut everyone's mouth. I'm angry too, but I have to stay calm—I'm a public figure," Liu Tianxian said.

The hairstylist held up a mirror before her. "Miss Xixi, how does this look?"

"It's fine, thank you," Liu Tianxian brushed her hair to the right, satisfied.

After cutting her hair, she changed into her outfit—a spacesuit, similar to the Astronaut Suit from Gravity, but this time more form-fitting, no longer bulky.

After all, she'll be moving around in it, not floating in space, so it's quite detailed.

An Astronaut Suit differs from a spacesuit—it's more complex in structure and function, designed to protect astronauts from space debris, high-energy radiation, and extreme temperatures.

This is also one reason the protagonist survives.

Astronaut Suits are primarily used during crewed spacecraft transit.

For this scene, a metal rod must be inserted into the "abdomen" of her spacesuit—the plot is that the rod pierces the suit and embeds in her "abdomen," disabling the life monitor.

The metal rod is the antenna from the lid; it doesn't need to be inserted into her body, just attached to the spacesuit.

Several crew members dressed Liu Tianxian in the spacesuit; one female crew member knelt on the ground and applied a red, viscous substance to the spot on her "abdomen" where the rod would be inserted.

The detail is this: the protagonist bleeds heavily from her abdomen; the "blood" seeps along the antenna into the leaky seam, and Mars's low-pressure environment thickens the blood, plugging the gap—allowing her to survive.

The logic for her survival on Mars holds up.

As Liu Tianxian was putting on the spacesuit and applying the "abdominal" makeup, Fang Hong walked up to them from nearby.

Seeing Liu Tianxian's short hair, looking like a tomboy, he frowned: "You…"

"What? Doesn't it look good?" Liu Tianxian wasn't wearing a helmet.

"Looks good, looks good," Fang Hong nodded.

Actually, he wasn't used to it—he still preferred her with long, flowing hair; short hair lost her ethereal aura.

But it carried another kind of quality—an artistic one.

"This is better—now you won't have to press down on my hair anymore," Liu Tianxian teased.

Others heard this and found it deeply meaningful, smiling awkwardly—Liu Tianxian really says anything, so blunt.

Fang Hong gave her a silent look and said nothing.

This is something that only happens when two people sleep in the same bed.

"Xixi has finished everything; I'll put the helmet on you now." The costume team leader pulled out the glass helmet of the spacesuit and moved to place it on her head.

"Give it to me; I'll put it on her." Fang Hong stepped forward, took the glass helmet, and gently smoothed the hair at Liu Tianxian's temples.

Liu Tianxian smiled, her eyes bright as water.

Fang Hong slowly placed the glass helmet on her, then tapped her head with a "Bong!" and turned to walk away.

"Hey, you're something else," Liu Tianxian called after him, tapping his shoulder.

Fang Hong didn't mind; he asked with concern, "How's it? Hot?"

"It's fine, just a bit stuffy—I can handle it," Liu Tianxian said she was okay.

Although the Western Regions were cool, the Gobi Desert offered no shade and was still scorching; the gravel beneath their feet radiated heat, and the sand beneath the surface was so hot that placing a hand on it burned.

"Keep going!" Fang Hong raised his fist.

"Yeah! Keep going!" Liu Tianxian seemed encouraged.

All the crew's preparations were complete; Fang Hong picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "All departments to your positions—preparing to shoot today's first scene."

There, under the assistant director Shen Ao's guidance, Liu Tianxian buried half her body and her head in the gravel.

She was wearing the helmet, so it was fine; nearby crew members sprinkled gravel over her body, creating the aftermath scene after the Storm.

"Yifei, when you wake up, your oxygen is low, and your abdomen is injured."

Shen Ao crouched down and gave her a brief rehearsal, then added, "If any sand gets into your suit and it feels uncomfortable, say so."

The gravel was very hot; they feared she couldn't endure it, given she was a pampered rich girl.

Liu Tianxian nodded slightly without speaking; she truly felt the gravel's searing heat, but this scene was shot during daytime anyway—she could push through.

In the Western Regions, sand can reach up to seventy degrees; forty degrees is normal. Don't be fooled by the air not feeling hot—the sand, under constant sunlight, is extremely hot.

It also hits hard stones, and they're prickly.

Shen Ao stood up, gave Fang Hong an "OK" gesture, and everyone stepped back, leaving only Liu Tianxian alone.

The camera arm moved through the air; Liu Yin personally operated the first shot.

"Action!" Fang Hong called out.

"Scene 36, Shot 1!"

The clapperboard snapped sharply—"Clack!"—then pulled away.

This wasn't the first scene's shot; much of the earlier plot had been skipped—they began shooting from Scene 36.

During editing, they would sort the plot by scene and shot numbers, using the labels to reconstruct the narrative coherently.

"Shot X" means the same shot is filmed multiple times.

On the monitor, Liu Tianxian stirred awake, breathing heavily inside the helmet, her face twisted in pain as she felt the ache in her abdomen; she let out a pained cry.

In the original version, there was a mechanical "Ding! Ding!" alarm and robotic voice prompts.

Those sounds were added in post-production; they weren't present now.

Liu Tianxian gasped for breath, struggled to her feet, and the gravel slid off her body.

"Bong!"

A thin wire snapped taut, pulling the lid off a large pot nearby.

And the wound on the iron skewer through her abdomen.

"Ah!" Liu Tianxian let out a piercing scream; her standing body was jerked into a half-kneeling position.

Watching her performance, everyone around felt the pain.

Behind the monitor, Fang Hong sat with one leg crossed over the other, his chin propped on one hand, watching silently.

Liu Tianxian's acting had improved; after years of filming so many roles and being guided by so many elite directors, she wasn't like some directors who only cared about making money.

They didn't care whether you acted well or not.

"Huh! Huh!" Liu Tianxian breathed heavily to ease the pain, pulled a small knife from her waist, and cut the wire.

Then she stood and walked toward the distant base.

"Cut!"

Fang Hong called out, the crew stopped, and he walked up to Liu Tianxian and said, "When you walk, step heavy on one foot, light on the other."

"Like this?" Liu Tianxian mimicked it, took two steps, limping like an old person.

"No—you're injured on your left abdomen, so walk like this: slightly bend your waist, keep your left foot light, your right foot heavy." Fang Hong demonstrated.

He held his left abdomen, stepped heavily with one foot and lightly with the other, appearing to limp.

But not from weakness—rather, it gave the impression of injury.

"Understood?" Fang Hong walked two steps, then returned.

"Understood!" Liu Tianxian nodded, getting it.

Through movement, convey her condition: stranded on Mars, injured, starting with everything falling apart.

"Let's go again from the beginning—this scene requires patience," Fang Hong said, then returned to the monitor to continue filming.

Liu Tianxian nodded firmly and began again from the start.

Although her previous performance was good, it hadn't yet reached the depth of pain and suffering; repeating it several times would help her sink deeper into the emotion.

Later, they could pick the best take and edit it together.

(End of Chapter)