Chapter 214

The next morning, Liu Yifei came to the China Film Digital Base accompanied by her assistant and driver.

For Pacific Rim 2, the indoor scenes and effects shots were basically filmed here, then they went to various locations worldwide for outdoor shots, after which the filming was considered complete.

Post-production was mainly handled by Beautiful Times VFX Company, with only a small number of effects shots outsourced.

Of course, over 70% of the effects shots had to be completed using the "Super Microcomputer."

On set, Liu Yifei was radiant, no longer listless as the day before, and she warmly greeted anyone she recognized.

Seeing this, Huang Xiaoming was a bit puzzled and asked in a low voice, "You, did you confess?"

"No!"

"Then?"

Huang Xiaoming wanted to say, "Your state isn't right," but he wasn't sure whether he should say it.

Liu Yifei just smiled and didn't explain.

At her age, she doesn't really understand love, and she's easily influenced by family; Liu Xiaoli's words yesterday, though not quite "brainwashing," at least made her less "painful."

Megan Fox's words were full of feeling, deep and sincere.

The crew members looking at the model were all utterly shocked.

Especially when they saw Jiang Heng himself appear on set, they became even happier.

After all, she currently has no relationship with Jiang Heng, has no right to interfere in his private life, and shouldn't agonize over it!

All she can do now is interact normally and look for another chance!

Jiang Heng blinked, thinking to himself that this girl seemed a bit off, but he didn't think much of it.

Compared to the previous film, the biggest change in this movie is highlighting the abilities and role of the Chinese mecha "Storm Crimson Red" (the newly upgraded version).

Because the cockpit of "Storm Crimson Red" in Pacific Rim 1 was too weak, this version of the Chinese mecha suffers from "deficiency anxiety," being reinforced and thickened from top to bottom, inside and out, completely shifting from the agile style of the previous installment to a "powerful and heavy" style.

"Morning, ah!"

Once everyone for the first scene had gathered, filming began.

"Morning, uncle!"

In the film, "Storm Crimson Red" stands 107 meters tall, which in real life is roughly the height of a thirty-something-story building.

For Pacific Rim 2, Jiang Heng's shooting is somewhat conservative, mainly making various upgrades on the foundation of Pacific Rim 1 rather than introducing many innovations.

However, the reality is that in this world's Transformers 1, another female lead was chosen; in Transformers 2, it remained the original female lead from the first film, and inviting Megan Fox to appear was merely for a supporting role, so she naturally prioritized working with Jiang Heng's side.

Megan Fox cooed, "Dear, the mecha you designed is really too beautiful, cooler than Transformers. They had wanted to invite me to appear before, but I think they're your competitors, so how could I act in their films? I refused without even thinking!"

Lightning occasionally streaked across the horizon, further enhancing the apocalyptic atmosphere.

Therefore, the environmental background in the film is consistent, with the major battles basically breaking out at night or in rainy nights.

Jiang Heng also roughly figured out what was going on, smiling and saying, "That's really thanks to you!"

Wielding an extra-long "mo dao" as a weapon, he resembled an iron-made heavenly general descending to the mortal world.

The model on the shooting set was made at a 1:3 scale, standing 35.6 meters tall—over ten stories high—very imposing.

At the shooting base, when the crew members saw the new "Storm Crimson Red" model, they were all astonished, unable to close their mouths.

The first scene filmed had Storm Crimson Red battling a level-three monster, with one slash taking down a little friend.

Filming it was naturally tedious and not very interesting; after a day of work, there wasn't much progress.

Afterwards, it took a week to finish shooting that scene.

Throughout the film, there are mechs from five countries—China, the U. S., Russia, Japan, and Australia—each with its own solo combat scenes, plus there are sequences where all five mechs deploy together to battle the monsters in a group fight, making the filming truly laborious and tedious.

Fortunately, every ten days the crew gets a day off to let everyone catch their breath.

More than half of the actors in this film are from Hollywood, and they initially objected to the ten-days-on, one-day-off schedule, but after learning the specific circumstances here, they went along with local custom.

As for Megan Fox, she had no objections; during breaks in filming she would flock to Jiang Heng's side, being extremely enthusiastic.

During breaks, she also invited Jiang Heng to go shopping together, but he refused every time.

That afternoon, it was the day before the holiday again, and the crew's state was a bit lax, with one scene taking NG after NG, over ten times.

Finally, Jiang Heng was provoked and flew into a rage.

Huang Xiaoming was so frightened he was dumbfounded, not daring to speak at all.

Liu Yifei's courage was even smaller; her face turned pale.

On the other hand, Megan Fox boldly said, "Jiang, don't get angry; it's not entirely their fault either!"

Jiang Heng turned his head and snapped angrily, "Don't think that because I haven't scolded you, you're fine. This morning, how did you shoot? One NG after another. I held back my anger, yet you guys aren't the slightest bit aware!"

The set fell silent as cicadas in winter, with not a single person daring to speak.

Megan Fox, having been scolded, wasn't angry; instead she giggled and said, "Is it that after you vented your anger on me, you feel much better? Got any fire left to shoot at me?"

She said this in Chinese, but because her tone wasn't very standard, it sounded weird to hear.

Yet the hidden meaning in her words was understood by many.

Some muttered under their breath, "This foreign girl is so open—she can say something that blatant in front of all these people," while Liu Yifei silently cursed her as shameless.

Many more were envious of Jiang Heng's romantic fortune.

Speaking of which, upon hearing that, Jiang Heng could no longer keep a straight face.

He let out a cold snort and said, "Rest twenty minutes, then we'll shoot again!" After saying that, he returned to his own resting room.

When Jiang Heng's receding figure disappeared from everyone's sight, the crew finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Someone remarked, "When Director Jiang gets angry, it's really frightening!"

"Yeah, it feels like being suppressed by bloodline!"

"What do you guys say, what exactly is the relationship between Megan and Director Jiang?"

"What kind of relationship could there be? Lovers, a crew couple? Anyway, it's certainly not an ordinary male-female relationship!"

Those who can work on the Pacific Rim 2 crew are all people with some fame in the Chinese-language entertainment circle, having seen all sorts of "crew couples" plenty of times, so they're long used to it.

Ah, Director Jiang really has good fortune with beautiful women, such a sexy Hollywood star!

Liu Yifei is also very beautiful!

Only kids do multiple choice; adults definitely want both!

While they were talking, Megan Fox had already quietly come to Jiang Heng's resting room, wanting to push the door open, only to find the door was bolted.

After knocking twice with no response, she could only leave helplessly.

As she left, she muttered, "There's actually such a conservative director in the mainland entertainment industry, and he's a special-effects blockbuster director—it's unimaginable. If he were in Hollywood, he'd be an uncrowned king!"

Returning to the set, after twenty minutes had passed, Jiang Heng finally sauntered over.

As a result, this time went smoothly; he passed in one take.

Seeing that the time was about up, Jiang Heng gave the crew the day off.

The cast and crew all drove back to Jingcheng, while Megan Fox approached Jiang Heng and said in a coquettish voice, "Director Jiang, can I catch a ride with you later? I have something important to tell you!"

(End of chapter)