Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 199 Cross-Sea Route, Seamless Meshing of Heavy Industry Gears

It's 11 p.m. at the Beijing Capital International Airport cargo area.

Three unmarked vans were turned off and sat quietly in the shadows of tarmac number seven.

The autumn night wind was sharp, whipping up discarded packaging paper from the ground and dragging it across the rough asphalt with a screeching sound.

Not far away, a Boeing 747 freighter bound for Tokyo was undergoing its final pre-flight checks. The low-frequency roar of its engines drowned out the wind, sending shivers down one's spine.

Lin Shufen's trusted third brother, wearing an ill-fitting airport ground staff reflective vest, was directing several workers to move twenty silver aluminum film cans from the vehicle onto a hydraulic lifting platform.

These film canisters, with customs declarations for precision optical instruments affixed to their outer packaging, were carefully mixed in with a batch of medical equipment soon to be exported.

"Be careful! If you bump or scratch anything, you can't afford to pay for it!"

The third brother kept his voice hushed, squeezed tight by the roar of the engine.

The lift rose silently, delivering the special cargo into the cold belly of the cargo plane.

The hatch closed, and the third brother retreated to the safety line, took out an old Nokia phone, and quickly typed a text message on the keypad before sending it.

The goods have been launched.

Shougang Third Factory, Director's Lounge.

Chen Yan looked at the four words that lit up on his phone screen and casually tossed the phone onto the table.

The first step was successful.

The next 24 hours will be a high-stakes gamble involving technology, time, and trust.

The following afternoon at 3 PM.

The photography studio was like a sauna, with more than a dozen high-powered lights making the air scorching hot.

Richard Taylor sat by the monitor, a can of ice-cold Coke in his hand, sweat dripping down his blond hair.

He looked at Chen Yan, who was directing the actors' movements in the set, and complained in a low voice to the special effects assistant beside him in English.

"This goes against all the processes of the film industry."

He shook the Coke can in his hand; the can was slippery with sweat.

"Without sample footage, it's like driving a Formula One car blindfolded."

"If the exposure is even half a size off, all the special effects pre-visualization models we made before will become a bunch of useless code."

The deputy shrugged and wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel.

"Gambling, pure and simple gambling."

It was exactly 4 p.m.

The heavy doors of the photography studio were pushed open from the outside, and a beam of light shone in.

Holding a portable hard drive, Su Wan walked quickly to the monitor in her high heels, the sound of her heels hitting the concrete floor echoing in the studio.

"The news has come back from Tokyo."

Su Wan handed the hard drive to Zhang Yuan.

"High-voltage satellite link, just finished downloading."

The hissing sound of the welding torch stopped, and the static in the walkie-talkie also disappeared.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and dozens of eyes fell on the black hard drive.

Zhang Yuan swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling dry.

He stretched out his hand, but his fingers were not quite obeying his commands.

The hard drive is connected to the monitor host, the mouse cursor moves on the screen, and the folder is opened.

It contains a high-precision scanned digital sample video stream.

"Director Chen."

Zhang Yuan turned his head, and his voice changed.

Chen Yan walked over, pulled out the director's chair, and sat down.

"put."

Zhang Yuan's chest heaved slightly as he pressed the Enter key.

The monitor screen flickered and the image popped up.

That was a blind shot taken yesterday afternoon of the interior of the underground city's engine control room.

Lin Qingqiu, wearing heavy exoskeleton armor, stood in front of the cold control panel.

A 12K dysprosium lamp shone down from her side and behind, cutting a sharp, chilling outline of light across her body.

Richard Taylor's Coke can was squeezed out of shape.

In the image, the dark areas are not completely black; the metal pipes and rust textures below the control panel are clearly visible.

The cool white fluorescent tubes provide just the right amount of backlighting, perfectly outlining the cold, mechanical feel.

In the highlights, the lens was overexposed by half a stop, and the halo of the HSP lamp produced a slight glare at the edge of the lens, creating a realistic yet dazzling sense of industrial oppression.

The focus was perfect; even under the macro lens, you could see tiny beads of sweat clinging to Lin Qingqiu's trembling eyelashes.

"My God..."

Richard rushed to the monitor, his blue eyes bloodshot, and almost pressed his face against the screen.

"This...this doesn't conform to the principles of optics."

He turned to look at Chen Yan, sweat still dripping from his face.

"Without a light meter or a gray card test, how did you calculate this light ratio?"

Chen Yan raised his finger and pointed to his temple.

"experience."

He answered in fluent English, his gaze still fixed on the monitor.

"When you spend 20,000 hours on set, the refractive index of light will be etched into your retina."

Chen Yan turned his head to look at Richard.

"Richard, can we use the special effects tracking points?"

Richard took a step back, looked at Chen Yan, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

He nodded vigorously.

"Perfect contrast!"

"The color temperature of the green screen is controlled at 5600K, and there is no color overflow at the edges."

"Vita's algorithm can directly capture these highlight points as three-dimensional spatial coordinates."

Richard crunched the cola can in his palm.

"Chen, you're not a genius, you're a devil."

Zhang Yuan's legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground with a thud, looking as if he had been pulled out of the water.

In those 24 hours, he felt like he had aged ten years.

Now, the sample photos prove everything.

Blind shooting, and it's done.

"Wang Yuanchao."

Chen Yan picked up the walkie-talkie and kept a steady tone in his voice.

"exist!"

Wang Yuanchao's rough voice came through the walkie-talkie, with the sizzling sound of welding in the background.

"What's the actual progress of the No. 1 blast furnace?"

"The robotic arm's hydraulic system has just finished testing! The gears on the control console are engaged! It's ready to start operating at any time!"

"The entire crew will be transferred to Blast Furnace No. 1."

Chen Yan stood up and glanced at everyone on set.

"Today, let's ignite the engine."

After a brief pause, the massive film crew's machinery began to run again with even greater power.

Inside the No. 1 blast furnace, the originally abandoned steelmaking furnace has been transformed into the core combustion chamber of the planetary engine.

A massive metal gear, reaching a height of thirty meters, slowly rotated under the drive of a servo motor, emitting a deafening metallic friction sound.

Lin Qingqiu was suspended in mid-air by wires, holding a thick hydraulic cable in her hand.

Chen Yan stood on the elevator, looking down at the entire industrial wonder.

"Camera, track."

"Lights, full matrix on."

"Action!"

Gears turn, lights flash, and the ruggedness of heavy industry and the refinement of cinematic art mesh seamlessly at this moment.

At the same time, in Beijing, at the Beijing Hotel.

Inside the banquet hall, crystal chandeliers refracted dazzling light, and well-dressed men and women, holding champagne glasses, moved about amidst whispers and flashing lights.

The red carpet stretched from the main entrance all the way to the podium.

Li Jianguo, dressed in a bespoke suit and holding a glass of champagne, moved with ease among various media outlets and investors.

Today is the release conference for the first trailer of "A Better Tomorrow".

He booked the entire banquet hall and used a grand ceremony to announce the absolute dominance of the five major cinema chains to the entire industry.

At the main table, Director Zhang was surrounded by a group of reporters.

"Director Zhang, I heard that the action choreography this time has returned to traditional freehand aesthetics?"

A reporter held up a recording pen and asked.

"right."

Director Zhang wore a polite smile.

"We used a lot of aerial wire work and ink-wash style set design."

"Martial arts are all about spirit and artistic conception."

"This is not the same kind of fast-food movie that relies on computer-generated special effects."

Li Jianguo walked onto the stage, cleared his throat, and tapped the microphone.

"Dear friends from the media, thank you for coming."

His voice resonated throughout the venue via the sound system.

"Next, please enjoy the world's first trailer for 'A Better Tomorrow'."

The lobby lights dimmed, and the huge LED screen lit up.

Amidst the melodious sounds of the guqin, Zhang Man, dressed in red, soared above the verdant bamboo forest, suspended by wires, her long sword thrusting out, sending up a flurry of green leaves.

The visuals are beautiful and the colors are vibrant, showcasing the textbook style of the fifth generation of directors.

The reporters below the stage skillfully raised their cameras, and the flashes went off everywhere.

This is a standard big-budget production, but it's just a standard big-budget production.

Li Jianguo stood to the side of the stage, watching the screen with satisfaction.

This is what Chinese films should be like.

He turned to his assistant and asked.

"How's Chen Yan doing?"

The assistant leaned close to his ear.

"The entire printing and photo processing plant is under lockdown. They've been shut down at Shougang for two days now, and the money they're burning through every day is astronomical."

"Rumors are circulating in the industry that his funding is about to run out."

Li Jianguo's lips twitched slightly.

"Young man, you don't know your own limitations."

"Let him rot in that scrap yard."

Just then.

In the back row of the banquet hall, an entertainment reporter's cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

He glanced down and saw it was a text message from the newspaper's editor-in-chief.

Go online now! Check out the official website of CCTV Movie Channel! It's the top story! Hurry!

The reporter paused for a moment, not understanding, and then opened the mobile browser.

The webpage loaded slowly, and when the red logo of CCTV Movie Channel and a bold headline popped up, he almost dropped his wine glass.