"It can't be. The entire scene won't be this precise, right?"
"How much money would this set, props, and special effects cost?"
Lu Xiaoping was very confused because the details of Mission and Choice had far exceeded his expectations!
Lu Xiaoping had heard some rumors that Tengda had invested a huge sum of money into the new movie, but he had only heard it casually and did not take it seriously.
That was because bragging was the norm in the industry.
It was just like the ancient armies. 100,000 people could be bragged to 500,000. In any case, they would brag about the number first and deceive as many people as they could.
A movie would cost a huge sum of money to buy IP and hire big-name actors. Then, they would add in publicity and marketing funds. They said that they had invested a few hundred million yuan, but in fact, not much money was actually used on the production of the movie.
Lu Xiaoping had originally thought that Mission and Choice was just a domestically-produced sci-fi movie. The ceiling of domestically-produced sci-fi movies had always been there. It was not high at all.
However, Lu Xiaoping was very confused now.
Was this really a domestically-produced movie?
The details were no different from those Hollywood blockbusters that had spent a lot of money!
Could it be that Mission and Choice had really saved all the money for the IP, the salaries of the big-name actors, and the publicity funds? Had they really thrown all the money into the production of the movie?
Lu Xiaoping only had one thought at the thought of this possibility: Crazy!
This was not just a risk, it was suicide!
If it were any other production team doing this, it would be no different from courting death. Of course, the production team could not do this because the investors would definitely not agree.
However, Tengda was different.
Obviously, Fei Huang Workspace was not committing suicide. They dared to do so because they had strong confidence in the movie Mission and Choice. They believed that it could beat all the games in the same slot and break out of the encirclement even without regular publicity!
Lu Xiaoping realized that there was a huge problem with his judgment!
Previously, he had thought that Mission and Choice had moved up because they were not confident and wanted to avoid the Golden Week schedule. However, he now realized how was that possible?
With the quality of this film, it would probably be able to kill everyone during the Golden Week. How could it be afraid of Greyhound?
Things were not looking good …
Lu Xiaoping continued to read with an extremely perturbed heart.
…
The following plot could be said to be full of twists and turns and climaxes one after another. There was no turning point in the entire process, and it was full of all kinds of twists and turns, which was too much for the audience to take in.
The story of the entire movie revolved around Qin Yi's character. The audience's emotions were also affected by Qin Yi's character.
Although it was a one-man show, Lu Zhiyao played the role well with his acting skills and successfully completed the task of stirring up the audience's emotions.
The whole story can be roughly divided into the following parts:
In the first stage, Qin Yicheng became the commander. Through the simulated battle, he understood the scene of the humans' defeat against the Zergs. He understood the need for the commander to communicate with Ansible, accepted the position of commander, and trained seriously.
In the second stage, Qin Yi began to simulate training after familiarizing himself with the operation of the control panel. Everything was going smoothly at first, but the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse after adding the 'realistic elements'. The human army was defeated. In order to increase his winning rate, Qin Yi slowly became used to accepting AEEIS's data and suggestions. He gradually became an emotionless commanding machine.
In the third stage, Qin Yi saw the scene of the AS-371-45 team that he was originally in carrying out the mission and finally made the same decision as the former commander. Qin Yi finally understood the former commander's actions in the midst of conflict and struggle. He made many painful choices in order to win.
In the fourth stage, everyone thought that Qin Yi was ready, but in exchange, he was slapped in the face even more ferociously in reality. In the final battle's deduction, humans still retreated step by step even if they followed AEEIS's suggestion.
Qin Yi almost fell into a state of collapse. He no longer believed that humans could win this war. No matter whether they lied or not, no matter what kind of command method they used, they could not win the war.
In the fifth stage, Qin Yi realized that it was wrong to use cold data to measure everyone's value. The original command method had indeed improved the combat efficiency to a certain extent, but it was impossible to use the Zergs' tactics to fight the Zergs and turn all the soldiers into cold machines. Thus, Qin Yi chose to tell all the soldiers the truth. He used a speech in a desperate situation to reignite everyone's faith, and the war turned for the better.
In the sixth stage, the high-intensity thinking made Qin Yi's body overwhelmed. He felt the consciousness of the Zergs in his coma. The Zerg Queen showed him the truth of the past. It turned out that the war between humans and Zergs was started by humans. The Zerg Queen's behavior in the Zergs was to try to communicate with Qin Yi. However, she only succeeded now.
On the surface, Qin Yi made a move to reconcile, but in fact, he deceived the Zerg Queen and carried out the decapitation operation, directly establishing the victory.
In the seventh stage, Qin Yi, who thought that the war was over and wanted to retreat, was betrayed. The command ship he was on rushed into the swarm of Zergs to commit suicide. However, he did not expect that he, who had the consciousness of the Zergs, would become the new brain of the Zergs after all the secondary queens were beheaded.
At the end of the movie, there were actually two suspense.
The first suspense was, was it the executive committee or AEEIS who decided to betray Qin Yi?
AEEIS's words to Qin Yi pushed all the blame to the Supreme Executive Committee, creating a feeling of 'the cunning rabbit is dead, the hound is cooked'. However, in the Supreme Executive Committee meeting, AEEIS said that Qin Yi was the one who took the initiative to die, and the committee members were very regretful.
There were obviously two possibilities: one was that AEEIS had lied to both Qin Yi and the Supreme Executive Committee, and killed a human military genius without any effort, clearing the way for itself to take over the entire human army in the future. The other was that a portion of the Supreme Executive Committee had instructed AEEIS and pretended to act.
These two possibilities were hinting at the two different sequels of the future 'Mechanical Crisis' or 'Civil War'.
The second suspense was that Qin Yi, who was in the Leviathan Beast's body, had inherited the consciousness of the Zergs. His body had also been modified by the Zergs and turned into a special life form. He was a soldier and had natural loyalty to humans, but he had suffered the most shameful betrayal.
Would Qin Yi choose to lead the Zergs for revenge? Or would he take a different path? Could he still be called a human? How would he understand himself?
Obviously, these contents could only be revealed in the future.
…
The grand scene of the interstellar war was too much for the audience to take in. Some people were even immersed in this shock and forgot to exclaim.
From the defeat of humans when they encountered the Zergs at the beginning, to the small-scale simulated training, and then to the large-scale battle in the vast starry sky and on the surface of the planet …
All the war scenes in the movie were gradual and constantly escalating. The audience followed Captain Qin Yi from weak to strong, witnessing the grand war between humans and Zergs in space step by step.
What shocked Lu Xiaoping was that while the special effects of this movie were very cool, it was obviously not just special effects.
This movie was also very well done in terms of storytelling and stirring up the audience's emotions!
On the whole, the war scenes in the movie were constantly escalating, but the emotional tone of each stage was constantly fluctuating. It was like a wave line. There were peaks and valleys, showing a spiral state of fluctuations that was completely unfathomable.
Other movies often showed these contents through the conflict between characters. For example, when they were in a dilemma, the members of a team with different personalities would propose different solutions. The intense debate would make the audience in front of the screen frustrated. In the end, when everyone's opinions were unified and they overcame the difficulties, the audience would feel that their emotions had been released.
This was a common trick in many literary works. It might be old-fashioned, but it was easy to use and there was no risk.
However, in 'Mission and Choice', Lu Zhiyao had single-handedly supported the emotional tone of the movie through his own performance and the cold artificial intelligence electronic voice, AEEIS!
This feeling reminded Lu Xiaoping of a monologue movie from two years ago. It was about the protagonist who was buried alive in a coffin in the desert. Throughout the process, he kept exploring and using all kinds of props around him to survive. In the end, he thought that dawn had arrived, but all he got was despair.
In that movie, it was also the protagonist's one-man show the entire time, but it brought continuous suspense to the audience. The unique perspective, superb camera, and twists and turns of the plot allowed the movie to achieve a box office miracle that year. It earned 20 million US dollars at a cost of 3 million US dollars. It was a huge success.
On the other hand, 'Mission and Choice' was similar to this movie to a certain extent.
The protagonists of both movies were trapped in a small space. Facing an unknown fate, they were all trying their best to fight. They might have failed time and time again, but they were still indomitable.
They had withstood the test of acting skills in a one-man show. They had supported the emotional context of the entire movie by themselves. What's more, they had allowed the audience to perfectly enter the movie.
The difficulty of such a performance was very high. It was like a huge gamble where all the chips were placed on the same round. Once they succeeded, they would earn a lot. However, once they failed, it would mean that they would lose everything.
The difference between the two was the difference in emotional tone.
The protagonist who was buried alive was in a coffin. It was extremely narrow. The despair he endured came from both mental and physical devastation. The audience was the same as the protagonist. Their perspective was severely limited. They were in a cramped, depressed, and desperate state the entire time.
Qin Yi might be in the space capsule, but he could see the real situation around him through the holographic image of the cabin wall. His vision was not restricted at all. The despair he endured was more of a kind of mental devastation, the pain of bearing the fate of mankind alone.
These two performances were a severe test of acting skills, but Lu Zhiyuan's performance seemed to be more difficult.
That was because most of the despair Qin Yi endured came from his spirit. The entire setting and environment could not play much of a foil to his emotions. At that moment, they had to place all their hopes on Lu Zhiyuan's performance if they wanted to mobilize the players' emotions.
Fortunately, Lu Zhiyuan completed the mission very well and gave his most perfect acting skills since his debut.
It even made Lu Xiaoping feel that he was not looking at Lu Zhiyuan, but another person, or perhaps … Captain Qin Yi himself!
Ever since he finished Tomorrow is Beautiful, Lu Zhiyuan's acting skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
Previously, many people had criticized Lu Zhiyao for being 'poison in the box office' and 'overexerting his acting skills'. However, from Tomorrow is Beautiful to Mission and Choice, Lu Zhiyao's acting skills seemed to be constantly improving. He had gone from being extroverted to being reserved. Those exaggerated expressions had all disappeared. Replacing them were more delicate psychology and meticulously designed micro-expressions. His entire person seemed to have completely integrated into the character!
In the last scene of the movie, Qin Yi woke up in the incubation pool in the Leviathan Beast's body. His eyes suddenly opened, and the camera gave him a close-up.
There seemed to be too many complicated emotions in his eyes.
In fact, there was also such a close-up at the beginning of the movie. However, Qin Yi had woken up from the hibernation cabin at that time. At the end, he had woken up in the incubation pool in the Leviathan Beast's body.
The two eyes seemed to have something in common, but the background, the protagonist's appearance, subtle expressions, and especially the eyes were worlds apart.
The hibernation cabin and the incubation pool were like a womb. This scene obviously symbolized Qin Yi's new life.
However, in these two lives, Qin Yi played the role of the human commander and the Heart of the Zergs.
Just like the beginning of the movie, this expression lasted for a few seconds at the end before the next scene cut to the next scene.
His thoughts spread rapidly in the universe. All the larvae in the incubation pool surrounded him, becoming an extension of his consciousness.
Then, the camera quickly pulled up to the universe outside the Leviathan Beast's body. This terrifying Zerg that was drifting aimlessly in the universe suddenly opened its eyes and sped up into the endless starry sky!
A large number of Zergs followed behind the Leviathan Beast, disappearing into the depths of the screen like a comet with a long tail.
The movie ended there, and the list of cast members appeared on the big screen.
The ending song sounded. It was an impassioned battle song, describing the scene of a soldier about to set off and step onto the battlefield.
This song should have been very exciting, but the scene that accompanied it was the scene of human soldiers cleaning up the mess and the Leviathan Beast carrying Qin Yi and finally disappearing into space. This made the song inexplicably filled with an inexplicable sense of sadness.
The lights in the cinema lit up with a click.
Many audience members woke up from their dreams. Exclamations of 'holy sh * t' and 'awesome' could be heard endlessly!
"F * ck, that's too awesome!"
"I really didn't expect this ending!"
"I can't get enough of it. This ticket is so worth it!"
When the premiere of Tomorrow is Beautiful ended, most of the audience did not understand but felt that it was awesome.
That was because Tomorrow is Beautiful's performance on many key issues was rather obscure. As a drama film, there were not many memorable scenes. One would feel a little stifled after watching it. One would have to read the reviews and savor it carefully in order to read the deeper meaning.
However, Mission and Choice was a true popcorn film. The entire process was filled with all sorts of big scenes of space wars. Emotions went up and down like a roller coaster. There were lows and peaks, giving people an extremely exciting emotional experience.
Thus, after watching Mission and Choice, most of the audience could only summarize it with one word: 'awesome'!
This kind of impact on the senses was more direct and intense. Especially Qin Yi's gaze in the last scene, coupled with the ending song, allowed the audience's emotions to be finally released. It felt great to the peak, but at the same time, it made people reminisce for a long time.
The audience stood up one after another and could not wait to share their viewing experiences with their companions around them.
"It's too awesome! The special effects of domestic sci-fi movies can actually reach such a level? It's really comparable to Hollywood blockbusters! I was dazzled the entire time. There was no drama at all! "
"Tengda's films are indeed awesome! They will never disappoint! "
"It's not too much to invest a few hundred million yuan in publicity for this film, right? It's a pity that there's not enough publicity and the number of screenings is not high. "
"It doesn't matter. Why wouldn't a film of this quality be popular?"
"Qin Yi's treatment in the end was really too exciting. I thought it would be a cliché plot of different species shaking hands and building a beautiful universe together. It was so comfortable!"
"The acting is really good. I feel like Boss Pei has the instruction manual. Previously, it was poison in the box office. Now, his acting skills have improved visibly. He really feels like a movie king!"
The audience was full of praise. Obviously, the actual effect of this movie far exceeded their expectations!
Most of the audience did not have too many unrealistic expectations even though they watched the movie for different reasons.
Everyone knew what the state of domestically-produced sci-fi movies was. If the producer of Mission and Choice was not Tengda but some other company, even if it was a very rich company, the audience would not have come to watch the midnight show as guinea pigs.
That was because no company could garner as much trust from the audience as Tengda.
What's more, there was not much publicity for this movie to begin with. Most of the audience felt that this might be a 'small but beautiful' film. In other words, there were many advantages, but the disadvantages would also be very obvious.
However, after watching the movie, they realized that it was not the case at all. This movie far exceeded everyone's expectations in every aspect!
This mentality had also raised the audience's evaluation of Mission and Choice.
This was just like going to a restaurant to eat. If it was a restaurant that had a lot of good reviews online, the customers might feel that it was difficult to live up to its reputation. However, if they were to eat it in a nameless shop in a small alley, the customers would definitely be pleasantly surprised and unforgettable!
Lu Xiaoping and the person-in-charge of the publicity for Greyhound did not stand up immediately like the other audience. Instead, they fell silent.
The two of them had not spoken a single word since the beginning of the movie.
The person-in-charge was shocked by this movie. He had been sleepy at first, but now he was very excited, especially the last scene that lingered in his mind. The image could not dissipate.
Mission and Choice might be a competitive movie, and the better it performed, the worse the situation of Greyhound would be. However, the person-in-charge was not in the mood to consider this for the time being. That was because he had been completely conquered by this movie. He only admired it from the bottom of his heart!
After a long time, the person-in-charge said, "There should be … no more Easter eggs, right?"
Lu Xiaoping nodded silently. "Hmm … maybe."
The person-in-charge said, "Then, Boss Lu, shall we go?"
Lu Xiaoping: "Let's go …"
He was in low spirits.
They had come to watch the midnight premiere today with the mentality of watching a joke. They did not expect to become a joke.
There were still many audience members who had yet to leave. Obviously, they were waiting for the Easter eggs.
However, Lu Xiaoping judged that there should be no more Easter eggs. On one hand, it was because the cinema had already lit up. On the other hand, it was because the entire story had been told very clearly. There was no need for Easter eggs to warm up the next part of the story.
Strictly speaking, the entire story should end when Qin Yi was betrayed and sent to the Zergs by AEEIS.
The Alliance Fleet's Supreme Executive Committee meeting and Qin Yi waking up in the body of the Leviathan Beast were more suitable to appear as Easter eggs.
However, these two plots were too important, and they were also very long. If they were to be Easter eggs, there would be a sense of separation. Thus, after much consideration, Zhu Xiaoce decided to place these two plots at the end of the movie. It had a very good effect with the ending song.
Lu Xiaoping also judged that there should not be any Easter eggs in the movie because of this reason.
However, just as the two of them were about to leave, some images appeared next to the rolling list of people at the end of the movie.
There were no Easter eggs at the end of the movie, but there were other things.
These were some NG scenes that Lu Zhiyao had filmed!
He said his lines over and over again in front of the green screen, changing his performance in different ways. Sometimes, he would stop halfway through if he was not satisfied and repeat it continuously.
He had to act the same emotion at least five or six times. After carefully tasting it, he would choose the one he was most satisfied with.
There were also scenes of Lu Zhiyao talking to the AEEIS Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine.
In the eyes of the audience, many of Lu Zhiyao's performances were already very good, but he was still not satisfied. He still acted it over and over again, and every plot had to be perfect.
Although these scenes were not bad on their own, they paled in comparison to the actual scenes in the film.
The audience who stayed behind were basically loyal fans. They still insisted on watching to the end even though the lights in the theater were already on. They had the thought of 'what if there were Easter eggs'.
They did not expect to get a pleasant surprise!
"Holy sh * t, how many times does he have to shoot the same scene?"
"Lu Zhiyao is so ruthless. I feel like he's a little obsessed. He has to say the same lines in several different ways, and the effect is better each time. On the other hand, those little fresh meats who don't even memorize their lines and only know how to lip-sync to 1234567, the difference is obvious! "
"Strictly speaking, Lu Zhiyao did not have much acting skills in the beginning even though he came from a professional class. He was better than the little fresh meats, but not much better. However, unlike the little fresh meats, he was not satisfied with the fans' flattery. Instead, he was constantly strict with himself and tempering his acting skills. That's why he could bring us such exciting performances in Tomorrow is Beautiful and Mission and Choice! "
"Indeed, the improvement of Lu Zhiyao's acting skills is visible to the naked eye. This movie ticket is worth it. It's a huge profit!"
"Many people in Tomorrow is Beautiful said that Lu Zhiyao borrowed Tengda's script and that his acting skills were brought up by Zhang Zuting. Now, this statement should be self-defeating, right?"
"Indeed, one person supported a movie with hundreds of millions of investment. There's no need to discuss the position because he's the only actor!"
"Lu Zhiyao should be able to get rid of the title of 'box office poison' now, right? He performed so well in two movies in a row. He will most likely become a real Best Actor in the future! "
The audience sighed emotionally. Even some people who originally had no feelings for Lu Zhiyao were sincerely happy for his improvement.
In recent years, there had been more and more popular movies. All sorts of young fresh meats had repeatedly broken the bottom line in various so-called 'big-budget' movies. Many audiences had long been dissatisfied with them.
On the other hand, Lu Zhiyao had embarked on a completely different path from those popular young fresh meats. He could clearly rely on his looks, but he insisted on relying on his talent. He had put in unimaginable effort for this. How could anyone not like him?
Finally, the final credits of the movie and Lu Zhiyao's NG scene were played.
The few remaining audience members finally left in satisfaction. They did not stay idle and quickly posted a post on their WeChat Moments.
Lu Xiaoping and the person-in-charge of Greyhound walked out in a daze, as if they had lost their souls.
On one hand, he was shocked by the content of the movie. On the other hand, he was extremely worried about the current situation of Vinci Media and Greyhound after watching Mission and Choice.
What kind of terrifying opponent had he provoked in a moment of hot-headedness!
There was a price to pay for scamming a movie like this.
Lu Xiaoping's plan was built on the foundation of 'Mission and Choice's poor quality'. That was why he came to scam and increase the popularity of Greyhound.
However, if the two movies were to be compared and Greyhound was pressed to the ground, the popularity that it had gained previously would all backfire!
If Greyhound won, it would be domineering and confident. However, if Greyhound lost, it would be sour and a clown.
This feeling was like a boxer in the ring. He had thought that the other party was a weakling and had said all sorts of harsh words before the match. He had already bragged. However, he did not expect to see that the other party's arms were thicker than his thighs when he took off his jacket.
How could he fight!
The two of them were silent. They knew very well that the current situation was bad enough, but in reality, this was just the beginning!
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