enjoyebooks Filming begins in Chapter 61.
Filming begins in Chapter 61.
April 1st is April Fools' Day in the West.
Su Sheng chose this day to officially unveil "The Wandering Earth" in the huge film studio in Daxing, which is known as the "Iron Womb".
There were no throngs of entertainment media invited, no extravagant champagne celebrations, only the heavy IMAX camera slowly rising on the crane, like a cold eye scrutinizing this underground city built from scrap metal and ideals.
"The Wandering Earth, Scene One, Shot One, Begin!"
With a crisp "snap" of the clapperboard, Su Sheng sat in the director's chair, the roar of the hydraulic system coming through his headphones.
Outside the studio, which he couldn't see, an online frenzy called "collective mockery," much like the sandstorm of that year, swept across the entire Chinese-speaking public sphere.
Less than an hour after the opening ceremony, a photo of Su Sheng, dressed in oil-stained work clothes, looking small and dejected in front of a giant planetary engine model, was posted on Weibo by an "industry insider".
The accompanying text was extremely sarcastic: "The biggest joke of April Fool's Day 2013: Su Sheng. Instead of making perfectly good political intrigue and realistic dramas, he insisted on throwing billions of RMB into so-called 'hard science fiction.' Look at these models, look at this shabby set design. Does he think he's James Cameron? No, he's just a madman blinded by success, trying to smash the Hollywood industrial system with tractor parts. This isn't The Wandering Earth; this is clearly Su Sheng's 'suicide scene.'"
At that time, the domestic Internet was in a chaotic period of transition from PC to mobile.
The "big V" accounts on Weibo hold microphones and hold an almost harsh scrutiny of any attempt to challenge the West's discourse power.
In the era when "So Young" raked in huge box office hits and the afterglow of "Lost in Thailand" still lingered, the public's perception of Chinese films was locked into the three mountains of "comedy, youth, and palace intrigue".
In 2013, "science fiction" was a word that belonged exclusively to Hollywood and carried a sacred connotation in the eyes of netizens.
"Please, Su Sheng, stop embarrassing yourself. I respect you for making 'Pan Jinlian,' but when you made 'The Three-Body Problem' and 'The Wandering Earth,' I just think you've lost your mind. Hollywood's science fiction is the culmination of hundreds of years of industrial development. What do you have? Do you have the yellow earth of Hengdian World Studios, or a bunch of brainless fans who only know how to scream?" — A well-known influencer.
"I'm dying of laughter. Look at that so-called planetary engine in the photo, doesn't it look like the big chimney of the scrap yard in my hometown? Director Su, if you have so much money you don't know what to do with it, donate it to Hope Primary Schools instead of ruining Liu Cixin's novels. Making science fiction films in China is like asking Grandpa Wang from the village to build a nuclear submarine, that's just overestimating yourself."
These comments went viral on Douban, Baidu Tieba, and Tianya forum. Even on some well-known film discussion forums, netizens started a poll titled "When will Su Sheng go bankrupt?" The results showed that over 80% of respondents believed this film would become the biggest joke in Chinese film history.
Even worse, some people combined trailers for upcoming Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters with Su Sheng's shabby behind-the-scenes photo.
On the left is a futuristic light and shadow magic show that cost 300 million US dollars in Hollywood; on the right is Su Sheng, with a full beard, eating a boxed lunch wrapped in a military overcoat in a factory where the temperature is below -5 degrees Celsius.
This stark visual contrast has become a source of amusement for netizens during their leisure time.
The words "overestimating one's abilities" were like an indelible plaster, stuck firmly to Su Sheng's back.
If the netizens' mockery is like distant thunder, then the "cutting ties" between industry peers and investors is like a cold arrow right at hand.
During the first week of filming for "The Wandering Earth," two film giants that had intended to increase their investment suddenly withdrew their funds, citing "uncontrollable project risks."
Su Sheng received a phone call on set from a high-ranking member of the Wang faction.
"Director Su, let's stop now. If we turn back now and demolish that factory in Daxing, turn it into an indoor variety show studio, you can still recoup some of your costs." The other person's voice carried a victor's pity. "President Wang said you're going against the laws of global industry. Science fiction isn't in the Chinese genes. We can just make period dramas and mother-in-law/daughter-in-law conflicts. You insist on going up against Hollywood? They can crush you with a single finger."
Su Sheng didn't speak; he simply listened quietly until the other person finished speaking, and then pressed the hang-up button.
He glanced back.
In the studio, Uncle Da was shakily putting on the 60-pound spacesuit with the help of his assistant. Although the old man was plagued by illness, there was an unprecedented light in his eyes.
Zhao Liying was sitting next to the tires of the transport vehicle, reciting those obscure scientific terms over and over again. In order to make her lines sound like those of a real mechanic, she wore her voice out.
Meanwhile, in the production office not far away, Fan Bingbing slammed her fist on the table at the bank manager on the other end of the phone: "Mortgage! I said all of it! As long as Su Sheng doesn't call a halt, my last penny will be burned in that engine!"
Looking at these people who had staked everything on his "overestimation of his abilities," Su Sheng felt an unprecedented anger. This anger wasn't directed at the cynical netizens, but at the self-castration of this era's own potential.
On the tenth day after filming began, the crew experienced a true technical breakdown.
This is another fatal difficulty that Su Sheng faces after solving the computing power problem: "the stitching failure between physical real shots and virtual backgrounds".
Because "The Wandering Earth" employed a combination of real-life scenery and green screen techniques, Su Sheng required the transport vehicle to travel through a real glacier model during the filming of the "BJ Underground City Collapse" scene. However, the camera tracking system at the time frequently experienced frame drops and misalignment due to the low temperatures and the dense smoke from the dry ice.
"We can't film this! Director Su, there's no way to align the shots!"
Old Zhang pointed at the screen in despair, "The footage we shot in front of the green screen doesn't match the background at all when we get back to the computer. Either the wheels are stuck in the ice, or the actors are floating in the air. The current CG compositing technology in China simply can't handle this kind of complex depth information."
Filming was forced to stop.
Every second of work stoppage means hundreds of thousands of RMB are burned.
The mocking voices from outside seemed to reach the studio. The already wavering junior staff began whispering among themselves.
"See, the experts were right. We just don't have the skills. We insisted on taking on this difficult task, and now look what's happened. The car is sitting there, and the money is burning. I think Su Sheng is really going to jump off a building this time."
"Have you heard? When Hollywood heard we were making a sci-fi film, the director just tweeted a smiley face and didn't say anything. That kind of ignoring is the most hurtful; they think we're not even qualified to be their competitor."
Su Sheng locked herself in the director's car and didn't come out for three whole hours.
The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts.
He looked out the window at the huge, unfinished engine model. Under the gloomy sky of Yanjing, it really did look like an ugly chimney.
"Am I really wrong?" he asked himself for the first time.
Just then, there was a knock on the car door.
It wasn't Fan Bingbing or Zhao Liying who came in, but Uncle Da, who was wearing a thick costume and looked exhausted.
"Director Su, I'm an old man who's acted my whole life, mostly as a supporting actor." Uncle Da sat down, took off his heavy helmet, revealing a head of white hair. "But I remember when I was young, everyone said that Chinese films were hopeless. But later, we had martial arts films, folk films, and those things that let the world see us. I don't understand the formulas in what you're doing now, but I understand the fire in your eyes."
The old man patted Su Sheng on the shoulder, his voice soft yet heavy as a mountain:
"Don't listen to what others say. They laugh at you because they themselves are afraid to do it. Once you ignite this fire, their laughter will turn into fear."
Su Sheng stubbed out the last cigarette.
He stepped out of the director's car, his eyes no longer brooding, but filled with a bloodshot madness.
"Old Zhang, call all the geek programmers here!" Su Sheng shouted from the center of the set. "Since the existing tracking system won't work, we won't use it. We'll use the most primitive method—laying sensors under the wheels and manually aligning them. Since industrial software is blocking us, we'll use Chinese mathematical logic to write our own alignment program!"
For the next two weeks, Daxing Studio became a veritable "battleground".
Su Sheng and his technical team painstakingly wrote a rudimentary yet precise "motion compensation software" using cheap game sensors.
To verify this scene, Su Sheng even climbed onto the hydraulic base that swayed violently. During the thousands of vibrations, he vomited three times, even vomiting bile the last time, but he kept his eyes glued to the monitor.
"Again! Even if the error is only a millimeter, you have to eliminate it!"
Meanwhile, the battle for public opinion outside the country intensified.
Since the production team hasn't released any trailers for a long time, netizens believe that Su Sheng's project has a "bad ending".
"Su Sheng hasn't shown up for half a month. I heard she got into a fight with an investor on set."
"Insider information: The crew of 'The Wandering Earth' is in arrears with wages, and Fan Bingbing is selling her jewelry to make up for the shortfall. It's a real tragedy of our time."
Just as these rumors reached their peak, Su Sheng did something that shocked the entire internet.
Instead of issuing a statement through his PR team, he directly uploaded a three-minute video on Weibo, featuring no post-production color grading or background music, and was a pure **"hardcore time-lapse video from the set"**.
There are no celebrities' faces in the video.
Only the sparks of hundreds of welders welding 10,000-ton steel frames in the night; only the panting of actors wading through mud and water in heavy gear; only Su Sheng's back as he directs the cranes like a madman at the core of that massive planetary engine.
At the end of the video, there was no release date, only a cold, impersonal subtitle:
We are doing something reckless. Keep mocking us until the stars fall.
This video was like a blunt object, hitting those who mocked it right in the face.
Although the visuals still appear "rustic" and "rough," the overwhelming sense of heavy industrial power and the almost self-destructive sincerity silenced some netizens.
It was at this moment that Dilraba liked that Weibo post and reposted a message: "That day, I passed through the suburbs and saw a person with an entire wandering planet in their eyes. I thought, if this is called overestimating one's abilities, then this era desperately needs this kind of overestimation. Keep it up, Director Su."
Dilraba's repost instantly ignited a surge in online traffic.
Although fans don't understand why their idol would speak up for a director on the verge of bankruptcy, this pure goodwill from the younger generation is like a faint but warm touch of red in the cold world of the internet.
Su Sheng saw this repost on set.
He smiled slightly and then tossed his phone aside.
"Scene two, shot three! Everyone get ready, we're about to film the scene where the planetary engine ignites!"
The ignition of the planetary engine is the first climax of the entire series and also the final test of Su Sheng's financial resources.
To capture the blue light of the erupting plasma, Su Sheng rejected full CG compositing. He demanded the installation of thousands of special laser light arrays on the studio ceiling, along with a large amount of special effects smoke.
"Director Su, turning on these lights once will cost us half a year's worth of electricity." The electrical engineer's hands were shaking. "Moreover, if it's not controlled properly, the laser could instantly burn out the expensive IMAX sensor."
"Buy it, it's on me!" Su Sheng's voice echoed through the loudspeaker.
That night, the power grid around the entire Daxing Studio experienced slight fluctuations.
The moment Su Sheng shouted "Ignite!"
Thousands of blue beams converged in the dark studio, illuminating the massive, rusted engine nozzle. At that moment, all the set design, all the props, all the sweat, under the illumination of these beams, took on an epic grandeur that transcended time.
Uncle Da stood in the light and shadow, his head tilted back. His face was pale in the blue light, but tears streamed down his face.
"It's done...it's really done," he murmured to himself.
Su Sheng sat behind the monitor, watching the breathtaking spectacle on the screen. He knew that if this footage were shown in a movie theater, it would have a tremendous impact on those who mocked him.
What does it mean to overestimate one's abilities?
When a person attempts to collide with the stars with their own flesh and blood, it is called a miracle.
Summer is almost here.
Filming for "The Wandering Earth" is more than halfway complete. Although the ridicule from outside has never stopped, and although "overestimating one's abilities" is still a related word for Su Sheng on search engines, an extremely eerie and solemn silence has fallen inside the Daxing Studio.
Everyone who enters this studio will unconsciously hold their breath after seeing the models and materials.
Here, there are no celebrity airs, no power struggles. There is only a group of "madmen" brainwashed by Su Sheng, charging relentlessly towards an impossible goal.
Su Sheng leaned against the wheel of the transport vehicle, holding Dilraba's business card in her hand.
He looked at Zhao Liying and Fan Bingbing, who were eating boxed lunches not far away.
These two women, one discarded all her haute couture gowns and put on a bodysuit stained with engine oil; the other abandoned all red carpet vanity and fought tooth and nail for every penny on the production bill.
"Director Su, what are you thinking about?" Zhao Liying walked over and handed him a bottle of water.
"I'm thinking," Su Sheng said, looking at the black curtain above her head that symbolized the sky, "when this movie is released, will those who mocked us continue to laugh, or will they kneel down and look up at the stars with us?"
Zhao Liying laughed, her eyes curving into crescents: "Who cares about them? Anyway, I think it's quite fun following a crazy person like you who overestimates themselves."
Meanwhile, in faraway Hollywood, an evaluation report on "Chinese hard science fiction projects" has finally been placed on the desk of a major film studio.
The report concludes with a single sentence: "That man named Su Sheng is attempting to restart God's engine on the ruins of Daxing. If left unchecked, he will become the biggest variable in the global industrial system." The storm is brewing in 2013.
Su Sheng, holding the lever to ignite the flame, was expressionless, preparing to pry open the entire world.