"Stop! Be careful not to break it!"
In the studio, the huge witch's body parts were lifted to the designated position by a robotic arm operated by someone.
After the model was in place, more than a dozen prop team staff members immediately climbed up ladders or scaffolding and began adding details to the prop.
This is a 1:1 model of the mermaid witch transformed by Sayaka Miki. Her huge body is far larger than a person whether placed horizontally or vertically.
Nanaya stood not far away and asked the second photographer of the crew to capture the entire scene.
It's not that Nanaya has a habit of spying on his employees' work, but these video clips will be great promotional materials for later.
If you want to release any special production in the future, you can use this video material directly.
The shots that Nanaya wants to shoot right now are the most troublesome set in Japan, which is the scene of the mermaid witch at the intersection of reality and the barrier.
This content was not in the original story. In Nanaya's setting, this plot belongs to Homura Akemi's several reincarnations.
Nanaya's purpose of joining this scene was simply to show off his skills and let the audience admire the visual effects of the movie.
According to Nanaya's plan, this scene will be one of the scenes with the best 3D stereoscopic effects.
Nanaya, who had watched countless 3D movies in his previous life, knew very well that in order for the audience to praise a movie's 3D effects, at least two standards must be met.
One is that the overall three-dimensional effect of the movie must be strong, and there should not be any scene that is indistinguishable whether the 3D glasses are worn or not.
Another thing is to add a few scenes with particularly stunning on-screen effects to leave a deep impression on the audience.
Nanaya watched the staff add texture and grain effects to the mermaid witch model, and wrap it with green screen where CG needed to be added.
In fact, Nanaya originally planned to shoot this scene in New Zealand, after all, the equipment there is better than here.
But at Li Wenshu's insistence, Nanaya finally set the scene in Japan.
"Hi, Director Nanaya."
A greeting came from the side and Yui Aragaki walked over wearing casual clothes and long leather boots.
Nanaya nodded at her, "Hello, Gakki."
Ever since she finished filming the scene in the ward with Nanaya last time, her attitude towards Nanaya has become much more natural.
Occasionally, she would be seen taking the initiative to greet Nanaya.
"Is this the final destination of Sayaka Miki, the character I played? It looks pretty scary."
Yui Aragaki looked at the huge mermaid witch's arm and exclaimed.
"Well, there is also an ending where you are beaten to death by Witch Night."
While teasing, Nanaya quietly moved a step to the right.
Yui Aragaki is 1.68 meters tall, which is considered tall among Japanese actresses who are generally short.
Of course, the data of 1.68 meters was announced by the woman herself. According to Nanaya's visual estimation, the other party's height is definitely over 1.7 meters.
[Okinawa Female Giant] and the like, it really lives up to its reputation.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big deal. After all, Nanaya's height is not short among the yellow race.
But at the critical moment, the girl was wearing high-heeled boots today, and the height difference between the two was instantly eliminated.
Nanaya had already estimated it when the other party came over.
You can look the other person in the eye!
I hate high heels.
Although Nanaya felt very uncomfortable, he couldn't say it out loud.
So Nanaya could only keep as much distance from the other party as possible to avoid letting others discover this situation.
[Fortunately, Sayaka Miki doesn't wear high heels when she's with Kyousuke Kamijou, otherwise I'd have to go to the prop box. ]
Gakki also guessed what Nanaya was thinking, she just smiled slightly and did not expose him.
"Director Kiryu is really amazing. I guess there's no one else in Japan who would go to such a large scale just to make a movie, right?"
Aragaki Yui did not get close to Nanaya to embarrass him. She kept a distance between her and Nanaya and communicated with each other.
Ever since getting the role of Sayaka Miki, Yui Aragaki has been looking forward to playing this role well.
She knew very well that this opportunity was rare.
You have to know that in the entire crew, she is not only the least experienced one among everyone, but also the actor with the closest relationship with Nanaya.
So after Aragaki Yui joined the crew, in addition to the necessary time to familiarize herself with the role and the script, she also often appeared on the set.
Especially after getting familiar with Nanaya, as long as time permits.
When Nanaya was shooting scenes, Gakki would basically be there to observe the process of making the film and communicate with Nanaya.
This situation is a bit similar to the student days, when some students always liked to run to their favorite teacher's office to chat with the teacher after class.
Try to get along well with the teacher in this way.
For Yui Aragaki, who is relatively unknown in the crew of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", she must seize every rare opportunity.
In Galgame's words, Aragaki Yui tried to increase Nanaya's favorability by meeting her constantly.
At the same time, Yui Aragaki is also generous to other crew members.
Occasionally when everyone has a meal together, she will take the initiative to pay for everyone to have a drink.
Gakki's approach is quite good, and her reputation and popularity in the crew are now quite high.
Especially the gakki smlie that appears from time to time, which is quite lethal to ordinary crew members.
As a shrewd person, Nanaya of course guessed what Aragaki Yui was thinking.
However, Nanaya did not show any disgust, but instead had a hint of admiration.
Anyone who can make it in the entertainment industry is a shrewd person.
I really have to pretend to be reserved and say that I don't want to be famous.
Why are you in the entertainment industry? Why not just move bricks at a construction site?
We are all thousand-year-old foxes, who are you going to sing "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" with?
As long as the approach is not unscrupulous, Nanaya can basically accept it.
Not to mention that Gakki's behavior is not considered excessive in an ordinary white-collar workplace.
"This model is so realistic that it looks like a real monster like this would exist in the real world."
Gakki stood behind Nanaya and said in an incredible tone.
"Before filming this movie, I couldn't imagine that film making could be done to this extent."
"It's a pity that we can't move." Nanaya just sighed.
In addition to using CGI technology for synthesis, the crew also produced a large number of models of various witches in different proportions.
The 1:1 scale model currently being built is the largest of all the prop models.
Many people think that after the advent of computer special effects, things like movie props no longer exist.
This idea is undoubtedly wrong.
Not to mention that not every crew can afford computer CG.
Even those large film crews that are not short of money will still use these large props in some places.
However, the popularization of CG is indeed a trend, and Nanaya estimates that he will not need to use such large model props in two years.
These were all handmade using polystyrene by the props team from Tsuburaya in the factory.
For example, the model of the merman witch in front of you is supported by a lightweight steel frame inside and wrapped in polystyrene outside.
In order to transport it to the studio smoothly, Tsuburaya first split the model into dozens of parts and then transported it by trailer.
After assembling the main body of the witch, the staff added various auxiliary props to the model little by little.
For example, Homura Akemi's bullet and the wounds caused by various explosions.
And all this hard work was done just to shoot a few realistic scenes of Homura Akemi's memories.
If we really consider the workload, I guess other countries would rarely do this except Hollywood crews.
Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars just for one picture is not cost-effective no matter how you look at it.
But Nanaya had to do it.
There is no such thing as saving time or effort when it comes to making a well-made movie without any visual flaws.
The only thing that can comfort Nanaya is that this set of mermaid witch models will not be used only once.
It can basically be used in all the scenes where the mermaid witch appears later.
"But...if possible, I still hope that the model can appear in fewer shots."
Nanaya sighed.
"But if we don't use models, how can we shoot a movie?"
Yui Aragaki tilted her head and asked curiously.
Although CG special effects have become popular since "Titanic" and "Jurassic Park".
However, except for the actors, all the footage was shot on green screen, and it is rare to see a movie made entirely with computer special effects.
Even in Hollywood, only a few movies such as "300" can enjoy such treatment.
It's not that Yui Aragaki couldn't think of it, but that she didn't have this concept.
"Well, you'll know after the New Year."
Nanaya deliberately kept the secret.
He really wanted to see Yui Aragaki's surprised expression when she saw the New Zealand studio.
Able to use the most advanced equipment in the world to shoot movies.
Nanaya himself is still very proud of this matter.
The work of assembling the model took up half the afternoon, but the crew did not have much time to actually shoot.
With all the equipment functioning normally, Nanaya finished shooting this scene in just half an hour.
But getting the footage into the camera is only the beginning of the sequence.
Next, the post-production team will add special effects to the green screen part of the shot.
Then a special computer is used to add the 3D effect.
This does not take into account factors such as lens processing priorities and post-production production plans.
Just calculate the time it took to make this shot.
Nanaya estimated that it would take at least half a month to complete the production of the entire shot.
This is just one shot, but there are hundreds of shots designed for a movie.
This may also explain from one side why the post-production of a movie takes longer and longer.
But even so, it cannot be used as an excuse for a truck driver to default on his payments.
The "in my lifetime" series and the like, it's really too much when you think about it!
"If Shion's actions go smoothly, there should be a chance to acquire Fox, right?"
"If that's the case, I wonder if there's a chance that Cameron can start filming Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 ahead of schedule?"
Nanaya remembered that in his previous life, Cameron seemed to have said that he planned to make 5 "Avatar" movies.
However, Nanaya felt that it was already good enough for this king of delayed releases to complete three books and make a trilogy.
With this thought in mind, Nanaya welcomed the New Year's Day of 2008.