Chapter 267: Warm Response
The press conference for "The Martian" was scheduled to be hosted by Zhang Zhao, and Liu Zhou was not originally planning to attend.

But what he didn't expect was that although he thought it was just a simple press conference, the number of media outlets that signed up to attend was much larger than Liu Zhou had imagined, and it was obvious that they were here just for him.

Liu Zhou pays great attention to maintaining good relations with the media, as the film's promotion will also depend on them, so Liu Zhou had to host the press conference personally.

The venue of the press conference was also changed from China Film's conference room to their small auditorium, otherwise there would be too many people and no room to sit.

Liu Zhou was the only one who came on stage at this press conference, because for the movie "The Martian", only he was confirmed as the screenwriter and director.

Liu Zhou is already familiar with press conferences.

He didn't waste any words and knew what the media wanted to know, so before they even waited for any questions, he gave them a brief account of the movie's title, plot outline, investment budget, special effects, etc.

At this time, the reporters in the audience were writing furiously while staring at Liu Zhou with excitement and anticipation.

There is no way around it. Most of the reporters present are men, and most of them are in their twenties or thirties, which is also the largest audience group for science fiction films.

Their excitement is not only due to the gimmick of the science fiction theme, but also because it is their own hobby.

Liu Zhou noticed the looks of the reporters below the stage, as if they were treating him as a great beauty, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

"The Martian" has just been launched, so there is not much to say, and everything that needs to be said has already been told to them.

So after answering a few questions, Liu Zhou ended the press conference and left.

The entire press conference, including the waiting time, lasted less than an hour, but the media reporters did not feel unhappy at all. Instead, they left with excitement on their faces.

They already know everything they want to know. What's more, a big shot like Liu Zhou personally attended the press conference. What else could they be dissatisfied with?

The important thing is to report the relevant news as soon as possible.

On the other side, after leaving the small auditorium of China Film Corporation, Liu Zhou did not go back, but came to Han Shanping's office.

"Is it over so soon?"

"It's over. There wasn't much to say."

"It's mainly because the first domestic science fiction blockbuster has too much hype, otherwise these media wouldn't be so agitated. But seeing this situation, I have more and more confidence in this project."

“I was actually a little surprised by their big reaction, but it also put more pressure on us.

If a bad movie is made, the more the media praise it now, the more they will criticize it later."

"Then do you want to take a break today? We can start discussing things tomorrow."

"No, time is running out. I have to go to Venice on September 15th and stay there for at least a week, so let's start making preparations now."

"So where are you going to start?"

Liu Zhou already had a plan in mind, and said directly:
"First of all, we need to arrange a few more producers this time, and then send them out to scout locations, and take more photos. Then I will select some and go over for field inspections."

"no problem."

"Then we need to transfer all the artists from China Film Group and other film studios here first. We also need you, President Han, to communicate with the Space Administration and ask them to send a technical team to support us as soon as possible.

Once they are all in place, they will first complete the design of hundreds of acres of the Martian surface.

After the design drawings are completed, Golden Harvest Special Effects Studio and Hualong Digital will make panoramic 3D stereograms, specific local 3D stereograms and 3D models.

Once the filming location is determined, we will find a large construction team to start arranging the Martian landscape.”

"Any more?"

"There is one more thing that still requires you, President Han, to go to the National University of Defense Technology to confirm the time we can use the supercomputer, so that I can have a clear idea in my mind."

It is impossible for a supercomputer to be available to you for a long period of time. It will definitely be divided into multiple time periods for you to use.

Whether the special effects are good or not basically depends on the rendering.

Otherwise, no matter how good the special effects are, if the rendering is not good, it will just be a 50-cent special effect.

Except for some indoor scenes and scenes on Earth, basically everything in "The Martian" needs to be rendered.

This is also the bulk of the expenses. Rendering alone will cost at least 300 to 400 million yuan, and we cannot save any money in this area.

The current supercomputer at the National University of Defense Technology is Galaxy IV, which seems to have 1024 CPUs.

The use of supercomputers is generally charged per CPU per hour.

1024 CPUs are actually not a lot. The rendering of "Avatar" used 40000 CPUs.

Of course, it’s all CG, unlike “The Martian”.

So even with a supercomputer, rendering would still take a long time, at least two or three months.

According to information from the Space Administration, the launch time of Shenzhou VII should be September next year.

Therefore, the best time to release "The Martian" is during next year's National Day, which is only a little over a year and a month away from now.

For the use of the supercomputer, which Liu Zhou has the least control over, Liu Zhou must arrange the time in detail in advance.

"No problem, leave these things to me."

"Okay, let's just leave it like this for now. It may take a month to complete all this work."

"Do we need to decide on the actors first?" "Don't worry about the actors yet. Let's do the preparatory work for the film first. It will be quick to choose the actors, and the main thing is to choose the male lead."

"Then it's up to you."

……

Just when Liu Zhou was discussing the preparations for the film with Han Shanping in his office, the news from the press conference had already been reported by major portals.

This is the timeliness of online media, which is much better than paper media.

"Great director Liu Zhou is planning to shoot a space sci-fi film, The Martian!"

Such a simple title immediately attracted the attention of countless netizens from all over the country.

By the next day, with reports from major media outlets, the news that Liu Zhou was preparing to shoot a science fiction blockbuster spread completely.

At this time, a large number of movie fans and science fiction fans flocked to film and television forums such as Douban and Tianya.

"I just watched the news, 'The Martian', a space sci-fi movie, this is awesome!"

"I didn't expect there would be science fiction films in China. Now I have something to look forward to."

"I have long been looking forward to Liu Zhou making a domestic science fiction film. This idea was particularly strong when I watched Edge of Tomorrow. I didn't expect Liu Zhou to actually make it. I am looking forward to it!"

"Isn't this another sci-fi idea? Is it actually a drama, like the 'Source Code' he shot in Hollywood?"

"Maybe. Anyway, I don't think any science fiction films can be made in China right now."

"No, don't you guys watch the news? Liu Zhou clearly said at the press conference that it's a space science fiction film."

"Yes, the title of 'The Martian' is so clear. It is about a rescue operation on Mars. It must be a serious space science fiction film."

"Fifty-year-old fans of Science Fiction World are here to report, waiting for Liu Zhou's The Martian."

"That's just bullshit. Science Fiction World has not even been published for fifty years."

……

In just one day, there was a heated discussion about "The Martian" on the Internet.

The summer vacation had just ended and it was a relatively quiet time. The preparation of Liu Zhou's new film easily dominated the Internet's hot topics.

But it can also be seen from this that everyone has hope and attention for the theme of space science fiction films.

Of course, there are also people on the Internet who don’t believe it, thinking that this is definitely a scam, using the gimmick of a sci-fi movie to hype it up.

If it were any other director, people might still have some doubts in their hearts.

But for Liu Zhou, not to mention his very good reputation, his achievements in Hollywood alone have dispelled most of their doubts.

After seeing the title of the movie and Liu Zhou's firm words at the press conference, everyone's doubts were dispelled. They believed that Liu Zhou, the second richest man in mainland China, would not be so tasteless as to deceive them.

So in response to those questioning voices, they all responded in unison and directly drowned out those questioning comments.

Liu Zhou didn't pay attention to the chaos on the Internet, nor did he have time to pay attention to it.

These past two days, Liu Zhou has been so busy just arranging work that he has no time or energy to care about online comments.

Just as Liu Zhou had arranged some preliminary work and before he could even catch his breath, the technical team from the space agency came to support him.

Liu Zhou could only go to receive them in person, as their role was very important.

The people arranged by the space agency were relatively young. The leader was an engineer in his early thirties, and the others were in their twenties.

Liu Zhou had no objection to this. They were here to assist in the filming, not to do scientific research. Young people were better and more hardworking.

So Liu Zhou shook hands and greeted everyone very enthusiastically.

Unexpectedly, one of the members of the space agency team is actually a fan of Liu Zhou and a science fiction fan. He held Liu Zhou's hand with excitement on his face.

“Director Liu, I have been your fan since high school. I have watched every movie you made several times. They are all so good.

I have read the script of The Martian five or six times. China is finally going to have a space movie! "

"Thank you, thank you for your love. I'll have to trouble your colleagues from the Space Agency for help this time."

"No problem. I applied specifically to provide technical support for The Martian. It's so cool to be able to participate in the first science fiction movie in China."

"Thank you!"

Liu Zhou was very happy to have such a fan, but now was not the time to meet with fans.

But the other party seemed too excited, and Liu Zhou tried some strength but still couldn't break free.

It was not until the leading engineer coughed lightly and called the fan's name that he reacted and let go of Liu Zhou's hand.

After greeting a few people, Liu Zhou saw that they all expressed that they could get to work immediately, so he didn't hesitate.

Liu Zhou took them to the project team's office and began to discuss the design plan for the Martian surface topography with them.

(End of this chapter)