novellhall Chapter 259 Trailer Released [5000]
Chapter 259 Trailer Released [5000]
Chapter 258 Trailer Released [5000]
Chen Xun sat down in front of the computer.
He possesses the action aesthetics he absorbed from Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo-ping's teams, and his understanding of visual expression far surpasses that of ordinary actors.
During filming, he also absorbed the attribute balls of many staff members, including those involved in special effects production.
Although it's just scratching the surface, the backend operation page is not unfamiliar.
"In this shot, Karuru's handprint is complete, and a void vortex appears."
Chen Xun retrieved the original materials and began operating the basic interface of the special effects software.
Although he's not a professional, he's good enough for demonstrations.
"First, here."
He pointed at the center of the vortex: "Don't appear suddenly. Start from a small point, like ink spreading on paper. Be slow at first and then fast, because the power of the void increases gradually."
"Add a broken effect to the edges, like cracks in shattered glass."
"The interior color should be a deep purple base, but with flowing shades of dark red and deep blue, plus a touch of extremely dark starlight."
As he spoke, the special effects artist next to him operated professional software to make real-time adjustments.
Ten minutes later, the new preview was released.
Press the play button.
In the scene, Kristen Stewart's character, Karuru, completes the handprint, and a dark purple dot quietly appears in front of her fingertips.
It expands slowly, its edges being broken, ever-changing spatial cracks.
Inside, there is flowing chaos, with occasional flashes of starlight so dim they are almost invisible.
The most amazing thing is the surrounding scenery.
As the vortex expanded, the bookshelves and floor beside it began to warp slightly, like looking through uneven glass.
"Fuck, I can't believe it—"
A special effects artist sighed softly.
David stared at the screen, his eyes wide: "This—this is more like it!"
"What we did before was a pile of dog shit!"
Chen Xun stepped back: "Continue to optimize the details. The void is not destruction, but transformation!"
[Understanding of Special Effects Aesthetics +25]
A golden attribute ball fell from David.
It seems David learned a lot from Chen Xun's actions!
Chen Xun absorbed it.
He also gained a deeper understanding of the process of special effects production and the resulting effects.
Some abstract concepts in my mind have become more concrete.
He now knows how to translate his feelings into technical requirements that special effects artists can understand.
For the next three days, Chen Xun spent all his time at the special effects company.
He went through it shot by shot.
Mirror space is the main attraction.
The original special effects were simply world folding.
Chen Xun demanded a rewrite!
"Mirror space is not a physical fold, but a logical fold. The two spaces overlap, but it is not a simple mirror image. Some rules are the same and some rules are opposite, intertwined."
"For example, the direction of gravity may be reversed, but the rules of light propagation remain the same. We need to make the audience understand the sense of rules involved."
[Visual storytelling ability +30]
[Technique for combining special effects and emotion +28]
Cross-departmental communication efficiency +22
As Chen Xun continued to explain his ideas, attribute orbs kept falling off him.
The special effects artists were utterly bewildered.
Each requirement requires them to expend a great deal of effort to modify.
But they couldn't help but admit that every suggestion Chen Xun made hit their weakest points.
The final result was indeed more advanced than their initial version.
David remained silent for a long time each time the request was made.
"Chen, you should be doing what we do!"
Chen Xun smiled but didn't reply.
That night, I worked overtime until 11 p.m., and there were three empty pizza delivery boxes piled up.
After the special effects for the new version of Master's sacrifice were completed, the entire production studio fell silent.
In the scene, Jackie Chan closes his eyes and smiles, his body beginning to turn into golden dust.
Guided by an invisible hand, the light dust slowly rotated and rose, converging in mid-air to form a slowly rotating symbol of the Eye of Vishanti.
The symbol pauses for three seconds, then glows faintly like a breath before fading away.
[Ancient One: Shadow of Vishanti Project Review]
Progress: 85%
[Special Effects Quality Rating: A+]
Director's satisfaction rating: S—
Overall Rating: S
[Reward: Trendsetting progress +10% (current total 82%)]
[Note: Your deep involvement significantly enhanced the film's visual aesthetics.]
We're still 18% away from 100%!
Chen Xun turned off the panel and rubbed his sore eyes.
That's all for today.
He told David, "We'll continue tomorrow; there are still twenty-odd shots to go through."
Stepping out of the special effects company, the Los Angeles night breeze was a bit chilly.
Chen Xun took out his phone and saw a message from Kevin Feige that afternoon: "Disney executives watched some of the special effects clips from 'The Ancient One' and were very satisfied. If the movie is successful, they will consider developing a standalone product line for the Marvel Magic Universe."
Chen Xun replied, "I'm really looking forward to that day!"
He walked to the parking lot and got into his car.
There was a document on the passenger seat.
This is the quarterly report for the Qinghai project of the "Seeking Shadows Project".
Over the past three months, the filming location of Kamar-Taj has received more than 50,000 visitors, and the ticket revenue has been donated to build libraries for three rural primary schools.
[Trendsetting progress 83%]
Comments about Kamar-Taj on Weibo have already gone viral.
Chen Xun casually scrolled through Weibo and came across a trending post.
The post was made by a blogger named "Travel Frog Never Goes Home".
The location was set in Yushu, Qinghai, and nine pictures were included:
The photos show panoramic views of the Kamar-Taj complex, close-ups of the antique Tibetan-style courtyard walls, a stone tablet inscribed with the Eye of Vishanti symbol, and even photos of local Tibetan guides dressed in traditional clothing.
"I've scouted out the filming locations for you guys! A firsthand look at the filming locations of 'The Ancient One'!"
"Although we could only walk around the outside and the interior wasn't open yet, it was already breathtaking! The architectural details were incredible, and every shot was a masterpiece. Most importantly, it wasn't crowded!"
"Sisters, hurry up and go see the movie before it's released, it'll be packed when it finally comes out!"
This Weibo post has been forwarded over 50,000 times.
"I just went last week! It was absolutely stunning! The roof of that main hall was shimmering with gold in the sunlight; my phone camera couldn't capture even a tenth of its beauty!"
"Looking for travel tips! How do I get there from Xining?"
"I recommend the Snow Mountain Inn next door. It's clean, inexpensive, and the owner will tell you interesting stories from when the film crew was shooting."
"I heard Chen Xun stayed at that house back then? Is that true?"
"Really! The boss wanted to take a photo with me, but he wouldn't let us. He said Chen Xun told us not to over-exploit the filming location."
Scrolling down further, the tone shifts: "Just got back from Instagram, foreigners are crying because China has real-life photo spots while they can only watch movies."
"Hilarious! This is the first time I've seen foreigners envious of us having movie filming locations."
"We used to envy others for having Hollywood and Disney, but now it's the other way around?"
"Chen Xun is awesome! He brought a Hollywood blockbuster to China to film and turned it into a sustainable tourism project!"
"The key point is that he actually shared the profits with the local area! My cousin works at the Yushu Culture and Tourism Bureau, and she said this project has created over [amount missing] for the local area."
"Thousands of jobs were created, and the ticket revenue was indeed donated to build schools."
Chen Xun scrolled through the comments, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He sat in the courtyard of the Snow Mountain Inn.
It's the one that netizens were talking about.
The owner's name is Tashi, he is in his thirties, a Tibetan man who used to be a truck driver, and the guesthouse is a converted ancestral home.
Chen Xun did stay here during filming because it was close to the set and quiet.
"Teacher Chen, have some tea."
Tashi brought over some butter tea and glanced at Chen Xun's phone screen: "Reading netizens' comments again?"
Chen Xun put down his phone: "Have there been a lot of people coming lately?"
"many!"
Tashi smiled so hard his eyes narrowed into slits: "Last weekend, all twelve of my rooms were fully booked, and I had to turn down dozens of reservations. It's not peak tourist season now; everyone's here for Kamar-Taj."
He lowered his voice: "There are also foreigners, from the US and the UK, who fly over specifically for this purpose."
"The British couple who checked out of the hotel yesterday said they were fans of Guardians of the Galaxy and booked their plane tickets after seeing photos online."
Chen Xun nodded.
When will the interior scenes be open to the public?
Zaxi asked, "Many guests have asked, they all want to see the training ground where the Ancient One trained."
"After the movie is released."
"Now that it's open, there are too many spoilers, and some sets are still being reinforced to ensure safety."
As the two were chatting, several people entered the courtyard.
A young couple, carrying hiking backpacks, looked like college students.
There was also a middle-aged woman with a boy who looked to be about ten years old.
"Boss, are there any rooms available?"
The boy asked.
"No more tonight, but there will be more tomorrow."
Tashi stood up: "You can check in first, and leave your luggage with me."
While completing the formalities, the little boy kept staring at Chen Xun.
Then he suddenly spoke: "You are—Uncle Chen Xun?"
Chen Xun was stunned for a moment.
He was dressed very casually today, wearing a gray hoodie, jeans, and a baseball cap pulled low, so he shouldn't be easily recognized.
"I've looked at so many of your photos!"
The little boy took a notebook out of his backpack.
Turn it over.
The interior is covered with stills of Chen Xun cut out from magazines, as well as hand-drawn sketches of Kamar-Taj.
"I'm learning to draw and I want to be a concept designer. My mom said she'd bring me to see what the real Kamar-Taj looks like."
The middle-aged woman smiled shyly: "My child especially loves your movies, and the hand gestures and breathing techniques you shared."
"He used to have trouble concentrating, but after practicing the calming breathing method you taught him, he's improved a lot."
Chen Xun's heart skipped a beat.
He crouched down, looking the little boy in the eye: "What's your name?"
"Lele".
What grade are you in?
Fourth grade.
Chen Xun took his notebook and looked through the sketches.
Although the drawing is immature, you can see the talent in it.
It has a strong sense of perspective and captures details accurately.
"Would you like to go in and take a look?" Chen Xun asked.
Lele's eyes widened: "Really? The internet says it's not open to internal use—"
"Come with me."
Chen Xun nodded to Zaxi and led Lele and his mother outside.
The college student couple watched with envy, but did not follow.
They knew this was special treatment.
The filming location for Kamar-Taj is a ten-minute walk from the guesthouse.
Upon arriving at the entrance, the security guard recognized Chen Xun and let him through immediately.
When Lele entered the main hall area, her mouth dropped open.
Although most of the interior furnishings have been moved back to Los Angeles, the building's framework remains.
Octagonal pillars, skylight lighting system, traces of rammed earth on the ground —
That sense of space and atmosphere cannot be captured in a photograph.
"This is where the Ancient One meditated."
Chen Xun pointed to the center of the main hall: "When filming, I practiced hand seals here every morning."
"Can you really feel the energy?"
Lele asked very seriously.
Chen Xun thought for a moment: "I can feel the quiet. Sometimes, quiet itself is a kind of energy."
They wandered around inside for half an hour.
Chen Xun briefly explained some interesting anecdotes from the filming process.
Jackie Chan improvised the handprint, the scene where Christine turns evil was filmed seven times, and the whole crew cried when the master sacrificed himself.
Before leaving, Lele's mother hesitated and asked, "Teacher Chen, could we take a photo together? We promise we won't post it online, we'll just keep it to ourselves."
Chen Xun nodded.
After the group photo, Lele suddenly said, "Uncle Chen, I participated in the film class of the 'Finding Films' project at school."
Chen Xun stopped in his tracks.
"Our school is located in the mountainous area of Gansu, and there is no movie theater."
Lele continued, "Last year, volunteers from the 'Finding Movies' project came and brought a projector. They showed 'Guardians of the Galaxy' on the playground. That was the first time I watched a movie on such a big screen."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Later, they donated books and built a small library. I borrowed my drawing reference books from there."
Chen Xun patted his head: "Study hard and draw well. Maybe you can draw something even more amazing than Kamar-Taj in the future."
On his way back to the inn, Chen Xun opened his phone and searched for "Project Shadow Search in Gansu".
There weren't many search results.
Most of them are work briefings from local education departments or small-scale self-media reports.
There were no trending topics or trending searches.
This was Chen Xun's request.
He didn't want to treat this film-hunting project as a business.
Apart from the first payment, which was sponsored by Lionsgate, all the subsequent payments were funded by Chen Xun's own film salary.
Moreover, after the poor box office performance of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," Chen Xun's relationship with Lionsgate also reached a stalemate.
Lionsgate subsequently withdrew from the search program.
Chen Xun carefully read the briefing.
Over the past two years, it has covered 312 remote towns and villages across the country.
More than 1800 films have been screened.
47 rural libraries were established.
More than 50,000 books were donated.
The volunteers have accumulated more than 100,000 hours of service.
What touched Chen Xun the most were the photos on the briefing.
The children's upturned faces as they watched a movie in the open-air playground, their eyes shining when they received books, and the focused expressions of the volunteers as they taught them how to use the projector.
Everything he did at that moment had meaning.
Someone in the comments section asked, "Was this really Chen Xun's doing? I've never seen him do any marketing before."
One commenter wrote: "This is what real charity work looks like, unlike some celebrities who need to buy three days of trending topics just to donate money."
Back in the guesthouse courtyard, the college student couple was chatting with Zaxi.
-
Upon seeing Chen Xun, the girl mustered her courage and asked, "Teacher Chen, may we ask you a question?"
"Can!"
"Project Shadow Search—Is this really something you're doing alone?"
Chen Xun sat down in the courtyard: "It's not just me. There are many volunteers, partner companies, and support from the local government. I just contributed some money to get started."
"But you haven't advertised it."
The boy said, "If I hadn't stumbled upon this while searching for information about Kamar-Taj today, I wouldn't have known about it at all."
There's no need to publicize it.
"Doing charity work is about helping people, not about getting praise."
The girl was silent for a few seconds: "People should know, know that someone is doing things quietly, that in itself can give people hope."
Chen Xun remained silent.
That evening, he returned to his room.
The popularity of checking in at Kamar-Taj on Weibo is still rising.
A related hashtag, #WhenWillItBeOurTurnToEnvyUs#, even climbed to third place on the trending topics list.
Clicking in reveals a flood of discussions about cultural confidence: "We used to think that the grass was always greener on the other side, but now we've discovered that we can also create things that the world envies."
"The key point is that this is not a government project, but was promoted by an actor named Chen Xun. The fact that grassroots forces can achieve this level shows that our creativity has really come into play."
"Those who criticize Chen Xun should look at what he has done before they speak."
"I only just learned about the 'Finding Shadows Project'. After checking the information, I found that it was incredibly low-key. This kind of pragmatic person deserves to be famous."
The Kamar-Taj sightseeing craze triggers emotional resonance and cultural confidence.
The low-key release of the "Finding Shadows" project has triggered public recognition of its values.
[Trendsetting progress +5% (current total 88%)]
[Note: Public recognition gained through non-proactive marketing has an effectiveness coefficient of 1.5]
12% still needed!
-
Chen Xun walked to the window.
The night sky over Qinghai outside the window is clear, and the stars are like scattered diamonds on the ground.
He could see the outline of the Kamar-Taj complex in the distance.
It's just a silhouette in the night, but when the sun rises tomorrow, it will welcome a new batch of tourists.
Among those people were children like Lele who harbored dreams, ordinary tourists who just wanted to take photos, and international fans who flew in from the other side of the world.
My phone vibrated; it was a message from Kevin Feige: "Chen, the final trailer for 'The Ancient One' will be released tomorrow."
Marvel officially released the final trailer for "The Ancient One: The Shadow of Vishanti" at 3 PM Los Angeles time on Friday.
The timing was very poor.
Fans on the East Coast have just finished get off work or school, while those on the West Coast haven't even reached rush hour yet—it's the prime time for scrolling through their phones and slacking off.
The trailer is two minutes and seventeen seconds long.
-
It became an instant hit across the internet as soon as it was released.
Chen Xun sat in the study of his Beverly Hills home, with three screens open at the same time.
We watched YouTube's real-time viewership data together, scrolled through Twitter trends together, and kept an eye on Weibo's trending topics together.
On YouTube, the trailer garnered over a million views within five minutes of its release.
"These special effects—I'm blown away! How did they film that mirrored space folding shot?"
"The way the Ancient One and Karuru looked at each other gave me goosebumps!"
"Jackie Chan's hand gesture—it exudes an air of otherworldly grace! This is what an Eastern sorcerer should look like!"
"Kristen's look after turning evil is absolutely stunning, both beautiful and sinister!"
"A close-up of Chen Xun's fingers forming a hand seal—a treat for hand fetishists! I could watch it a hundred times!"
On Twitter, #AncientOneTrailer immediately went up to the top of the trending list.
Following closely behind were derivative topics such as #ChenXun'sHandprint, #Kaluru'sDarkening, and #JackieChanMaster.
Under Marvel's official Twitter account, fans started making jokes: "After watching the trailer, I tried to make a hand gesture, and now my finger is cramping. Chen Xun, pay my medical bills!"
"I suggest Marvel release a matching handprint tutorial app; I'd definitely buy it."
"If I start practicing hand seals now, will I be able to learn the shield technique before the movie is released? I need help urgently, please!"
Weibo is even more lively.
Because the hype surrounding visiting the Kamar-Taj in person hasn't completely died down yet.
The release of the trailer only added fuel to the fire.
Four of them were in the top ten trending topics:
#AncientOneFinalTrailer#
#ChenXunHandprintChallenge#
#QinghaiKamar-Taj#
#Chinese people's own superheroes#
-
What surprised Chen Xun the most was a long analysis published by a film and television self-media called "Film Anatomy Room".
The article analyzes the trailer frame by frame, from color usage to cinematic language, from character development to cultural symbols, written in a professional yet easy-to-understand style.
"The Ancient One may be more than just another Marvel movie; it has the potential to redefine the concept of Eastern superheroes, creating a true heroic narrative that grows from the soil of Eastern philosophy and culture."
The article has been shared over 100,000 times!
"In the past, it was always Americans saving the world as superheroes; this time, it's finally our philosophy's turn to save the world!"
"The Ancient One wasn't protecting a country, she was protecting dimensional balance. That's a much larger scale than me protecting my city."
"The key is that this movie was filmed on location in Qinghai. If it does well at the box office, it can boost the local economy. This is the right way to promote culture."
[Final trailer for "The Ancient One: Shadow of Vishanti" released]
[Online Popularity Index: S-level]
Public expectations: +25%
[Overall Project Rating: S+]
[Trendsetting progress +7% (current total 95%)]
We're still 5% away from 100%!
Chen Xun turned off the panel and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when his phone rang.
It's Robert.
"Bro, something's happened!"
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