241 Appreciate (2/2)
”Is it also for filming?”
”Hurry, hurry, hurry, let us see what Tianhao's dojo looks like!”
Following that, as all the viewers were eagerly anticipating what was to come, Woo Tianhao showed them the foundations of a building.
The audience: ”...”
On the contrary, Woo Tianhao was in high spirits. ”Here is where the first dojo will be. Construction starts today. Following this, every day, we will get to see the changes and watch as the dojo comes to life!” Woo Tianhao brought the audience around to admire the foundations of the dojo before saying, ”I know that many people are disappointed, but I have a surprise for everyone today.”
Viewers that were preparing to change channels widened their eyes momentarily and stared at the screen without blinking as they waited for the surprise Woo Tianhao had mentioned. Could it be a special appearance by a celebrity, or perhaps it was some other special construction?
As they thought about it, the viewers' anticipation gradually built up once more.
At the moment of unbearable tension, a ghastly white face with sharp fangs dripping with fresh blood and dark circles around its bloodshot eyes suddenly appeared and covered the entire screen. ”Arrghhh!”
Online audience: ”...”
”I was having my meal, and now all my food is on the floor!”
”F*ck! This! Sh*t! Your daddy was lying in bed watching the live broadcast. I was startled by it and knocked my head when I jumped out of bed!”
”It is late over here where we are at. Now I'm totally awake.”
”Who is this idiot!”
”Speaking of idiots, I just remembered a person.”
In the live broadcast, that face that covered the entire screen backed away with a weird cackling laughter. As he wiped away the ”blood” from his mouth, he said, ”Greetings, everyone, it is I, the vampire duke Zaro. Are you surprised, are you glad? Hahahaha! What you just saw was my berserk mode—I bet you were all frightened!”
Online audiences: ”...”
”Indeed, it is him. The moment I heard that Wireless media was investing there, I just knew he would go over.”
”I watched this sort of rubbish on channel S5, so I switched to S4. Why do I still see him?”
Although viewers had been startled by Zaro's frightful disguise, they were still very curious. Zaro even brought them to take a look at his first castle and show off a great deal.
In the days that followed, every day, channel S4's live broadcast revealed some photographs and videos that each film company wanted to release.
On a certain day, all the casts and crews that had arrived on planet Wai gathered for a group photo. The location tagged in the photograph was ”Wai Film Studio Complex.”
”Wai Film Studio Complex?”
”Planet Wai actually built a film studio complex?”
”This sounds really impressive. A film studio complex, eh? The few companies from Yanzhou, Tongzhou, Leizhou, Lazhou are all filming there, so the quality there must be really high!”
Teams from the companies involved had also made arrangements to jointly hype it up and publicize the Wai Film Studio Complex. Through the joint publicity campaigns, netizens had started to feel that, unless filming was done on planet Wai, it would not be considered a large investment.
The Wai Film Studio Complex had made its mark. Especially in the film and television circles, it could be considered to be known by everyone.
In photos released from the film studio complex, ancient constructs that had only appeared in history books had reappeared at full scale on planet Wai!
It was not just one building or one street. Instead, it was extensive, and there were buildings from many different periods in time. Unique ancient architecture from every single continent, covering a wide range of different styles, communities, and methods had appeared before the people of the New Era!
Flavors of civilization, culture, and history!
Not just those actors, even the masses wished to go over and see it for themselves. Many historical researchers also decided that they would make plans for a trip to planet Wai.
This also became a criteria for fans when it came to considering a movie.
Shooting a period drama and not heading to the Wai Film Studio Complex for filming? In that case, was the finished product watchable? Surely the quality would be about the same as those low-cost productions of the past!
Too large an investment? No way! Could a heavily invested firm not head to the Wai Film Studio Complex?
Upon knowing the thoughts of the fans, many entertainment companies also started having their own ideas.
Ones that wished to invest in planet Wai started inquiring through contacts about purchasing land from the Wai base and participating in the film studio complex project.
Those wanting to invest in planet Wai were largely film entertainment companies or hotel and restaurant chains.
Naturally, Huo Yi had given very preferential rates to the first batch of investors, but for those that came after, he was no longer so kind. Since the reputation had already been built up and the planet's popularity was being stirred up, parties wishing to invest here would still enjoy some preferential treatment, but it would not be on the same level as what the first batch had received, and the land would be more expensive.
In the future, as planet Wai's popularity rose even more, those wishing to invest in planet Wai would receive poorer rates the later they came. This was something everyone understood.
Entertainment companies that had abundant resources contacted Wai base straightaway to purchase land and start their own constructions!
But entertainment companies that had various reasons for not purchasing land—such as the high investment risk, long construction periods, or troublesome planning phase—felt that it would be more convenient to rent those sets.
Now that period dramas that touched on ancient history were all the rage, they also decided to ride the winds and engage in their own small-scale period dramas. When it came to filming, they would head to the film studio complex and rent a few suitable sets for filming. Over at the film studio complex, regardless of the location, rent would be calculated daily. Although the rent was not low, it had a much lower risk compared to investing.
Some smaller companies and private teams felt that filming between 10 days to half a month was all right. The main motive was to borrow the hype of the Wai Film Studio Complex. On a whole, it seemed rather cost effective.
There were parties who said they would be heading over for filming, but in fact, they were just visiting the place. No sets would be rented and they would just spent a few nights at the hotel and take a few photos to stir up news about themselves. After all, fans would not know whether they were really renting any sets for filming.
Actually, lots of parties had the funds to rent sets in the film studio complex, but they just could not get a spot!
How many entertainment companies across the twelve continents had the same idea of renting sets? There was a limit to area in the film studio complex. Even just renting a tavern required taking a queue.
At Planet Baiji.
Fang Zhao finished reading the latest financial reports sent over from planet Wai and continued to make amendments to the design plans.
Construction of the palace was a collective effort by the design team. Such a large palace was not just an exact replica on the outside. The palace court, inner rooms, surroundings, roof sculptures, materials, and many other details, right down to a pot of bonsai, had gone through meticulous planning.
Every single brick was being made with technology from the New Era. Although it might seem very similar to those from the Old Era, they were much more durable. After all, the materials used for construction could not be exactly the same. For people of the New Era, those Old Era constructions were way too weak. The bosses did not wish for the constructions they had so painstakingly strived to build getting ruined after only a few series were filmed either.
Now, Fang Zhao was in the midst of drawing up the plans of the street and official residence. Displayed on a screen beside him were all sort of materials and resources. These resources assisted him as he tried to recall the images buried deep in the recesses of his memory.
Fang Zhao was different from other historians of the New Era because his views and angles on these matters were different from those of others. He could view things from the angle of a person from the Old Era, while historians in the New Era would miss certain things.
”Construction on planet Wai hasn't been completed yet?” Kevin Lin asked as he dropped by.
They had already moved into their new single rooms, which were much more comfortable. Kevin Lin had gotten excited from browsing through the news and did not feel like sleeping, so he had come over to chat with Fang Zhao about the progress of the Wai Film Studio Complex.
”Soon. There is still one more street; after that is done, everything will be complete.” Fang Zhao put down his pen and looked at Kevin Lin. ”What news did you receive this time?”
”Heh, internal news. I heard that planet Wai has submitted an application for a film entertainment cultural base, but I have no idea whether it will be approved. However, if it is approved, those constructions that you people have invested in will no doubt appreciate in value.”