NCCnovel Chapter 294 Gauss's Casting and Plot Arrangement
Chapter 294 Gauss's Casting and Plot Arrangement
After the business strategy was finalized, the second half of the meeting moved directly into the practical stage of casting and filming preparation.
"Regarding casting, the soul of this film is Musashi during his childhood," Gu Nan said, looking at the casting director.
"I don't want those child stars with greasy acting skills."
"I'm looking for a child with extremely pure eyes and a smile that makes people feel warm and kind. Ideally, they should be an ordinary person."
"The character Musashi firmly believes from a young age that monsters are not bad, they are just 'sick.' This young actor must be able to carry this pure sense of conviction without making it seem artificial."
The casting director nodded seriously: "Understood, Mr. Gu. I will expand the scope of the auditions and focus on visiting various schools in Jinghai City to see if there are any suitable candidates."
"In addition, although the adult Musashi has almost no scenes in this prequel, the actor to play the adult Musashi, who will be the protagonist of the subsequent feature film, also needs to be selected at the same time."
The image of the gentle young man in blue from his past life flashed through Gu Nan's mind.
"The actor playing the adult Musashi doesn't need to be too rugged or handsome; he can even be a little ordinary. But he must have a gentle and refined temperament, and a kind of approachability that can make people instantly let down their guard."
Having settled the casting direction for the core characters, Gu Nan turned his attention to the action director and special effects team.
This is the real highlight of the Goss movie.
"In terms of combat choreography, this time we will completely overturn Gaia's style of fighting, which is characterized by wide-ranging attacks and heavy throws."
Gu Nan looked at the martial arts instructor and earnestly instructed, "Gauss's basic form is 'Luna Mode.' In this mode, the core combat philosophy of Gauss is 'non-killing' and 'dissolving'."
"In terms of movement design, I want you to incorporate the essence of Tai Chi."
The martial arts instructor was stunned: "Tai Chi? Ultraman practicing Tai Chi?"
"Yes."
Gu Nan nodded in agreement and then demonstrated a few signature Tai Chi movements.
"Use the opponent's force against them, and use softness to overcome hardness! When fighting, Gauss's body movements should be smooth and gentle. When facing the enemy's attack, he does not take it head-on, but uses exquisite body movements and neutralizing force to deflect the enemy's attack."
Even after taking down the monster, Gauss calmly adopts an extremely elegant starting stance.
"These exaggeratedly beautiful and uniquely rhythmic martial arts movements will be the biggest selling point of the Luna form!"
The martial arts instructor swallowed hard, his mind already conjuring up the fantastical scenes that would be a game-changer for traditional Ultraman fighting.
"Of course, compassion does not equate to weakness." Gu Nan's tone shifted sharply.
"When negotiations break down, or when facing pure aggressors like the Baltans, Gauss will switch to the red 'Corona Mode'."
"In this mode, all the gentle strength of Tai Chi is discarded; replace it with the most powerful and explosive punches and kicks!"
"Every punch must land squarely! Every strike must create a sonic boom!"
"This extreme contrast of 'courtesy before force' is the charm of the character Gauss."
After giving instructions on martial arts direction, Gu Nan looked at the heads of the costume and props team and the miniature model team.
"Finally, and this is the most expensive part of the movie."
Gu Nan crossed his arms in front of his chest, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"When we were filming the TV series 'Gaia' before, we had to keep the budget for dozens of episodes in mind, so we filmed some of the destruction scenes in the city in a rather restrained manner."
"But this time it's a feature film!"
"The funding is more than sufficient!"
"I want to see the most exhilarating model destruction!"
Gu Nan pointed to the storyboard sketches on the table: "For the scene where the Baltan aliens descend upon the city, and the defense forces bombard it with missiles, I want you to build a miniature model of an entire city block, and then blow it all up!"
"Fire, smoke, shattered glass, collapsing buildings!"
"In the final battle between Cosmos and the Baltan alien, Cosmos used a throwing technique to send the Baltan alien flying, smashing through at least three building models!"
"The Baltan aliens' sword rain and light whip, Cosmos's Ultra Spinning Defense—make the physical damage effects of these ultimate moves collide to the extreme!"
"We want to give the audience a top-notch visual spectacle on the big screen!"
Gu Nan's words completely ignited the atmosphere in the conference room.
Everyone, from the special effects team to the props team, felt incredibly excited.
As someone working in the tokusatsu (special effects) industry, what could be more exhilarating than building a city with your own hands and then destroying it in the most spectacular way?
"Meeting adjourned! All departments, immediately begin preparations!"
With Gu Nan's order, the massive war machine that is Light Chaser Animation Studios began to operate at full speed for the brand new project, "Ultraman Cosmos: The First Strike of the Sun and Moon".
In the prop workshop, brand-new Luna form and Corona form suits of Gauss are being rushed into production.
The art department worked day and night to create concept art for the Baltan alien spaceship in a wasteland setting.
The casting team embarked on a journey to find the young Musashi with pure eyes.
Time slips away quietly.
Just as the second season of "Ultraman Gaia" had finished airing its 31st episode, and fans were still immersed in heated discussions.
Light Chaser Animation's official account unexpectedly released a brand new two-minute trailer.
The title is just a single line:
The brand-new long-running tokusatsu series, "Ultraman Cosmos: The First Strike of the Sun and Moon," will soon be exclusively available on Bilibili.
Countless tokusatsu fans who had just finished watching Gaia and were still in a state of excitement clicked on this trailer.
Accompanied by an unsettling low-frequency breathing sound, the scene unfolds from a first-person perspective, traversing a purple claustrophobic tunnel. The intense sense of claustrophobia instantly captures everyone's attention.
Immediately afterwards, a blinding flash of light appeared, and the vast universe and starry sky suddenly appeared on the screen.
Two enormous beams of light, one blue and one red, collided violently outside Earth's atmosphere!
The scene then cuts back to the ground.
In the pouring rain, a handsome little boy discovered a huge, translucent blue giant in the mud of a forest park. The giant had become almost transparent due to its depleted energy. The boy used a mirror to reflect sunlight, thus reawakening the giant.
As the mist dissipated through the forest, a brand-new Ultra Warrior, predominantly blue with rounded, soft lines on its head, slowly descended amidst the hazy vapor.
The middle section of the trailer features a fast-paced montage.
There are shocking explosions where large groups of defense force fighter jets are blasted into pieces by beams of light falling from the sky; there is the terrifying oppression of aliens with large pincers descending upon the city; and there are also scenes of several adults in ordinary uniforms running through the streets with strange instruments.
At the end of the trailer, accompanied by an ethereal whisper, the screen freezes on Bilibili's 5-yuan on-demand page.
The trailer caused a huge stir online as soon as it was released. The video was viewed more than five million times in just one hour, and the screen was covered with a dense barrage of comments.
【real or fake? 】
[Holy crap? Light Chaser Animation Studios has secretly prepared another big surprise?!]
[Simultaneous hosting of the two Olympics?]
[Gaia Season 2 hasn't even finished airing, and a new Ultraman is already here? They're producing like a sow!]
[An Ultraman with blue as the main color? Is he a distant relative of Agul?]
The head design is so rounded, completely lacking the sharp, muscular look and aggressiveness of Gaia and Agul.
【Huh? Is Chasing Light now obsessed with Ultraman Blue? Why is he still so unconventional?】
[This Ultraman looks a bit strange.]
Five yuan? Buy, buy, buy! A tokusatsu movie by Light Chaser Animation, five yuan is practically free!
[Ultraman didn't join the defense force? A child as the main character? Why has the art style suddenly become so fairytale-like? It feels completely different from the hardcore sci-fi style of Gaia.]
This story, told from a child's perspective, reminded me of a dream I had as a child. I also fantasized about finding a transformation device in the forest and becoming a superhero to fight monsters.
Who is that alien wielding those giant pincers? He looks like a mutated giant cicada, and he's kind of handsome, how come?
[The miniature city model in the trailer was so awesome! Light Chaser Animation's demolition team never disappoints!]
[Huh? Isn't that a monster from the Showa era? I think it's called Baltan!]
[Oh, I remember now, that giant clawed mantis shrimp alien said their planet was destroyed and they were bringing 40 billion of their kind to Earth in search of a new home?]
[Then 40 billion aliens were all wiped out by the original aliens, who were of very ordinary appearance, skills, and mechanics, but dealt very high damage? Old-school divine power?]
I don't know, I only saw a guy making a peace sign and yelling weirdly!
My supreme bone actually felt a slight tremor~
【Then you're blessed with a happy life!】
Meanwhile, discussion threads about "Ultraman Cosmos" sprang up like mushrooms after rain in various tokusatsu-related forums and online communities.
Among them, a pinned analysis post on the tokusatsu forum garnered tens of thousands of replies in just a few hours, with unprecedented discussion.
Fans who were originally discussing the Gaia storyline were instantly distracted by this bombshell.
Discussions about Shin-Ou continue to heat up, with not only posts analyzing the plot logic, but even the alien that appeared for less than two seconds in the trailer has been singled out and given a dedicated thread by netizens to discuss its performance in the Showa era, as well as the design analysis of the new suit.
All this enthusiastic feedback was accurately reflected in the backend data reports, which Gu Nan, sitting in his office, saw.
He simply smiled at the audience's expectations and the inevitable controversy.
The reason why "Ultraman Cosmos: The First Strike of the Sun and Moon" was regarded as a masterpiece in its previous life was precisely because it perfectly showcased the gentleness that was both divine and full of mission.
Furthermore, in addition to the main theme of the Cosmos storyline, the subsequent clash between the "extreme xenophobia" represented by the defense force and the "idealism" represented by Ultraman is also portrayed very vividly.
Tokusatsu fans in this world have never experienced an Ultraman that "does not rely solely on destruction as the solution."
Once the feature film is officially released, Gauss's unique charm of "grabbing both fists and flowers" will surely refresh their understanding of the "Giant of Light" once again.