Chapter 467: T-Rex Model

[Chapter 467: How Can You Do This?]

The Firefly Films studio lot was far larger than both Universal Studios and Warner Bros. combined, and the layout of the area was extraordinarily organized. Around ten o'clock, a Chevrolet SUV and a red BMW slowly drove into the lot and parked in the Digital Domain office area. The doors to both cars swung open, and five women stepped out.

Even for those accustomed to seeing various beauties around the studio, the arrival of these five women captured the attention of many passing employees.

Julia felt uneasy about the gazes from the crowd. She hopped into the SUV and searched around, asking, "Liz, where are my sunglasses?" Elisabeth, casually taking out a pair of Ray-Ban shades hanging from her pocket, replied, "How would I know?"

"I distinctly remember placing them...," Julia said, her voice trailing off as she looked up and spotted the sunglasses on Elisabeth's face. She froze for a moment before lunging at her, exclaiming, "Alright, just hand them over!"

With a grin, Elisabeth dodged, saying, "No way, come and take them if you can!"

"That's so childish," Drew, who stepped out from the BMW, complained to Tina Fey and Claudia Schiffer standing beside her. Just then, she noticed Eric coming out from the nearby Digital Domain studio. However, the large Chevrolet SUV obstructed their view, so the playful Elisabeth and Julia remained unaware of Eric's approach.

Drew wore a mischievous smile as she poked her companions, pointing at the wrestling women with a playful smirk. "Hey, you've got to see this."

Tina Fey smiled coyly while Claudia Schiffer asked, "What's the good show?"

"Just watch closely," Drew insisted, gesturing toward the two women again, while Eric made his way to the opposite side of the SUV.

Tina Fey and Claudia Schiffer fixed their eyes on that direction. As Eric came around from the front of the SUV, he said something to Elisabeth and Julia. In an instant, the two playful women separated quickly. Elisabeth greeted Eric, while Julia, who had been robustly teasing her only moments before, seemed to shrink away, looking like a small mouse trapped under a cat's paw.

"Wasn't that amusing?" Drew chuckled, watching.

Claudia Schiffer, suppressing her giggles, said curiously, "Why does Julia look so scared of Williams?"

Drew shrugged, revealing that she had stumbled upon this situation by chance. "I asked Eric about it, but all I got was a playful poke on the head. It probably isn't fear, but I'm not really sure. If you want to find out, you could always ask Eric."

Claudia shot her a skeptical glance. "Why don't you just ask him yourself?"

Meanwhile, Eric managed to wrestle the sunglasses off Elisabeth and handed them to Julia before waving over to the group.

"It's already ten o'clock; why are you all just getting here?" Eric remarked casually as he greeted them and led the group toward the Digital Domain studio.

Drew, ignoring the curious stares, playfully draped herself over Eric's arm. "There was traffic; the street is a real circus today, didn't you notice?"

Eric nodded, choosing to remain quiet.

The main office area in Digital Domain was structured across three standard commercial loft buildings, each two stories high. These spacious factory-like structures were eight meters wide and over thirty meters long, capable of accommodating up to two hundred workers at the same time.

Tina Fey followed closely behind Eric as they entered the studio and marveled at the beautifully designed open office space, bustling employees darting around, and couldn't help but exclaim softly.

Hearing her, Eric turned and smiled, asking, "Are you envious of their work environment?"

Tina nodded, a bit wistfully. Back at her old newspaper, their cramped office held a dozen employees, and it was a daily dream for many of her colleagues to one day work in a spacious area.

"If you want, you can experience this place for a while in the future," Eric said casually.

Tina shook her head, pointing to a nearby cubicle where a visual effects technician was engrossed in a computer drawing. "I can't do that."

"They use Maya software for the effects, and it's something you could learn in no time. Besides, you can draw, which gives you a head start."

Just then, Elisabeth reached over, playfully pinching Eric's arm and whispered in his ear, "How do you know she can draw?"

Eric gently pushed Elisabeth's face away. "There are too many eyes watching; be mindful of the impact."

Elisabeth huffed, pulling Julia a meter away from Eric to express her discontent.

Eric didn't mind much, saying, "Jeffrey will be here shortly too; let's check on the post-production of The Mask."

...

While The Mask didn't have many effects shots, its style was highly cartoonish. To address this, Digital Domain had specially borrowed two animators from Pixar to help design the scenes.

After a review of the progress on The Mask's visual effects, the women all expressed great interest in the technology used to merge effects with live-action, flocking around the visual effects artists, chatting and asking questions. Although Eric didn't have the hands-on skills, he understood the principles well enough and chose to walk to the employee coffee bar by himself. He ordered a coffee and picked up a film magazine, engrossed in it.

After Elisabeth watched the demonstration of a shot's processing, she turned around and noticed Eric had vanished. She asked a few people and soon found him alone in the coffee bar. After requesting a coffee from the bartender, she approached him and took a seat across from him, staring intently while wearing a smirk, as if saying, 'I know what you did.'

Eric didn't look up from the magazine until he saw something catch his interest. He finally said, "Go fetch me a pen."

Feeling slightly dejected to realize her pose was for naught, Elisabeth rose angrily, walking to the work area to borrow paper and a pen, which she tossed in front of Eric.

While writing rapidly, Eric spoke, "I saw your expectant look earlier; why not just say what's on your mind?"

"Hmm, I discovered your connection with Columbia," Elisabeth replied, with a playful tone that implied, 'You better flatter me or I'll spill!'

Eric took a moment to respond with a nonchalant "Oh."

"..." Elisabeth struggled to suppress the impulse to splatter her coffee on him. "Aren't you even a little nervous?"

After neatly folding the magazine and placing it in his shirt pocket, Eric coolly remarked, "You don't think there's anyone as clever as you in Hollywood, do you?"

"Then shouldn't you be more worried about someone spilling the beans?"

"Not at all. I already secured all the distribution resources from Colombia in South America. Now, the critical focus is on Europe. Even if someone were to cause trouble, by the time Sony receives the information and investigates, Firefly would have likely secured a part of Columbia's European distribution resources. As for Southeast Asia, we'll take what we can, and let the rest go. By then, Sony will know it's a done deal; ripping apart the cover would benefit neither side. Even in a lawsuit, they wouldn't stand a chance, so they'll just have to swallow that loss."

"I can't help but want to praise you," Elisabeth teased.

"To be fair, the Japanese are merely outsiders. If they were a domestic company, we wouldn't get away with this. Just wait and see; Sony and Panasonic won't last long in Hollywood. Even if they try to adapt, they won't achieve much. As soon as they aim to diversify like Warner Bros., they'll hit all kinds of restrictions and will end up stuck only focusing on the more modestly profitable film production business."

"News Corp. is also an outsider, you know," Elisabeth retorted with a touch of pride.

Eric threw her a glance, "How many times has your old man changed his nationality?"

Elisabeth was momentarily stumped, feeling as though she had swallowed a large boiled egg.

...

Soon after, Jeffrey arrived at Playa Vista, and Eric took the women along with him to the studio where the dinosaur models were designed. The team there was led directly by Stan Winston.

Among the dinosaur models, the most important, of course, was the Tyrannosaurus Rex, along with the ailing Triceratops.

"Wow, come look at this; the eyes look so real!" Drew exclaimed, excitedly wandering around the studio. She soon found herself captivated by a mechanical eye the size of an orange.

Under the control of the model maker, the mechanical eye not only blinked but also could freely dilate, creating a stunning effect.

"These are just little toys, Ms. Barrymore. Follow me, and we'll see the big one," Stan Winston said with a proud smile.

The group walked into a large warehouse where an impressive Tyrannosaurus Rex model lay before them, with a handful of model makers bustling about on scaffolding.

"This T-Rex is 13 meters long and 5 meters tall. We're planning to use 40 hydraulic actuators to control it..." Stan Winston excitedly explained beside Eric. Although he was one of the best model and special effects artists around, this colossal creation was a first for him. Even the Alien Queen made years prior didn't have the same shocking impact. After all, the Alien Queen was a fictional creature, while the T-Rex was a real part of Earth's history.

Eric gazed at the unpainted white T-Rex and asked, "Will it be completed by June?"

Stan nodded, aware that Eric planned to start filming at the end of June. "No problem."

"And what about the CG effects?"

"That's a bit more complex," Stan replied. "If we create models from scratch, achieving a truly realistic effect involves extensive computation and rendering tests of the dinosaur's skin texture, which is both costly and time-consuming. So, they recently came up with a plan to laser-scan the physical model into the computer after it's built, significantly reducing the workload."

"That sounds like a smart approach. As for funding, no need to worry. Firefly will support all necessary expenses," Eric said, satisfied.

...

Before long, midday approached, and after having lunch at the base's cafeteria, Eric spent the entire afternoon discussing the design details of the dinosaur models with Stan Winston.

Uncertain how much time had passed, Eric and Stan stood beneath the T-Rex model, discussing the design drawing in Stan's hand when the group of women appeared again in front of him.

Noticing Eric being surrounded by the ladies, Stan shrugged and walked over to Jeffrey.

"Eric, it's past four o'clock; it's time to go home."

Unbeknownst to him, the day had passed remarkably fast. Just as Eric opened his mouth, he suddenly recalled why he was there. Checking his watch, he saw it was already 4:50. The Rodney King verdict should have been announced by then, but he hadn't heard any news about any unrest.

Traveling from Playa Vista to Beverly Hills, they would have to pass through downtown Los Angeles. With such stunning women beside him, he couldn't help but imagine the worst-case scenario if they were caught by a mob...

A shiver ran down Eric's spine as he looked at the pretty faces in front of him. "Don't head back tonight; come with me instead."

At those words, the five women exchanged glances. Drew showed indifference and even a hint of excitement. Julia shrank back, while Elisabeth shot him an annoyed glare, thinking he was becoming more outrageous. Tina Fey and Claudia Schiffer both flushed red at the implication.

"Eric, Emma's still at home," Julia said weakly.

"She has a nanny to watch her; it'll be fine."

Elisabeth couldn't take it anymore and pulled Julia aside, insisting, "We're not going to hang around with you for your tomfoolery; I'm taking Julia home."

Eric understood where they were coming from but, at this moment, he couldn't let any of the women leave. Noticing Elisabeth trying to walk away, Eric pulled Julia back toward him. "You can go if you want, but Julia stays here."

"Y-you can't do that!" Elisabeth stomped her foot but didn't move further.

"Well, that's it. I'll call for the chopper from the estate to pick us up," Eric said, ignoring Elisabeth's expression and dialed a number on his phone.

*****

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