Chapter 51: Choosing the Red and Blue Pills, Do You Want to See the Matrix?

Chapter 51: Choosing the Red and Blue Pills, Do You Want to See the Matrix?

The on-site adjustments were made immediately.

Over the past few days, movie websites and Warner Bros.' official website had continuously reported news about the commencement of filming for The Matrix, generating widespread attention.

This was especially true for audiences who loved sci-fi themes.

"Have you heard? Warner Bros. is also going to make a sci-fi film, a movie about hackers."

"Saw it. My main focus is on the Asian director Qin Feng. The two movies he recently participated in producing were extremely successful. I just don't know if this success can be replicated in his new film."

"That remains a suspense. According to the news, this is the first high-budget film he is directing independently after coming to America, so everything is still unknown."

"Sisters, I am extremely optimistic about Director Qin! I will blindly support all of Director Qin's movies. Because of Director Qin, I'm even watching some other Chinese television dramas now."

"Anyway, filming has just started, let's wait for the trailer to come out before judging. There's still a long time to go!"

"..."

Inside the crew.

Intense filming was still underway.

The voice of the camera assistant came through:

"B014, Scene 1, Take 1! Get ready... Action!"

Medium shot. Morpheus produced a small box and took out two pills from it.

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back."

He opened one hand, revealing a blue pill.

"You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."

He opened his other hand, revealing a red pill.

"You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Neo hesitated for a moment, then slowly reached out his hand.

Morpheus: "Remember, all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more."

Neo chose the red pill, held it in his mouth, and swallowed it down with water.

Morpheus stood up, "Follow me."

The two came behind another door.

Several people were working here, with computers and various equipment everywhere.

Morpheus instructed him, "Please, sit right here."

Neo sat down in a chair.

Trinity and a few others installed some equipment on him.

Morpheus: "The pill you took is part of a residual trace program. It disrupts your carrier signal so we can get a fix on your location."

Neo began to convulse, feeling physically ill. At the same time, he noticed the surrounding environment changing.

His right hand turned glassy, and the transformation was spreading across his body!

Special effects would be added here in post-production.

"Cold! So cold!" Neo cried out.

Morpheus picked up the phone: "Tank, give us a signal."

The glass-like substance rapidly gathered toward his face. He shook violently, opening his mouth in terror.

Trinity: "His vitals are dropping!"

Morpheus: "Tank, right now!!"

Following that, Neo let out a miserable scream.

According to the animatics, post-production would create an animation traveling from his mouth into pitch darkness.

Until a mechanical pod appeared.

"Cut!" Qin Feng shouted. "Okay, very good, let's do two more takes and try to finish this scene this morning."

In the afternoon.

They moved to an adjacent studio, where a complete interior model of a spaceship had been constructed.

The entire model was crafted with exquisite detail, with intricate pipelines crisscrossing everywhere, looking just like the real thing.

Of course, all the functional buttons inside were mere props and completely fake.

"B014, Scene 2, Take 1! Get ready... Action!"

Several people rescued Neo from the mechanical pod controlled by the Matrix.

In reality, Neo was draped in a blanket, his consciousness hazy.

Close-up. Morpheus stepped forward, "Welcome to the real world."

Neo's vision went black.

When he woke up, acupuncture needles were stuck all over his body.

"What is this?" His voice was very weak.

Morpheus said, "Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding them."

"Why do my eyes hurt?"

"Because you've never used them. Rest for now, the answers are coming."

Next.

The camera kept switching angles as two people removed the acupuncture needles from Neo.

Close-up. Circular mechanical ports were visible on his back, both arms, and the back of his head.

These were applied using special effects makeup.

A montage of shots was completed.

Neo woke up once again.

He also discovered the various ports on his body.

Especially the one at the back of his head, which was very large.

Click!

Morpheus walked in.

"Morpheus, what happened to me? What is this place?"

"The more important question is *when*. You believe it's the year 2009, when in fact, it's closer to 2199."

"I can't tell you what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself."

Qin Feng watched from in front of the monitor, "Camera 4, follow tracking."

Neo and Morpheus climbed upwards, the cameraman following closely behind them.

Morpheus's voice: "This is the Nebuchadnezzar. It's a hovercraft."

At this point, they reached the upper level.

"This is the main deck. This is the command center."

The camera zoomed in for a close-up on the engraved plaque of the Nebuchadnezzar, showing its name and construction date: 2009—wait, 2069.

"Most of my crew you already know."

Trinity was busy at work.

"This is Trinity, Apoc, Tank..."

Morpheus patted Neo on the shoulder.

"Do you want to see the Matrix?"

He gestured for him to take a seat again.

Neo sat down in the nearby chair.

Trinity secured him in place.

Morpheus slowly tilted him back, "Relax. You're going to feel a little queer..."

A neural-link cable instantly connected to the port at the back of his head.

"Ah—!"

Close-up. Neo screamed out.

The next scene featured a combination of live-action and CGI shots.

The crew had set up a massive green screen.

The primary purpose of using a green screen was to separate the background from the foreground, facilitating post-production chroma keying and the addition of computer special effects.

Additionally, cameras were more sensitive to green, making green backgrounds easier to work with during post-production rotoscoping and effect integration without compromising the quality of the footage, achieving a higher level of precision than other colors.

"B025, Scene 1, Take 1! Get ready... Action!"

Inside the green screen stage.

Later on, post-production would process the footage.

Turning the background into pure white.

Close-up. Neo's pain subsided.

He opened his eyes, looking around in bewilderment.

An endless white space!

Morpheus stood not far away, wearing a suit and sunglasses.

"This is the construct. It's our loading program. It can load anything, from clothing to equipment."

"Weapons, combat simulations, anything you need."

Neo asked, "Are we inside a computer program?"

"Is it hard to believe?" Morpheus said.

"Your clothes are different. The ports on your arms and head are gone. Your hair has changed."

In front of the two of them sat two red armchairs and an old-fashioned television set.

Morpheus picked up a remote control from the table.

"This is the world that you know."

The television turned on, and Morpheus sat down.

"The world as it was at the end of the twentieth century."

"It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation."

"What we call the Matrix."

(End of this chapter)