ETERNAL LOVE - OPENER

Misty landscape in peach and rose covers the screen. Dawn emerges, low morning light hoovers over the crystal lake and crawls among the blossom cherry trees. A lady awakens by the wind carrying a memory of her loved one, far away. Amongst mountains and swirly clouds, he stands proud. The two divinities, they cannot be reached. He, the god of the power of good and evil longs for her, the future High Goddess. Heaven and earth meet, at last, responding to each other in a perfect balance. So far away, yet seemingly in s short distance, they gaze with a certain sense of warmth, enjoying the quiet pleasure of each other.Eternal Love is a Chines series based on a Xianxia novel of the same name by Tang Qi and a big commercial success in China with over 50 billion views, making it the most viewed Chinese drama. In terms of genre, it is set as fantasy, mystery, historical drama. It has also attracted a large number of foreign fans, which was said to mark a new renaissance for Chinese television. Its success factors were attributed to its beautiful scenes, poetic dialogues and popular stars; as well as the strong fanbase of its original novel.Catching up with the series 3rd season, Matthias Zentner shot this epic opener. A universal vision of love embedded in a dreamlike scenery, the magical world beyond words, with sounds of longing and a lover's melancholy to round up this immersive experience. A large scale production started in early Spring 2018 and stretched over 5 months including the work on the extensive CGI with the detailed attention such a project required.
CREDITS:
Client Shanghai Croton Culture Media Co.
Director: Matthias Zentner
DoP: Dieter Deventer
Production: A New Life Films
Producer: Min Ma
Postproduction: Velvet Mediendesign
Postproducer: Peter Jacoby
Editor: Jochen Kraus
Grading: Bianca Rudolph
Concept art: Lara Frank
Lead Flameartist: Chris Weingart
Flameartist: Sylvia Rössler & Andreas Rathmacher & Marco Pelzel & Simon Janik
Nukeartist: Rayk Hemmerling & Johannes Bogenhauser
Rotoscoping: Trace
Matchtracking: Christoph Gaudl
CG scan: Moritz Krappel
CG geometries: Korbinian Vogel
Lead CG clouds: Felix Hörlein
CG flower: Axel Sperling
CG petals: Chris Bleier
Lead CG petals&trees: Christian Keller
CG modeling: Fabian Hofmann
mattepainting: Christoph Unger & Lara Frank
title animation: Thomas Wernbacher
VFX supervisor: Falk Büttner