The formal welcome dinner ended with everyone toasting their glasses of Moutai.
On the first day of this visit, Jack Valenti, the president of the American Film Association, achieved an unexpected result. After obtaining permission, foreign film crews could come to shoot on location.
This time when he returns to Hollywood, Valenti will place large advertisements in newspapers such as The Hollywood Reporter and Variety Show to let interested filmmakers try it.
"Do you think there will be many people coming? The conditions are indeed good. Film talents here are not expensive and professional enough, but the skills and equipment are a bit out of date." After returning to the Great Wall Hotel, Jack Valenti and Rona
De and Gregory Peck were drinking coffee and talking about the future. Some elderly members of the delegation had taken a break first.
"It's very beautiful here. We will visit the Great Wall tomorrow. This kind of scenery is completely different from America. It will definitely make a good movie." Gregory Peck has always been a friendly person, and his movies are popular here.
"I think it will definitely happen. Orson Welles once said to me that as long as it can be shot here, this gimmick can make any movie a big seller in the American theater market." Ronald recorded.
He recalled what the old director had said to him and used it to prove Valenti's wise decision.
"I feel that our other proposal, which is to import five Hollywood movies every year, is also very promising. After that, we will go to the south to investigate the movie box office market in commercial cities.
There are one billion people here, and the market potential is astonishing. They are also developing very fast. This time we have a five-star hotel. A few years ago, we could only stay in old-fashioned hotels like motels.
."
"But the price they offered was very cheap, right?" Ronald asked Valenti.
"Now they can only accept single-film buyouts. I want to promote the system of splitting accounts or copying payments. Do you know? Last year, their annual box office champion was 680 million moviegoers." Jack Valenti said
A surprising viewing figure.
"How many?" Ronald almost fell off the sofa. The number of people watching a movie is equivalent to all Americans going to the cinema three times?
"Think about it, Ronald. As long as they are familiar with your name now, you will be a star director here in the future, just like Gregory. The reason why he is treated with high courtesy here is because he is a director decades apart.
Years later, audiences here saw their first Hollywood star.
Use your imagination. Ticket prices here are not expensive, and some remote areas even accept eggs in exchange for movie tickets. But when the economy develops, as long as we can get one cent per ticket, it will be millions of dollars.
Size. What if it was ten cents?”
"This?" Ronald didn't dare to think about it. This number had far exceeded his expectations. When he went back, he had to lobby several studios to let them sell the films he directed to be screened here. Even if it was free of charge,
Or you can post it upside down.
…
"Ronald, even if you are not a director, you will also be an excellent photographer." Gregory Peck took the photo of himself on the Great Wall and praised him. Ronald captured his deep gaze very handsomely.
After the talks and visits in the capital, the delegation went to the largest city in the south to continue exchanges. On the plane, Ronald distributed the photos taken in the past few days and rushed to be printed to the members of the delegation.
There are scenes of them visiting scenic spots such as the Great Wall and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, communicating with film artists, watching the women's volleyball team training and partying with team members, and there are also scenes of everyone learning to eat roast duck.
People here always say that there is no separation between culture and sports. Ronald also watched the performance of the martial arts team arranged by the host and competed with the folk wrestling masters next to the Temple of Heaven.
He found that the wrestling habits here were very similar to the tricks he knew before. The purpose was to quickly knock the opponent to the ground instead of landing on his back to score points like in the game. Ronald also exchanged words with the representatives of the wrestling team.
address and made an appointment for future communication. They also often receive foreign guests and are very familiar with these procedures.
"Is there also a Kodak Express Printing Store here?" Gregory Peck was surprised that he could get the photos so quickly.
"No, they have great hand-printers who can print better than Kodak and on par with professional technicians in Hollywood," Ronald said.
"I like them. They remind me of many old friends. Hollywood back then was also full of such talents."
In the south, they were able to have more in-depth exchanges with artists here. This was also a major film town in the past.
"Who directed this movie?" Ronald asked the young translator assigned to him, Xiao Yan.
"It's Director Xie."
"Oh, can I meet him and talk to him?" Ronald watched "Wrangler" produced a few years ago, which was arranged by the film studio's receptionist. Ronald saw a bit of Hollywood filming.
The construction techniques, one main and two over the shoulder, and close-up reaction shots are very skillful.
"We arranged for you to communicate with young directors. Director Xie is currently working on his new film and has gone to the scene to collect stories. There is no way to receive friends for the time being." Xiao Yan replied.
"Okay, what other arrangements are there?" Ronald felt that Xiao Yan's English must have been practiced by learning New Concept English, and there was a sense of familiarity. In addition, the two were close in age, so they could chat together.
"What we have arranged is to communicate with Director Xie's assistant director and deputy director Huang, and then we can visit the translation studio. We have also left some time for you to taste special food, go shopping and visit Yuyuan Garden."
Director Huang is a woman, and she is very envious of Ronald's ability to be a director at such a young age. Director and assistant director here is not only a job, but also a professional title.
The two talked about the shooting mechanism of Hollywood. Director Huang was very interested when she heard that Ronald's good friend Cameron was shooting movies in which the female characters were very independent. She expressed that she would like to watch his movies if she had the chance.
The translation studio is a place that specializes in dubbing foreign movies. Unlike the Soviet Union, the movies here will have actors re-dubbing Chinese lines for the characters so that ordinary audiences can understand them.
Ronald watched their work for a while and found it very interesting. The translated lines were obviously well written, and they were all perfect in terms of mouth shape and performance.
Gregory Peck, who came with him, was even more excited than Ronald. After watching the dubbing clip of the movie he starred in, he even told the dubbing actor Joe that the audience here understood his movie better than the American audience.
Even if it's in place, it's all the work of the translators, producers, and actors.
"Click, click", Ronald was guest photographer, taking photos of Gregory Peck and actor Joe. Suddenly the Kodak film he brought was not enough, so he pulled Xiao Yan and gave him some dollars.
Please ask him to buy some film.
He discovered that what Xiaoyan bought was not Kodak, nor was it a Japanese brand, but a simply packaged local film. It had various parameters equivalent to Kodak.
"You can help me get it developed." Ronald also wanted to see the performance of this film.
He handed over the US dollars.
The effect is really good. The black and white film is almost the same as Kodak. The quality of the color film is slightly lower, but it is enough.
After the visit, Ronald asked Xiao Yan to take him to Yu Garden.
"Ronald, uh, I have to tell you, I took your US dollars and can exchange them for exchange coupons. The real purchasing power of this token is much higher than our currency. So I used my own
I bought the film with the money. The performance of this film is very good, reaching the advanced level of Kodak in the 1970s. I can return the remaining money to you. But can you give me these exchange coupons? I want to use them.
Buy a camera."
"You're very honest. There's nothing wrong with that." Ronald waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want Xiao Yan's money. "For me, it doesn't make any difference. I still need US dollar exchange coupons to buy things here."
"Hey, let me treat you to Xiao Long Bao. I know there is a restaurant on Huaihai Road that is the most delicious."
Xiao Yan was very happy. His father worked in a film factory. He wanted to join the factory and take over, but he also needed professional skills. If he had a camera, he could slowly learn photography.
There were also many foreign guests in the foreign-related restaurant. The waiter was very knowledgeable and brought a basket of steamed dumplings and placed them on Ronald's table.
"Hey, wait, the juice inside is very hot." Xiao Yan hurriedly told Ronald, who had already picked up the chopsticks, to be careful.
"Oh...it's really hot."
Ronald exhaled, this is much better than the one in Chinatown.
"This is a southern snack, Turtle Jelly, to remove heat. Eat more, because you just burned it." Xiao Yan ordered another snack for Ronald.
"Well, you should eat some too. This turtle paste tastes good."
Ronald ordered another order and then wanted to pay the bill.
"It's all paid in advance." Xiao Yan said with a smile. He took advantage of Ronald, so he invited him to have some snacks to express his feelings.
"Do you have any movies that reflect the lives of ordinary people?"
After eating the special snacks and visiting Yuyuan Garden and the Bund, Ronald asked if he could watch some movies that reflected the lives of ordinary people.
"Yes, there was a movie with a high box office last year called 'Under the Bridge'. I'll report it to the director and bring it over for you to watch."
"Xiao Yan, where did you take the foreign guests? Don't violate discipline." The factory director pretended to have a straight face.
"No, no, the foreign guest wants to see the Bund and Yuyuan Garden. He is a photography expert, and he also used our domestic film. He said that the film is very good."
"You kid, don't be naughty. Your father said I can beat you." The factory director touched Xiao Yan's head.
"Foreign guests want to see a movie with a realistic theme. I wonder if you can adjust the movie 'Under the Bridge' so that the foreign guests can see a movie with a realistic theme that we can also produce?" Xiao Yan took the opportunity to comment.
"Hey, you have a good idea. Let's arrange for Deputy Director Huang to accompany you. You are all young people, so you can hold a symposium. Write a summary of what we talked about so that everyone can listen."
"Under the Bridge" is a film shot by our studio that was released last year. A copy was quickly found and assistant directors Xiao Yan and Huang accompanied Ronald to watch it.
Xiao Yan wanted to translate for Ronald, but he made a shushing gesture.
"This international friend is still quite good. Just watch the performance by looking at the body movements without any lines." Assistant Director Huang was surprised by Ronald's high level.
Ronald watched this movie, which was somewhat similar to the movie "Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears" that he introduced. It was also a romantic drama about urban young men and women.
The male protagonist is a bicycle repairman, and the female protagonist is a tailor who makes a living by cutting clothes for people in the alley.
The male protagonist is interested in the female protagonist, and both of them are older teenagers. However, the female protagonist is always a little melancholy, and is reluctant to pursue the male protagonist. And she goes to a distant farm every week to visit her uncle and aunt.
Director Bai of this film seems to have been trained in Hollywood just like Director Xie. The anxiety and mystery of the heroine's journey are fully expressed with close-ups of her footsteps.
Ronald concluded that the method of creating suspense is the same as Hollywood. Director Bai also likes to shoot shots of the legs of beautiful women.
In the second act of the movie, the heroine's strange behavior was finally revealed. It turned out that she was an unwed mother! She went to the farm to see her son, who was fostered with her uncle.
"So you can also film unwed mothers? It seems that romantic dramas are indeed connected. Among various human emotions, only love can transcend the barriers of race, language and culture to a certain extent."
Ronald took a look at Assistant Director Huang. It seemed that whether it was the East or the West, urban young people got married late.
At the end of the movie, the heroine went from being loved by the hero's mother to being disgusted after discovering that she gave birth to a child out of wedlock. Later, the heroine's son was bullied by a bully in the alley and ended up in the hospital. Instead, the hero's mother came out and scolded the bully.
The child loves the heroine's son.
The two got along well, and the heroine told the hero the reason why she gave birth to a child out of wedlock by reading her diary to the hero.
Two young people fell in love on the farm, but after they became pregnant, the boyfriend went abroad to reunite with relatives in America, abandoning the heroine and the unborn child.
Under dim lights and on a heavy rainy day, the heroine was pushed to the hospital on a flatbed cart by her uncle and gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
With heavy rain and dark roads, Director Bai's atmosphere was very successful, making the audience deeply sympathize with the heroine.
"Crash! Crack!" Lightning struck one after another, lighting up the sky and illuminating the suffering face of the heroine.
"This?" Ronald stood up suddenly, "How did you do it?"
He saw the lightning on the screen, which was very bright, exceeding the effect achieved by all the lighting fixtures found in Hollywood, and it was exactly the same as the lightning in real life.
"What method did you use? What kind of lamps? I want to introduce this kind of lamps to you!"
"This?" Assistant Director Huang suddenly realized that the foreign devils could speak Chinese.
"Just ask Xiao Yan, it was invented by his father."