After flying back from Kentucky non-stop, Yi Feiyang was extremely exhausted.
When I got home, my two girlfriends, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Alba, were filming a new drama for Fantasy Entertainment, and the whole villa was empty.
He took out his phone and wanted to call Fatty Gao Jiabao over for a drink, but then he remembered that this guy was complaining about his acquisition of a TV station and was having trouble with him, so he could only throw the phone on the table in a funny way.
Yi Feiyang took a long breath and fell heavily on the sofa. Facing the current situation, it seemed perfect, but he was a little helpless.
Now that the filming rights have been secured, the most important step is nowhere to be taken. Although Yi Feiyang started out by shooting horror movies, he has never made a zombie movie!
Zombie movies are different from "The Ghost Story" and "Saw". They are somewhat similar to science fiction movies packed with a lot of red ketchup. The whole pattern belongs to the apocalyptic genre. Yi Feiyang really doesn't have much research on this.
.
But he is a director, and if he wants to make such a movie, he must contact and enter such a world.
So first of all, we must first figure out what is going on with this terrifying and crazy creature like "zombie", what are its weaknesses, and how to improve the survival rate is the key!
Although I have read many novels and movies in my previous life, if you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. It is better to find more things to understand this monster that exists in movies or games and makes people fear but enjoy it.
Thinking of this, Yi Feiyang quickly got up and called around to get information. He planned to watch all the zombie movies and then search for something on the Internet to learn more about zombies.
A few hours later, Yi Feiyang's royal follower Fat Jack knocked on the door of Yi Feiyang's house with a lot of zombie movies.
"Hey Jack, you're finally here!" Yi Feiyang grabbed the disc. After a closer look, he found that it basically contained the information he needed to find.
Fat Jack is actually very hard-working. It was hard enough for him to film the animated film "Kung Fu Panda", especially since this film has already reached the post-editing stage and will be released this summer. From Fatty's point of view, this animated film is his own.
This is a masterpiece that has stepped into the ranks of great directors. Whether it will be popular in the future depends on this film.
It happened that at this time, the boss Yi Feiyang had something to do by himself. Fatty was loyal, so he immediately dropped his work and went to all the major video stores and bought all the movies about zombies and zombies.
"Boss, you're asking for it so urgently. I only found these, but the famous ones should be here. For example, this guy paid $500,000 for "Dawn of the Dead" directed by George Romeo in 1978.
The impressive achievement of more than 55 million US dollars worldwide!" I looked at Yi Feiyang, who looked unhappy and had a slightly sinister look in his eyes, and quickly added: "But I think he is much worse than you! You used 20,000 to create this
A miracle of 200 million!”
"Haha, my Jack is so smart!" Yi Feiyang's face turned cloudy.
"Thank you for the compliment, boss. I've been following you for so long. Even if I don't want to be smart, I can't do it!" Fatty scratched his head and continued. "Nowadays, the entire entertainment and television industry in the world is playing with zombie themes, especially the popular "Resident Evil"
"Under the influence of the game, many such movies have been shot here in the United States. Well, this is the movie version of "Resident Evil", this is the remake of "Zombieland", and "Keep Out"..." Fatty is like delivering food.
Flipping through the things in his hands, he said, "But the coolest ones are these two, which were filmed in your hometown of Hong Kong, "Zombie Mission" and "Bio-Zombie"!"
"Wow, you even found Hong Kong movies. It's really cool and deserves an award!" Yi Feiyang smiled and touched his round head.
"These are what I should do. I am willing to work for the boss!" The fat man touched his head and smiled honestly.
"Okay, thank you!" Yi Feiyang gave the fat man a bear hug, thanked him sincerely, and then sent him out.
After coming back, Yi Feiyang sat in front of the TV and stuffed zombie movies into his head one after another, which were either weird, terrifying, bloody, or exaggerated.
According to the information on the Internet, Yi Feiyang has a deeper understanding of zombies.
Zombies are undead creatures, commonly known as the living dead. Chinese movie fans always like to call foreign zombies zombies, but these are fundamentally different things. There are essential differences between zombies and zombies. Zombies are generally directly transformed from living people, while zombies must be
Transformed from the dead. Zombies are afraid of light, but zombies are not afraid of light. Zombies move faster, zombies move slowly, and when they see living flesh and blood, they move very fast. Zombies are mainly from East Asia. Neither zombies nor zombies belong to the Three Realms and Six Paths.
Zombies can be understood as corpses that are not completely dead. The brain responsible for thinking is severely damaged, but it can still retain some thinking like lower animals. The cerebellum function is largely preserved, and the movements are slow but not out of shape. Human innate weaknesses such as pain and fear are preserved.
On the contrary, they have all been eliminated. It can be said that zombies have evolved from humans into creatures with severely degenerated brains. The behaviors they perform belong to the instincts of all animals on the earth, such as instinctively finding food and eliminating dissidents. In comparison, zombies will
Simply think, rest, move around, use tools, and live in your own territory.
To deal with zombies, using a firearm to shoot the head is the safest way. Find a safe place to hide yourself, and have enough food and clean water. Yi Feiyang firmly remembered these points.
Next, he poured a cup of coffee, took a sip, took a pen, scribbled on the white paper, analyzed the information he received, and then added his own understanding.
After thinking and considering, Yi Feiyang wrote down some directions for "The Walking Dead":
First, the original version of "The Walking Dead" is not as good as "Resident Evil" and other movies in terms of scene control, especially the big scenes with walking dead everywhere, which are rarely seen, and the audience is not aware of this.
There are also many criticisms.
And Yi Feiyang felt that since he wanted to create the history of TV dramas, he had to let go of everything, spend all his money, and create a sense of danger in the apocalyptic world, as well as a strong visual impact.
If there is one film or TV show that is the most outstanding among this kind of zombie movies, it is undoubtedly the film "Armageddon" starring Brad Pitt in his previous life. The investment for this film was US$125 million. In order to show the
The feeling of "World War" in the novel. The crew filmed all over the world. The filming was completed in Scotland. The crew moved to the Philippines, the United States, London, Hungary, Malta and other countries for filming, and finally formed an unprecedented and spectacular figure.
Sea scenes and fantasy visual impact.
Yi Feiyang clearly remembers that there were hundreds of shots of the sea of people in this drama from top to bottom, from high altitude, and the scene of thousands of zombies building human ladders and crashing into the high wall was even more thrilling.
Therefore, in Yi Feiyang's view, since you want to shoot the doomsday zombie world, you must make it "big". Because the scene is large, it can bring out the reality of your movie. In the words of a senior zombie movie fan, "
The protagonists of zombie movies are not men and women, but the entire environment!”
Yes, when the audience watches this kind of movie, they don’t see the hero and heroine kissing each other, or fighting zombies, or how they fight the zombies and escape, but to see what the whole world has become.
”.
Thinking of this, Yi Feiyang solemnly wrote on his notepad: "It's not the zombies that have changed, but the world!"
After setting this tone, Yi Feiyang continued to think about the profound connotation of this TV series.
In the past, the connotation of many zombie movies was nothing more than complaining about the government's inaction, revealing racial conflicts - zombies and humans, implying racial differences, and revealing existential conflicts, etc. However, Yi Feiyang is not willing to let his TV series fall into this.
From a narrow point of view, because this is a TV series that lasts for dozens of episodes, not a two-hour movie, I can definitely put a lot of points into it and explain it well.
Therefore, Yi Feiyang must deeply explore the meaning behind "The Walking Dead" and strive to make breakthroughs, rather than the game mode, which is simply riding through levels alone and surviving alone.
There is a masterpiece in later generations, "I Am Legend".
The characterization and hidden connotations of the characters in that movie make the whole movie very full and perfect no matter from which angle you look at it. The two open-ended endings are even more ingenious, and people can't help but admire its uniqueness.
.
It can be said that whether it is a zombie movie or a disaster movie, the ultimate goal is to express two completely different lines of good and evil.
Almost all directors take goodness as the main theme of this genre. Occasionally, the evil of some people is briefly mentioned or used as a background introduction, but this situation will be broken by yourself!
Because Yi Feiyang clearly remembered a section of "The Walking Dead" in his previous life, in which the male protagonist Rick was driving a car, while a backpacker desperately chased after him, hoping to get his help, and even begged loudly twice in a row,
But Rick ignored him. In the end, the backpacker was bitten to death by zombies, leaving only blood on the ground.
This can be said to be the evil in human nature, but this is the true humanity when facing the crazy world of zombies.
"People can destroy themselves, but they cannot destroy humanity!"
Yi Feiyang wrote this sentence heavily.
…
Although Yi Feiyang had said before that he would temporarily put down his movies and shoot TV series, no one took his words seriously. After all, Hollywood is a place that pays great attention to face.
How could a famous director like Yi Feiyang condescend to descend as a ghost to film a TV series?
But when Yi Feiyang officially announced that he would film Robert's comic "The Walking Dead" of the same name, the outside world was shocked, really, shocked.
"Oh God, it turns out that all this is true, China's Yi Guo really wants to film a TV series!"
"It's incredible, from movies to TV, what kind of transformation is this?!"
"We are waiting for the release of China's first TV series!"
…
Of course, during this period, there were still many comic fans who made wild remarks.
"Please don't ruin this comic that has just become popular, and go ahead and make your movie!"
"The essence of comics lies in originality. Although China Yi has filmed "Iron Man", there have been too many adaptations. I really don't know what "The Walking Dead" will be adapted into!"
"As we all know, Yi is from Hong Kong and is not a true fan of American comics, so this "The Walking Dead" is likely to be ruined by him!"
…
As for Yi Feiyang's fans, they are talking about his new work with great interest.
“As long as it’s easy to shoot, it’s good!”
“We are looking forward to his new work!”
"Support him! Encourage him! Come on!"
…
At the same time, with the constant calls from the outside world.
Inside the office of Fantasy Entertainment.
Yi Feiyang and the creative team of "The Walking Dead" are discussing the recruitment of characters and location shooting for this drama.
"Boss, in my opinion, the most important thing about filming "The Walking Dead" is the selection of characters. Yes, just like that great movie "Resident Evil", it has now become a rare brand!" The person who spoke was AMC TV station
Tom, the head of the production department and director, is a man with glasses who is a thousand degrees short-sighted. Although his eyes are short-sighted, he has a clear view of the market and a very precise grasp of the market. It was only during the period that William Som, the prodigal CEO, was in charge.
He was not reused, and now Yi Feiyang has promoted him to be responsible for the production of "The Walking Dead", which can be said to have given him a lot of room for development.
"That's right! I watched the movie "Resident Evil" no less than three times, and even bought the original DVD. God, the storyline and biochemical special effects are so amazing!" This time it was Tom who spoke.
My friend Harry, a short guy who compares to Napoleon, was assigned to be a warehouse manager by the company. Now he has been promoted by Yi Feiyang to become the head of the investment department.
"Then tell me, will our TV series surpass that movie?" Yi Feiyang asked them with a smile.
"Well..." Tom was silent for a moment, "It's hard to say. After all, Resident Evil is adapted from a game and has already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, ours is adapted from a comic or a TV series, so in terms of scale, it is somewhat... not as good as others."
"Yes, TV series are all produced with a small budget, how can they compare with big movies?" Harry said.
Seeing that everyone thought so, Yi Feiyang suddenly knocked on the table and said, "You are all wrong!"
"In my opinion, TV series can also be shot on the scale of a movie, or even bigger than a movie!"
"Ah, that will cost a lot of money!"
"Yes, if the production cost is too expensive, you will lose money!"
"Our TV station is already in debt, wouldn't it be even worse if this continues?"
People were talking a lot, and they didn't seem to agree with Yi Feiyang's huge idea.
In fact, we can’t blame them. American TV series have always been inferior to movies. TV and movie people are not on the same level at all, so they look at things from different perspectives. Film people like to make blockbusters and large-scale productions, and TV
However, people always have to pay attention to "keeping costs low", which has greatly restricted the development of the television industry. This situation did not happen until the release of "Prison Break" in 2005, which broke the dividing line between TV series and movies.
Let people know that TV series can be shot this way, and TV series can be more exciting than movies!
In fact, in terms of movie and TV capacity, movies generally last more than 90 minutes, and super blockbusters only last more than 2 hours. TV series, on the other hand, do not have much time limit and can interpret the storyline better and more perfectly.
In addition, TV series occupy a huge audience, and almost every household can watch your program. As for movies, you can only watch them if you buy a ticket. Finally, the broadcast season of American TV series is a big knowledge. If you compare it to
Movies, then, are sequels every season, which will continuously attract people to watch, thereby building a fixed audience. For example, "Game of Thrones", which was a sensation in the world in its previous life, can be said to have a global audience that surpasses the most awesome "Titanic"
” and “Avatar”.
In short, no matter from any aspect, TV series have an advantage over movies, but the results are often the opposite. In the United States, and even around the world, TV series have always been unable to compete with movies, and have always been inferior.
Now Yi Feiyang wants to break this unwritten "rule" and spend a lot of money to shoot TV series using the same methods as movies, so that the TV series can unleash its potential and lead a revolution of the century!
"Yes, what you said makes sense!" Yi Feiyang stood up and looked down at the colorful world under the floor-to-ceiling windows. "But in my opinion, TV can also compete with movies, and even surpass it in terms of investment!"
"How is this possible?"
“It’s incredible!”
Everyone was talking a lot.
"Nothing is impossible! Nothing is incredible!" Yi Feiyang said firmly, "This is the way this world is, entertainment comes first! As long as the TV series we shoot are as exciting as the movies, then the audience will buy it. By then we will be able to create ratings
Miracle!"
"But what about cost recovery? It is very likely that we will lose money!" someone asked.
"Don't forget." Yi Feiyang turned around and smiled. "We are a cable TV station and it is a paid program!"
"Can cable charges be as good as box office?" someone else asked.
"Of course we can't compare to the ticket price. One ticket costs six to seven dollars. One of our programs charges only three dollars per quarter, and the average episode of a TV series only costs a few cents. But don't forget, we are in the TV business. What?
The most? The most viewers! So, we need small profits but quick turnover!”
"What's more, in addition to cable charges, we can also work hard on TV advertising to attract everyone to our programs, and then those advertisers with huge wallets will come uninvited!"
"So, this is a virtuous cycle process. As long as we work together to produce good TV programs, we can turn around the current situation of AMC TV station from loss to profit!"
What Yi Feiyang said was very powerful and reasonable. It made everyone excited.
Tom, who was in charge of the production department, suddenly said: "Boss, I have an idea. Can we unite with the online platform? After our TV series is broadcast, we can upload the episodes and let the audience click to watch. This will attract more people."
After all, there are many more people online than sitting in front of the TV!"
"Fuck nggao! What a great idea!" Yi Feiyang snapped his fingers, "This idea is very good and very practical. I like it!"
You must know that many popular American TV series in previous lives were basically spread on the Internet. Yi Feiyang had noticed this originally, but was the first to mention it. It seems that this Tom is a talented person who is good at thinking.
"I also have an idea!" The person who stood up this time was Harry, Tom's good friend who was also promoted by Yi Feiyang. Seeing that his good friend had made a good impression on his boss, Harry raised his hand impatiently.
"Everyone knows that on-demand online platforms can only attract more viewers if they are free, but we can definitely add ads at the beginning, middle, or end of the film to make money!"
I originally thought that the idea I proposed would be praised by Yi Feiyang, but... Yi Feiyang smiled and said, "The suggestion is very good, but the effect may be very bad!"
"Just imagine, when you are in a hurry to watch a TV series, there are advertisements in the front, advertisements in the middle, and advertisements at the end. Will you feel very bad? You may even yell, is this a TV commercial break or a commercial break TV?!"
It can be said that Yi Feiyang hates this! In his previous life, the most annoying thing when watching TV programs was the constant commercials and interruptions.
Harry didn't expect such a reaction, and his face turned red.
"However, you gave me a very good suggestion - diversify and seek to maximize profits!" Yi Feiyang said with a change of tone.
"So what should we do? That is to adapt the TV show into an online game, or even introduce the TV show into mobile phone elements and make it into a mobile version, and make huge profits from it!"
Yi Feiyang's words were so bold that everyone couldn't help but be surprised. The adaptation of a TV series into an online game is already sharp enough, but it even needs to be connected with a mobile phone. The question is, are mobile phones that smart?
They don't know, but Yi Feiyang knows very well. In the future, smart phones will be very popular. Not to mention downloading TV series, you can even watch TV series directly online!
But this also gave Yi Feiyang suddenly another idea, which is to develop a huge mobile phone market. Now the mobile phone market has just started, the most famous ones are Ericsson and Nokia, as well as Japan's Sony, but Yi Feiyang clearly knows that,
In the future, Samsung of South Korea and Apple of the United States will be the two dominant players in this field. Judging from the current market share, I only need to spend a small amount of money to acquire a large number of shares of these two companies...
Thinking of this, this time it was not everyone who was agitated, but Yi Feiyang himself who was agitated. When he thought that he might control the two largest electronic companies in the world - Apple and Samsung in the future, Yi Feiyang's blood boiled with excitement.
"The meeting is dismissed! Today's meeting ends here! Alex and Harry from the investment department, come over. I have something to give you to do..." Yi Feiyang said excitedly. (To be continued...)
