Chapter 770 The highlight of the martial arts scene
Relatively speaking, commercial films do not have high requirements for the director's artistic pursuits. As long as the plot is smooth and the story is exquisite, it is enough to attract the audience's attention.
Well, as an actor who still knows a little bit about the directing industry but doesn't have enough professional knowledge, it is relatively simple to get involved in the directing industry.
There is also a more important sign that actors have widely crossed over into the directing industry, often in the film industry.
In the TV drama industry, there are really very few, not even one who is relatively well-known and can produce excellent works.
Logically speaking, it is easier to direct a TV series than a film director. This is a fact that has long been recognized in the directing industry.
But why are there so many actors who are also directors and try to make movies, but so few of them try to make TV series?
Is it because these actors who have changed careers have higher skills, higher pursuits, and their abilities are stronger?
Of course it’s impossible!
Everyone makes corresponding choices based on the main principle of benefiting themselves. There is no need to doubt this.
These actors cut their brains and work hard to make movies because movies are easier to control than TV series.
The most obvious point is the difference in film length.
Although the big stars are eager to try, they always want to produce works that they lead, and at the same time they are extremely confident in their own abilities.
However, they will not completely ignore the reality. The reality is that the length of the movie is very short, and as a director, the time required to persist is much shorter.
As long as you can persist for ninety minutes, you will be victorious.
As for filming a TV series, it proves that the time they have to persist is dozens of times longer than ninety minutes, and that is all real time, not watery at all.
Because the actors basically have not received formal education in directing, they are all self-taught in their professional knowledge, gained by working with the crew and on their own.
Strictly speaking, their foundation is still not solid.
With the movie's length of ninety minutes, it's not too difficult to persevere. At least there's something to look forward to, and you can still get some tips for filming.
But the TV series...
That is something that requires a director's skills even more. If he wants to maintain a stable output in such a long work, the director's personal foundation must be solid.
There is no way to rely too much on those fancy high technologies, we must tell real stories, and we must tell good stories.
Think about it, is it possible for actors to transform into directors and persist for such a long time?
It's really too demanding of them.
Another point is that well-known actors have crossed over into the film industry and have a certain box office appeal for the works they direct.
It can encourage movie fans to pay attention to your movie works. As long as it gets a box office, it basically proves your success.
After all, success or failure of commercial movies is judged by the box office. If your box office performance is high, no one will care even if the storyline is vulgar and the quality of the filming is unflattering.
Even though the film was so poorly shot, it still achieved such box office results. Doesn’t this show that it’s capable?
As long as you can achieve excellent box office results, there will be investors willing to reward you and continue to give you opportunities.
As long as we can steadily obtain the box office results of a few movies and satisfy investors, then the road to commercial movies will be open.
The future is bright!
But TV dramas are really mysterious.
It does not bring direct benefits to the director, that is, income. Investors naturally need to spend money to invite TV drama directors to film.
Moreover, this price is actually not low as long as you are really famous and capable.
For example, among the main behind-the-scenes producers, those at the bottom of the food chain are often poorly paid screenwriters, but if we really talk about it, there are also big bosses who stand at the top of the pyramid.
If you want their scripts, it will cost you millions. In fact, such well-known screenwriters will also be named as producers and other titles to participate in the TV series sharing.
Like film directors, many TV drama directors have their own production companies, and their companies participate in the production of their own TV dramas, so that they can naturally get a share of the pie in the later stages.
But, TV drama directors who can reach such a level are extremely rare.
Many times, TV drama directing is a very unprofitable profession, at least not as good as film directing.
To be honest, if you want to succeed in the TV drama directing industry, it is much more difficult than in the movies.
Why should others invest in you?
Are you investing in such a big project?
Just waiting for you may not be able to recover the cost in a year or two, so just leave it there, can't you wait for the schedule?
Don't forget, you are not a well-known director, you are just a newcomer, not to mention a cross-border director.
Many people just see that TV dramas are broadcast for free, and the difficulty of filming seems not to be that great. It is not as sophisticated as movies. Moreover, the production costs are shared by the TV station network platform that decides to broadcast. They take it for granted that filming
TV dramas are less risky and anyone can join them.
This is obviously a misunderstanding.
Indeed, TV dramas have no actual box office requirements. As long as the broadcasting effect is satisfactory to the TV station and the platform recognizes it, it is considered a success. At first glance, it seems that there is little pressure.
But what about actually?
If you want to get rid of the risk of production costs, the first step you have to do is to sell the TV series first.
If you can't even sell it, how can you talk about sharing the cost?
Don’t just look at the current booming TV drama market and think that you will definitely succeed. Every year, there are about hundreds of movies and TV dramas produced in Hengdian, or even more.
This is just in Hengdian, but there are so many TV series with modern themes being filmed in full swing in major cities.
Even though they are not costume films, period films are all shot in Hengdian, and many of them are actually shot on location.
Lin Lin summed it up, and there were even hundreds of TV series produced every year.
With so many TV series, how many can really be sold?
Besides, there is a difference between selling and selling.
If you want to make money back, you must at least sell it to a serious satellite TV, the kind that goes to satellite. If you want to make money, you must at least successfully broadcast it on a first-tier satellite TV.
Only then will everything be ready.
But in fact, many TV series not only cannot be sold, but also lack real buyers. Even if they are sold, they can only be sold to terrestrial TV stations in various provinces and cities, and cannot meet the wider target audience group at all.
Although it is a terrestrial TV station, the money that should be given still has to be given, but this huge amount of money is not of the same order of magnitude at all.
If it can be sold to a first-line satellite TV, then a price of one million is completely attainable. Even in the 2020s, a price of tens of millions is not a fantasy.
With such a low selling price, it will be easier for producers to recover costs and even make money, so that they can have money to start the next project.
However, if there is really no market and can only be sold to terrestrial TV stations, then it is really a fire sale.
Maybe only a few hundred thousand can be collected.
That was a TV series, and the production budget was at least several million, which was still a small cost!
The selling price is only a few hundred thousand, and it can’t even fill the gaps between teeth. Are you kidding me?
But, that's the way the market is.
There are so many TV series and dozens of TV stations. They have too many choices. If you don’t sell them, then I can find someone else to buy them.
You refuse to pay hundreds of thousands, but others are selling it for tens of thousands of dollars. Do you want to give it a try?
What's more, some TV stations have gone too far. They won't buy a TV series that will be broadcast in one round. It is so expensive and may not have good ratings.
Why not follow those first-tier TV stations and see which TV series has good ratings and is popular with the audience, and then we will buy the second round of broadcast rights.
You have to know that no matter how popular or popular a TV series is, once it reaches the second round of broadcasting, the cost will be significantly reduced.
Therefore, for those satellite TV channels with average revenue efficiency, it is actually very cost-effective to purchase the second-round broadcast rights of popular TV series.
Of course, for the producers of those TV series, this is of course beneficial and harmless. As for TV series, there are actually many ways to make money.
Getting a good price for the first-round broadcast rights is naturally the top priority, but the second- and third-round broadcast rights can also be sold for money.
Therefore, the more TV stations that come to purchase, the better.
Under such a market background, ordinary TV series have no selling points. It can be said that the sales prospects are quite slim.
Many TV series are produced. If they can be sold within three years and find a platform to broadcast, it will be considered a major victory.
Many TV series can't even find a good platform. After filming, they just disappear, let alone expect to be able to recover the cost.
Therefore, for a TV series with a huge investment, the pressure to recover the cost is also very high, and it is not as easy as most people imagine.
However, if the same situation is put into a movie, the situation is likely to be completely different.
First of all, actors who can transform into directors must be very popular in the film industry, and they must at least have a certain degree of popularity.
With such a well-known reputation, at least some of the audience can be attracted to enter the cinema. This is a living box office, and this is real money.
What do investors recognize?
No matter how much publicity and marketing you put in, it will all be in vain if it cannot be converted into box office in the end.
Generally speaking, the production cycle of a movie is much shorter than that of a TV series. At the same time, generally speaking, the output of a movie is much lower than that of a TV series.
It is impossible to shoot hundreds of movies throughout the year. At best, it will only be 70 or 80 movies.
The cinema is such a creature that it needs a lot of movies to fill various schedules throughout the year.
This is quite similar to a TV station.
As long as it is within the screening period, the cinema cannot be empty, and appropriate movies must be arranged to be broadcast.
However, the difference between movie theaters and TV stations is also here. Movie theaters are a place that extremely needs freshness.
It cannot be like a TV station that only broadcasts new TV series during the prime time of the day, while old TV series can be broadcast in the morning and afternoon during daily periods, and the time slots can be arranged by oneself.
As long as the cinema is open, it needs to show new movies of the year all year round. Except for some remakes of classic movies, or some foreign movies, which have been released abroad a few years ago and were only introduced this year, other time slots are not allowed.
I thought about it, I need a new movie.
Therefore, from a practical point of view, overall, the demand for movies in movie theaters is very large, and it can even be said that the supply exceeds the demand.
In addition to those big productions, there are countless cannon fodder schedules that need to be filled with small-budget films. These are all opportunities.
Some directors who don't have very high qualifications can make some low-budget films and put them into such an unpopular period to try their luck.
Anyway, the overall investment is not high. If it can earn tens of millions or even millions at the box office, it will be a huge profit.
Therefore, as a film director, as long as he can attract investment and make money, it doesn't matter even if he is an outsider or becomes a monk halfway. As long as the film can make money, it doesn't matter even if a singer puts on his own concert.
It's like a documentary.
Wu Di, who has taken care of these dual identities, is actually very confident now, and he does not just rely on Lao Zhang to get around in this industry.
They currently have top box office movies on their left hand, and are about to win gold awards from three major film festivals on their right hand. As long as the results of the maze competition come out, then for Wu Di and Xiao Qi, the situation in front of them will be different in an instant.
Totally open!
Therefore, the current Brother Hai has not understood the situation at all. Boss Wu, who is being tortured under him, is not a new actor, but he is obviously a star of tomorrow!
If you're not careful, you might even surpass him!
Isn’t it just a martial arts scene?
Do you think anyone has never taken a photo? Do you think anyone is still afraid of heights?
Too lazy to pay attention to Brother Hai's nagging, Wu Di pulled Han Jingjing into the set together. He was quite popular on the set. After all, he was already considered a quite young actor in this crew.
Generally speaking, young actors are relatively cooperative, not to mention Wu Di, who has just become famous, and it is easier to communicate with them.
The most difficult part of filming a martial arts scene is actually the communication aspect.
For literary opera, no matter how difficult it is, it can still be implemented. If the actors don't understand it, it doesn't matter. It's just a difference in the concept of performance.
If you don't understand something, just explain it slowly. If you practice it a few times, you will be able to achieve the effect the director wants.
However, martial arts scenes are different.
It is something real, something that requires real hands and feet, not just words.
It is precisely because of the need for real materials and real punches that Brother Hai brought Wu Di here. From this perspective, Brother Hai chose to use Wu Di, and it was not entirely out of the motive of making Lao Zhang uncomfortable.