Chapter 756 Combination of Eastern Positive Energy and Western Hollywood Family Values
Tang An looked at the two planning projects in his hand and found that there was currently no script.
Most projects start with a planning plan. Even if you want to adapt a TV series into a movie, you must have a thorough and detailed plan.
Of course, great directors who have already proven themselves are not included in this list. They just need to get a book out, and there will immediately be a lot of investors waving checks and wanting to invest.
No matter what you shoot, as long as you reach a certain level, you can ignore all issues such as subject matter, genre, investment, and actors.
When Feng Xiaogang was filming "Assembly", there was nothing Wang Zhongjun could do if he didn't agree. Now if he wants to film the story of a cultural troupe, Wang Zhongjun will still pay for it.
Let alone filming a story about an art troupe, even if he makes an autobiography about himself with realistic themes, someone will invest in it.
For other projects, you have to conduct market research and consider various aspects such as cost, audience, and difficulty of filming. Then you need to find someone to write the script, which is also very standardized.
Even if you receive a good script, you still have to go through this process.
Since China Film is going to produce these two science fiction films, it is natural that it has made certain preparations.
Audiences don’t need to worry. With the huge sales of Tang An’s science fiction trilogy, although there are still some money-making films that are trying to make money, domestic science fiction films are no longer synonymous with bad films.
And although "The Three-Body Problem" has not yet won the Hugo Award, it is very famous in the field of science fiction. Even if it is placed nationwide, it is still somewhat famous.
The two planning plans each contain a plot summary, which is still centered on the story, which is very different from the two plans.
In "The Three-Body Problem", the characters are not important. Many liberal arts students complained about the book's literary quality, character description, and writing style. Even Liu himself said that the characters in the book are just tools to promote the development of the plot.
In movies, the plot follows the characters, and the development of the plot is due to the actions of the characters.
Characters are the core of the narrative, the core of conflicts, and the basis of the film's styling.
The characters in the movie are visible, unlike those who only appear on paper, and the two have different weights for the characters.
The character in it can be just a code name, as long as the plot is exciting enough, but in a movie, that is absolutely impossible.
People are the main focus to promote the plot, and then the plot is used to flesh out the characters and complement each other.
This will definitely dissatisfy some fans of the original book, but there is no other way but to cater to the majority of the audience.
The same is true for "The Wandering Earth", which is roughly the story of the people on earth working together and going through various hardships to successfully escape the solar system and wander around before the sun is destroyed.
A synopsis of the plot doesn't tell much, and it's only about a hundred words long.
After reading it, Tang An put down the two documents.
"Director Han, Director Jiao, the domestic science fiction film market is still blank at present. These two projects are indeed feasible. As long as they are completed, the box office will definitely not be bad."
Han Sanping and Jiao Canfen looked at each other, showing a hint of joy, and asked, "Which film does Mr. Tang think is more appropriate to film first?"
"Let's play "The Wandering Earth", "The Three-Body Problem" is too difficult." Tang An pondered for a moment and said.
"Is there a technical problem?"
Han Sanping and Jiao Canfen frowned at the same time. According to their thoughts, they must film the more famous "The Three-Body Problem" first, and the story of the Three-Body Problem is even more shocking.
Tang An shook his head, "Technically there is not much of a problem. The first film focuses on the plot and there are not many science fiction scenes. However, if "The Three-Body Problem" is not made into a simple popcorn movie, it should be made with more depth and express the ideas of the original work.
, is a big problem. As for special effects scenes such as the 4-dimensional space, the expansion of sophons, the dimensionality reduction strike, the destruction of the three-body planet, etc., there are no technical problems. The difficulty lies in how to make it look like. As long as you can imagine it, you can make it.
.”
Storytelling is a difficult problem for all movies, and how could Han Sanping and Jiao Canfen not know this.
There are still many directors who cannot tell a clear and smooth story, let alone "The Three-Body Problem".
As for a simple popcorn movie, this one is simple, but that's about it for this series.
Han Sanping wanted to make "The Three-Body Problem" into an epic blockbuster, like the American "Lord of the Rings", rather than a simple popcorn movie.
After another discussion with Tang An, Han Sanping and Jiao Canfen decided to test the waters by making "The Wandering Earth" first.
"Director Tang, how do you think "The Wandering Earth" should be shot? You are an expert in this area, so you need some guidance." Han Sanping chuckled.
Tang An is the only director who has successfully made science fiction films in China, and even Tang An is the only director who has made authentic science fiction films. They have no experience in this area, so they can only ask Tang An for advice.
Tang An didn't hide his secrets. He adjusted his sitting position to a more comfortable position, leaned on the sofa, and said, "I have watched "The Wandering Earth". The atmosphere of the original work is cold, depressing and even despairing. It is very concerning about the fate of mankind."
Ridiculous and compassionate.”
"The whole book is full of dark colors. The status of relatives is strangely low, human nature is gradually degenerating, there is no grief in life and death, and there are no heroes who sacrifice their lives. There is even a popular rebellion, killing five thousand people in the engine control center.
There are many government officials and scientific researchers, these are not suitable to appear on the big screen."
"First of all, we definitely can't make a dark movie. That would be the same as driving the audience out of the theater. I think the theme should be a combination of Eastern positive energy and Western Hollywood family values, and the script should be written with this core in mind."
Tang Anluoli talked a lot and first determined the tone of the movie.
Regardless of whether it is released during the Spring Festival or not, if a high-cost science fiction blockbuster is shot in a dark direction, it is basically guaranteed to fail.
After all, this is not like a horror movie, it is low-budget.
Of course, if it is filmed in a dark style, the reputation among some people will definitely be much higher, and the B rating will be higher.
This has always been the case in the film industry. The more the public doesn't like something, the darker it is, the higher the tone is than the warmer one.
Han Sanping and Jiao Chanfen also understood that, among other things, even if they filmed in the style of the original work, they would definitely get a few scissors.
The positive energy of the East is the touching deeds of sacrificing one's life for righteousness.
Western Hollywood family values, like most Hollywood blockbusters with children, the main character's first purpose is to save his children, and saving the world is incidental.
National sentiment and family sentiment.
Han Sanping also accepted Tang An's opinion. Family affection and sacrificing one's life for the country are both factors that can move the audience.
The deeds of Qiu Shaoyun, Huang Jiguang, Wen Tianxiang, Yue Fei, etc. are all touching.
The tone of the movie has been set, and it will definitely be difficult to hire Tang An to write the script.
Tang An now has a war movie in his hands, and Wu Ershan also has a big production with an investment of 2 billion. How can Han Sanping have the nerve to ask Tang An to do it.
After talking about this, Han Sanping talked about special effects.
"Dr. Tang, is Tiangong Yicai still free enough to take on this science fiction film?"
"If we don't leave it to the digital field, there won't be much business in the digital field in Hollywood, right?" Jiao Chanfen suggested.
After all, the two of them still don't believe in domestic special effects companies. Even though Tiangong Yicai has produced several wonderful blockbusters, the special effects are not bad at all.
Tang An didn't say anything. This is the current situation of the domestic film industry. No matter how much domestic companies do, as long as there are choices, the first goal of these film companies will definitely be to hand it over to Hollywood, or even if it doesn't work, they will hand it over to South Korean companies.
"Director Han, Director Jiao, you don't have to worry about special effects. After the expansion of Tiangong Yicai, we already have enough manpower. Part of Hollywood's business has also been outsourced to other companies. Moreover, I acquired Xuanyun in the first half of the year and became a shareholder.
Kingsoft Cloud, based on Xuanyun, cooperated with Kingsoft Cloud to develop a new cloud rendering farm, which greatly saves manpower, hardware costs, and reduces time."
"As for the digital field, although there is still some free time, a lot of Hollywood business is given to domestic companies. Domestic film studios mostly look to Industrial Light & Magic and Weta Digital, and in the digital field, Tiangong Yicai may not be as good as Tiangong Yicai. There are still
If you charge Hollywood prices, the cost will be much higher."
Isn’t Tiangong Yicai doing as well in the digital field?
When Han Sanping and Jiao Canfen heard what Tang An said, they thought he was just bragging. After all, the digital field was once the top special effects company in Hollywood.
Tang An also knows their worries. After all, most of the blockbusters in recent years are produced by the original cast of "Lord of the Rings" and "Avatar", as if this means that the special effects are good.
Tang An explained, "Actually, let alone the digital field, even if it is left to Weta Digital, it will not be any better than Tiangong Yicai."
As soon as these words were spoken, Han Sanping and Jiao Chanfen didn't believe it even more.
Weta Digital is the world's top special effects production company, while Tiangong Yicai is only a domestic company after all.
Tang An didn't wait for them to explain, and continued, "Let me give you an example. The "Lord of the Rings" series more than ten years ago was a milestone in the history of film special effects. Even now, it is still top-notch."
"However, in terms of CG effects, there are still obvious CG traces in some places, and the backgrounds of big scenes are also a bit blurry. In this aspect, there is still a gap compared to many well-done blockbusters at present."
Tang An once again distanced himself from "The Lord of the Rings", and it seemed that he was still talking about shortcomings, which made Han Sanping even more confused.
That is "The Lord of the Rings", a monument in the history of Hollywood movies and an unsurpassed magical blockbuster.
Han Sanping suppressed the doubts in his heart and continued to listen.
"Technology will only advance. The CG special effects of "Lord of the Rings" are still first-class, but they are no longer top-notch. However, this movie still represents the pinnacle of movie special effects together with "Avatar" and is truly amazing.
The key lies in the physical effects, most of which use models and special effects makeup.”
"But it's also because of the full investment of Peter Jackson and Weta Digital. This is Peter Jackson's first blockbuster, and it's also the first big project of the start-up Weta Digital. They can't afford to lose, and their investment in the film is far beyond
Any of the later ones.”
"To put it simply, Weta Digital has the ability to achieve 80% of the effect, but in order to gain fame, regardless of cost and time, it achieved 90% of the first major project "Lord of the Rings", and then did not care about it.
Whether it's "The Hobbit" or a project of another company, Weta Digital's purpose is to make money, which means cutting costs to obtain greater benefits."
"Let alone 90%-rated movies, most of them are 60%-70%, or just 80%. Really every movie is made according to the standards of "Lord of the Rings", Weta said it decades ago
It’s time to close down.”
"Tiangong Yicai may only have a strength of 60 or 70 points, but Director Han and Director Jiao can rest assured that I guarantee that I can give you an answer sheet of at least 70 points and do my best to complete the special effects of this movie."
Technology is always improving. Today's technology is not comparable to what it was twenty years ago, but technology is always used by people.
Weta Digital has never had a project like this since "Lord of the Rings".
The CG special effects of "The Hobbit" are a bit stronger. This is an improvement in technology, but there is still a big difference overall.
The same director, the same special effects team, but with the advancement of technology, the effect is not that good.
"Lord of the Rings" was Weta Digital's first blockbuster film. In order to achieve fame, we put 120% of our efforts into making it. The various props, extras, and scenery were all extremely demanding to achieve that effect.
Later, when you become famous, it’s time to make money, so naturally you won’t be able to work so hard.
For a $100 million job, spending $70 to $80 million on special effects is outrageous. Spending $90 million is unbelievable. You have to make some money for yourself. You can’t put in the money yourself just for the sake of the effect.
Therefore, it is useless no matter how much money is spent on domestic films. What is needed is that the special effects company is serious and responsible and can spend all the money given by the producer on special effects.
Otherwise, even if you give a budget of 300 to 400 million yuan, the special effects company only spends 100 to 200 million yuan, and the rest is pocketed, there is no way.
It’s not just once or twice that domestic producers have been taken advantage of.
Even filmmakers like Han Sanping and Jiao Canfen, who have been in the industry for decades, cannot understand this aspect. After all, how can those domestic officials who are smarter than ghosts be deceived by foreign businessmen time and time again.
Tang An also gave them a thorough explanation, which finally convinced them to accept it and let Tiangong Yicai and Jinshan Cloud Rendering Farm be responsible for the special effects production of "The Wandering Earth".
In one morning, the project was finalized and both parties would jointly invest. Tang An would then send a group of people over to work with China Film to make a budget plan and participate in the preparation process.
However, pre-production modeling and scripts cannot be completed in a short time. Even if the two major companies give full support, they will not be able to start production within a year.
After talking about the business, Tang An also chatted with Han Sanping. It turned out that Jiao Chanfen was not willing to be a mere decoration. Even if he could not get back the control over China Film Holdings, he would at least make some achievements so that China Film would no longer be a mere empty-headed company.
Shell decoration.
ps: The book I recommended yesterday is called "Become a Boss from Now on". I typed an extra word before. If you are interested, you can read it.