After praising the film, Guan Jinpeng said with finality: "There is absolutely no problem for this film to participate in the Asian DV Film Competition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. I can even guarantee that it will be shortlisted."
Just when He Xin and Ning Hao were looking happy, Lao Guan smacked his lips with a regretful expression and said, "Actually, if you make this film more precise in terms of color grading and sound effects, and then transfer it to film, it's totally fine." Take it to European film festivals."
"A European film festival?" He Xin was stunned and said subconsciously: "Director, are you talking about Cannes?"
But after saying that, he immediately realized that it would be too late to register for Cannes at this time, and asked again: "Venice?"
Guan Jinpeng chuckled and patted his shoulder and said: "Axin, your horizons are really high now. You can easily visit the three major film festivals in Europe. But don't forget that there are more than just these three in Europe. There are many good ones. film festival.”
As he spoke, he pushed up his glasses and said in a serious tone: "After all, the three major European film festivals are highly competitive. Even if you register, you may not be guaranteed to be shortlisted, especially for a new director like Xiao Ning. So I suggest that you .asxs. If you set it lower, the Three Continents International Film Festival in Nantes, France is a good choice.”
Listening to Guan Jinpeng's serious suggestion, Ning Hao was completely confused. His biggest hope was to participate in the Asian DV competition unit of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, but the topic suddenly jumped to European film festivals. This is like A newcomer went to a company for an interview with trepidation. He originally wanted to get a job with a monthly salary of two to three thousand, but he was satisfied. However, the boss of that company saw it and said, wow, what a talent! Not only did he recruit the person, but he also immediately promoted him and raised his salary. , an annual salary of one million, with a house and a car. It’s hard to keep up with this rhythm all of a sudden, it’s like a dream.
Thinking about the so-called sixth-generation directors who have become famous in China, except for the extremely lucky Chief Jia, his debut film "Xiao Wu" was shortlisted for the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival, one of the three major European film festivals. People like Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Zhang Yuan, etc. also started from international B or C film festivals such as Rotterdam, Paris, Mannheim-Heidelberg, and some Greek film festivals.
Could it be possible that he could have mixed up to this extent?
For Ning Hao, who was new to the cottage and wanted to become famous, all this felt as if happiness came too quickly and was a bit unreal.
While He Xin was overjoyed, he suddenly thought of a practical problem. Nowadays, he is no longer a rookie who knows nothing. The color grading, sound effects and film transfer mentioned by Guan Jinpeng just now are not that difficult. Domestic studios can do it, but the problem lies in color grading.
Because color grading is the product of digital film, digital shooting is now gradually beginning to rise in Hollywood. For example, blockbusters such as "The Perfect Storm", "Toy Story", "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace" are all digital films.
However, compared with traditional film movies, there is a big gap between digital cameras and film cameras in terms of color reproduction and saturation. It is almost impossible for digital technology to achieve the color sensitivity of film.
And in terms of contrast, when the contrast between light and dark in the picture is relatively strong, the dark details of digital movies will be very few, or even dark, while film movies can show very subtle details and color contrast.
Thus, color grading, a new industry in film post-production, was born. Just like film needs to determine the printing conditions for certain artistic requirements through light distribution. Of course, as an emerging high-tech product, color grading is far more important than light distribution.
Much more expensive!
Although domestic digital photography has just begun to sprout, there is still a lack of talents and equipment for film color grading. The digital films produced are generally sent to the United States, South Korea, and Japan for color grading processing, and it is said to be expensive.
They range from two to three hundred thousand to five to six hundred thousand.
For example, Director Jia's "Ren Xiaoyao" last year was also shot on DV. Later, in order to participate in the Cannes Film Festival, it was specially sent to Europe for color grading and film transfer. This cost alone is said to have cost nearly 100,000.
Euros, converted into RMB, would be over 800,000 yuan.
Ning Hao's film, when I watched it just now, the storyline, narrative method and shooting techniques are refreshing, but these are only ideological things. What really needs to be shown to the audience is not only the actors' performances, but also the technical means.
necessary.
For example, the picture quality shot by DV is very poor. It is more like a TV than a movie. And due to the hasty post-production, the sound effects are also very bad. There are a lot of off-screen noises. He Xin can tell when he hears it.
During the filming, the sounds of conversations and discussions among the people watching the excitement were heard.
Generally speaking, this film is similar to the "Xiao Wu" by Chief Jia that he watched, but it was film after all.
After coming out of Guan Jinpeng's room, compared to He Xin who was preoccupied, Ning Hao still looked confused. It wasn't until he entered the elevator that he finally came to his senses and grabbed He Xin's arm with a look on his face.
He said in disbelief: "Axin, do you think our film can really participate in the Nantes Three Continents International Film Festival in France?"
"It should work. Director Guan still has some connections in France." He Xin said thoughtfully.
The Nantes Three Continents International Film Festival is an international film festival that aims to introduce films from third world countries and showcases outstanding films from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Previously, Chief Jia's "Xiao Wu" and "Platform" had twice won the highest award - the Golden Balloon Award for Best Film. Last year, Mainland director Zhu Wen's "Seafood" also won the Best Director and Best Actor.
Two awards for the leading role.
For many mainland filmmakers these days, making films and then sending them to overseas film festivals to participate in and win awards is undoubtedly a shortcut to success.
Lou Ye, Wang Xiaoshuai, Zhang Yuan, Section Chief Jia and others have already set examples before. Only by becoming famous can you get more opportunities.
It stands to reason that the more someone like this has selfish thoughts, the less likely he is to produce excellent works.
However, Ning Hao is obviously an outlier among them. His purpose in making movies is to be famous and make money, but the works he made are full of his own distinctive style, and he is worthy of being called a "genius director" in later generations.
Of course, this guy was still very young at this time. After hearing He Xin's answer, he jumped up and down with excitement like a big monkey.
"But don't be too happy too early. You didn't listen to Director Guan just now. If you want to participate in the film festival, our film needs to be color corrected and the sound effects re-done. If it is really sent to France for exhibition,
There are dual subtitles in English and French, and they have to be transposed in the end. Have you calculated how much it will cost?" He Xin couldn't help but pour cold water on it.
"Well……"
At this time, Ning Hao, who was overwhelmed by the surprise, calmed down, counted on his fingers for a long time, and then said with a grimace: "If the sound effect only eliminates some noise, including subtitles, it won't cost much, and the big head is still spinning.
In terms of glue, I estimate it will cost more than 30,000 yuan at least..."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" He Xin interrupted quickly, "You said transcoding costs more than 30,000 yuan? Are you mistaken? Film alone costs more than 30,000 yuan!"
Having made so many movies, he still knows the market situation. For example, the market price of a copy of the most commonly used Kodak film is about 1,200, and it can shoot for four minutes. Of course, if it is transferred to film, there is no problem of waste.
The 97-minute movie "Incense" requires about 25 films, so the film cost alone will be about 30,000 yuan.
"Hey, brother, are you talking about Kodak? We can just use domestic ones. The price will be at least half the price!" Ning Hao said.
"domestic?"
He Xin has made several movies, but I have never seen any director use domestic film.
"Lucky, made in Baoding, is at least half the price of Kodak."
"The quality of how?"
"Well, after all, you get what you pay for. It's certainly a little worse than Kodak, but the difference is not big."
"No, if you really want to take it to an exhibition, you'd rather spend more money than do anything stupid just to save money." He Xin waved his hand.
The reason for converting to film is because there are very few digital theaters these days. He Xinzhang just saw a report not long ago, saying that there are only 113 digital theaters in the world, of which the United States accounts for more than half with 59.
, China has 13 home furnishings, ranking second in the world, and France has only two.
Although digital cinema is a trend in the future, the 13 in China have more symbolic meaning than practical significance. After all, there are not many digital movies on the market. Even real movies such as "The Perfect Storm" and "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace"
In the sense of digital blockbusters, they are all converted into film mode when they are released, because currently 99% of theaters around the world are still showing them in film mode.
Then He Xin said: "Why didn't you calculate the color just now? This is a big head!"
Ning Hao is also knowledgeable. When he heard this, he immediately said with a sad face: "Can you please stop changing the color, otherwise I have to sell the house!"
He Xin can be regarded as one of the producers who holds half of the shares of this film, but now he is also worried. Li Miaoxue was asked to ask Mr. Tao, the owner of Chunlan Hotel, to contact the landlord of the small courtyard. There is already news. The landlord's whole family has gone abroad.
Yes, this small courtyard was left by our ancestors. I originally wanted to rent it out, but it has never been rented out. After Mr. Tao mentioned it, he actually wanted to sell it, but he offered a high price of 600,000 yuan.
He Xin inquired about this price, and it is indeed a bit high. According to the normal house price in the Yushan Road area, it is only about 500,000 yuan at most. It is still in the process of bargaining. If the transaction is really sold for 500,000 yuan, then
The little spare money he has now, plus the salary from the movie "Landscape of Love" he is currently filming, all have to be spent.
But then I thought about it, Guan Jinpeng just mentioned this. Even if he really wants to participate in the Nantes Three Continents International Film Festival, it is still early, because this film festival does not open until November or December every year.
.
Moreover, although this film looks good and Guan Jinpeng is full of praise for it, no one knows what the future will be. It is better to take a look at the Asian DV competition unit that has participated in this Hong Kong International Film Festival. If the response is not good,
If so, then even if you take it to Europe to participate in exhibitions, it will be in vain.
The two of them were sitting on the sofa in the lounge area of the lobby of Huiquan Dynasty, staring at each other. He Xing was about to speak, but Ning Hao suggested it first: "How about we first see the results of going to Hong Kong to participate in the exhibition?
?”
Obviously the two poor guys were helpless and thought of getting together. He Xin nodded hurriedly and said: "This is the best. If you can get the gold medal in the Asian DV competition unit, I heard that there seems to be 50,000 Hong Kong dollars."
Where’s the bonus?”
"That's not even close. This amount of money is probably only enough to transfer Kodak film."
Ning Hao still hasn't forgotten the opportunity to go to Europe to participate in the exhibition. For him, it is definitely a great opportunity. This guy is still a little unwilling to give up: "Is it really impossible not to adjust the color?"
"Participating in European film festivals is one thing, but the more important thing is to sell the film. The film festival itself is actually a platform for film trading, and the quality of the film directly determines whether our film can be sold by then.
!If we can sell one more country in the future, this post-production money may be fully recovered.”
He Xin, who has participated in the Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals, is quite familiar with this kind of European film festival. The so-called sixth-generation directors like Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, and Chief Jia basically have their films banned from being released in China.
Yes, but why do foreign film producers still invest in their movies?
This is not a free spirit of internationalism, but because their films have a market abroad and can make money.
Like Ning Hao, he had seen two movies shot on DV. One was "Ren Xiaoyao" by Chief Jia, and the other was Zhu Wen, who won the Best Director Award at the Nantes Three Continents Film Festival last year.
"Seafood".
"Ren Xiaoyao" cost a lot of money to color correct and transfer to film. The images presented on the screen are almost the same as film movies, and the definition is higher.
Zhu Wen's "Seafood" has no color correction, and the picture is monotonous and rough, almost like watching TV.
Of course, the best-seller of "Ren Xiaoyao" in Europe is not unrelated to Chief Jia's fame and previous achievements, but "Seafood", which has the same ideological and artistic conception as "Ren Xiaoyao", has not been taken seriously. This is probably the reason.
Since "Seafood" is extremely rough and discolored!
At the same time, "Seafood" only won the Best Director Award and Best Actor Award at the Nantes Three Continents International Film Festival, which recognized the director and actors, but missed the Best Film Award. I am afraid it is also for this reason!
"Okay, let's talk about these troublesome things after you get the award in Hong Kong."
He Xin patted Ning Hao's shoulder hard, who had a mixed look on his face, stood up, stretched and said, "Let's go back to eat with me."
"Ah? Let's go to your mother-in-law's house. It's not good for me to be empty-handed, right?"
He Xin looked at him with disdain and said, "Every time I went to have dinner with me in the past, I never saw you carrying anything!"
Ning Hao said hurriedly: "No, we used to film together here, so of course it doesn't matter. But now we are visiting as guests, so we can't lose etiquette!"