"Teacher Lu, this shot must be kept. It shows Lin Dahai's entangled state at this time. On the one hand..."
In front of the computer, a middle-aged man in his forties looked at Qin Xiaobao helplessly.
"I know that the scenes shot by your director are intended to express various meanings, but what you think is just what you think. I have already said it before. There is no need to do it alone and add superfluous things."
"No," Qin Xiaobao argued with reason: "If there is no protagonist looking at the sky alone, his mood cannot be reflected, and there is no ups and downs. He suddenly becomes good to his family, which seems abrupt."
"No, not at all." Editor Mr. Lu said resolutely: "The fulfillment of each other's wishes in the front represents the process that both parties are familiar with."
"but..."
"Don't take it for granted, I am an editor. I know what the audience wants to see. I also know that if allowed, you would like to put all the shots in, but this is not realistic. Director Qin, are you tired? Every time you come here,
Is there any point in arguing with me?"
"Is it my fault? Every time I come over and see you, I cut out every scene. It hurts." Qin Xiaobao patted his chest.
"When you give me your work, you have to trust me."
"I don't mean to distrust you. Aren't we discussing this?"
"Don't worry, I've edited hundreds of movies, and I haven't made any mistakes. If it doesn't work, you can make a director's cut later, three hours, four hours, whatever."
The argument between Qin Xiaobao and Teacher Lu will happen almost every time they come back.
In fact, it’s not just the two of them, the problem of lens exists in all movies.
The work is like the director's child. It hurts to watch the editor tear the child into pieces here and there.
What the director wants is the completeness of the work and a complete story.
Editors are more concerned with viewing quality.
People have a certain level of patience when watching a movie. If it is too long, it will easily lead to fatigue. There is no problem with proper foreshadowing. Too many side plots will make the audience tired.
Qin Xiaobao's previous works had relatively few details and fixed timelines, so there wasn't much the editor could do.
"Supernatural Family" is his new attempt, with many of his own ideas added and a lot of material.
Just like other directors, I feel that it is useless without this and that is almost meaningless.
In many battles, Qin Xiaobao won only a handful of times, to be precise, he won once.
It's not that he couldn't say it, but Teacher Lu was forced to panic, so he said, "Come on, you can cut it!"
Qin Xiaobao became silent.
In the contract, he doesn't have the right to edit. It's not that he won't fight for it, but he doesn't have the ability.
But that doesn't stop him from beeping.
Therefore, every time I come here, I have to bring big bags of Red Bull and various snacks, but Teacher Lu never looks down upon me.
I wanted to hide when I saw him.
There was no surprise. Qin Xiaobao lost again this time. He had seen the previously cut film, which lasted about twenty minutes, and was quite satisfied. In addition to the original scenes of the film, a lot of material shot by himself was also added to it, which showed that the work was well done.
Recognized, happy.
"Lao Lu, come and take a break," he opened the Red Bull and handed it over: "According to your estimate, how long will it take for our movie to be edited?"
Teacher Lu took a sip of the drink happily: "Didn't you say you're not in a hurry? Are you trying to catch up with the Spring Festival? Let me tell you, there's no chance!"
"How can you? It's not child's play. Just change it if you ask." Qin Xiaobao laughed: "It's not that you care."
"Are you going to participate in another film festival?" Teacher Lu glanced at him.
Qin Xiaobao waved his hand: "Is this film participating in the exhibition? Don't be kidding, it's a purely commercial film, and I guess it won't even win the gold medal."
"So humble!"
"I'm just telling the truth. There are so many works about family ties. I'm just trying to catch a few tears. There's nothing special about the rest." Qin Xiaobao saw it thoroughly.
"Yes, when it comes to shocking, Buried Alive is better."
"Teacher Lu, did you read it?"
"The media is boasting about it every day, saying it is the best-looking Internet university. I will definitely take a look." Although Teacher Lu often quarreled with him, he had no doubts about this young man's directing ability: "It makes me feel quite depressed."
Yes, no wonder it’s not released.”
"It doesn't matter," Qin Xiaobao leaned back on the chair: "This also reminds me that I have to be careful when choosing themes in the future. Fortunately, the investment is not big, otherwise I will lose money."
"Indeed, the theme and script are too important." Lao Lu actually hoped that Qin Xiaobao would leave quickly. He had a lot of unfinished things and had to chat with him. He was tired: "You have quite a lot of free time these days."
"Ouch," Qin Xiaobao stretched out: "I can't do it. I have to leave for Beijing in the afternoon. I have to run outside these days."
"That's right!" Lao Lu was immediately happy.
"There seems to be something wrong with you."
"No, no, I wish you a safe journey and all the best in your work." Teacher Lu was really afraid that he would stay, so he picked up the Red Bull on the table and tried to drive it for him.
"Thank you." Qin Xiaobao didn't care: "I don't drink it. Functional drinks are not good for the body."
Lao Lu looked down at the half-drunk bottle: You are a dog!
Accompanying, no, to be precise, Lai stayed here chatting until half past ten. After receiving Xiaoming's call, Qin Xiaobao said goodbye and left. Just as he was about to say that there was no need to send him off, he saw Teacher Lu closing the door in a hurry.
I took out my mobile phone, found Lao Lu's WeChat account, typed out: I will be back, and sent it to him.
If there is no accident, the person will not come back at all.
After getting in the car, Xiang Yang was also on top. He slid his right hand beside his head and gave a salute that he thought was cool: "Here you go, old man!"
"Are you going too?" Qin Xiaobao put on his seat belt.
"Aren't you afraid of being lonely? I'm fine for the time being. I'll go with you to see how you negotiate with the actors."
Qin Xiaobao saw that he was wearing a sweater outside and reminded: "It's only 14 degrees in Beijing. Aren't you afraid of freezing to death?"
"I've brought my clothes. They're in the suitcase. I can change them before I get off the plane." Xiang Yang took out his mobile phone and looked at it: "It's still early. Are we eating on the plane or at the airport?"
"Whatever." Qin Xiaobao yawned: "I'll squint for a while, call me when you get there."
"No, we are about to negotiate with Uncle Ge and Jiang Wen. Aren't you ready?" asked the big dog.
Qin Xiaobao opened his eyes: "What's good to prepare? Just chat and show them the script."
"Isn't your script unfinished?"
"They are teachers, so they only need to have a framework, and the rest just depends on my words."
"What about the salary?"
"Ha, that's a problem." Qin Xiaobao sighed.
After a period of research, Kiwi decided to launch the "Let the Bullets Fly" project with a budget of 150 million.
Since 2010, investment in movies has increased, but even today, a production worth hundreds of millions cannot be underestimated.
What's more, "Let the Bullets Fly" is not a film with special effects in the traditional sense.
Everyone knows that science fiction and fairy tale movies are extremely expensive to produce, mainly because there are so many computer-generated special effects shots.
Or there are ancient war movies, which often involve thousands of extras, and the production costs are spent in a hurry.
"Let the Bullets Fly" talks about big scenes, there are none, but Qin Xiaobao's plan is to transform a city into the characteristics of the Republic of China, and here is a large amount of money.
When Liu Minghua contacted the investment giants, even they felt that it was a bit risky.
Spending two million on a train that only appears in the opening credits is so luxurious.
However, when it was announced that Leslie Cheung and Hu Ge were confirmed to join, and that Ge You, Jiang Wen, Liao Fan, Carina Lau and many other stars were in negotiations, it touched everyone's hearts.
This is a big production.
However, since there are many big names, the investment will definitely increase accordingly. If nothing else, according to the market conditions, none of Leslie Cheung, Ge You, and Jiawen's salary is less than 30 million, and the total can easily exceed 100 million.
If we really pay this price, we won't have to make the movie. Even 500 million won't stop it.
Because Qin Xiaobao liked this movie, he searched for information, but he didn't know whether it was true or false.
It is said that when Jiang Wen invited Fa Ge and Ge You, he was lying. He first told Fa Ge that Uncle Ge had already joined, so you can come, and then did the reverse process again. There were very few people taking money, and there were many supporting roles.
They all cost zero pay for their roles.
I have an advantage now. My brother doesn't need to lie. There will definitely be room for him, and the remuneration has also been fixed. It's 20 million plus 5% of the box office share. It's a very generous price.
In fact, my brother's meaning can be less, it doesn't matter much.
Qin Xiaobao didn't dare and couldn't mess up the market. Leslie Cheung's salary of 20 million yuan was already a sky-high price.
Box office share?
Who can guarantee that the movie will make money?
Lao Hu is a Kiwi person. According to him, all the teachers can play the role and are willing to act as green leaves. They don’t take any money and it’s fine.
Qin Xiaobao's strategy is very clear. As long as Jiang Wen and Ge You are dealt with, it will be very simple for others to replace them even if they can't hire the original team.
For actors, it really doesn't matter whether a film makes money or not.
As long as the names of a few leading actors are released, Kiwi's threshold will be leveled. Let alone no money, there will definitely be someone willing to pay to film.
Why.
It's very simple. It brings together so many celebrities. To put it bluntly, you can learn from the teachers. To put it bluntly, how much attention is it? Reporters from all over the country will look at it, okay? How about making money?
Isn't it easy to make money when you are famous?
The investment of 150 million yuan was gone before 20 million yuan even started.
As a director and one of the investors, Qin Xiaobao must go to negotiate with the actors in person.
To show sincerity, my director is here, so you can be cheaper.
Secondly, since they are all in the same circle, they talk to each other more casually. When companies contact each other, it is difficult to basically negotiate prices.
He couldn't guarantee what the effect would be, so he would try hard first and see.
For this reason, before departure, I also made a phone call with Director Ang Lee. The two chatted for more than an hour, mainly asking how to negotiate remuneration with actors.
Director Ang Lee believes that the best way is to impress the other party with the script.
When a good actor encounters a good script, he really doesn't care how much money he gets.
If you like that role, it's not strange to get paid for it. As for the other roles, you are too new to the industry. Although you have won some awards, the capital is not enough for an experienced actor.
To put it bluntly, it doesn’t necessarily give face.
Li An is right, Qin Xiaobao has only made his debut a long time ago, and those achievements can indeed be boasted among young people, but in the eyes of Jiang Wen and Ge You, haha!
In addition, we are not very familiar with each other, so playing the favor card will definitely not work.
One thing Qin Xiaobao was very curious about was that when Deng Ziqi heard "Bubble" before, he couldn't help but like it.
So what was Jiang Wen's reaction when he saw the script of "Let the Bullets Fly"?
He didn't know this. The outline had been sent to the two of them via email, but there had been no response for the time being. I believe they would definitely talk about it when they met.
Discussing remuneration is generally done in private. Even in the same crew, actors often don't know how much each other receives, so it is taboo to discuss this.
Why did you ask the two of you out together?
Qin Xiaobao thought about promoting a relationship, so he and Lao Jiang met in Korea and had a drink, and the other party expressed interest in the film.
But Uncle Ge is completely unfamiliar with the situation and doesn't know anything about his personality.
He planned to use Jiang Wen as a breakthrough point. If he could agree, Uncle Ge would have more hope.
The best case scenario is that both of them agree.
If it really doesn't work, the only choice is to change the actors.
Of course, all this will have to wait until we talk to the two big guys tomorrow.