Chapter 380 I can control the environment, but I can't control my emotions
Zhou Xingchi's joining was a surprise for the crew of "The Truman Show".
However, the producer's role has not yet been filmed, and his role does not conflict with other actors, so it does not have much impact on the crew.
I chatted with Zhou Xingchi in the afternoon and he went back to Xiangjiang and will join the team again in a month.
Song Ge also had to rush back to the capital to report to Wang Jianlin on the guaranteed release of "Journey to the West: Conquer the Demons".
However, before leaving, Song Ge complained to Li Qian, "Director Li, first Xu Ke helped you film "Ghost Blowing the Lamp", and now Zhou Xingchi also starred in your film. I finally won over the two directors.
, they were all abducted by you."
"Mr. Song and Director Zhou have reached a cooperation? Is he going to make another movie so soon?" Li Qianqi asked, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" has just been completed and is still in post-production. Zhou Xingchi only made one movie in four years. Why?
I will be preparing for the next movie so soon.
Song Ge laughed and said, "It's not the next movie. I won the guaranteed release of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons."
"The finished film hasn't even been released yet, so it's going to be released with a guaranteed minimum price?"
There are not many films in China that have guaranteed distribution. It was in the two or three years at the beginning of the century that Bernard relied on this. In recent years, no distribution company has dared to do this. The risk is too great.
Li Qian became interested, "Is Mr. Song so confident? Could you please reveal the specific figures?"
"I will protect my capital if the box office reaches 300 million yuan. With Zhou Xingchi's reputation, I don't have to worry about the box office. It doesn't matter whether I see the film or not," Song Ge said.
"Three hundred million? So low?" Li Qian was surprised. This box office is completely inconsistent with Zhou Xingchi's appeal.
"Three hundred million is still low?" Song Ge's eyes widened. "Last year, there were only seven movies that exceeded 300 million. "The Thirteen Beauties" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" were just over 500 million. I just broke even at 300 million.
, the payback period is a full year.”
Li Qian smiled sheepishly and almost forgot that, except for "The God of Medicine", "Avatar", and "Transformers 3" which exceeded one billion, the overall box office market is still low, with blockbuster movies worth four to five billion.
It was a big seller.
Don't look at the targets of these blockbuster films, which are often 500 million or 600 million, or even 1 billion. Most of them are just shouting, it is a goal.
This is just like when you were studying, your goal was either Qinghua University or Peking University, and you couldn't even look down on an ordinary one.
And after I went to college, I also had great ambitions. I worked in a large company for half a year, then one year as a manager, and three years as a director. Then I accumulated enough contacts in a large company, and started my own business. The company went public before I was 30 years old.
But in reality, the thirty-year-old manager is already satisfied.
"Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" cost 200 million and only sold 500 million at the box office, but the overseas rights sold for 10 million US dollars, which actually made money.
"New Shaolin Temple" starring Liu Dehua and Cheng Long has an investment of more than 100 million, and the domestic box office is only 200 million, but the overseas box office sold 170 million.
Investors are not fools, they all invest in movies to make money.
In the past two years, when the domestic box office reached a maximum of 300 to 400 million yuan, there were still a lot of blockbusters with a cost of 100 to 200 million yuan. Judging from the domestic box office, the return on investment was slim.
Every movie has its own way of making money, and investors don’t invest blindly.
Last year's National Day release of "The Legend of White Snake," a big bad movie that Wang Changtian squandered, had an investment of nearly 200 million. In fact, it did not lose money because of Jet Li's reputation.
Of course, most movies lose money.
However, the box office of 4.5 billion is already a figure that many blockbusters cannot reach. For example, "Thirteen Hairpins" is purely Zhang Weiping's own suicide. Domestic audiences don't buy it, and overseas audiences don't buy it either. The overseas box office is close to 0. Copyright I didn't even make much money from the sale, so I lost money.
"It's just Director Li that you don't take the 300 million box office seriously." Song Ge was secretly disgusted and envious.
Li Qian smiled and said, "But Mr. Song, for a company as big as Wanda, the process is extremely cumbersome. They gave you a guarantee before even watching the film. Are you sure it will be so easy to pass?"
He still remembered that when Du Yang mentioned Song Ge's situation, Song Ge even paid for the air tickets for the business trip because the reimbursement process was too troublesome.
Even reimbursing for a plane ticket is so troublesome, let alone a business involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
Song Ge has always been troubled by Wanda's complicated internal procedures, but he didn't worry about it this time. "Zhou Xingchi's fame is worth 100 million."
Li Qian didn't see it that way. He shook his head and reminded, "The last time Wanda gave out a large sum of money so happily, it was still spent on Jingtian."
In a large company with many rules, the boss of a subsidiary company has so much trouble reimbursing air tickets. On the contrary, giving 50 million to an actress in exchange for a role is so happy and there is no need to go through any procedures.
This is something Song Ge is a little unhappy about, but thinking about the people behind him, he can only live with it.
After chatting for a while, Song Ge talked about "Police Story 2013" again. "Twelve Zodiac" has been filmed and has entered post-production. Cheng Long is about to start preparing for "Police Story". Let's see if Li Qian has anything to arrange. actor.
...
After seeing off Song Ge, Li Qian returned to the hotel room. Tong Liya had already finished taking a shower and was watching TV on the bed. What she watched was "The Legend of Zhen Huan". Although it was already the second round of broadcast on satellite TV, the ratings were still not low. Another phenomenal TV series.
Li Qian picked up a script and threw it at her, "I'll go to Jiangning University to film your scene in two days. You're still watching TV there. We only have three days."
Tong Liya took the script, put it on her lap and flipped through two pages. She said with a smile, "Three days are enough. There is nothing difficult about this role. The mood is single and there is no challenge at all."
As she said that, she got up from the bed and asked with some confusion, "Why did you let Mr. Xing play the role of Teacher Jin? I heard that he has a very weird temper. How will you manage him on the set?"
It is not uncommon in China for actors to be stronger than directors on the set. Especially in the TV drama circle, veteran actors have many ideas, high requirements, and seniority. However, most TV drama directors are more perfunctory and have no time to go over and over again, so it is almost enough. .
So Li Baotian's play Ba and Chen Daoming's play Ba were spread like this.
However, Li Qian has not worried about this at all, "There is nothing to worry about. An actor like Zhou Xingchi with high talent and complex experience does not need me to say anything at all. And as long as the character is a villain, I can do whatever he wants." No matter how you play it, no matter how you act, it will not make the movie bad."
"But he is two years older than you, and this is a comedy. What if he not only thinks of his own role, but also has ideas for other scenes?"
Tong Liya is still a little worried, after all, Li Qian is too young.
"There are so many possibilities. Okay, if you don't want to read the script, just go to bed early and study it during the day." Li Qian jumped up, threw himself on the big bed, pressed Tong Liya under him, and began to fumble with his hands.
.......
The crew continued to shoot at the original pace, finishing the outdoor scene in the square in less than half a month, and then moved to Jiangning University to shoot the scene where Truman recalled his college life and first love.
There is a film and television post-production training school at the base, but it was too shabby to use as a location for the university. On April 29, Li Qian brought the crew to Jiangning University.
There are three main scenes in the school. The first scene is during the rehearsal of the welcome party. Truman falls in love with his first girlfriend at first sight, but is interrupted by the actress arranged by the crew, who is also his later wife.
The second scene is the dancing scene at the party, and the third scene is in the library.
The first two scenes were filmed over two days because there were a lot of people. When there are more people, it becomes troublesome and there will always be various problems.
On the morning of the 1st, the crew came to the library of Jiangning University to continue filming.
For multi-camera shooting, the actors first stand in position and adjust the camera positions of each group of cameras.
For a long time, domestic filming has been a machine. To shoot a conversation between two people, you have to first record what one person says, then record what the other person says, and then edit them together.
But now the crews are more comfortable, and many crews are able to shoot with multiple cameras. That kind of continuity, overall coordination, and atmosphere are difficult to achieve with a single camera.
A typical one is the dialogue scene between the three leading actors in "One Step Away". It was done in one go and can be called a classic.
There are only three scenes in today's scene, and there is also a surveillance camera perspective. One of the parties knows about this voyeurism. If we film the conversation between two people first, and then film the surveillance perspective, it may not have the same effect as a direct three-camera shoot.
good.
Tong Liya and Deng Chao both faced the lines at predetermined positions, and three photographers adjusted the shots.
Li Qian was also talking about the scene, "Brother Chao, is there no problem with the scene of chatting up your crush? Think about how you chatted up your first love back then. Just don't be so arrogant. Remember that Truman was a relatively simple and innocent boy in college.
Boys.”
Why am I so angry?
Deng Chao cursed endlessly and replied, "No problem."
Li Qian looked at Tong Liya again, "Then Yaya, although you know you are being spied on, don't panic. You are an equally enthusiastic, cheerful, and determined person. Even if you are warned by the crew, you still want to tell Truman the truth.
So don’t panic, just act a little nervous and don’t panic.”
It’s not a difficult rivalry scene, just prepare for it and shoot it first.
"Scene 24, one shot at a time!"
"start!"
On the monitor, Deng Chao peeked furtively behind the bookshelf at Tong Liya, who was wearing a long skirt and reading a book. He peeked repeatedly for a while before summoning the courage to say hello.
"Hi."
Tong Liya heard the sound, stopped writing, raised her head, looked at Deng Chao and smiled, "Hi."
Deng Chao, like many boys, started chatting shyly.
"Click!"
"Brother Chao, be simple." Li Qian reminded.
After all, he is a person in his thirties, and the expression on his face is easy to control, but his eyes are not so easy to control. At this age, he has long said goodbye to innocence.
Moreover, the innocence of an eighteen-year-old is not the same as the innocence of a thirty-year-old. The innocence of an eighteen-year-old will be a little childish.
I adjusted one look many times and it took me two hours to find the feeling.
Once the eyes are right, it will be much easier to handle. Let’s continue shooting.
Strike up a conversation, have a casual chat, and then introduce yourself.
"My name is Truman." Deng Chao said with some embarrassment and expectation.
"I know you." Tong Liya smiled and rolled her eyes around, wary of the cameras that were watching them.
"Truman, they won't let me talk to you."
"real?"
Deng Chao was a little disappointed, "I understand. After all, I am a dangerous person. Girls should be more careful."
"Sorry Truman." Tong Liya looked around again without leaving any trace.
After a brief moment of disappointment, Deng Chao summoned up the courage to ask, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No, it's not because of this."
"Is that because of her? We are just friends." Deng Chao immediately explained that "she" was the girl who deliberately approached him.
"No, it's not because of this."
"Does that mean I'm not your type?"
"No, Truman."
After failing to explicitly refuse several times, Deng Chao began to invite Tong Liya to the movies.
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Tong Liya refused and wrote two words on the paper.
"Now?"
Deng Chao was a little surprised, but also a little unsure, "But there is an exam tomorrow?"
Tong Liya looked around cautiously again, resting her elbows on the table to block her face, "If you don't go now, there will be no chance. Do you want to go?"
"Okay!, keep one! Rest for two minutes."
This long shot was done quite well, barely passing the mark.
This scene illustrates the truth that you can control the environment, but you cannot control the emotions.
The girl previously arranged by the crew took the initiative to throw herself into his arms, pretended to have sprained her legs and fell on top of Truman, leaning on him to strike up a conversation. In this way, Truman was not tempted, and all he could see was the first love he fell in love with at first sight.
No matter how courteous the girls arranged by the crew are, they are just friends, and what I always think about is the person I met once.
However, there is also a realistic meaning. No matter how deep the relationship is, it is difficult to overcome the distance of time and space. In the end, Truman still married the girl arranged by the crew.