Special effects are an indispensable part of Hollywood blockbusters, and they are also the most prestigious type.
The economic crisis four years ago directly led to the closure of many special effects companies, layoffs, and the unemployment of thousands of special effects engineers. Many contracted special effects artists who used to be important in the industry were reduced to short-term contract workers, and even a stable income was a luxury.
Although most current Hollywood blockbusters have special effects shots, the final profit earned by the special effects department is only about 5%, which is far lower than the more than 20% of other departments. This industry that once had the most superiority has gradually begun to export cheap labor.
On the contrary, few domestic special effects companies and studios have closed down in the past two years.
Although the special effects for domestic blockbusters are usually left to Hollywood or Nanjing, domestic companies are left with only films with low special effects budgets, but they are still doing well.
Mainly relying on orders from Hollywood, a large number of special effects with low technical content are outsourced to large domestic companies, such as Sky Color, Base FX, etc.
Larger companies will outsource part of the business they receive to small companies and various studios.
Special effects companies are usually busy for four or five months a year. If they hire too many people, it won't be worthwhile. They might as well outsource some simple tasks and make a profit from them.
This is the current status of the industry. If we take on business in TV series, cartoons, games, and advertising, it will be no problem for special effects companies to make a living.
However, the digital field is a Hollywood company. Even if it is acquired, it cannot be moved back to China, and there is not much hope for those special effects engineers to come to work in China.
Moreover, the top special effects experts are not employed by any company. As long as they have money, they can set up a special effects company at any time. There is no shortage of special effects engineers in Hollywood now.
Acquisition in the digital field is not a big deal. After all, the bankruptcy auction does not involve debt, and it is estimated that it will not exceed the current market value. More than 20 million US dollars is enough.
But the question is, what to do after the acquisition? If you stay in Hollywood, you may lose your money.
However, acquisitions also have benefits. The box office limit that the market can accommodate is getting higher and higher, and film investment will naturally become higher and higher.
There will definitely be an endless stream of blockbusters of all kinds in the future, and this will definitely involve special effects.
A film and television company in Hong Kong is currently filming "Havoc in Heaven", with a production cost of more than 400 million.
Guo Fan also wanted to film "The Wandering Earth", and "Ghost Blowing the Lamp" also had a lot of special effects. Li Qian simply asked Zhong Lifeng to set up an acquisition team to investigate the digital field first, since it was still early anyway.
...
Until the end of July, Li Qian once again led the crew back to Jiangning to reshoot the full panorama of the search for Truman.
Although it was a night scene and there were many actors, it was done in one night. After all, the close-up shots had been shot before. It only took a few seconds to take a panoramic view of the city. All the people in the city came out and were crowded.
The whole city.
After finishing filming, I returned to the capital the next day. All the shots for "The Truman Show" were completed.
After returning to Beijing, Li Qian continued to be busy editing the movie.
Time has entered August, and "Jaws 3" is still leading the summer schedule, and new movies are also being released.
The comedy film "Getting My Father-in-Law" starring Xu Zheng will be released on the 3rd. This film was filmed last year.
It's an average comedy, the kind of movie that tries to amuse the audience with jokes. It's pretty good, but the main thing is that the scene where the father-in-law is caught raping is funny.
My girlfriend wanted to do something, but my father-in-law hid under the bed. It’s funny just thinking about it.
The movie was basically supported by Xu Zheng, and the box office was not bad, with 6 million on the first day.
On the 4th, which is Saturday, another TV series "Celebrating More Than Years" invested and produced by Future Pictures also started airing.
Directed by Nishi Takanishi, with Hu Ge and Chen Daoming in the lead, this lineup alone is enough to make people look forward to it.
In addition, Jiangning Satellite TV is also a first-tier TV station, and its first broadcast ratings are second only to "The Legend of Lu Zhen" which is about to end.
It ranks first in ratings, and the finale is coming soon, so it's not easy to surpass.
Ranking second in the ratings is also expected. After all, this lineup and platform are here, and the specific results will depend on the subsequent ratings.
Although only two episodes have aired and the plot has not yet unfolded, there is still a lot of discussion about the TV series.
However, the most eye-catching thing is not the plot of the TV series, but the story of "The Truman Show" that little Fan Xian told his friends in the first episode.
Although Li Qian wanted to keep it secret, Xiao Fan Xian didn't actually say anything, just said one sentence, and finally Truman left that world.
Then other friends around him chirped and said that "The Truman Show" was not good and asked him to tell the story of "Journey to the West".
Although this is also a spoiler, it is a spoiler that Truman leaves that world at the end.
But this is inevitable. After the premiere, the audience will know sooner or later.
The ending spoilers are not important, what matters is the content of the movie.
However, even these one or two sentences aroused heated discussion among the audience.
"Has anyone watched "Celebrating the New Year"? "The Truman Show" was mentioned at the beginning!"
"What's "The Truman Show"? I'm watching "The Legend of Lu Zhen". The finale is almost over."
"Oh no, I watched it last night. Li Qian's advertisement was so crazy. He advertised his own movie on his own TV series!"
"Don't forget, he said before that the advertising in "The Truman Show" is the key to the movie."
"That little Fan Xian actually didn't say anything. He just said that Truman finally escaped from that world. I don't know what it means."
"Actually, it is very clear now. In "The Truman Show", Truman is the male protagonist, and the world is the real world. Now we know that Truman escaped from this world, which means that Truman finally left the real world!
"
"...Isn't this the same as not saying anything? After leaving this world, is it possible that Truman went to other worlds?"
"It's always tempting. If you want to keep it a secret, just don't tell it at all. Then you can publish an advertisement to reveal something after a while!"
"Run away after flirting, you scumbag!"
...
Such a line in "Celebrating More Than Years" attracted movie fans to focus on "The Truman Show" again.
However, there is still no useful information, and fans are still confused about the plot.
The industry is also amazed by Li Qian's approach. This advertisement is really amazing.
The basic goal was achieved, and Li Qian was quite satisfied.
Jiangning Satellite TV was also very satisfied with the second place in ratings for the premiere. Hong Tao, the general manager of Happy Blue Ocean, also called Li Qian to congratulate him.
"The subsequent promotion will be more troublesome for Mr. Hong."
Li Qian also expressed his gratitude to Jiangning TV for the promotion and hung up the phone.
While scrolling through the news, Tong Liya said with a smile, "Using a TV series to promote a movie, your way of advertising is outrageous."
"It's not mainly for the promotion of "The Truman Show". It's all incidental. Whether it's promoted or not won't affect the movie's sales." Li Qian shook his head, "As long as it's a movie directed by me, even if I don't do anything,
Publicity, audiences and media will spontaneously pay attention."
"Look at how narcissistic you are. The audience called you a scumbag without even looking. You deceived their feelings." Tong Liya smiled and asked, "Then why are you advertising in the TV series?"
It is unprecedented to promote a movie on a TV series. Let alone promoting a movie, TV series generally do not have advertising placement.
Dozens of episodes of TV are mainly based on plot, and advertising has no effect.
Moreover, TV dramas have embedded advertisements. Who will sell the TV station’s advertisements? Isn’t this a job-stealing thing?
Li Qian smiled nonchalantly and said, "Just scold me, it's better than calling me a quick shooter, but I'm not advertising "The Truman Show" in "Celebrating My Years", I'm using "The Truman Show" to advertise "The Truman Show".
"Celebrating More Than Years" advertising."
"oh!"
After saying this, Tong Liya suddenly said, "Because everyone is interested in "The Truman Show", this is also a disguised promotion of "Celebrating the New Year". Those who have not seen it will be curious to watch the first episode."
"That's right, I'm on the second level this time." Li Qian smiled proudly, "I guess it won't take more than two days for "Celebrating More Than Years" to reach the top in the ratings."
Li Qian was so worried about the company's drama!
The current ratings and popularity have also met expectations.
There is no need to worry about it later. For Li Qian, it is already over.
I continue to be busy with my work, editing for "The Truman Show".
Before rough editing, Guo Fan helped to finish it. From late July to now, after half a month, detailed editing and correction were carried out to make the characters' language, actions, the structure and rhythm of the film nearly finalized, that is, the re-editing was completed.
.
The key thing is the precise editing. If "The Truman Show" makes sense, it is just a show, and the story is actually very simple.
But just because this is a show, editing is also difficult.
The biggest difficulty is not how to cut a smooth story, this couldn't be easier.
The editing between shots is very simple for "The Truman Show", the key is the internal structure of the shots.
Most of the plot of this movie is that a group of actors around Truman have to express this fact through the lens itself.
The relationship, characteristics, and purpose of the characters are the key inside the lens.
Let’s start from the beginning, the scene where Truman goes out.
Go out, say hello, and then get scared by the neighbor's dog.
Most of a person's life is like a running account, repeating the same things day after day, no matter who it is.
This is true for everyone from the top 100 richest people in the country to ordinary people who are struggling to make a living.
Get up at six in the morning, catch the bus, squeeze into the subway, go to work, catch the bus after get off work, catch the base subway, go home and play games, go to bed, and then continue to repeat this life.
The same thing goes for rich people, they do the same thing, just different, and have more ways to spend their time.
Although Truman lives in a utopian world, he cannot avoid the repetitive life every day.
So, at first I got up early, talked to myself in the mirror, then went out, smiled and greeted my neighbor's family, and then a camera panned to the mid-to-close shot of Truman, saying, "If I don't see you again, I wish you a good morning."
,Good afternoon, good night."
After that, I said hello to another neighbor who was holding a dog, but was frightened by the dog, and then drove to work. On the way, I bought newspapers and fashion magazines at a newsstand, and met twin brothers on the road.
This is followed by a scene of Truman working in the company, and finally a scene of him building his own yard at home after get off work.
This is an ordinary day for an ordinary man.
In this series of shots, Li Qian didn't use any great skills. Except for the two twin brothers, he used an overlooking close-up shot to show their insignificance and comedy.
What is cut out is a running account.
And this series of shots like a running list are repeated later in the film, and even the characters and costumes, dialogue, sequence of events, and use of shots have changed very little.
In addition to expressing how Truman interacts with ordinary people in a utopian world, it also reflects the producer's control over him.
After watching the movie, there will definitely be some people who are unhappy with their lives and feel that it would be better for Truman not to go out.
But just like the previous clip, Truman is just like ordinary people here, living the same daily routine.
The only difference is that he doesn't have to worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation.
However, also due to the control of the program team, the possibility of a better life for Truman was also stifled.
Earlier in the movie, Truman proposed that he could go on a trip if he saved some more money. His wife said this and then she was as unlucky as last time.
Obviously, the show crew will suppress Truman's financial conditions and let him maintain this life, running around for mortgage and car loans. Otherwise, once he has money, he will want to travel and leave here.
In fact, no matter how you look at it, leaving is the best choice.
Those who say they stay inside are mostly people who have no hope in reality.
.....
PS: August will end in two hours. If you haven’t voted for your monthly ticket, please vote now before it expires.