This director needs to apologize

Chapter 4 The pioneering work Magic City Holiday
Chen Yiming's first movie (CHAO) was called "Roman Holiday" in the original time and space. It is the masterpiece of the immortal elf Audrey Hepburn.

The original film was released in 1953. The male protagonist is veteran Hollywood actor Gregory Peck. Hepburn, who had just turned 20 at the time, was forced by the handsome man to take him away. He made a career in one fell swoop with a non-realistic romance film. The only Oscar trophy for Best Actress.

In his previous life, Chen Yiming had been in the entertainment industry for many years, and he knew one thing very well, whether he is popular or not, it all depends on luck.

Although he has countless blockbuster movies in his mind, if he gets it here and now, it may not necessarily be a hit.

For example, comedies, youth films, and fantasy films that are often used in time travel novels to start off with a small and broad perspective are not suitable for today's China.

Comedies are most selective about actors and rely heavily on the chemical reaction between the main creators. There must be enough tacit understanding between the director, screenwriter and actors, otherwise it will not taste right.

Chen Yiming has many excellent comedy scripts, but he can't find a comedian who can match his brain waves in a short period of time, so he can only think about it in the long term.

Youth films are untimely. This genre has been deeply developed since 2005 in this time and space. By this year's Spring Festival, marked by the box office failure of "Youth With You 2", it was finally completely ruined.

Nowadays, even boys and girls are beginning to feel disgusted with youth films. They automatically block them as soon as they see the name and poster. No matter how good the film is, this subject can only be temporarily sealed for later.

Imagination films are subject to the general environment. The industry has not yet exploded, the number of moviegoers is limited, and movie-watching habits have not yet been developed. Domestic films can only sell well if they are produced by famous directors. For small-scale brain-burning dramas, the audience has no That patience to savor.

It is difficult for movies with imaginary themes such as suspense, science fiction, and supernatural to sell their copyrights at the National Exhibition and Convention Center. Now the only way to make them is to make them cheaper for pirates.

After thinking about it, at this stage, if I want to make a big impact out of a small thing, I can only rely on romance movies.

After all, even the National Day and Spring Festival films are still in a state of shallow development, and the summer and Lunar New Year films must make way for big productions. If you want to attract a fixed audience of moviegoers, you can only choose four: 214, 520, Chinese Valentine's Day, and Double 11. A stuffed dog food schedule.

There’s nothing wrong with putting a romantic movie on the love screen!
It is out of the above considerations that Chen Yiming designated his first film as a romance film.

As for the choice of "Roman Holiday", a very old black and white film, in addition to catering to the proposition of showing the style of the magical city, Chen Yiming's other intention was to accurately hit the rhythm of "things must turn against each other when they reach their extremes".

In the past few years, there has been a proliferation of teen movies, which has disgusted the couples who watch the movies.

Youth, after all, cannot escape puppy love, cheating, kissing scenes, sex scenes, breakups, and abortions. Under the intense development of many film and television companies, it has become more and more bloody and outrageous.

Many netizens complain that watching a movie on a date is like entering a restaurant only to find that there are only dark dishes. If you don't eat it, you won't be able to eat it, and if you eat it, you will feel nauseous.

In the past 520, a bunch of domestic money-making romance films were defeated by a Hollywood animated film, which made everyone lose their face after continuing to win the title for a week.

Chen Yiming feels that if this continues, the romance genre will exist in name only. At this time, if there is an anti-bloody pure love movie at the right time, it will definitely stand out among the coquettish bitches, and I believe it can receive a lot of dividends.

……

In the last two weeks of July, Platinum Media mobilized elite personnel, including Chairman Ma Yunteng, General Manager Chen Yiming, and front desk manager Bao Nana, to go all out to promote the preparatory work for "Holiday in the Magic City".

Chen Yiming originally planned to borrow equipment from Lemon Fruit, but producer Ma Dashao didn't like the group of people filming the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law drama.

Through his mother's relationship, he borrowed a camera team from the Documentary Channel of Shanghai TV Station, forming the most important behind-the-scenes team of the crew.

In order to simultaneously record the grand event of next year's expo, Modu TV just spent a huge amount of money at the beginning of the year to import a set of the most advanced Alai digital cameras from abroad.

In addition to two Allais F25 movie cameras, this set of equipment is also equipped with a complete set of guide rails, pan/tilt, lamps, filters, and even a set of post-processing software.

The tech nerds at the Documentary Channel have been working hard for more than half a year and have mastered this set of equipment. They lack opportunities to practice, so Ma Yunteng only paid a friendly price and signed them to outsource for one month.

Modutai has set up a co-production, and the post-production of the material is free.

Production director Bao Xiaomei took charge of all logistical chores, and she was responsible for the entire budget and schedule.

When Chen Yiming was filming the TV series, eight out of ten crews in Hengdian were based on the "Grass Team + Popular Stars" model.

The script is like a scratch paper, anyone can make a change, the itinerary is like toilet paper, anyone can rub it in, and there will be no overspending in the post-production period.

In order to save money, we had to reduce scenes, reduce extras, and reduce special effects. After such a good project, the finished product is just a mess.

This time he was truly in control of the crew, and he vowed to strictly follow the production plan and control the progress of the project.

He drew up the entire budget according to the Hollywood production model.

The actor's salary is 100 million, which is controlled at 25% of the total budget.

He received 10 in screenwriting fee plus director fee, which is 2.5%.

Production fee is 5, 1.25%.Big and strong are free, Xiaomei is 5.

Although the girl's monthly salary at Bo Jue's front desk is only 8, but since she works as the production director and cashier on the set, Chen Yiming has to pay him according to the rules of the industry.Equipment rental is 20, 5%.

Take Huadao 10, 2.5%.This movie does not have high requirements for makeup, and it was shot on location, which saved a lot of money.

Behind-the-scenes labor such as photography, lighting, and sound recording is 40, 10%.

The guys from the Documentary Channel are really not expensive, but the main expense is the external hire of Mr. Deng, who was specially borrowed from the Demonic Film Factory to take charge of the show. If they don’t have enough money, they won’t come.

Romance movies have the highest requirements for lighting, so no matter how much money you save, you can’t save on this.

Art direction 5, 1.25%.It's also a big shot invited by the Demonic Shadow Factory. This is still the price if you don't follow the team. There is no way, he is worth the price.

Photography director and on-site deputy director Xiangrui Dazhuang offered her 5 yuan, 1.25%.

It's not difficult to convince Fu Ruixiang to join. This girl has the virtues of a poetry recital master in the original time and space. She has a keen artistic sense and is very spiritual in making short films. However, she can't control herself as soon as the front is stretched, and she always lets her fly without bounds. .

She spent two years filming that promotional video and couldn't get anything out of it, and that's why.

At this moment, she was at her most short-tempered and justified, so it was very easy to pull her over, and she even bought one, got one free, and got a heroine.

Based on the experience of the auspicious girl who graduated from the University of Southern California, 5 yuan is not enough for her weekly allowance, so working two jobs is definitely a bargain.

Post-production special effects are 15, 3.75%.There are not many special effects shots in this film, but the post-production color correction work is quite large. The first version was made at the Documentary Channel, and the semi-finished product was sent to the Magic Film Factory for correction.

Sound effect music 20, 5%.For romance movies, the atmosphere relies heavily on BGM, which cannot be omitted.

Logistics 30, 7.5%.There are dozens of people in the crew, and 30 yuan is just enough to eat, drink, and have sex every month. This is because everyone lives in their own homes, and the crew does not need to rent a hotel, otherwise even 50 yuan will not be enough.

Reserve fund is 20, 5%.The crew that Chen Yiming experienced in his previous life has never been like this. If everything goes well this time, the 20 Chen Yiming will go into the promotion fee.

Promotional expenses are 120 million, 30%.This ratio is the minimum standard for Hollywood commercial movies.

However, Bo Jue is backed by the Moying Group, so the exposure of his own films is guaranteed. The publicity fees reserved by Chen Yiming are mainly used in the direction of Internet marketing.

400 million is a perfect fit, and every item falls within a reasonable range.

Hollywood is well-trained in commercial film production. This budget allocation standard is summed up through long-term practice. If you follow this method, you will not be guaranteed to produce a good movie, but you will not lose a lot of money.

……

As the core member of the trio, director Chen Yiming has the most arduous task.

During the day, he had to go out with the camera crew to survey the scene, determine the camera position, determine the orbit, and adjust the camera.

With a strong man standing in front, the viewfinder was naturally unobstructed, but this Alai 25 gave everyone a hard time.

In 2009, professional film-level digital cameras were still a new thing, and everyone had to learn from experience while using them.

Chen Yiming did have some experience using Alai in another time and space, but this was his first time using the first generation Alai.

Compared with film machines, digital machines always face the problem of "restoring the graininess".

To put it simply, the material shot by digital cameras is too clean and sharp and lacks the cinematic feel.

This is why by the time of Chen Yiming's time travel, digital machines had developed to the fourth generation, and many big directors still insisted on using film machines to make movies.

After all, the larger the production, the lower the proportion of film costs in the overall production costs. For those super blockbusters that easily cost three to five billion US dollars, the film money wasted is only a drop in the bucket.

On the contrary, in order to restore the graininess, digital machines need to frequently adjust filters, coupled with tedious post-production color correction, the time cost is not necessarily less than burning film.

Now the crew of "Holiday in Magic City" has encountered this problem. The first generation of Alai is a semi-verification machine with only a few filter sets. It has never been able to meet Chen Yiming's requirements.

"Roman Holiday" is a black and white film, and it is an old film from the 50s. The viewer brings his or her own filter, and no one will find fault with its appearance.

"Holiday in the City" has no such preconceptions and must withstand the harshest scrutiny of the audience.

The plot of the original film is simple, with a large number of medium and close-up shots and close-ups. The atmosphere depends entirely on the chemical reaction between the male and female protagonists. If the basic tone is not corrected during the preparation period, it will be a very high probability of making it look like a studio film, and it will not be possible to save it later. .

In desperation, Chen Yiming had no choice but to seek help from Tathagata Buddha and move out the art director of the Magic Shadow Factory in advance.

(End of this chapter)