China Entertainment: I have been a director since 05

2012 7 Month 5 Day.

Lingyun Media.

Yang Yu, whose name is Jiao Keli, is sitting in the office of Lingyun Media, carefully looking at this most amazing company in the Chinese entertainment industry.

The company is very white and very large.

Yang Yu stood at the intersection of the corridors and looked up.

The cold light from the dome in this room poured down along the enamel-textured walls, resembling a cast plaster model commonly seen in hospitals.
The boundless white invades the retina from all directions - the cold white of a disinfection room, the inorganic white of an X-ray film, the temperatureless white of a bone specimen.

Give him a sense of deterrence that makes him dare not blaspheme.

"Director Guan Ling's company..."

Yang Yu sighed.

About four years ago, he released his first animated short film "Hit, Hit a Big Watermelon" by himself.
It can be said that it has become a hit on Tudou.com.

This work has been warmly welcomed by netizens. The video images are shocking and the content is attractive. It is even called "the best work of domestic animation" and "the most amazing original animated short film by Chinese people" by many netizens.

But few people know that for this work, Yang Yu lived off his parents at home for three years.

He graduated from Sichuan University with a degree in medicine. By chance, he learned about CG special effects animation and quickly fell in love with it.

The comfortable life of Chengdu people gave him the opportunity to live off his parents at home.

It took him three long years to finally complete this 16-minute animation, which quickly received numerous acclaims.

In 08, when the domestic animation market was in a mess, Jiao Keli actually produced an animated short film that shocked the whole world.

Everyone who saw it praised it as "the best animation of the year, no one else", "the best Chinese animated short film" and so on.
On Tudou.com, many people left comments on the video praising the video for being an excellent work, calling it a rare masterpiece of domestic animation.

In 2009, he led this short film to be shortlisted for the Portuguese Animation Film Festival, and then the Guangzhou Golden Dragon Award, and gradually won more than a dozen awards. In the following years, he even won numerous awards and nominations at the Australian Film Festival, Japan's TBS DigiCon 6, and domestic awards and nominations of all sizes.

And because of the quality of this short film, in November 2010, he finally led the film to be shortlisted for the international competition unit of the 11th Berlin International Short Film Festival in Germany, and won the Special Jury Award.

You have to know that on this opportunity, he saw directors Zhang Yimou and Wang Quan'an from afar. At that time, these two directors gave him a feeling of being distant and superior.

And now, this feeling came back again.

Because he will be facing the CEO of Lingyun Media, who once dominated the Cannes Film Festival and single-handedly declared war on Japanese animation.

And quickly made the animation "The Wind Rises", the director who won the Annie Award
——Guan Ling.

There is also the glamorous boss Wang Changtian.

Yang Yu still had a puzzled feeling.

Previously, after "Hit a Big Watermelon", Yang Yu founded his own company in the past two years, but apart from taking on some outsourced projects, he had no new ideas.

Although the more than 30 awards for short films have brought him a lot of income.

But when making the animated short film again, Yang Yu fell into struggle and confusion.

He felt like he didn't know what to do.

Therefore, he did not dare to take a gamble with the profits he had earned, but instead tried to obtain investments from some large companies.

He didn't dare to apply to a company as big as Lingyun, especially one that could cooperate to make an animated film, so he applied to Guangxian, Huayi, etc.

When I received a call from Wang Changtian two days ago, saying that Guan Ling wanted to see him, I was not that emotional.
Now that he was actually sitting inside Lingyun Media, Yang Yu felt a little bit difficult to breathe.

While I was daydreaming, Guan Ling came in.

Guan Ling and Jiaozi are not much different in age, and are even a few years younger. As soon as he saw Guan Ling come in, Yang Yu stood up straight instantly.

Although he didn't know him, it was still hard for Yang Yu not to feel emotional about this big shot.

"Don't be nervous, sit down and rest for a while, Mr. Wang will be here soon." Guan Ling had a faint smile on his face, "We are just chatting casually, so don't be too nervous, just say whatever you want to say."

Listening to Guan Ling's warm words, Yang Yu nodded excitedly with an honest smile on his face: "It's really hard for me not to be nervous when I meet Director Guan."

"I've seen your animated short film," Guan Ling casually chatted about his work, "The creativity and execution of the playing cards, negotiation table, and fighting scenes are all amazing and surprising. And the production is also pretty good."

"It's my honor. I've also seen Guan's Even If the Wind Rises, which I think is also amazing."

Yang Yu said this very seriously, and this was what he really meant.

Although the movie "Even if the Wind Rises" is about love and history, it is at least thirty years ahead of those brainless Chinese cartoons.

It’s just that style is not Yang Yu’s style.

But it is undeniable that Guan Ling's cartoon did give these animators a great shock.

As they were talking, Wang Changtian came in.

"Hello, Director Guan."

The two greeted each other, and then a few people sat casually on the sofa.

"Director Yang, I called you over this time because Director Guan wants to have an in-depth discussion with you. Today, I am a supporting role, so let's just talk about animation and what you think about the future development of animated films. How do you think?"

Yang Yu originally thought that these two bosses wanted to invest in his new cartoon.
But now it sounds like these two bosses are interviewing.

A few people were chatting there, from "Toy Story 3" to "The Wind Rises", from Shanghai Art Studio to Pixar, from Disney back to "I Am Big Big Wolf", the extension movie of "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" which will be released in early August, and talked about several animated films that Guan Ling is about to shoot.

Until Guan Ling asked Yang Yu a few questions,
"If you were asked to direct an animated film with no investment limit, what aspects would you focus on? Would it be 3D or 2D? Would it be plot or special effects? Would it convey warmth, emotion or feelings? Would it be like the most popular fantasy novels on the Internet nowadays, where man conquers nature? Or would it be like Toy Story, where the characters seek adventure?"

Guan Ling asked casually.

But Yang Yu's mind was instantly filled with these questions.

He didn't know what Guan Ling meant by asking these questions, but he was already in his thirties and not a young man who had just entered society. Since Director Guan wanted to meet him, he naturally had the idea of ​​investing in him.

Yang Yu thought about this very clearly.

So these questions are more like a test?

Yang Yu hesitated for a short time, and suddenly he thought that no matter what he said, it didn't matter.

Since he is already sitting here, he might as well finish what he wants to say. Otherwise, if he is really asked to do something he doesn't want to do, what's the difference between it and working?
It is impossible for me to work, otherwise I would have become a doctor!
So Yang Yu looked up at Guan Ling and said, "Director Guan, why can't we shoot all of these together?"

"For example? How do you want to blend together?" Guan Ling looked at him with a smile.

"I haven't thought about it yet." Yang Yu was speechless, "But as long as you work hard, you will definitely be able to do it well. In my opinion, humor, touching, and emotions, each of these points has the potential to make animated films better. Of course, special effects and plots are also indispensable. If 2012 didn't have special effects, or Forever Young didn't have a plot, it would surely not have such a high box office."

"What do you think of mythology? Journey to the West or Conferred Gods? There is a saying on the Internet that Journey to the West is true only if it is performed in reverse. Do you think so?" Wang Changtian was confused as he listened.

The communication between the two young people did show some generation gap compared to him who was almost fifty years old.

Yang Yu narrowed his eyes: "I seem to know what Director Guan is talking about."

There is a saying on the Internet that playing Journey to the West in reverse is the real life.

The Buddha sent four masters and apprentices with the Eight Heavenly Books and the little white dragon to the Tang Dynasty in the East to preach. They encountered various monsters along the way and found out that they all had backers and could not be punished no matter how evil they did.

Bajie and Sha Seng felt it was dark, so one hid in Gao Village and the other went into the Quicksand River.

Only Wukong insisted on justice, slaying demons and monsters along the way and escorting his master eastward to preach.

As a result, the Heavenly Court could no longer tolerate Wukong and reached an agreement with Tathagata

——We can ensure that Tang Sanzang arrives in Chang'an safely, but you have to deal with the troublemaker Sun Wukong.

Tathagata agreed, and after a conspiracy, Bailong was seriously injured and fell into the mountain stream. Wukong was defeated and was pressed under the Five Finger Mountain.

Tang Sanzang abandoned Sun Wukong and came to Chang'an. After preaching in Chang'an, he was named the emperor's younger brother, enjoyed all the glory and wealth, and died of old age.

Five hundred years later, Wukong finally escaped from under the Five Finger Mountain. Without saying a word, he turned the Heavenly Palace upside down and demanded justice.

The Heavenly Court was forced to promise to let Zhu Bajie transform into a human and be named Marshal Tianpeng, and Monk Sha be named General Juanlian, as long as they could kill Sun Wukong.

Wukong, disheartened by the killing of his brothers, went to Bodhi Patriarch to seek help from his doubts. Then he sealed his cultivation, threw the Ruyi Jingu Bang into the East China Sea and turned it into Dinghai Shenzhen, returned to Huaguo Mountain, and spent an ordinary life with his monkeys and grandchildren. Finally, he turned into a stone on the top of Huaguo Mountain...

This is a dark myth that has been circulating for a long time. But Yang Yu happened to have heard of it.

At that moment, Yang Yu suddenly understood.

Not only that, he also read a book called "The Legend of Wukong", which is also a dark style.

He gave a wry smile.

How could I be confused?

With 5,000 years of Chinese history, there are an inexhaustible supply of characters.

With a slight change, wouldn't Tuxingsun be the protagonist too?

Which of these plots can't be made into an animation?
Suddenly, Yang Yu's eyes lit up!

He felt there was a blue ocean right in front of him!

Wang Changtian was also slightly stunned.

Previously, Guan Ling had the Di Renjie universe, and he was quite happy with the Four Famous Detectives series. But now it seems that there is simply no end to what can be explored!

Yang Yu was silent for a while, and the thoughts in his mind gradually became clear. Comparing with what Guan Ling said, he thought of the previous prequel to The Monkey King, Battle of Storms before that, and most of the domestic animations before that, and he felt nauseous.

Even worse than his "Hit a Watermelon". Although his short film has a clichéd anti-war theme and a clichéd form of expression, it is infinitely better than the countless products produced by countless domestic animation companies!

Moreover, he completed this by himself in just three years. How difficult it is to concentrate on just one thing for three years!
In contrast, if he had a lot of people, what could he accomplish in these three years? !

And to what extent can the special effects of the movie be polished!
What are other domestic animation companies doing? The government-led animation industry base that is increasingly like real estate, various animation festivals under the banner of animation but completely based on economics, and mindless voice selection shows.

Someone once asked him what the theme of his film Hit the Big Watermelon was?
In fact, Yang Yu has always had something in his heart.

What it actually wants to say is, you are a bunch of trash.

"So, you want to work with us?"

Guan Ling stretched out his hand and asked Yang Yu.

Yang Yu stretched out his hand heavily and held it tightly.

"Of course!"

In just a moment, Yang Yu found the answer.

"Then Lingyun and Guangguang will invest in your project."

Guan Ling smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to work with you."

"No, I'm not going to do the current one."

Yang Yu also laughed, "Because it sucks."

They both laughed wantonly.

Wang Changtian looked confused!
…………

The box office performance of "The Four" was indeed better than Wang Changtian expected. Since there was no previous film "Search" by Chen Kaige and no "Painted Skin 2" released at the same time, "The Four" indeed became the biggest movie after "Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds".

The box office on the first day was 36 million.

The box office exceeded 100 million yuan in the first three days.

It’s really not bad.

However, the word of mouth after the release was far different from what Wang Changtian expected.

After the film was released, it received a lot of negative reviews.

"Fantastic Four + Werewolf + Resident Evil... There are too many flaws... Wu Xiubo's aura is too strong."

"I watched "The Four", the detectives are all there, but their souls are not. The story is more about the characterization, but the details of the story are vague. It is a very mixed martial arts movie, with Japanese hidden magic, Western zombies, evil magic, and biological monster battles. The music is a great mix of guitar and erhu, which looks very lively. Wu Xiubo, who made his debut on the big screen, performed very differently, with a completely different image from the TV series, which is the only highlight of the film! Everything else is ruined!"

"How can ordinary people like us easily understand Chen Jiashang's divine logic?!!!"

"I've seen Douban criticizing The Four for a few days. I watched it today and I feel that what they said is very right. Painted Wall is really bad, and The Four is even worse. Deng Chao, you were ruined by Gordon Chan. In my impression, The Four should be elegant and skilled in martial arts, and they should be friends for life and death.

And looking at the whole movie! The cold-blooded life-chasing Iron Hand is dressed like a beggar, and the deep brotherhood is not reflected at all, just like a stranger.

Ruthless, well, woman, is also related to cold-bloodedness.

Now that Gordon Chan has left Guan Ling, you no longer use logic?!
You are not making movies with your heart, you are making money. A large number of stars and a boring plot will definitely make a bad movie. I think there will be a sequel. Chen Jiashang, stop filming and go home to sell sweet potatoes! "

"Two hundred million."

Ten days after its release, the box office of "The Four" exceeded 200 million.

But then, the play was criticized as a fool and was completely criticized. (End of this chapter)