Full-time actor

Chapter 690 [116] The leading actress in Bruce Lee!
"Does anyone know the difference between was and use to be?"

Liu Yifei, who had a semi-short hairstyle and wore a pair of black-framed glasses, turned around after writing English on the blackboard.

Her makeup looks a bit old, and the freckles under her eyes are very obvious. She looks like she is in her 30s, and her expression is a bit vicissitudes.

This is of course Chen Nian who became a teacher many years later. "Better Days" begins with such a flashback structure shot. Diao Yinan is watching it carefully, watching the 5-minute film that Chen Yu had just edited frame by frame.

"..."

Remain silent.

"Is it okay, Lao Diao?"

Chen Yu asked Diao Yinan who was standing beside him.

Diao Yinan pursed his lips and hummed: "Not bad... not bad!"

"That's OK!"

Chen Yu was about to continue when Diao Yinan said, "The rest of the footage... is going to be wasted like this?"

"Wouldn't it be a waste to put it in there and turn it into a 5-hour movie?"

"The beginning is supposed to be a flashback to attract the audience to continue watching. As long as it serves the purpose of creating suspense and pointing out the theme, 2 minutes is long enough!"

"That's true, but... it hurts!"

Diao Yinan is also a director, so of course he knows the priorities of the film. But seeing that so much material he had worked so hard to shoot was ruthlessly discarded by Chen Yu, he felt in his heart that Chen Yu was really cruel!
Anyway, if it were him, he would not be willing to throw away these films.

Even if it is cut, you may still keep a director's cut for your own collection and viewing.

"I think you can ask Yi Fei for her opinion and see what she thinks!"

Diao Yinan suddenly raised his head and said, "You two are the protagonists of this movie, and you are also the director. It should be a commemoration to leave an extended version!"

“Maybe if it becomes popular in the future, I can release this version…”

Diao Yinan was just giving him a suggestion. Chen Yu, who originally wanted to continue clicking, was suddenly stunned.

Right!

He just wanted to cut it fast according to the rhythm of "Better Days" in his previous life. Even if it is not the same length, it will be about 2 hours. Now after listening to Diao Yinan, it seems that he can first cut a smooth version of 4-5 hours.

Even watching it by yourself is fine.

Just as Diao Yinan said, keeping this film is a commemoration of his directorial debut, and the film in which he and Liu Yifei are the male and female protagonists does have a special meaning.

"That's fine. Okay, let's do a rough cut first and leave it as a surprise for Yifei!"

Now it was Chen Yu's turn to be in trouble.

In his opinion, rough cut is more difficult than fine cut; after all, he has a picture in his mind for the 2-hour fine cut, but for the 4-5-hour one... he has no idea at all.

Fortunately, there was a director nearby, so Chen Yu said to Diao Yinan, "Brother Diao, how about you do a rough cut first?"

"I?"

Diao Yinan thought he had misheard: "How would I know how to edit your movie?"

"No, no, no!"

Diao Yinan shook his head desperately. Chen Yu's eyes went dark and he sighed: "Okay, I'll do it!"

Fortunately, rough editing is much easier than fine editing. All the shots of Chen Yu's "Better Days" add up to less than 10 hours, and it was relatively simple to remove half of them in the end.

Definitely easier than staying for 2 hours in the end!
But for Chen Yu, it was actually the end of his life.

This is equivalent to asking him to learn the most basic editing skills, so he had to start expanding according to the 2-hour version that he had carefully edited in his mind.

No one would have thought that compared to fine cutting, Chen Yu's rough cutting actually takes more time.

Just like that, clips every afternoon, and workouts in the morning and evening.

Half a month later, the 4.6-hour director's cut of "Better Days" was finally released.

Chen Yu was almost exhausted to death.

"If I ever make an extended commemorative edition again, I'll be a dog!"

After Chen Yu finished editing the 4.6-hour version, he immediately used his scissors again. It took him only three days to finish the finely edited 3-hour version, which left Diao Yinan standing next to him stunned.

Second Austrian!

The rough cut took you half a month, but the released version only took you 3 days?!

He doesn't look like the same person at all.

You have to know that the 4.6-hour version edited by Chen Yu was so ecstatic that it was completely at the level of a beginner. Diao Yinan also often gave him advice, which made him doubt that Chen Yu did not understand editing.

But in the past two hours, Diao Yinan has been doubting his life.

The key point is that he just finished watching this version from beginning to end and was somewhat astounded. How could a director who doesn't know anything about editing edit such a film?
Isn't this too fucking smooth?

It's not rough at all, and doesn't look like the work of a layman. Instead, it looks like the work of a master editor who has studied editing for a long time.

"No, Brother Yu, is your editing... so fast?"

“Why did the rough cut take so long?”

Diao Yinan couldn't help asking, so Chen Yu could only pretend to be cool and said, "Because when I was filming this drama, I only had a plot of more than 2 hours in my mind. After I finished reading the script, I had already gone over some of the scenes of the 2 hours in my mind!"

Diao Yinan: “…”

He didn't understand, but he was shocked.

Why couldn't he achieve this level after reading the script? He only had a general direction and couldn't control the time at all.

In fact, no one can do what Chen Yu does. If every director could be like him, then there would be no need for editors. They could just cut the film themselves.

"Haha, maybe I am gifted?"

Chen Yu could only say this. Diao Yinan shook his head: "I...I have never seen anything like this!"

"Are you kidding me?"

Diao Yinan looked at Chen Yu's serious expression and spoke.

Chen Yu shook his head, his face very serious: "No, it's really like this. When I directed this movie, it seemed like I had the thread of the original film in my mind!"

Who is this?

Diao Yinan looked at Chen Yu and didn't say a word. He was completely shocked.

And the blow was not light.

Could it be that the Chen Yu in front of him is really a genius in the film and television industry, and is not just limited to acting?

Director too?!
"Cough cough!"

Seeing Diao Yinan's expression of being completely shocked by him, Chen Yu hurriedly said, "Next, it's the dubbing, music and color matching. Brother Diao, this is only your responsibility. I have to go to the Bruce Lee crew next. When the music is out, please send it to me first!"

“As for the color matching, follow what we said before, try to highlight the impact of the shot, and the suffocation of bullying!”

Chen Yu still believes in Diao Yinan's ability.

After all, the crime films he shot had first-rate camerawork and color matching.

In fact, he only needs to be responsible for the music, and dubbing is not a big problem. It’s just that many actors have to re-record or find professional dubbing teachers.

Chen Yu personally supervised the music composition.

"Okay, I'll try to get it done for you before the New Year!"

Diao Yinan suddenly let out a long breath, shook his head, and said, "When the time comes, you will have to find someone to handle the censorship!" It will not be easy to censor such a bullying movie, and the leaders of the Central Academy of Drama must step in to establish good relations with the Radio, Film and Television Bureau.

"Well, there's no rush!"

"Venice will be in September next year, so half a year is enough!"

"..."

The two of them discussed and sealed the 4.6-hour version edited by the director and the 2.1-hour release version, then went about their own business.

Diao Yinan was there to be responsible for the post-production of the film, as well as the film he was about to start shooting - "Night Train"!
Chen Yu is definitely not available to act in this drama, but Diao Yinan also made it as a test work, hoping to make it into the top three and test his directing ability.

He has already started working on the script for "Fireworks in the Daytime". This is his most important work and he needs to polish the script carefully.

During this period, I'd like to practice by making a movie.

……

Time passed unknowingly and it was November 11th.

The day when the filming of "Bruce Lee" started.

Click! Click!
As soon as they got off the plane, the paparazzi in Hong Kong surrounded Chen Yu and his assistant.

"Brother Yu, are you going to attend the launch conference of director Li An's new film Bruce Lee?"

"So you are the candidate for the male lead of Bruce Lee?"

"Is this the role you requested?"

"..."

A group of people were asking questions there.

Chen Yu was also helpless. After answering a few questions, he arranged for the security guard to get in the car.

Zou Wenhuai personally sent someone to pick him up.

This time, the filming of "Bruce Lee" started in Hong Kong, mainly for the purpose of promoting the film; and later on, some filming took place in Hollywood, and there was also a press conference, which was organized by Universal.

At present, this movie starring Chen Yu has attracted more and more capital.

At the beginning it was Golden Harvest, Jiang Zhiqiang, Shannon Lee, and Yu Xin, then Li An joined, and now Universal Pictures has joined, so there is a total of six parties' capital participating in the filming.

The investment amount has also increased from 3000 million US dollars at the beginning to 1.5 million now!

Chen Yu's salary accounted for 1500 million, and the Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway, who played the leading female role, Bruce Lee's wife Linda Emery, received half of Chen Yu's salary.

Anne is not very famous at the moment.

This was Universal's suggestion, which was adopted by Chen Yu and Golden Harvest.

Having a famous Hollywood actress involved will obviously increase the film's box office, popularity, etc.

The main reason is that Universal has joined. Chen Yu originally reduced his pay to star in the film, but now with Annie joining, he will definitely pay according to the market price.

Therefore, the start of filming was delayed again and again in order to thoroughly polish the script, crew, and so on.

What was originally a mid-budget film has now become a key project for Universal.

The reason why Universal is so interested in this film is actually very simple. In 93, Universal invited Bruce Lee's widow Linda to be the screenwriter and filmed a love movie about Bruce Lee and her, "The Bruce Lee Story".

The film ultimately grossed $4.3 million worldwide and became a huge hit across America.

So they obviously won't miss this opportunity to share the cake.

The same is certainly true of Anne.

Autobiographical films have always been very popular with audiences in North America. They are the type that make both box office and award-winning money, and are even more popular than art films. Moreover, for a world-renowned movie star like Bruce Lee, his autobiography is definitely not to be missed.

In addition to Chen Yu and Annie, there are also some Hollywood movie stars making guest appearances, and actors from Hong Kong and the mainland also participate.

Before we knew it, the investment amount kept increasing and reached the current 1.5 million!
Jiahe has put almost all its resources into this endeavor, determined to succeed or die.

Chen Yu will receive film remuneration plus investment dividends, and will eventually get 10% of the box office share!
Yes, box office sharing, not profit sharing.

The American audits are notoriously treacherous, the most famous of which are "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter". The former was a loss-making business, while the leading actors of several series of the latter films signed box office profit-sharing contracts before the release of the seventh Harry Potter film.

In the end, no one knows the people who were cheated. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" had a global box office of more than 7 billion US dollars, but ultimately lost money. Only Americans could do such a shameless thing.

So this time, Chen Yu chose to share the box office profits.

Of course there is some falsification in this thing, but it is definitely not that excessive. Moreover, with the five parties jointly supervising it, it is not easy to find any tricks.

"Yuzi, long time no see!"

After seeing Chen Yu get off the car, Zou Wenhuai held his hand tightly, and was very excited.

His vision was right at the beginning.

Chen Yu is the fourth person after Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but he still underestimated Chen Yu, thinking that he could only go to Hollywood. But now Chen Yu's fame is already greater than he imagined.

And it only took a little over 2 years.

In just 2 years, he went from being a first-tier star in China to a quasi-first-tier star in Hollywood and a global movie star.

Hong Kong has become his voting base and he has the strongest box office appeal in Hong Kong. He is more influential than many local actors, such as Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow. On the Hong Kong movie box office list, 4 of the top are his.

And there is also a movie that has grossed over 100 million yuan!

This is probably unique in the entire Chinese entertainment industry.

"Mr. Zou, long time no see!"

Chen Yu greeted him respectfully and helped him walk into St. Francis Xavier's College.

This is where Bruce Lee attended junior high school and where the film's launch conference was held. The first scene tomorrow will begin here.

"I never thought that you could reach such a high level in just two years!"

"This time, I got a bargain!"

Zou Wenhuai was smiling. In the past, he would have thought that the movie "Bruce Lee" might be risky.

But now, you have to go all in.

Are you kidding? The Asian market alone can generate investment profits, not to mention Europe and North America.

Jiahe definitely made a profit, and Zou Wenhuai's vision was once again verified in this gamble.

Chen Yu is the only one in Asia now. Coupled with the halo of "Bruce Lee" and Li An's reputation, this movie is destined to cause a sensation in North America once it is released. Zou Wenhuai believes in Li An's ability to control autobiographical films.

"Mr. Zou, please don't say that. Without your suggestion, there would be no Bruce Lee project!"

"I should be thanking you!"

Chen Yu smiled, and the two of them had already arrived at the press conference.

Li An was arranging some matters for the start of filming and was dressed casually. Zou Wenhuai, on the other hand, was wearing a gown, which was obviously carefully prepared.

"Director Li!"

Chen Yu greeted Li An, who smiled and said, "Here I come!"

He always looked shy, rubbing his hands together. Looking at Chen Yu's spirit, he couldn't help but say, "His face shape... has become much thinner!"

This is the observation ability of an excellent director.

(End of this chapter)