Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 864 The Devil Child is Born
Late July.

sweltering heat.

At this point in time, even high school students have basically entered their summer vacation.

On the "Parasite" side, the situation is quite serious.

The movie box office continued to climb, reaching 1.5 billion on the 18th day.

The score has not dropped significantly and is still maintained at around 9.2 points.

Since the film was shot in Xiangcheng, many Xiangcheng residents expressed their approval of the film's content on online platforms after watching the film.

As one of the economic centers of Asia, Hong Kong's economic situation is obvious to the whole world.

With the rapid economic development, the gap between the rich and the poor in Xiangcheng has become quite exaggerated.

One of the most obvious characteristics of the gap between the rich and the poor is housing.

The "pigeon cage" of Xiangcheng is very famous in East Asia and even Southeast Asia.

And due to the characteristics of Hong Kong, there is basically no such thing as "I can't live in the core area, so I move to the non-core area" (if I can't live in the first-tier cities, I will go to the third- and fourth-tier cities if that doesn't work).

In "Parasite", there is a huge difference in housing between two families. One family lives in a three-story villa covering hundreds of square meters; the other family lives in a cramped basement of a residential building, with four people squeezed into a small space of a few square meters.

The sharp contrast between the two situations coincides with the perception of many Hong Kong audiences about living in Hong Kong.

“When I watched the movie, I saw myself.”

"I'm not as good as any of the families in the movies. I've been working here for eight years since I graduated, and I can only live in a small place of three square meters every month. It's simply not a place for human beings to live."

"You're lucky to have three square meters for one person. My family of five has a total area of ​​nine square meters. The first thing we do every morning is to grab the water pipe!"

Countless IPs describe their lives to the audience in Hong Kong, and each piece of content astounds the audience in the mainland.

No.

You are the economic center of Asia.

You are a special economic zone.

Why is your life so miserable?
Is this really not an exaggeration?
With such questions in mind, some viewers began to communicate with those viewers who described their own lives in the comment section of "Parasite", trying to learn more about Hong Kong.

"No, isn't the salary in Xiangcheng very high? The income of any ordinary job is comparable to that of a senior white-collar worker here."

"The income is high, and the consumption is also high. The living expenses here are three or four times that of the mainland."

"Three or four times, that's a bit exaggerated."

"It's not open at all. I've lived in Yanjing for more than a year. A good meal at any restaurant in Yanjing costs over 30 Hong Kong dollars. In Xiangcheng, a good meal costs 100 Hong Kong dollars. Even seafood noodles cost me over 80..."

"More than 30 at Yanjing? A takeaway meal in college cost me 16 at most. Anyone over 20 is considered a scammer."

“The cost of living in Hong Kong is indeed expensive, but it’s not as outrageous as the above comments. Under normal circumstances, a meal that costs 40+ is already very good, and meals that cost 100+ are only consumed by senior white-collar workers in the CBD. Ordinary people won’t eat that much.

For example, my favorite restaurant in Hong Kong is McDonald's, because it is really affordable and is the king of cost-effectiveness in Hong Kong.

In addition, labor costs in Hong Kong are relatively high, and the delivery fees for food delivery drivers are much higher than in the mainland. Sometimes, it is not uncommon to pay dozens of yuan for a single delivery."

Information exchange is sometimes a very interesting thing.

A lot of information can be found everywhere, but we don’t even notice it in our daily life. So once it is mentioned, it will cause great surprise to the people who are exchanging information.

In this great discussion on "differences in life on both sides of the Taiwan Strait" triggered by "Parasite", many people have witnessed a world that is completely different from what they imagined.

As mentioned above, “100+ per meal” is a fantasy in the eyes of many mainland audiences.

A takeout meal, and it’s just the most ordinary three-fresh noodles, actually costs a red bill?

Robbery?!

Even if we go by what that person said later, a takeout meal costing 40+ is still very exaggerated for many people.

In addition, the high labor costs also make many people dumbfounded.

Apart from other things, labor costs in the mainland have always remained at a relatively low level, which is stable enough to make people feel at ease.

When talking about low labor costs, some people were happy, some were envious, until one comment asked a question:
"But low labor costs, isn't that what the Jin family in the movie is like? I suddenly thought of a question I had seen before: We have abundant and cheap human resources, which is one of the important reasons why we can develop so quickly."

Soon after this comment was posted, it received thousands of replies and sparked a huge amount of discussion.

"Yes, we enjoy cheap and efficient labor costs on the one hand, but we often complain about low income on the other hand. This is a contradiction in itself."

"High incomes inevitably bring high costs, which is a reality that goes hand in hand and is an inevitable consequence in any situation."

"I work ten hours a day and get paid 5k. After three years of work, my boss buys a Panamera. Who does all the money go to? Anyone who knows will understand."

"It's not easy for small businesses to do business. They sell everything they have for hundreds of thousands of dollars to open a small shop in the city. It sounds good to be a boss, but when they count the accounts after working for a few years, they find that they didn't make a penny. They gave all the money to the landlord. That's a business with no capital investment. There is no risk at all."

"Speaking of landlords, I live in a windowless basement in Yanjing, and I pay 1 yuan a month for the landlord, and he doesn't even have to pay taxes. It's incredible."

In just two or three days after this issue, the topic of comments and discussions on major platforms for "Parasite" changed from "differences in living between the two places" to "human resources."

As the topic changes, the number of people paying attention to it also increases accordingly.

Some viewers suddenly discovered that Lao Jin's (the protagonist) situation seemed to appear not only in movies, but was also often seen in reality.

At this moment, reality and artwork seem to overlap.

Zhou Mo did not expect that "Parasite" would cause such a discussion among the audience.
From "information exchange between the two places" to "the interweaving of reality and art", the company has not provided any guidance in this regard, nor has it even made such a publicity plan.

Everything happened naturally.

However, such discussions are good for "Parasite" and its crew members.

On July 9.3th, the single-day box office of "Parasite" achieved a major reversal, directly rising to over million yuan, and the film's rating also rebounded to a certain extent, reaching .

"I think I understand why Lao Jin was so angry that he killed his boss. I have had this thought many times myself, and I wanted to knock his head off."

"Some people asked why the boss's family in Parasite looked so stupid and could be deceived by the protagonist's family... In the final analysis, it was just arrogance. I didn't take you seriously, so how could I care about what you do."

At the same time, the crew of "Parasite" held a celebration party in advance.

"Cheers to becoming the box office champion of domestic art films!"

In fact, "Parasite" has not yet won the actual box office champion of art films, but considering that the movie still has more than ten days of screening time, and Zhou Mo, Lao Mouzi, and Da Tiantian will be joining the crew of "Three Kingdoms" soon, they are taking advantage of their free time to celebrate.

"The film's current success is entirely due to your efforts..."

Lao Mouzi raised his glass and said polite words, while Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian lowered their heads and whispered to each other.

"You will come with me to the Nezha in a few days. Director Jiaozi said he will invite you no matter what."

"Okay, but I think the reception of 'Ne Zha' isn't very good recently." Zhou Mo nodded, his expression didn't change.

The last promotional video of "Ne Zha" was released ten days ago.

The audience's reaction to this promotional video was mixed.

On the one hand, they are happy about the excellent special effects technology of this movie. The modeling, the movements, and the expressions of the characters do not look like the level that a domestic movie should have at all.

Yes, it’s a level that domestic films shouldn’t have.

This evaluation may not sound like a good thing, but it is indeed a compliment to "Nezha".

Everyone knows that the level of special effects in domestic animated films is very average, otherwise "Boonie Bears" would not be the only evergreen in the film industry and a first-line goalkeeper for so many years.

Compared with those classic foreign animated films, they have the impression that domestic technology still has a clear gap with foreign technology.

The special effects of "Nezha" indeed exceeded their expectations.

On the other hand, many viewers are indeed dissatisfied with the character of "Nezha".

Dark circles under his eyes, upturned nose, hands in his trouser pockets, he looks like a ghost-like boy.

In the domestic film and television, including the animation industry, so many years have passed, and there are so many versions of Nezha, and every version of Nezha is a very popular face. He can be cute, beautiful, handsome, or even white and plump, like a Fuwa.

But it just can't be that weird.

Do you, the production team, understand the value of “adaptation is not random editing, and detailed explanation is not nonsense”?

Some people even think that this Nezha might be modified based on Wang Baobao.

There are many viewers who are dissatisfied with Nezha's new image, so much so that this voice has affected many people's expectations for "Nezha", and they have left traces of "ugly rejection" in the comment section of the "Nezha" promotional video.

After simply collecting responses to Nezha, Da Tiantian had some not-so-positive opinions about the film's expected box office.

"Didn't you tell Director Jiaozi that Nezha's image might make the audience subconsciously reject him?"

Nowadays, all anime characters are evolving towards higher looks.

Not to mention the increasingly anthropomorphic character "GG Stick", even Bald Qiang is more handsome than the original version.

But Nezha did the exact opposite.

"I did mention it, but Jiaozi himself was quite insistent. Plus, he told me that the image of the demon boy was related to the plan for the second part, and that Nezha looked quite handsome when he transformed. So I finally let him decide for himself." Zhou Mo said in a low voice.

Da Tiantian continued to ask: "Then how should we promote it next, or should we stick to the original plan?"

"Just follow the normal plan. Although there are some audiences in the market who are not satisfied with the character's image, overall, the majority of people are looking forward to the movie."

"Row."

……

a few days later.

The premiere of "Nezha".

Director Jiaozi and Zhou Mo continued to welcome the guests.

At least half of these people came because of Zhou Mo and Shanhe Company.

For "Nezha", Shanhe Company really spent a lot of money this time.

In addition to the interviews and publicity arranged by the company itself, the product was also promoted on several other related platforms, each of which lasted for a week.

Although many practitioners in the industry have not been very optimistic about the expectations for "Nezha", they are also curious about why Shanhe Company is so optimistic about a movie.

So after receiving the invitation, they all came to watch the movie.

After receiving another group of people, Jiaozi expressed his gratitude to Zhou Mo again.

"Director Zhou, if it weren't for you, there wouldn't be so many people coming here today."

"Support? No, no, no, this is not support. We are giving them a chance to watch a good movie." Zhou Mo laughed.

At this time, Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun came staggering over together.

"I heard your laughter from a long distance away. What good thing happened?"

"I will definitely be happy if your whole family can come."

Zhou Mo introduced each other to each other, and then asked with a little curiosity, "Don't you dislike watching anime? I thought you wouldn't come back."

Jiang Wen frowned immediately after hearing this.

"Who told you that I don't like watching anime? Do you know who voiced Erlang Shen in the movie where Chenxiang saved his mother?"

Zhou Mo reacted instantly.

Yes.

The voice actor for the green-faced, small-eyed, big-nosed Erlang Shen was the person in front of you.

"It's my fault. I forgot about it... But you didn't reply to my invitation before, so I thought you were not interested in Nezha."

"I was just reading the script and forgot to reply you." Jiang Wen explained, then looked at Jiaozi: "Hello, I think your Nezha is very good, the special effects are good, the rhythm is good, and most importantly, the image of Nezha is very good, very subversive, and very personal. I am very optimistic about this movie."

After hearing this, Jiaozi was very excited.

This is also the first director of sufficient weight, other than Zhou Mo, to positively support his setting of Nezha's image during this period.

"Thank you, Director Jiang. I'll borrow your good words."

Jiang Wen waved his hand and returned his gaze to Zhou Mo.

"I have read the script thoroughly. There is a small line in it that I don't think is good, so I changed it. I have sent it to your email. You can take a look at it when the time comes."

Zhou Mo nodded slightly, his expression did not change.

The fact that Jiang Wen would change the lines was foreseeable when he was hired.

This isn't a bad thing.

Jiang Wen's writing of lines is often truly unexpected.

What Zhou Mo needs to ensure is that the basic meaning of this line is understood by the audience and not too mysterious.

I looked at the time and it was almost time to enter.

"Okay, I'll go back and look at the script. Let's go in and watch the movie first."

(End of this chapter)