Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 891 New Ideas for Tokusatsu Dramas (I'm Cured)

P.S.: Sorry, dear readers, I was sick for the entire last month, even hospitalized. I just recovered a couple of days ago and am now resuming updates.
"The number of merchandise items for 'Three Kingdoms: Wei' was based on the sales figures for merchandise items from 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' but the actual sales were far less than those for the animated version of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.'"

The two works have different target audiences. The animated version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has a significantly younger audience with stronger purchasing power for related merchandise.

Therefore, a lot of merchandise related to "Three Kingdoms: Wei" was left over in the end, and the company had actually been thinking about how to dispose of it.

"So that's it."

Zhou Mo seemed to be deep in thought. He returned to his desk, found a report on his computer, which showed the sales revenue of Shanhe Company's various works and related merchandise over the past few years.

Numerically speaking, the sales of merchandise for several of Shanhe Company's works are not bad, and there is basically no situation of losing money.

But it's definitely not particularly good either.

None of them were able to achieve the level of a massive hit.

Zhou Mo had anticipated this situation; Shanhe Company's works were not particularly suitable for the genre of local dialects.

Works suitable for peripheral development generally have the following characteristics: many characters, competitive nature, easy to gamify, and sometimes also have a simple plot.

For example, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and the Chinese game Three Kingdoms Kill.

However, Shanhe Company's works, whether the Mythology series or the Killer Universe, do not quite meet these criteria.

However, their company doesn't actually make money from peripheral products; peripheral products are just a means for them to expand their influence.

At this moment, Da Tiantian suddenly said, "Speaking of which, a while ago someone in the company sent me an idea to my email, and the content was related to the surrounding area."

They say our company has a fairly complete industrial chain for manufacturing related products, but we haven't been able to fully realize its potential.

Our company has a problem with our approach to merchandise production.

Zhou Mo was somewhat curious.

"Tell me more?"

After a moment's thought, Da Tiantian began to describe the plan.

"Our company's current capabilities are more than enough to support tokusatsu dramas, such as Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Armor Hero."

Kamen Rider, Armor Hero?

Zhou Mo fell into thought.

That's a really good idea.

Technically speaking, special effects for special effects dramas have lower requirements, and Shanhe Company is best at producing low-cost special effects.

In terms of actors, given Shanhe Company's current influence, selecting actors from talent shows every year would be perfect for Qin Song.

From a market perspective, currently only "Armor Hero" is a truly famous tokusatsu drama in China, indicating that there is still a lot of room for growth in the tokusatsu drama market.

Finally, in terms of the number of works produced, "Armor Hero" has only produced fewer than ten series over the years, which is quite low.

Given Shanhe Company's production efficiency, producing one film a year would be considered extremely inefficient; two films a year would be more normal.

Thinking of this, Zhou Mo looked at Da Tiantian again: "Did the project plan you saw mention any more detailed settings, including the plot, the costumes after transformation, and the equipment used for transformation?"

When discussing tokusatsu dramas, the most important element is the "equipment used for transformation," since the latter forms the basis of merchandise production.

"Have."

Big Sweetie was delighted; she had just found the plan, which contained very comprehensive information.

"The setting is very simple: evil forces from the universe and righteous forces born from nature. The factions are obvious, the plot is straightforward, and we'll simplify it as much as possible."

Zhou Mo nodded. The plot of tokusatsu dramas should indeed be simple and clear. Overly complicated plots would reduce the appeal of the transformation scenes and make it harder to sell products.

"and then?"

"Next is the outfit after transformation. The plan recommends the style of Arkham Knight, with some science fiction and light mechanical elements. It does not recommend the suit from Ultraman, nor the style of Kamen Rider or Armored, where black fabric clothes are exposed between the armor."

Anyway, our company has the technology to make this suit, so we might as well differentiate it from these established designs on the armor itself.

As Da Tiantian was speaking, she deliberately walked to a corner of the office, where Zhou Mo had specially collected a "pro-max-ultra version" Batman Fear Knockout Suit.

It was this suit that brought in at least $100 million at the box office for "Arkham Knight".

Zhou Mo also looked at his battle suit, his brows furrowing slightly.

"However, if it is made to the same standard as the Batman suit, the production cost of the suit will increase significantly."

Da Tian Tian looked down at her phone again.

"This is actually easy to solve. We can lower the standards, reduce the number of armor parts, and use cheaper materials to make some expensive parts, such as the breastplate, and make them into a single piece."

"That's acceptable... So, there's only one left: the equipment for transformation. What should I say?"

"Anything that can be transformed is acceptable—clothes, accessories..."

Da Tiantian handed her phone to Zhou Mo and showed him the contents of the plan, which already included several creative images.

It includes bracelets, watches, shoes, necklaces, etc., with a simple style that gives a very nice impression.

"It looks nice, and it's quite complete."

"Of course, that's why I sent it to you to take a look, because the information I prepared was very comprehensive."

Da Tiantian was very satisfied with the plan. Whether from the perspective of feasibility or cost, the plan provided a fairly comprehensive analysis and judgment, which was more reliable than most of the plans she had received in recent years.

Zhou Mo reviewed the plan repeatedly, and he was very satisfied with it.

However, unlike Da Tiantian, he was more satisfied with the market analysis in this plan.

The domestic market has always lacked this type of urban supernatural drama.

Even if they exist, they are usually shrouded in mystery.

For example, "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" and "The Ferryman".

That's why when Shanhe Company released "The Night Watchman" last year, featuring the "old, weak, sick, and disabled" four main characters, it became so popular that it was constantly trending on social media.

Tokusatsu dramas can be considered a different kind of urban supernatural drama, with a low barrier to entry, suitable for all ages, and full of potential.

Currently, two seasons of "Night Watch" have aired, and production of the third season has not yet begun. In the meantime, it would be a good opportunity to try this tokusatsu series, which could fill the gaps between each season of "Night Watch".

"It's really quite good. Let's have someone calculate the filming costs again. I just saw that the cost in the proposal is around 50 million, which is a bit high."

Both are set in urban supernatural worlds, so a lot of things from "The Night Watchman" can be reused. Besides, our company just signed contracts with a few young people who came from variety shows last year; let's just put them on the show and see who's willing.”

After deciding to invest in this tokusatsu series, Zhou Mo immediately and skillfully began arranging the follow-up matters.

After many points of attention were explained, the assistant, who had entered the office at some point, finished taking notes and asked, "Director Zhou, I suggest we finalize the design of the battle suits first. We can design several characters, or we can focus on upgrading one battle suit design."

Furthermore, the character's weapons, skills, and ultimate moves can all be designed in advance, and each can be evaluated to determine which is most suitable.

The fact that the assistant could say such things shows that he is obviously not a novice in this field, but rather a veteran who has watched many TV series.

Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian both became interested.

"Sure, tell me your thoughts." The assistant adjusted his glasses and presented his ideas in a very organized manner.

"That's right. I think the most important part of tokusatsu dramas is the transformation. All tokusatsu dramas rack their brains to design the transformation scene as cool as possible, while also selling products through actions, lines, and so on."

For example, the belt in Kamen Rider, the Spark Lens in Ultraman Tiga, and the Armor Summoning Device in Armor Hero...

However, I think we shouldn't focus too much on the transformation moves. Times have changed. In the past, the scene of striking a pose before transforming felt cool and trendy, but now it seems a bit outdated.

Our company's strengths lie in special effects production and combat action design, so I think we should focus on the special effects of the transformation and the smooth movements of the characters during combat.

Especially the latter. Currently, several popular tokusatsu dramas on the market don't have very high requirements for action sequences. If the fighting moves can be well-designed, they will definitely stand out..."

The assistant went on to describe the story's background and the armor's multiple upgrades, giving Zhou Mo a long, detailed explanation with examples that left him wide-eyed.

Good guy.

I initially thought you were just an industry veteran, but I didn't expect you to have done so much research beforehand.

If you can talk for more than ten minutes straight, how many tokusatsu dramas have you watched in private?

Zhou Mo had originally planned to check out the venue for the banquet later, but since his assistant was so talkative, he decided to postpone the plan and finish discussing everything with his assistant in one go.

"You didn't write this plan, did you?"

"No, but I have indeed watched quite a few tokusatsu dramas."

"Then you must still have a lot to say. It's still early, so just say everything you can think of now."

The assistant nodded and, without refusing, turned on the projector in the room.

He realized this was an opportunity; Zhou Mo's assistants all had a chance to bring up scripts with him.

Incorporating one's own ideas into a script and then bringing it to life is an opportunity that is very memorable for everyone in the entertainment industry.

A moment later, the projector was turned on.

"Let's start with the setting. I think the background of this plan is very good. Evil forces from outer space invade Earth, and Earth's native forces fight against them."

The forces from outside the universe are easy to set up; just create any race and write any history.

The key is the local forces, and what kind of setup should be adopted.

I personally have two ideas. The first is to combine historical figures with heroic spirits, using famous historical figures as models to create transformation devices and armor. This has many advantages, such as high popularity and widespread recognition, ease of producing merchandise, and the ability to capitalize on the current popularity of the "Three Kingdoms" movie.

If we're going with this setup, I recommend making Zhao Yun the protagonist of the first part. He's famous, his prototype is handsome, and he's born with the 'protection + power surge' trait, making it easy to develop the plot. As for the supporting characters, we can use the other Five Tiger Generals; it's very efficient.

Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian exchanged a glance and saw the brightness in each other's eyes.

so good.

When you're sleepy, someone brings you a pillow.

The assistant's ideas not only filled in the details of the plan, but also took care of a lot of the subsequent design work.

"What about the second character design?" Zhou Mo asked again.

"The second type is mythological figures, such as the well-known 'Journey to the West', 'Investiture of the Gods', and even Donghuang Taiyi and the three-legged golden crow."

The second design also has the advantage of featuring well-known characters, which can promote Chinese culture to some extent. Furthermore, since these are mythological figures, it elevates the characters' status and facilitates the plot development for a feature film.

Upon hearing the words "mythological figure," Da Tiantian's first thought was of the Xingtian Armor from "Armor Hero."

"Xing Tian?"

"The Xingtian Armor is indeed excellent, but it's a pity that Armor Hero only designed this one mythical equipment."

Zhou Mo thought of that monkey that fought against heaven and earth.

"If the armor is designed based on mythological figures, then the first suit of armor should be Sun Wukong, right?"

To everyone's surprise, the assistant shook his head.

"No, Director Zhou, I don't really recommend using Sun Wukong as the first battle armor."

"Huh? Why?" Da Tiantian asked, somewhat surprised.

"The reason is that it is not easy to act. Sun Wukong is a big name, and the price is that the audience has high expectations for him. In addition to his own abilities, such as the seventy-two transformations, there is also the core of Sun Wukong's ability to break everything. If it is not designed well, it is easy to fail."

Big Sweetie nodded; this was indeed a problem.

"Which mythological figure do you think would be most suitable to be the protagonist of the first tokusatsu drama?"

"Actually, Nezha is very good. He has many weapons, strong abilities, and his attribute is fire, making him very suitable as the protagonist of the first part."

Furthermore, if Nezha is made the protagonist of the first part, it would be easy to arrange Yang Jian and Sun Wukong to be the protagonists of the subsequent parts, since these three are known as the rebellious trio and each has strong fighting power.

"Makes sense!"

Zhou Mo immediately gave his assistant a thumbs up.

Based on his assistant's brief introduction, he already had a rough outline of what a big movie would look like.

As for the main characters, they are of course the three users of the armor: Nezha, Yang Jian, and Sun Wukong.

The trio are all very strong, and due to their personalities, they are considered three troublemakers in the "xx" Administration Bureau.

The management personnel believed that since these three individuals were already so capable on their own, they would be even stronger if they cooperated. Therefore, they had been trying to get the three of them to work together.

However, the Bureau's experiments always ended in failure.

These three people have completely incompatible personalities; forcing them to cooperate will only lead to internal strife.

Later, under certain special circumstances, a monster tide broke out and began to attack human cities. As representatives of the new generation of combat power, the three of them naturally split up to fight, rescue people, and provide disaster relief.

The monster horde took special measures against the three of them, using disguise, sneak attacks, and ambushes to defeat them one by one.

When the three met under these circumstances, instead of realizing the importance of "strength in numbers and cooperation to overcome difficulties," they started arguing in the enemy's lair.

This scene took the guards by surprise; they never expected that the legendary "Bureau Chief" ace would be such a scoundrel.

They're not even as good as those monsters.

But it was precisely this underestimation that allowed the three to seize the opportunity, break through the monsters' blockade, overcome layers of obstacles, and directly charge towards the monster horde's lair, where they fought the final boss.

Faced with the final boss, the three knew they couldn't defeat him alone, so they ultimately chose to cooperate... what a load of rubbish, they chose to attack together.

They completely disregarded the code of honor among江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world).

joke.

They may not see eye to eye, but they're not stupid.

Knowing full well that they couldn't defeat the final boss alone, and having already been defeated one by one once, they certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to take turns going up to fight him one by one this time.

The three of them attacked together.

This is called a just gang-up.

(End of this chapter)