Extracting skills from movies

Du Sheng nodded and responded:
“Don’t be in a hurry, lay a solid foundation first.

During this time, I will personally participate in the production of How to Train Your Dragon, and ask the production team to send more people to guide everyone."

At this time, Zhong Zhen pointed at the computer screen and said:

"Let's choose this image, a five-clawed green dragon, which is very oriental."

Du Sheng walked over and took a look, and found that Zhong Zhen had chosen a Q version of a blue dragon image.

The main color is green, with cool colors such as dark blue and light green as embellishments. There is a faint halo on the dragon's horns, claws and tail tip, highlighting the mystery and nobility of the blue dragon.

The big, bright eyes are lively and full of wisdom, and the slender, curved dragon horns give people a noble and cute feeling.

It is really very cute and makes people fall in love with it at first sight.

Xu Guangyan explained:

"This design was very popular within the company, but was ultimately rejected because it was not suitable for the character image requirements of a 3D animated film."

Du Sheng browsed through the multiple versions of the Azure Dragon design drawings on the computer, and had to admit that each version was more beautiful and smoother than the original Hollywood lizard dragon.

After all, Orientals have unparalleled expertise and authority when it comes to the design of the Azure Dragon.

This also further strengthened Du Sheng's confidence.

I believe that through the efforts of the team, "How to Train Your Dragon" will definitely reach new heights.

Du Sheng was quite satisfied with the design of this Q-version Azure Dragon and nodded and said:
“This design is pretty good, let’s use it as the Renren icon.

If we have time in the future, we can make a short film about the story of the young Qinglong, which can not only enrich the brand image, but also promote it for platforms such as Renren and YY. "

Zhong Zhen also liked this version, but she was busy with work, so she left after chatting for a few minutes.

Seeing that there was still some time, Du Sheng simply continued to discuss the special effects details.

His schedule for the following week was packed.

In addition to attending the premiere of "Flash Point", he also needs to deal with a series of animation-related matters.

Under his guidance, the image designs of several main characters in the film gradually took shape and were finally confirmed.

Compared with the previous Western version, Du Sheng believes that the character design this time has been significantly improved.

Especially the scene where the protagonist meets the young Qinglong for the first time, which is both interesting and full of childlike innocence, and looks particularly cute.

In addition, in terms of action design, Du Sheng specially incorporated elements of oriental martial arts to make the character's movements more smooth and distinctive.

As for the script structure, of course it also needs to be changed.

The previous version of the movie focused on the hostile relationship between the Vikings and dragons on Berk Island. People regarded slaying dragons as an honor, which triggered a series of crises.

But these Vikings sound very un-Eastern, and the types of dragons shown are also very awkward.

Things like Night Fury, Deadly Nard, Terror Dragon, Apatosaurus, etc. are a bit confusing for Asians.

Du Sheng simply changed them all back to the Azure Dragon, Yellow Dragon, Snake Dragon, and Qiu Dragon that are more familiar to Oriental people.

The concept of the "Four Sacred Beasts" was also introduced to strengthen the characteristics of Chinese culture.

As for the names of the two main characters, Hiccup and Toothless sounded confusing, so he changed them to names that are easy to understand.

The protagonist’s name is Lu Yao, which embodies the ancient saying of “A journey alone tells a horse’s strength.”

The accompanying green dragon is called Qingya, which means it is full of vitality like a tender green sprout.

In addition to the plot and character design, Du Sheng also finalized the production sets of models such as Utopia Island and Dragon Cave.

During this period, even when he was busy with publicity and promotion, he still found time to coach the creative work.

It is precisely because of this that "How to Train Your Dragon", which originally had no clue, gradually got on the right track.

The production progress is also much faster.

In the past few days, in addition to handling company affairs, Du Sheng also visited five cities for promotions and premieres.

The ever-popular "Flash Point" was finally released yesterday.

After Du Sheng went out, he was about to ask about the box office when Liu Xiaoli called.

According to the company's census and the data from major theaters, after comprehensive summary,
"Flash Point" grossed 1668 million Hong Kong dollars on its first day in mainland China and 693 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong.

This data can be said to be quite good.

After all, both places exceeded the first-day box office records of its predecessor "SPL".

Some people may think that it’s just a few hundred thousand more, nothing special.

But they obviously overlooked the intensity of this year's Lunar New Year box office.

Take Zhang Yimou's "A One Man's Journey" which was released a week ago, for example. It currently doesn't even have 1000 million in box office revenue in mainland China.

Perhaps some people will look down on it and say that it is an art film, as the two parties are on different tracks.

Let's compare it with the comedy action film "A Chinese Odyssey", which was also released a week ago and directed by Liu Zhenwei and starred by Xie Tingfeng, Asa and others, to illustrate this point.

This drama was invested with 8 million yuan, and it may not be inferior to "Flash Point" in any aspect. How much is the box office now?

2186 million Hong Kong dollars in the Mainland and 489 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong.

If nothing unexpected happens, it will be crushed in all aspects by "Flash Point" tomorrow!

As for "The Promise" which was released half a month ago.

Although the box office exceeded 100 million yuan early on thanks to the appeal of big names such as director Chen Qie-ge, Jang Dong-gun, Hsieh Ting-fung, Zhang Bo-chi, and Hiroyuki Sanada, the film's reputation plummeted.

In addition, the number of films scheduled is decreasing, and there is no longer enough room for success.

Hearing this, Du Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this time is more intense than the summer vacation season, the benefits are also obvious.

As long as you can withstand the pressure, word of mouth and discussion will grow like a snowball.

It not only spread among Du Sheng's fan base, but also attracted viewers who were not very interested to join.

According to this trend, the profit of "Flash Point" is estimated to be greater than that of "SPL".

The next day, comments flooded in online:
"The action scenes are clean and neat, the most shocking movie of the year!"

“The battle scenes were so realistic that it seemed like the screen was going to explode!”

"Du Sheng's role as the revengeful Ma Jun once again ignited the passion of the audience!"

"It's really a sequel. Wu Jing appears again, and he's still the villain!"

"The big boss played by Hong Yu-bo is a change from the fierce and evil one in the previous part, and he actually has a dramatic ending of 'falling to death'!"

"..."

As expected, "Flash Point" brought new surprises to the film industry.

At first, everyone thought that this sequel was just a remake of the past and expectations were not too high.

I didn’t expect that “Flash Point” would maintain its usual unique fighting style, but at a higher level.

The flesh-and-blood fighting and the abandonment of the traditional plot mode of an invincible protagonist successfully caught the audience's attention.

The black humor setting of the three villains in the film, who are extremely vicious but extremely obedient, adds a bit of twist and joy.

In particular, the life-and-death battle between Du Sheng and Wu Jing in the abandoned warehouse left a deep impression on everyone.

In addition, as long as the sequel is up to standard, many people who were recommended it after reading the reviews will continue to support it.

Coupled with Du Sheng's huge fan base, "Flash Point" once again set off a wave of movie-watching.

Although China Film + Miracle Cinemas are well prepared, ticket supply in various places is still somewhat tight.

Even some small cinemas have expedited copying and adjusted their screening plans to meet demand.

The media will naturally not miss this event and have followed up with reports:
[Flash Point dominated the Lunar New Year box office, grossing 4019 million in the first three days of the weekend!] As Du Sheng once said:
“Only when there is competition can there be topics, and only when there is hype can there be box office!”

This film easily surpassed other domestic films of the same period and won the first place in the screening schedule.

In Hong Kong, Flash Point grossed over 3 million in three days, breaking the record for the Lunar New Year box office in the millennium.

On the other side, Du Sheng, Wu Jing, Gu Tianle and others have arrived at the Neon Propaganda Station.

When he and Fan Bingbing walked out of the airport passage, a large group of enthusiastic fans had already gathered outside, blocking the exit.

"Ah! Brother Sheng!"

"Brother Jing, your villain is so cool!"

“The interlude is also very nice!”

"Ice, I love you!"

Cheers erupted from the scene.

Most of these fans are boxing fans or fans that Du Sheng has accumulated in Japan, and some are new fans who joined because of the sequel.

When they saw their idol appear, they immediately burst into enthusiastic cheers.

If the security personnel hadn't been there to maintain order, these enthusiastic fans would have swarmed in long ago.

Although Gu Tianle has been a famous first-line star for many years, he was still a little surprised by such a scene.

Although he knew that Du Sheng had far more fans than he did, he didn't expect that he was so fanatical in Japan.

This gave him a deeper understanding of what people in the Hong Kong circle often say, "Du Sheng is the pillar of the future of Chinese entertainment."

Escorted by security personnel, the group signed dozens of posters and then waved goodbye with a smile, leaving behind a group of excited fans.

Not long after checking into the hotel, a representative from Toei, one of the three major cinema chains in Japan, came to visit.

"Mr. Du, we've finally met you! The fans here have been eagerly waiting for you!"

Du Sheng responded with a smile:

"Manager Watanabe, how is the box office situation here right now?"

“The situation is very good, and it is being shown in theaters everywhere!”

Manager Watanabe said excitedly:

“After eight days of release, the box office has exceeded 10 billion Neon coins.

If the other two major theater chains also joined in, it should have exceeded 13 billion by now.”

Hearing this number, Du Sheng quickly calculated in his mind that 10 billion Neon coins are approximately equal to 5 million RMB.

Considering that other theaters are still in negotiations, if the number of screens reaches more than 1000, it should not be difficult to break through 20 billion Neon Coins in the future.

This will also be the fifth Chinese-language film in film history to have a box office of over 20 billion Neon coins in Neon.

This achievement alone is enough to demonstrate its significance.

The box office figures from neighboring Asian countries have also been released one after another, and the worst one can match the first-day record of "SPL".

Liu Xiaoli even made a special phone call to report:
“The specific box office data of “Flash Point” has been sent to your email.

By the way, let me remind you that Chen Qiege accepted a joint interview with multiple media today. He mentioned that the screening schedule of "The Promise" was suppressed by us, which led to the subsequent box office failure.

This interview has attracted a lot of attention. You can take a look at it when you have time. "

Liu Xiaoli has been busy with Girls' Generation's business recently and hung up the phone after just a few words.

Du Sheng turned on the computer, glanced at the files in his email, and smiled as expected.

I then logged into the portal website and saw the relevant report on the headlines of the entertainment section.

In the latest interview video, Chen Qige was extremely excited.

The whole person seemed to be on fire, as if he was back to the days when he was accused of being a gigolo, with a serious look on his face.

He spoke without reservation and said frankly that the subsequent box office failure of "The Promise" was definitely not due to the poor quality of the film, but that there were other hidden reasons.

“You know what? The screening schedule for The Promise has been completely suppressed!
During the New Year's Day holiday, the number of screenings for "Flash Point" was more than twice that of "The Promise"! "

"The Promise" grossed over 7 million yuan in just 3 days after its release, and is poised to hit the unprecedented million yuan box office.

As a result, after the release of "Flash Point", its cumulative box office revenue was only 1.35 million yuan in half a month.

Now, let alone hitting a box office of 3 million, it would be a problem to even break 1.7 million.

It would be strange if he wasn't angry.

Speaking of this, Chen Qiage also specifically cited the example of Hollywood:

“In the Beacon Country, film production companies cannot own cinema chains. Why?
It is to prevent monopoly and unfair competition, otherwise the quality of the film will definitely be ruined."

Then, he pointed the finger directly at Huaxia Film and Miracle Cinemas:

“The cooperation between China Film and Miracle Cinemas is clearly a monopolistic behavior.

I am the unfortunate victim of this unfair competition."

But what is strange is that he didn't mention a single word about Hollywood blockbusters taking up his screening schedule.

Chen Qige paused, and then gave a second reason:
“The Promise is an art film that talks about the depths of human nature, which requires careful consideration.

But nowadays, audiences like to watch movies like "Flash Point" that don't require much thinking. They feel good for a while after watching them, but then they are left with emptiness.

If all Eastern movies become like this, it will be completely over!
My "The Promise", like "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Brokeback Mountain", are all good works with depth, but the box office results were not ideal.

Can you blame me?
This is the sadness of the times!
We are developing too fast, and the public's aesthetic taste can't keep up. I don't understand why they don't reflect on whether it's their own problem? "

I have to say that Chen Qige's sophistry is really powerful.

First they used foreign examples to make excuses for themselves, then used a few well-known movies to muddy the waters, and tried to force "The Promise" into an art film.

However, the last reflection that "the public's aesthetic taste cannot keep up" still exposes his arrogance.

He has created an image for himself as a great director of highbrow culture.

But it’s true, many viewers fell for his tricks.

There are always some people who like to watch movies that others can't understand, thinking that this can show that they have unique taste.

So, just as Liu Xiaoli said, this interview with Chen Qiege really caused quite a stir online, with all kinds of discussions and controversies continuing.

However, Du Sheng was very clear about how bad the reputation of this film was, and no matter how much the other party tried, they would not be able to make any big waves.

Fortunately, Zhang Baizhi followed his low-key advice and even gave up her status and publicity to Japanese and Korean artists, otherwise she would have been implicated in the subsequent turmoil.

Du Sheng closed the page and opened Renren.com.

"Family members, have you seen Chen Qiege's latest interview?
He actually had the nerve to say that Du Sheng was the culprit who ruined “The Promise”!

I guess Du Sheng even felt it was unnecessary to even look at "The Promise".

The rivals of Flashpoint are the big Hollywood movies, so there is no chance for The Promise to join in the fun.”

One netizen couldn't help but complain in the post.

Several netizens responded immediately:

"I saw it. Chen Qiege's attitude was like he wanted to ride on the audience's head and act like a boss. What the hell is there to reflect on?"

"What kind of shit is "The Promise" shooting? It's such a mess. How dare they call themselves an art film?"

“Although Brokeback Mountain wasn’t that great, it won an international award. It’s much better than The Promise!”

"It's a pile of pig shit. It's hard for Director Chen to eat it after he poops."

………(End of chapter)