Extracting skills from movies

The two were discussing intently.

So much so that when Du Sheng stepped into the company's door, he failed to attract attention.

Ye Jingzhi just spoke:

"As of now, Curse of the Golden Flower, directed by Zhang Yimou, has already locked in the Lunar New Year schedule.

"Dragon Tiger Gate" starring Zhen Zidan and Xie Tingfeng, as well as "Baby Project" starring Cheng Long and Ah Sheng, will most likely be released during the summer vacation.

Feng Xiaogang's "Night Banquet" is scheduled to meet the audience on August 8, also during the summer vacation.

In order to avoid losing both sides, "City of Pain" starring Liang Chaowei and Jin Chengwu has been moved to the Lunar New Year holiday.

This is because in addition to domestic blockbusters, there will also be imported Hollywood blockbusters.
《冰河世纪2》定档6月25日，《超人归来》于7月11日上映，《碟中谍3》则安排在7月20日……”

At this point, Ye Jingzhi paused:
“The Lunar New Year period is relatively late and the competition is bound to be fierce, so we are not considering it for now.

So it is best to focus on the May Day and summer vacation periods.

However, the competition for the current summer season is also quite fierce.

Overall, the May Day schedule is the most suitable choice for us.”

Ning Hao agreed with Ye Jingzhi's analysis and then asked:

"The May Day holiday has seven days, which is indeed a good choice. So which day should we choose?"

Ye Jingzhi obviously had a plan in mind, and continued:
"From mid-May, Hollywood blockbusters have been released one after another, and competitive pressure has also come along.

I suggest that Crazy Stone be released around April 4 to take advantage of the May Day holiday."

Ning Hao nodded, and after thinking for a while, he reminded:
"During that period, there seemed to be a drama called "Jasmine" starring Zhang Ziyi, Jiang Wen, and Lu Yi.
As well as two Hollywood horror films introduced by China Film Group, "Antarctic Adventure" and "Octopus East River Horror",
By choosing this time slot, aren't we going to confront them head-on? "

Ye Jingzhi smiled slightly and said:
"Although Jasmine has a big star like Zhang Ziyi in the lead role, the film is adapted from the family romance novel Women's Life, and its audience is relatively limited.

Moreover, Jiang Wen has just escaped the ban, and his influence may be affected to a certain extent in the short term, so there is no need to worry too much.

As for Hollywood films, they are all disaster films and dare not be released during the summer vacation period, which is inherently weaker.

It is still uncertain how big the audience for disaster films is, but with our channel advantages and cinema resources, we are still competitive to a certain extent.”

In fact, when it comes to Hollywood blockbusters, Ye Jingzhi is not without concerns.

After all, the investment in these two films is as high as tens of millions of dollars, and both are special effects blockbusters.

Unless they have enough confidence, most film producers will not choose to confront the opponent head-on.

Ning Hao was still a little hesitant.

This is a film he has put all his effort into, and success or failure depends on it.

He also wanted to make a good impression on Liu Dehua and Du Sheng, who sponsored and supported him, so he could not afford to make any mistakes.

What's more, in today's era, people's pursuit of Hollywood blockbusters has reached a fanatical level.

Seeing that both films were scheduled to be released on May 5, the schedule conflict was too intense, and he was hesitant to make up his mind:

"How about we move the date forward a bit..."

Du Sheng smiled silently and shook his head:
"There's no point in backing down. It would be great if we could beat Hollywood movies.

Let’s release it on April 4th. We want to compete with Antarctic Adventure and Octopus East River Horror!”

In fact, he knew in his heart that this kind of Hollywood disaster film did not have a large audience in China.

"Octopus Terror of Donghe" didn't even reach 1 million box office in its previous life.

If "Antarctic Adventure" had not been directed by a famous director who directed the "Jason Bourne" series, which brought a certain appeal, it would have been difficult for it to break 3 million at the box office.

The cost of "Crazy Stone" itself is not high. As long as it can easily beat any one of these two Hollywood blockbusters, it will be able to take advantage of the May Day period and achieve a pretty good box office result.

Du Sheng's strategy is highly targeted, but he does not intend to explain the specific reasons. He just says rather arrogantly that he wants to defeat Hollywood blockbusters.

Ning Hao heard what he said, scratched his head and said:
"The main audience for the May Day movies are students, and Hollywood blockbusters are their favorite genre.

"Antarctic Adventure" has attracted much attention overseas and is the most promising movie in this year's May Day period.

If we take the initiative to meet them like this, I’m worried that we’ll get hurt on the first day…”

Du Sheng waved his hand and said:
“It’s okay, I just want to challenge the strongest.

When you promote it, you can also use slogans to fight against Hollywood blockbusters.

Other domestic films have backed off, but we didn’t. This is also a good way to promote our films.”

Ye Jingzhi smiled and said:

"Then let's do as Ah Sheng said."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away!"

Ning Hao was actually just showing a gesture.

Since the two big bosses are not worried, it would be a coward for him to say more.

After confirming the release date of "Crazy Stone", Du Sheng discussed the recent company matters with Ye Jingzhi and Zhong Zhen to determine the mid-year plan and important follow-up matters.

Only then did he set off for the recording site of the second season of "Voice of the East".

Thanks to the popularity of this program last year, it is now comparable to Mango TV's "Super Girl".
In addition, the production team has not changed much and is still the original team, so the process is much more familiar.

Du Sheng's visit this time was just a formality.

After finishing the filming of the opening scenes of “Voice of the East”, he didn’t have much time to stay.

I returned to the crew that day and prepared to shoot the interior scenes first, and then the "Train Showdown".

Nowadays, most scenes can be completed in the studio. Even those involving fighting scenes mostly use green screen technology and post-production background synthesis. This has become a popular trend in the industry.

After all, fighting on top of a train could easily lead to problems.

The reason why real scenes are needed is mainly to achieve a realistic viewing experience of "nine real and one fake".

The next evening when they finished work, Du Sheng and Scarlett walked into the same RV together.

A unique "teaching and educating" activity started between teachers and students.

Even though Du Sheng was well-informed, he was still a little shocked by the abnormal enthusiasm of these Hollywood actresses.

During this time, Scarlett had a sudden idea and suggested that Du Sheng call Zhang Baizhi or Zhou Huimin.

However, Du Sheng was obviously not carried away by the idea and decisively rejected it.

Perhaps Zhang Baizhi would be interested in listening, but given her personality, it cannot be ruled out that her sisters will come to her.

Five days later, the relevant scenes were finally filmed.

Next, the crew will move to Budapest to shoot the "Loom of Destiny" related plot.

Then we’d go back to Los Angeles and shoot the finale.

Scarlett naturally had to go along.

Most of her scenes are related to Du Sheng. Once Du Sheng is not there, her filming cannot proceed.

So, the two of them simply took the same flight and maintained a subtle tacit understanding during the journey.

As for the crew, they started moving three days ago.

In addition, the venue in Budapest had already been set up, and another producer was also there to coordinate, so the transition was not delayed much.

The main reason is that the schedules of several leading actors are very tight and they cannot be delayed.

So after everyone arrived at the scene, they took a short break for a day and then started to get busy again. The scenes here mainly tell the story of the male protagonist Wesley, who learned that the big boss of the Assassin's League had betrayed the organization, manipulated the assassination list for personal gain and indirectly killed the heroine. He drove a car full of bombs to the alliance's lair in anger.

That is the textile factory where the huge "weaving machine of destiny" is placed.

In order to design this factory, the producer and director visited more than 100 textile factories around the country, and finally found an old sugar factory built a hundred years ago in Budapest. They transformed it so that it could accommodate the huge textile machine of destiny.

In addition, the kitchen ceiling is also covered with huge mesh fabrics, forming a Gothic vault.

It can be said that this decisive battle is the most dazzling and glorious part of the whole film.

The protagonist used a rat bomb to create chaos, then broke into the nest alone, and finally successfully exposed Sloan's conspiracy and killed him.

"Scene 3, shot 6, line 4, Ation!"

In the dilapidated and messy textile factory, Du Sheng, holding the gun tightly in both hands, engaged in a fierce firefight with many killers from the Assassin's League.

Every time a gunshot was fired from the M9 in his hand, a killer on the opposite side would be shot and fall down.

Director Timo sat on a dolly, and he and the director of photography each operated a camera to capture panoramic and close-up images respectively.

For this big scene, he also carefully designed a four-minute long shot.

All the prop looms were destroyed in the gunfight, and the killers fell to the ground one by one, spurting blood.

This film is definitely rated R, so the content is naturally quite explicit.

Timo, a Rakshasa, even suggested that Du Sheng expose his private parts, but Du Sheng refused without hesitation.

After the shooting of this long shot was completed, the studio was in a mess and most of the props and sets were scrapped on the spot.

Want to check your accounts?
I’m afraid that even two financial teams won’t understand.

Du Sheng doesn’t care how much money the crew actually spent, as the external publicity is that it is 8000 million US dollars.

"Cut! The last shot is over!"

Director Timo stood on the chair on the slide and shouted at the top of his voice:

"I declare that all filming of "Wanted" has been successfully completed!"

The rest just needs to be reshot in Hollywood.

The crew was instantly filled with joy, with streamers and colored paper flying everywhere.

Then we started to distribute the items.

Most people will receive a gift, for example, Du Sheng got the weapon he used in the film.

Amanda and Li Yixin, who were here for tourism and visiting the set, walked into the studio together.

The two men's assistants were struggling to pull a pulley box.

Amanda clapped her hands vigorously, attracting everyone's attention, and said with a smile:

"In the past two months, everyone worked together and cooperated well, and the work was really hard.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone here, and on behalf of the crew, I have prepared a special souvenir for everyone."

After all, they are the nominal heads of Miracle Pictures, the crew's largest investor, and also hold the title of producer, so doing these things is part of their job.

Li Yixin personally delivered the gift boxes to each member of the crew.

Some people couldn't resist their curiosity and couldn't wait to open the gift box.

There was an exquisite fang pendant inside, with Du Sheng's name clearly engraved on it.

Morgan Freeman picked up the pendant and looked at it carefully, then asked in confusion:
"This doesn't look like the fangs of an ordinary animal."

Li Yixin explained with a smile:
"When Oppa was filming the variety show "Everyone's Escape" in Japan, he hunted and killed more than a dozen Nile crocodiles that were more than five meters long."

As she spoke, she winked at Du Sheng playfully and continued:
“Don’t worry, it’s all legal hunting and the items are all legal.

This is actually a token of Oppa’s love, and I am sending it to you on his behalf.”

After hearing this, no one raised any doubts.

After all, they had all seen how ferocious Du Sheng was in the ring. Even a 400-pound man was like a puppet in front of him and was easily controlled.

Therefore, everyone was convinced that Du Sheng could hunt a Nile crocodile that was more than six meters long.

Du Sheng thought to himself that he had only slightly exaggerated the size of the crocodile.
Unexpectedly, when it reached Li Yixin's mouth, one piece turned into more than ten pieces.

All the crocodile tooth pendants were distributed to the crew members.

Most people thought this gift was very good, after all, it was given by Du Sheng.

They thought that if Du Sheng really became an international superstar in the future, this would be an extremely precious gift.

Like the props donated by Leonardo before, they were worth over ten thousand dollars.

After the excitement, Amanda and Li Yixin left immediately.

The former had to quickly catch a flight back to Los Angeles.

After all, the filming of "Gossip Girl" is nearing completion, and she has to go back to deal with follow-up matters and funding-related issues.

Li Yixin watched the Boeing 777 soar into the sky, turned around and pushed her GUCCI sunglasses to the top of her head:

"This annoying demon is finally gone. If he continues to cause trouble, the hotel will have to change three mattresses."

Back at the hotel, she went straight into Du Sheng's room.

"Sent away?"

The floor-to-ceiling windows of the presidential suite reflected the night view of Victoria Harbour. Du Sheng collapsed on the Italian leather sofa, feeling a little tired after a busy day.

Li Yixin threw away Jimmy Choo and took out the iced botrytis wine from the wine cabinet barefoot:
"Coca-Cola wants to put cans in bullet-time footage, and I wrote you a seven-figure check."

The amber wine poured into the crystal glass, reflecting the light red teeth marks on her collarbone.

Du Sheng loosened his tie, and the crocodile belt buckle made a harsh sound on the coffee table:
"Sure, you're becoming more and more like a strong woman."

Before he could finish his words, Li Yixin, who was sitting astride him, pressed the bottle against his chin:
"If this film is released in Korea, my sister said that she would try to get the theaters to free up 15% more screenings. How is Oppa going to thank me?"

"It's simple. You can relieve yourself however you want."

With Li Yixin's scream, the professional suit disappeared.

When the buttons of the silk shirt fell off, the Taiping Mountain outside the window blushed with shame.

Meanwhile, under the spotlight of Beverly Hills, Scarlett, who returned early, was being interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter:
"Du's acting is like aged whiskey. In his 23-year-old body lies the soul of a veteran actor."

She sighed quietly:
"If I had met him a few years earlier, I would have gone to the East and lived in hiding for him!"

Even though the film hasn't even entered post-production, she has already started promoting it with all her might.

In a series of carpet and interview activities, "Wanted" was mentioned from time to time, and Du Sheng was also highly praised.

It can be seen that after this close cooperation, she was convinced not only in her heart but also in her words.

If she hadn't known that Du Sheng would return to Los Angeles, she would not have been willing to come back so soon.

That evening, the wrap party for "Wanted" was held as scheduled.

Although there are not many people left, it is still quite lively with the participation of important people such as investors, producers, directors, and leading actors.

After a wrap-up banquet, the film finally came to an end.

………(End of chapter)