Huayu: Director started with art films

At 9 o'clock in the evening.

As hosts Zhao Zhongyang, Ni Ping and Zhou Tao stood on the stage, they said with great enthusiasm: "Looking back on the past year, we have made outstanding progress in the fields of economy, culture and so on..."

After blah blah blah talked about a lot of economic and cultural development, Zhao Zhongyang changed the subject and said with a smile:
"During this Chinese New Year, the crew of Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms, including Lee Yi-su, Xie Jin, and other directors and actors, who were filming in Hengdian World Studios, also sent us New Year's greetings. Director Lee Yi-su personally edited more than a minute of film footage for us to have a glimpse of."

As soon as the voice was spoken, the background began to switch to copying.

"Woo!"

Accompanied by a loud horn sound.

The audience in front of the TV were attracted by this long and majestic sound.

In the pitch-black screen, a ray of sunlight shone down, and the camera followed the sunlight from top to bottom and locked onto a sharp spear.

The camera pulls back to gradually reveal a cavalryman in armor. It is Zhang Liao, played by Huang Haibing, with a subtitle next to it: "Zhang Liao, courtesy name Wenyuan"

He clenched his spear tightly and yelled, "Kill!"

As soon as the words fell, the camera quickly zoomed out and took a wide-angle shot, revealing tens of thousands of cavalrymen behind him, covering the mountains and plains. It was quite shocking.

Voice-over: "Fenglangjuxu, drinking water from the vast sea, Liao fights Tadun in the battle array at Bailang Mountain!"

The scene changed and Cao Cao, played by Bao Guoan, appeared. He was seen standing on a huge wooden warship with hundreds or thousands of warships behind him.

Voice-over: "When Duke Zhou spits out food for his guests, the whole world will be at peace!"

The scene changes again, and Andy Lau plays Zhao Yun, holding a spear, riding a white horse, with A Dou tied to his back, as he moves among thousands of soldiers, killing his way in and out of the enemy lines.

Voice-over: "Please leave your name if you come!"

Hua Zi knocked a Cao soldier flying with his pole, raised his head and chest and shouted: "I am Zhao Zilong from Changshan!"

At the banquet, Liu Xiaoli, who played the role of a palace beauty, walked with graceful steps, while Zhuge Liang, wearing a feather fan and a long scarf, debated with a group of scholars.

Voice-over: "Han and thieves cannot coexist, the kingdom cannot be half-hearted, my lord will not surrender, but your lord can surrender!"

Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao appeared briefly, and then Wu Guotai and Sun Shangxiang showed up one after another.

On the battlefield of Chibi, above the Yangtze River, the river was surging, the river breeze was blowing, and the cold wind was howling.

With the afterglow of the setting sun, Leon Lai, who plays Zhou Yu, holds a long sword in his hand and shouts, "Fire the rockets!"

In an instant, arrows with fire fell on Cao’s warships.

A soldier looks at the flaming arrow on the deck, and the camera is focused on him.

Then the view zooms out from the soldier's perspective, and when he looks up, he sees thousands of sparks coming from the distance.

When the rocket came flying and was within reach.

The camera went black.

The words "Red Cliff" were typed on it, with the words "Three Kingdoms" in the upper left corner and a bunch of main creators in the lower right corner.

"..."

The short 90-second footage was enough to overwhelm the audience in front of the TV.

The stirring soundtrack, the expressive voice-over, and the well-known major events of the Three Kingdoms.

All of them stimulate the audience's inner desire to watch this movie.

Wuhan.

Liu family.

The little fairy excitedly pulled her mother's arm and shouted, "Mom, you're on TV."

"Yes, it was on TV."

Liu Xiaoli was very excited.

She didn't expect that she would actually have a close-up.

It's really hard to get a close-up shot in such a short promotional video.

mountain city.

Jiang family.

Jiang Qinqin was watching the Spring Festival Gala with her arm around Jia Jingwen. When she saw the promotional video and saw that her role as Sun Shangxiang also had a shot, she was immediately overjoyed.

"Qinqin, you're on the Spring Festival Gala." Alyssa Chia looked at Jiang Qinqin excitedly.

"This is not the Spring Festival Gala." Jiang Qinqin said with a smile: "It's just that I got a shot thanks to Brother Yishu."

"But you've been on the Spring Festival Gala stage. How many people saw you?"

There was envy in Jia Jingwen's eyes.

Nowadays, although movies have high standards, the most important thing to gain popularity is to be shown on TV.

Many actors who have been acting in movies all their lives cannot compare with the actors in popular TV dramas in terms of national popularity.

Apart from anything else, the later "My Fair Princess" truly created a top-tier female star.

If it weren't for the problems they all have, their popularity would definitely be ranked first in the country.

I can only say that Rong Mama’s acupuncture skills are of great value!

Yuhang.

After dinner, Yu Feihong and his family sat in the living room watching TV.

When seeing the promotional video of "Red Cliff of Three Kingdoms" broadcast on the Spring Festival Gala, Yu Feihong remembered the phone call from Li Yishu before. No wonder she insisted on watching it until ten o'clock. It turned out that the movie trailer was on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

Yu's mother asked curiously, "Feihong, has Yishu's movie been finished? When will it be released?"

"It's not finished yet. This is just a trailer. It won't be released until next year."

When Yu Feihong visited the set in Hengdian before, he asked about the film's release. According to the shooting schedule at the time, it would be completed around March or April.

What follows is a long process of editing and production.

Six directors, three groups, shot the film over a period of nearly a year. The amount of material and the length of time involved can be said to be unique in the country.

It would take at least half a year to edit the best and most effective shots from so much material, and also to do dubbing and produce special effects.

Sichuan and Shu.

Inside the villa in Jinxiu Garden.

The two families watched the promotional video and started chatting enthusiastically about the story of the Three Kingdoms.

Li Yishu's grandparents talked endlessly about the stories of the Shu Han Dynasty that had been passed down in Sichuan for thousands of years. The one they talked about the most was Prime Minister Zhuge.

As the most famous historical figure in Sichuan and Shu, Zhuge Liang is definitely a super idol in Sichuan and Shu.

From the age of ninety-nine to the youngest who can just walk, almost everyone has an inexplicable liking and admiration for Zhuge Liang.

Qingxia's father and elder brother had naturally read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the parents of both sides began to talk about the Three Kingdoms.

At this time, Li Jian came over and asked curiously: "Yishu, is this a trailer?"

In recent years, as Emei Film Studio started to be self-financing, it also made trailers, but its partners were limited to TV stations in Sichuan and Chongqing.

“I define it as a propaganda film.”

Lee Ye-su laughed and said, “The trailer is too long, and the story of the Three Kingdoms is almost familiar to everyone, so there is no need to warm up the audience, so we only need to edit the clips from the movie that will attract the audience to walk into the cinema.”

"Promotional film?"

Li Jian nodded thoughtfully: "The promotional video you mentioned is good. After watching it, even I want to go to the cinema to see it. How did you shoot the shot of thousands of arrows? Did you use the special effects of foreign movies?"

“Some are special effects, and some are live action.”

Lee Yi-su said: "The crew made a total of 10,000 bows and arrows. The scene where 10,000 arrows were fired was actually filmed on land. We were divided into three groups to shoot arrows, and more than a dozen cameras were set up in front to shoot from different angles."

Hollywood movie special effects are very expensive nowadays, with one frame of footage costing at least tens of thousands of dollars.

He remembered that when filming "The Sixth Sense", there were several special effects shots of less than ten seconds, which cost more than one million US dollars.

If there was only this one shot, Li Yishu would have found a way to contact the special effects company in Hollywood, but this is a war movie, and war scenes account for almost one-third of the film, especially the large-scale battle between two armies.

You can't always hire a special effects company to produce an archery scene, or use the same shot over and over again, right?
That's not appropriate either.

There is also a scene of borrowing arrows from a straw boat later. How can thousands of arrows be shot at that lonely wooden boat?
Therefore, during the preparation stage, Li Yishu had people make tens of thousands of bows and arrows and conduct real-life shooting to make up for the gap with Hollywood movie special effects.

Fortunately, domestic manual labor is cheaper than special effects, and there are tens of thousands of bows and arrows, and they don’t need to be made very well. It’s enough to be able to draw the bow and shoot arrows, and the production cost is only a dozen yuan.

This is even when Li Yishu demanded improved quality.

Otherwise, through mass production, the cost can be reduced to less than five yuan, and wood is not valuable these days.

Li Yishu chatted with his father for a few words, and seeing that he seemed to be hesitant to speak, he asked, "Dad, do you have something to tell me?"

"Well... there is something I want to tell you." Li Jian hesitated and said, "This year's appointment and dismissal documents have been issued. After the beginning of the year, the factory will announce that I will be the deputy director."

"This is a good thing!"

Li Yishu's eyes lit up. In order to help his father transfer from director to management, he had specially helped to stand on the stage when he was in Taiwan.

He also helped to connect Emei Film Studio with the film and television companies in Taiwan.

It would be really unkind of us to keep dragging this out.

Li Jian said: "It's a good thing, but the several movies that Emei Film Studio invested in and filmed last year all lost money. Only the movie that we cooperated with Hong Kong Golden Harvest Film Company made a little profit."

Li Yishu raised an eyebrow: "Are you talking about "The Great Train Robbery in China and Russia"?

"Yes, this movie made 157 million in Hong Kong at its premiere, and more than 1500 million in total. If you include the box office in Taiwan and in mainland China, we did make a little money."

Li Jian nodded: "But other movies have lost money. This time I was transferred to the position of deputy director, in charge of the production department."

"So, Uncle Chen is now working under you?"

Li Yishu became interested. If Director Chen had not helped him arrange the factory logo, not only gave him a lot of films for free, but also lent him the factory's equipment for free, he might not have been able to make a movie with just tens of thousands of dollars.

"He has also been promoted to deputy director, but he is in charge of personnel." Li Jian shook his head: "This year, the leadership of the factory has undergone a major change. Some have been promoted, and some have retired. Your uncle Chen and I are now considered the backbone of the factory."

Hearing this, Li Yishu nodded slightly. In his previous life, Uncle Chen was the deputy factory director born in 98.

It was probably because he discovered himself in this life, and coupled with the fact that he had previously co-produced several films with Emei Studio, Uncle Chen's political achievements met the standards, which is why he was promoted two years ahead of schedule.

"Dad, you came to me, don't tell me you want to make a movie together again?"

"Haha, I have such an idea."

Although it is a little difficult for a father to ask his son for help, Li Jian has come to terms with it in recent years. No matter how capable his son is, he is still his son.

Li Yishu asked, "How is the current business situation of the Emei Factory?"

Li Jian shook his head: "What else can I do? I'll just make do with it. Over the past year or so, I've collaborated with film companies from Hong Kong and Taiwan on a number of co-productions. There have been some losses and some gains, but overall, I can just about get by."

Then just make do with it for now.

Li Yishu really wanted to say this in reply. After all, the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets are sluggish right now, and the overall box office in the mainland is at most RMB 10 billion, which is only suitable for a small-budget investment of around two to three million yuan.

But after thinking about it, he analyzed the situation to his father.

After all, my father Li Jian was just a director in the past. Even though he paid attention to the film industry, he still lacked a lot of perspective on theaters and the overall environment.

"Is the situation in Hong Kong and Taiwan really so bad now?" Li Jian couldn't believe it.

“It’s not that bad, but the overall box office is on a downward trend.”

Li Yishu thought for a moment and said, "In 94, Rumble in the Bronx grossed over 6000 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong, making it the box office champion of the year. Last year, Thunderbolt, shot by Jackie Chan, only grossed 3600 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong. It still won the box office champion. If it is not counted as the champion, then the box office data of the second place is a full million Hong Kong dollars different."

In 94, it was Zhou Xingchi's "From Beijing with Love", which grossed over 4000 million Hong Kong dollars. Last year in 95, it was also Zhou Xingchi's "A Chinese Odyssey", and the total box office of the two parts combined was 4600 million.

It seems like a lot, but the investment costs are different, and the latter is two films.

At this point, Li Yishu shook his head and said, "If this trend continues, the total box office of Hong Kong movies will continue to decline in the next two years. I estimate that by 1999, the box office champion in Hong Kong may not even break million."

Hong Kong films are the most star-dependent. With Chow, Yip, Cheng and Lee, they could be said to be a guarantee of box office success in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

However, as film producers in the Taiwan region began to vigorously introduce Hollywood films, and the salaries of Hong Kong actors rose to an alarming level, it has become very difficult to recoup the investment or even make a profit given the high production costs.

No film company can afford to pay big-name actors the salary of seven or eight million or even tens of millions, which is why all the top actors are heading to Hollywood to make movies.

Li Jian said nervously, "According to what you said, the film market will be even worse in the future. What will happen to your Red Cliff?"

"You don't have to worry about me. I don't have much pressure to make back my investment." Li Yishu smiled and said, "My movie is not only released in China, but also in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. It is enough to make back my investment."

"That's true." Li Jian felt relieved when he thought of his son's international influence, but when he thought of the Emei Factory, he started to have a headache again.

According to Li Yishu, the Chinese-language film market in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, will be sluggish in the next few years, and it will be difficult for him to be the deputy director.

When Li Yishu saw her father's expression, she knew that he was worried about her taking on the position of deputy factory director after the new year.

The first thing a new official does when he takes office is to make three big moves. Li Jian was promoted from director to deputy director, which in itself was an exceptional promotion. If he had no political achievements, it would definitely not be justified.

He said, "Dad, don't worry too much. I'll talk to the company in Hong Kong and try to get you some resources for co-production."

Hearing this, Li Jian felt a little embarrassed, but after thinking about it, he realized that he didn't need to be so polite to his own son. (End of this chapter)