Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 427 Visiting Jing Tian
"Yes, commercial films pursue entertainment attributes, and everything is based on the box office. As long as it is good and has high box office, that's enough~"

"Don't you think it's unusual that you, as the most popular director in the country, have never received any awards?"

Zhang Chen shook his head: "I don't need recognition from awards, recognition from the box office is enough."

The students who were attending the class were secretly excited. It seemed that Zhang Chen was being targeted and some professors disliked him.

“Why don’t you try to focus more on the humanistic aspect?”

"I have paid attention to it. Teacher Fu Donglai's "Falling Leaves Return to Roots" is a humanistic film that focuses on the working class. I invested in it~
But humanistic care is also a seasoning. Take my graduation work "A Quiet Place" for example. The cost was more than 1000 million US dollars, more than 8000 million RMB. The biggest sin is that it cannot make back the cost. Therefore, commercial returns must be considered. Films that do not consider commercial returns are all rogues..."

“Isn’t that too absolute?”

"Not absolutely. I still hold the same view. If the director wants to make more personal expressions, that's fine, but please use your own money..."

He had not expected that a professor would want to cause trouble for him.

He doesn't mind another round of confrontation, it's just about the differences between commercial films and author films.

But in the end this did not happen because the school would not allow it to happen.

Although Zhang Chen knew that his graduation defense was just a formality, he would definitely graduate successfully even without the defense.

But even if it's just a formality, you have to be serious about it.

After all, he is a celebrity, and thousands of eyes are staring at him.

In his previous life, Zhao Yanzi, a graduate student, could become nationally known, and his current situation is not much different.

After attending the graduation defense, it was already mid-June.

The Shanghai Film Festival is about to open, and "A Quiet Place" is the opening film. Of course, in exchange, Zhang Chen has to attend the Shanghai Film Festival.

China Film Group’s film scheduling was very powerful. Throughout July, China Film Group did not arrange any rivals for “A Quiet Place”.

Popular films such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Mission Impossible 3" are scheduled for August, while "Superman Returns" and "Garfield" are scheduled for the end of June.

"A Quiet Place" is scheduled to be released on July 7, the same date in China and the United States.

June 6, Shanghai Film Festival opens~
The Shanghai Film Festival is the only Class A film festival in China, and its level is higher than that of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival...

"A Quiet Place" was scheduled as the opening film and received a lot of attention.

This is of course also a means of propaganda.

For commercial films, the most important thing is publicity.

It still takes a lot of people to help promote it.

"A Quiet Place", which premiered in Cannes, triggered a viewing craze and was the opening film of the Shanghai Film Festival, receiving a lot of attention.

According to common sense in the industry, fame at Cannes is roughly equivalent to a publicity effect of $500 million. If it is the Palme d'Or, it would be even more impressive, roughly equivalent to a publicity effect of $1500 million.

Zhang Chen posted a blog to help promote Xingchen Entertainment, and other celebrities who have a good relationship with Zhang Chen, such as Huang Xiaoming and Zhou Xun, also reposted it.

As for the others, the conventional methods are poster placement, trailer release, etc.

During this period, the two also appeared on many variety shows, even "Happy Camp" once.

By the way, Zhang Chen has a very good relationship with Mango TV. After all, Zhang Chen sponsored a lot of songs in the previous "Super Girl"~
As the only A-class film festival in the country, the Shanghai Film Festival has long become one of the most important promotional platforms for Chinese-language films.

Every June, major film and television companies come to Shanghai with their upcoming new films.

Huayi has "The Banquet", Xingchen Entertainment has "A Quiet Place", and New Picture has "Golden Milk"~
If "Painted Skin" was not still in the post-production stage, Zhang Chen might have brought the main creators of "Painted Skin" with him.

As the only A-category film festival in the country, many filmmakers come to support it.

Many big names, such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Johnnie To, Feng Xiaogang, and Ang Lee, are here~
Zhang Chen, the country's top director, is no exception.

What is a bit surprising is that Zhang Weiping also came~
Bro, are you lost?

Don’t you know how bad your popularity is? How dare you come here?

Zhang Weiping was here to promote "Golden Milk", and he was accompanied by Gong Li, Ge You and Chow Yun-fat...

A line of pure color~
Didn't Zhang Weiping and Chow Yun-fat have conflicts? How come they are still together?
In his previous life, Zhang Chen had read a report in which Zhang Weiping complained about Chow Yun-fat's high salary and too many problems. He said that all of Chow Yun-fat's treatment was based on Hollywood standards, with a starting salary of US$800 million and a requirement for a separate RV.

The only function of an independent RV is to serve as a private toilet.

This operation has almost become standard in later generations, and every celebrity has his or her own independent RV, and in many cases it is the celebrity’s own.

But in 06, it was still unique~
Zhang Weiping was very unhappy. Why do you, Chow Yun-fat? Even Jackie Chan didn’t ask for an independent RV, so why do you, Chow Yun-fat?
At this point I have to complain about Zhang Weiping. If you don't like him, why didn't you just not sign it in the first place?

After signing, he complained that the other person was acting like a big shot. Isn't that a bit rude?
Zhang Weiping is indeed a hooligan. That's just his character. He firmly believes that hype is the only way to go.

But Chow Yun-fat’s behavior was indeed inappropriate, at least Zhang Chen couldn’t stand it.

The starting pay is 800 million US dollars, what the hell?
Chow Yun-fat's agent said that this was based on Hollywood prices.

But Zhang Chen wanted to ask, how dare you?

Don’t you know what level you are?
How deceptive Chow Yun-fat is has been briefly described in the previous article.

Among the Hong Kong stars who have made their way into Hollywood, Chow Yun-fat can be said to have the best resources.

But he is the only one who played the Tianhu card into Husband.

There is not a single representative work.

You still have the nerve to call yourself a Hollywood star.

Wang Jing once said: In Hollywood, Chow Yun-fat is not a big star, Jet Li is.

Jet Li's fame in North America is well-known.

Although his movies did not perform well at the box office, his DVD sales were astonishing, which is why he is called a Hollywood superstar.

Cheng Long is similar.

Wang Jing can be said to be a clear-headed person, and he spoke the truth in one sentence.

Therefore, for "The Warlords", the producer would rather spend a whopping 100 million yuan to invite Jet Li, because as long as he was there, the film would have no problems selling abroad.

People in Hong Kong are very realistic. No matter who you are, if you fail, you fail.

Fatty Hong, a man who used to be a big shot in the Hong Kong film industry, almost had no more films to shoot after several of his films failed in succession. If it weren't for his junior brother Jackie Chan who helped him, he would probably have disappeared from the entertainment industry.

For someone like Chow Yun-fat, the so-called Hollywood halo is only useful in mainland China, and can fool people. In Hong Kong, no one will hire him.

On the opening day, Zhang Chen received two pieces of good news.

"Before Dawn" was successfully completed.

Another one is that the second season of "Wulin Waijia" was sold, still by Mango TV, and it was sold at a good price.

……

Hengdian, Studio No. 2, the filming location of "Crocodile Storm"
Executive Director: "Everyone be quiet, start the filming."

Cameraman: “Rolling.”

Script Note: "Crocodile Storm" has 11 scenes and 7 takes.

Director: “Action!”

Three seconds later, the show officially began.

The little green man wrapped in a complete body is lying on the ground, approaching Jing Tian step by step. In the official scene, the little green man will be replaced by a crocodile made with special effects.

According to the script, this was Jing Tian's first time seeing a crocodile. He was so frightened that he lost all strength and could only drag himself on the ground bit by bit.

Jing Tian said he understood, and then pretended to be panicked and frightened.

But that panic seemed wrong no matter how I looked at it.

"Click~"

James Wan put down the director's baton unhappily and motioned for the young lady to come over.

Before the young lady even came close, she was scolded: "I want acting skills, do you understand?"

At first, he thought it was not a difficult job, but after taking over for a few days, he found that it was not the case at all.

The performance of the heroine in front of him did not meet his requirements at all.

Normal scenes are fine, but once the emotions are triggered, I can’t do it. For example, today’s scene where the crocodile approaches, I took several takes but still couldn’t get it right. The emotions were always a little off.

Jing Tian herself also felt that something was wrong. She knew it was her own problem, but because she was unable to communicate, she could only hide in a corner and cry helplessly.

Just when I was crying so hard, a voice suddenly came from behind me: "What's wrong? Why are you crying for no reason?"

It's Zhang Chen~
I couldn’t come over before because I was defending my graduation thesis. Now that I’m done, of course I have to come over and take a look.

"What's going on? Aren't you guys getting along pretty well?"

"Blame me. I couldn't act well in a scene and made the director angry?"

"That one?"

“The one where we were forced back by the crocodile.”

"Oh, then show me~"

At this time, James Wan also saw Zhang Chen and came over to hug him enthusiastically.

"Zhang, it's great that you're here~"

"Why, is there something you're not used to?"

James Wan shook his head helplessly: "Everything else is easy to deal with, but communication is a big problem. Sometimes the heroine's performance doesn't meet my requirements, but I still can't clearly convey my ideas to her..."

After talking to James Wan, the performance started again.

This time the performance was not turned on to avoid waste.

"Ah~"

Jing Tian seemed to see something terrible crawling on the ground.

Zhang Chen finally figured out where the problem was.
The problem was emotional. To put it bluntly, Jing Tian had no idea what was wrong with him.

"I have tried my best to perform, but I always feel something is wrong and I don't know what to do~"

Zhang Chen was also a little troubled, as it was impossible to improve acting skills all at once.

Jing Tian has never been able to make a name for herself in later life, which at least shows that she is not the talented type.

Since you can't rely on acting skills, then just express your true feelings.

"Props, props~"

Hearing Zhang Chen calling him, the props team leader immediately ran over: "Director Zhang, what do you want?"

"Go find a mouse or a snake~"

The props team leader's brain suddenly froze: "Wha...what?"

"Go get me a rat or a snake..."

The props team leader went out anxiously to look for these two things.

After a while, the props team leader came out carrying a snake.

Although this is in the south, snakes are not always found here.

But it didn't bother him because he knew that they were sold in nearby restaurants.

“It is a good idea~”

James Wan now understood what Zhang Chen was going to do.

Executive Director: "Everyone be quiet, start the filming."

Cameraman: “Rolling.”

Script Note: "Crocodile Storm" has 11 scenes and 8 takes.

Director: “Action!”

Three seconds later, what appeared in front of Jing Tian was not the little green man, but a snake swimming on the ground.

The snake is a rat snake, and it's quite big.

After all, it is used for cooking in the restaurant, so it cannot be too small.

"Ah~"

There was a high-pitched female scream, and then Jing Tian was seen staggering backwards, with a rat snake approaching in front of her.

Jing Tian's movements were very quick and the expression on his face was very genuine.

Nonsense, which woman isn't afraid of snakes?

"Click~"

James Wan was so satisfied with this scene that he watched the replay and found no problems at all.

"It's over, let's get ready for the next one~"

The moment the director shouted "cut", the rat snake was put away by the props, and Jing Tian, ​​who was still frightened, finally relaxed a little.

In just a moment, she was already sweating coldly, but when she heard what the director said, her face was filled with surprise again.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Zhang Chen more: "Thank you, Director Zhang~"

"You're welcome. These are all my responsibilities..."

Since Zhang Chen appears on the set, he must treat us to dinner in the evening.

There was no big fanfare, just a simple meal.

At the table, Jing Tian came over with a glass of wine to toast, and said again: "Thank you Director Zhang today. I wonder if Director Zhang can help me with my acting skills after staying here for a few days. I... really don't want to hold the crew back anymore..."

The little girl was very thin-skinned and her face turned red when she said this.

"Okay, come find me anytime if you need me~"

Zhang Chen said it casually as a polite remark, but that night, someone knocked on Zhang Chen's door. It was Jing Tian.

"Director Zhang, can you help me with the direction for tomorrow's scene? I'm afraid I won't perform well."

New actors are generally very sensitive, fearing that they will not perform well and delay the progress of filming.

"Now?"

Zhang Chen thought Jing Tian didn’t understand. This little girl has always been well protected. Look at her big eyes that are innocent.

"Okay, then come in~"

After hesitating for a moment, he finally let her in.

……

The next morning, Zhang Chen woke up and looked at the ceiling in deep thought...

I was supposed to be giving acting instruction last night, so how did it end up being about bed?
I thought about it for a long time but couldn't remember how all this happened.

Turning my head, I looked at that face, so delicate that it could be blown away~
He was not afraid of having a relationship with the actress, but he was indeed a little afraid of having a relationship with Jing Tian.

The person's energy is too great.

And Jing Tian was indeed a bit naive, and he had never thought about anything happening between them.

Wait, is that innocent?

Who made the first move last night?
Zhang Chen was still trying to recall when the girl's eyelashes beside him trembled. Jing Tian was about to wake up.

Zhang Chen didn’t know how to deal with it, so he simply closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, waiting to see how the other party was going to deal with it.

He deliberately adjusted his breathing to make himself look like he was still sleeping.

Usually the director's acting is OK.

There was a rustling sound beside him, as if someone was putting on clothes. After a while, there was a sound of the door closing. Zhang Chen dared to open his eyes. The bed was empty. The person had left.
It seemed that the other party had no intention of taking things further and was just communicating, which made him feel a lot more at ease.

(End of this chapter)