Entertainment: Who still wants to fall in love when there are cheats?

Chapter 186 Booting up

Li Boda is going to direct a movie, but Sister Wang is actually the busiest one.

In addition to helping Li Boda contact some actors, she was also responsible for finding filming locations.

The film was shot inside a supermarket.

So Sister Wang went out to find a suitable supermarket. What's the standard for "suitable"? Naturally, it's free to use. If the supermarket could even pay her to use it, that would be even better.

Why would a supermarket offer something for free or even pay out of its own pocket?

Naturally, it's because using their supermarkets can help boost the supermarket's reputation, thereby improving the supermarket's business, similar to the effect of advertising.

Of course, this is what Sister Wang said to the supermarket owner when she was looking for a supermarket.

Then, as a supermarket, the goods in the supermarket are simply too many, ice cream, drinks, snacks, even chewing gum, etc. When filming a movie, these will inevitably be included in the film. So Sister Wang wanted to find the brand owners of the corresponding goods and ask them to pay for advertising.

Just like Feng Gangpao's movies, one movie can attract tens of millions of yuan in advertising revenue.

Although Li Boda is a new director and his films may not be watched by many people, they are still movies nonetheless.

While Li Boda's films certainly couldn't command the same advertising revenue as Feng Gangpao's films, every little bit counted, and every bit of profit was a bonus.

Moreover, using the plot of a movie to place appropriate advertisements and earn advertising fees is a legal and legitimate way to make money.

Even if you don't earn much, the program is still the same program, so it's good to get familiar with it first.

So Sister Wang is really busy right now.

While Li Boda was interviewing other actors, Sister Wang was so busy she couldn't stop. This morning she met with this manufacturer, and this afternoon she went to another place to contact the person in charge of a food company.

By the time Li Boda had finalized his casting and the film was ready to begin shooting, Wang Jie's work was almost done as well.

A small supermarket offered free use of the facilities, and the supermarket even renovated the rest area, turning it into a karaoke room. It has to be said, these days, filming a movie still feels very high-class. With just a little persuasion, Sister Wang won them over; not only did they not charge her, but they also voluntarily renovated the rest area according to her requests.

In addition, there were advertisements. Sister Wang also secured more than ten. Although some advertisements had very low fees, only a few thousand yuan, Sister Wang managed to get four or five hundred thousand yuan from these advertisements, which allowed her to recoup the money she spent on buying the script ahead of time.

At the film's opening ceremony, Sister Wang also invited many media reporters.

These media reporters were quite interested in attending the press conference for the launch of "Night Shop".

After all, Li Boda's previous film, "One Cut of the Dead," had just finished its run and grossed over 100 million yuan at the box office. As the male lead in that film, Li Boda was at the height of his popularity.

Many people are paying attention to news about Li Boda.

Now, Li Boda has suddenly jumped out and said that he wants to direct a movie. This news will definitely attract a lot of attention.

"Director Li, you used to be an actor, and now you've suddenly switched to directing. Do you think you can succeed?"

“If I don’t think I can succeed, why would I become a director?” Li Boda said with a smile.

"Director Li, it's said that you haven't had any professional training in how to be a director, so why are you so sure you can succeed?"

"I didn't have any professional training before becoming an actor, but I still became an excellent actor, so your question simply doesn't exist."

"Director Li, what was your initial motivation for becoming a director? What made you transition from an actor to a director?"

"My initial motivation for becoming a director was that I had a strong yearning for the profession. Ever since I entered the entertainment industry, I've discovered..."

Li Boda spoke fluently and confidently when faced with reporters' questions.

These reporters were quite considerate. Although after arriving at the press conference, Sister Wang arranged for someone to give each reporter a red envelope and ask them to change how they addressed Li Boda, they started their questions by calling him "Director Li" instead of any other title.

The press conference for the start of filming of "Nightclub" went smoothly. Although some reporters asked some relatively tricky questions, they did not cause Li Boda any trouble.

As for the rest of the crew, since most of the reporters were focused on Li Boda, the new director, they didn't encounter any particularly difficult questions.

Everything went smoothly, and after all the procedures were completed, filming for the "Nightclub" segment officially began.

Li Boda directed the scene, issuing instructions to the photographers, lighting crew, and other personnel. He was a little excited and nervous, but this didn't affect his performance.

Whether it's photography, lighting, or the arrangement of actors, none of these are problems for Li Boda.

Faced with Li Boda's composed arrangements, the cameramen, lighting crew, and even the actors were all somewhat surprised, and some couldn't help but wonder, "Is this really Li Boda's first time directing?"
Is it possible that there are really geniuses in this world who are incredibly talented, who can become exceptionally good at something with just a little learning?
Because Li Boda's performance was nothing like that of a novice director; Li Boda seemed to be very familiar with all aspects of the filming process.

Many of them, including Xu Shanzheng and his group, initially thought that Li Boda, as a director making his first film, would invite a veteran, experienced assistant director to assist—or rather, lead the filming.

Unexpectedly, Li Boda didn't hire any experienced assistant directors at all, or rather, Li Boda didn't give the assistant directors much to do.

He handled everything himself.

Furthermore, Li Boda explained the camera positions, lighting arrangements, and so on in great detail. After his arrangements, both the cameramen and lighting technicians found that Li Boda's arrangements were the optimal ones. Even though they had a lot of experience, they couldn't find a better option than Li Boda's.

The photographers and lighting technicians, who had initially looked down on Li Boda to some extent, all began to behave themselves at this point.

All I can say is that as long as you have real skills and the opportunity to demonstrate them, you can make others obey you completely.

Xu Shanzheng was even more surprised.

After all, Xu Shanzheng initially wanted to switch from acting to directing, so besides acting and making movies, he initially wanted to learn from Li Boda and see how Li Boda made movies.

Unexpectedly, Li Boda's professionalism was so strong that it was no less than that of a professional director, which made him feel heavy-hearted and calm down.

Xu Shanzheng felt that he didn't need to think about becoming a director right now. Perhaps he should go back and study hard, learn all the knowledge about directing, and lay a solid foundation before thinking about becoming a director.

……

Li Boda sat in front of the monitor, watching the cameraman follow his orders, first filming the supermarket's facade, and then the camera slowly moved in, entering the supermarket's interior.

"Cut!" Li Boda nodded in satisfaction, holding the microphone, and then shouted "Cut!" The person clapping the clapperboard clicked the clapperboard.

"Cut! This shot was good. Let's get ready for the next shot. Xu Shanzheng, when we're filming, you'll enter the shot from here. Once you're in the shot, your eyes should show a hint of guilt. Even though you're here to cause trouble and ask for money, you know that the lottery ticket in your hand didn't actually win..." Li Boda was instructing Xu Shanzheng on the scene.

Li Boda explained the play very clearly, making sure that He Sanshui's current mood, state of mind, and other aspects were all explained in detail.

Xu Shanzheng nodded repeatedly, indicating that he understood how the scene should be filmed.

Actually, there are different categories of directors.

Leaving aside what some big directors value when making films, for example, Zhang Yimou and Wang Jiawei value visuals, Chen Kaige value color, and Stephen Chow values ​​dialogue.

For a new director like Li Boda, or rather, a relatively unknown director, at this stage, all they can focus on is the plot. This is because directors at this stage do not yet have the ability or the right to focus on things outside the plot.

Besides the fact that different directors focus on different things, some directors will also give actors acting advice, like Li Boda now. He can talk about many things in great detail and dissect many things, instilling all the details and content into the actors.

Some directors, on the other hand, are simply good at directing, like Wong Kar-wai or Stephen Chow.

When they are directing and filming movies, they don't pull the actors aside and tell them how to shoot a scene.

They simply tell you what play is going to be played next, and then let you act in it.

Then they keep yelling "Cut!", and when you ask them why, they'll say, "Your performance just now didn't feel right, let's reshoot."

Something just doesn't feel right. I can't quite put my finger on it, but just keep reshooting.

Therefore, for Wong Kar-wai or Stephen Chow, a single scene might require dozens or even hundreds of takes.

After so many reshoots, at that point, the director no longer needed to tell the actors how to film, because the actors themselves had already started to adjust themselves.

This is why many people say that actors' acting skills can improve very quickly when filming movies by Wong Kar-wai or Stephen Chow.

In this situation, unless the actor is truly a blockhead, any actor's acting skills will improve very quickly.

(End of this chapter)