The Birth of the Best Director

Chapter 74 Details determine success or failure! Props give the characters a sense of story

……

The film industry in Hollywood is indeed very developed.

It gave Lu Zhiyuan a sense of convenience in online shopping.

When he proposed that he needed to find a suitable location in the ruins of a factory in Brooklyn, New York, and transform it into a high-tech laboratory.

James asked him to wait a moment, then turned on his computer and sent him several pictures.

"How about this? This is an art district in Williamsburg. Someone converted an abandoned factory building into a technology laboratory."

"Of course, all the props inside are fake, but they are definitely realistic enough."

Lu Zhiyuan took a look and thought it was pretty good.

It was about 80% similar to what he had imagined.

James just looked around and found such a good place?

Thinking of this, Lu Zhiyuan suddenly became interested and urged, "James, are there any similar ones? I need to choose the best one. Find the feeling I need."

James laughed. "Of course, no problem, man. This is Hollywood! If you can't find it, I can get it custom-made overnight. It will take at most a month to get everything done for you."

James boasted loudly.

But I have to say that the few pictures he sent later were quite interesting, full of the atmosphere of Moebius's paintings.

It’s full of precise lines, but with a sense of organic flow.

It gives people a feeling of perfect fusion of biology and machinery.

This is the cyber feeling that Lu Zhiyuan wants.

The tone of the entire movie "Upgrade", in his conception, is the fusion of humans and AI technology, which ultimately breaks through the limits of physical life and gives birth to the concept of mechanical immortality.

In this era, this kind of high-concept cyber film is very rare.

If handled well, this movie will be epoch-making!

"James, the first lab is pretty good. But there's a problem."

After Lu Zhiyuan selected a round, perhaps because of preconceived notions, the subsequent photos were not as amazing as the first one James sent him.

"Dude, tell me your requirements and I'll find someone to change it overnight."

After working with Lu Zhiyuan for a while, James began to understand Lu Zhiyuan's character.

This guy Lu Zhiyuan is more difficult to deal with than Li An.

Perhaps because Lu Zhiyuan was once an art student, he has very strict requirements for the aesthetic style in the film.

Moreover, he himself is an expert and it is difficult to fool him in this regard.

When this kind of person finds fault, he often hits the nail on the head, leaving people speechless.

But James is also very sure that the movies made by such people will be impeccable to the audience.

It's definitely a visual feast!
Of course, Lu Zhiyuan is also a breathing money counting machine!

James likes the feeling of counting money.

"James, the instruments in this laboratory are too perfect and too exquisite. This is not the feeling I want."

"I need to add some more, symbols from a broken clock, some circuit boards, scattered nuts, and some unfinished [prosthetic] parts."

Lu Zhiyuan thought about it and put forward his own request.

After listening to this, James pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with a smile, "Man, you're a genius. You've given the entire lab a sense of story through this messy layout."

The exquisite laboratory may make the audience feel the shock of technology in terms of visual effects.

But it's too perfect.

It looks a bit fake, just like a kitchen that has been carefully cleaned.

"Scattered nuts, half-soldered circuit boards, prosthetic parts. This shows that our heroine is a crazy genius with great hands-on skills. This makes the story more convincing."

"A broken clock, but it's been repaired and still works... This shows she's short on money, very frugal, and extremely skilled with her hands. People like this are generally very meticulous, calculating everything and won't be easily taken advantage of."

"In this way, the reversal at the end of the story will be more convincing."

Before Lu Zhiyuan could say anything, James took the initiative to help Lu Zhiyuan fill in all the details and expressed the ideas in his mind.

"Man, am I right?"

After the interpretation, James whistled proudly at Lu Zhiyuan on the phone.

He even made a joke: "I have to say, you are too partial to your heroine. If Keanu knew, he would probably regret it. Originally, all of this belonged to him."

The story of this movie is becoming more and more real.

The details are so perfect.

Although James himself cannot make movies, he knows many artists, and most of them have very imaginative ideas.

There are very few people like Lu Zhiyuan who pay attention to details.

Details determine success or failure.

This is a unique quality of a painter!

It seems that if Focus Features looks for a few directors with a painting background to work with in the future, the success rate might be higher!
"James, you understand very well."

Lu Zhiyuan smiled and nodded. "In Moebius's paintings, he often uses fragmented symbols, such as spiral structures, and makes extensive use of eyes to construct multi-layered interpretation spaces and express the flow of consciousness."

"Our film doesn't need to be so complicated. It's enough to just use some scattered mechanical parts to construct the character's experience and current situation."

WTF?

Multi-layered interpretation of space, expressing the flow of consciousness?
What the hell are you talking about?

James was stunned for a moment, then said with a wry smile: "Hey, man, don't tell me that. I'm a businessman full of the smell of copper coins. I'm not an artist, and I don't want to be an artist."

"Anyway, if you want something, give me a call, no matter what time it is, and I'll find someone to help you get it done."

In fact, when James saw Lu Zhiyuan's approach, he had already made preparations in his mind. If the budget was not enough, Focus Features could increase the budget.

Apple gave 1000 million US dollars.

On the Focus Features side, he can make the decision and put out $500 million.

If it's any higher, it's not that he's reluctant, but he'll need to go to Universal Pictures headquarters for a meeting to discuss it... then things will become more troublesome.

"Don't worry, I won't be polite with you!"

A versatile assistant like James is even better than Brother Kun. It would be strange if Lu Zhiyuan let him go. "Man, we can make a lot of money working together. Believe me, this is just the beginning."

“Stay in touch and get some rest!”

"By the way, if you need anything, you can call me. As long as she's not a top female star, I can help you."

Focus Features has already seen the hope of making money from this project.

And, it makes a lot of money.

As a qualified businessman, James wanted to bind Lu Zhiyuan in advance.

Sending a woman is just a basic operation.

The reason why Focus Features broke up with Li An was because Li An’s previous art film was a flop.

The film cost 3000 million US dollars, but the box office revenue was only 900 million, it didn't win any awards, and the copyright didn't sell much.

Big loss!

James feels that as both are art film directors, Lu Zhiyuan knows how to make commercial films better than Li An.

Because he spends every penny wisely.

Every shot and every scene is made to be authentic and perfect. I try to find the feeling I need, then record it with a concept map before I start shooting.

How much money can he save for the entire project by doing this?

According to conservative estimates, at least several million US dollars were saved!
In addition, for this movie, Lu Zhiyuan drew dozens of concept drawings for the male and female protagonists and constructed all the necessary scenes.

Generally, a director is considered quite serious if he can draw all the storyboards before filming begins.

And Lu Zhiyuan directly drew a comic book!
James even thought that when the movie was released, he would ask Lu Zhiyuan to turn those concept drawings into comics and sell them together to make another profit.

As a qualified capitalist, James really likes Lu Zhiyuan's work attitude!
……

After talking to James.

The next morning, Lu Zhiyuan packed his bags and flew to New York with Reba.

He visited the converted abandoned factory in Williamsburg that James had introduced to him.

"good."

“It’s exactly like in the photo.”

"The details are also very realistic, all made of metal, not plastic sprayed with metallic paint to fool people... However, the laboratory is too new, can it be made to look old?"

Considering the character of AI Reba, although she is a crazy scientist, she is also a frugal housewife, so she probably wouldn't buy such a new laboratory.

Most of them are second-hand goods purchased from the second-hand market and then manually modified.

Therefore, aging is inevitable.

"Of course, you're the boss, you have the final say... But you have to pay more!"

The owner of this art district is a businessman himself. He converted the abandoned factory into a technology laboratory in order to attract people to visit.

Some people from Hollywood wanted to come here to make a movie and rent his abandoned factory, which was equivalent to taking advantage of him.

Can he miss this opportunity to make money?

"Talk to James about the specific price."

Lu Zhiyuan doesn't like bargaining. The main reason is that he doesn't understand the market situation in New York. If he speaks carelessly, he will reveal his cards.

Let James, the old fox, go.

He believed that James would give him a satisfactory answer.

"Brother Yuan, we've wasted too much time here... We have five places to visit today. I wonder when we'll be done?"

At this time, Reba next to her muttered something cleverly.

Lu Zhiyuan nodded helplessly. "No way, this is my job. I also want to go home early. On the way here just now, those homeless people and drug addicts really scared me."

"I didn't expect New York to be like this... Isn't it said to be the most prosperous city in the world?"

“How disappointing!”

"In my opinion, it's not as good as our hometown!"

The two of them sang in unison, making the owner of the art district a little confused about where they came from.

But he soon realized that he had competitors, and quite a few of them.

"Hey, man. You must be exhausted after coming all the way to New York. Visiting five places in one day would make you so tired that you wouldn't even have an appetite for dinner."

"The price I just mentioned!"

"Whatever you do here, I have no objection. Just don't break my things!"

When the owner of the art district heard that Lu Zhiyuan had four backups to visit, he immediately became anxious.

In this era, how many people would make cyberpunk movies?
It’s not easy to find a sucker.

"I still say the same thing, talk to James."

Lu Zhiyuan acted so tough and indifferent that the boss became even more unsure.

He originally wanted to take advantage of Lu Zhiyuan, but now it seems that the other party is not a sucker at all, but too smart.

"Hey, man, don't leave so quickly, let's chat for a few more minutes."

No matter how the boss greeted them, Lu Zhiyuan and Reba turned around and left, as if they were really going to see the next store.

After getting in the taxi, Lu Zhiyuan smiled at Reba.

"Reba, I knew you were a smart guy. You cooperated well just now."

"Wait, I'll take you to a Michelin restaurant in Queens for a big meal. Get some rest tonight, and tomorrow morning we'll fly to Bulgaria!"

"Let's go enjoy some Balkan style!"

When Reba heard this, she immediately shouted happily!

So cool!
After a few days of eating and drinking in Los Angeles, I can eat and drink in New York again, and then go to Bulgaria!

In the past half month, she lived the life she had always dreamed of!

He traveled around the world with the people he loved, and he also painted many portraits of himself, each of which was super beautiful...

It feels like a honeymoon!

(End of this chapter)