Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 138: Brother Kai, the Poet, and the Old-Fashioned Promotional Plan

September 2005 was a month that was halfway between midsummer and early autumn, half hot and half peaceful.

On the 19th, Beijing, Kuangou.

The first round of selection for the Olympic director has begun.

The outside world is particularly looking forward to this election.

Many well-known directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Li An participated in it.

Li An even won this year's Venice Golden Lion Award a few days ago with "Brokeback Mountain". With the praise from the media in both mainland China and Taiwan, he was the talk of the town.

Even in the newsstands and newspapers in Beijing today, even a piece of news about the first round of elections was placed on the headlines of the day, directly sweeping away other entertainment reports.

The directors who came to run for the election walked forward silently and hurried to the hall to draw lots, except Brother Chen Kai, who was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a white shirt and a suit. He walked all the way with a hesitant look on his face, looking very domineering, as if the position of chief director was already a sure thing.

At this time, it was night in San Bernardino, the sky was as dark as ink, but the set was brightly lit, and the set that imitated the streets of New Orleans exuded a retro charm under the lights.

The crew of "Now You See Me" has not yet finished work. The air is mixed with the smell of sawdust and engine oil. The staff are busy shuttling back and forth, the cranes are humming, and the lighting team is adjusting the warm and cool tones of the spotlights.

Wu Chen stood next to the main stage. In front of him was Frank, the stage design director hired by Lionsgate. He was a German designer in his early thirties who had worked in the lighting team of Broadway and the Oscars for many years, and magic consultant Alan Black.

A pile of sketches and equipment lists were spread out on the table.

Several people were discussing the highlight at the end of the month - the "French Bank Vault Crossing" scene.

Wu Chen stood in front of the stage model, his fingertips gently running across the miniature vault set. The metal walls glowed coldly under the light.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze like a ruler, measuring the degree of restoration of every detail inch by inch.

The soul of this commercial blockbuster lies in its stage effects.

Frank looked a little tired at this point. "We've recreated the vault's interior details as planned, but there was a delay during the projection test, and the screen transitions weren't smooth enough."

Wu Chen walked to the camera position, observed for a while, then squatted down and pointed at a hidden mechanism on the platform: "How many seconds does the lifting structure take to rise and fall?"

"1.2 seconds!" Frank replied casually.

"Not enough, I need 0.8 seconds, so that the problem of the screen transition not being smooth enough that you mentioned can be solved with a high probability." Wu Chen smiled.

"That's impossible." Frank almost wanted to say I can't do it, but thinking of Wu Chen's recent control over the set and his unquestionable attitude, he could only say it tactfully.

"OK, Frank, you are the most technically proficient designer. You can do it. I believe in you." Wu Chen patted his shoulder, and seemed to have made up his mind.

Jason Blum on the side was trying to suppress his laughter, because he knew that Wu Chen had made the decision.

Having worked with him twice, he knew Wu Chen very well, and immediately imitated Wu Chen's tone to cheer the designer up.

Alan Black, the magic consultant next to him, couldn't help laughing, and also learned it and comforted him.

"You think this is just a magic trick? You can do it with practice." Frank glared at him and complained, but since the director and producer said so, what can he do? He can only continue to think of ways.

After resolving the issue, Wu Chen immediately talked with Jason Blum about "Get Out".

Jason Blum is particularly concerned about this story these days.

"As for the male lead, I think these two are quite suitable. Chadwick Boseman, 28, currently only plays small roles in TV series such as "Law & Order".

But his acting style is steady and profound, which can well interpret Chris's vigilance and resilience and bring a sense of reality to the role.

Another one is Michael B. Jordan, he’s in The Wire, you can watch it, his acting is pretty good too.”

Wu Chen took the list handed over by Jason Blum and saw the future "Black Panther" at a glance. It must be said that the salary of "Black Panther" at that time was too low. It was clearly written on the right that the recommended salary was 8 to 10 US dollars.

Wu Chen felt assured about Jason Blum's recommendation, believing it to be reliable. Of course, this was also thanks to the Hollywood Actors Guild.

There were also two recommendations for the lead actress, Rose Armitage: Blake Lively, who had just risen to prominence with "The Summer of Jeans," and Emily Blunt, who had gained attention with "My Summer of Love." "Okay, let's find a suitable time and confirm it," Wu Chen nodded, then checked off a few names on the list.

"No problem. Can you finish filming in November?" Jason Blum glanced back at the huge crew, who were still preparing the stage for tomorrow's filming.

"If nothing unexpected happens, yes. It shouldn't be delayed until mid-November at the latest."

"it is good!"

On the 21st, the two-day first round of the Olympic director selection ended.

Because the highlight was the presentation of the planning proposal, the relevant information was not made public due to confidentiality, but the opening remarks and general discussion were not avoided.

However, many people found that the only thing missing was some news about Brother Chen Kai.

At this time, in the conference room of China Film, Ning Hao was communicating with the publicity and distribution team of China Film about the promotion of "Crazy Stone" in the next two months.

Gao Chengsheng and Chen Kaige passed by together, seemingly chatting about something - apparently, a meeting about Chen Kaige's movie "The Promise" was being held in another large conference room.

Ning Hao took a quick look and felt that Brother Chen Kai looked unhappy. He casually asked Zhang Qiang beside him, "I heard that Director Chen's film 'The Promise' is planning to have a preview in Chengdu first?"

"Well, it's mainly to comply with the Oscar submission requirements. Director Chen probably came here this time for this matter."

Zhang Qiang spoke softly to Ning Hao, then glanced at the people around him, "By the way, Director Ning, do you know what happened a few days ago?"

"What's the matter?" Ning Hao asked curiously.

The two talked in low voices, and Ning Hao's eyes lit up, and his mouth looked like an egg was stuffed in it.

As expected, Wu Chen received Ning Hao's gossip the next day. Although he already knew it, he couldn't help laughing when he heard Ning Hao recite the poem "Hearing the Government Troops Retaking Henan and Hebei" with great emotion.

"Honestly, I don't know what Director Chen Kai was thinking. I heard he had a good plan ready, but he just recited a poem first without explaining his plan at all. I heard that some senior professors at the time were stunned. After listening to him silently, they even asked Director Chen: 'Anything else?'"

Wu Chen was delighted for a moment, then suddenly thought of Ning Hao's upcoming December film. "Has China Film's publicity and promotion plan come out?"

"It's out, it sounds pretty good, let me tell you about it." Ning Hao then repeated China Film's traditional publicity and promotion plan.

The same old three-part strategy: identifying the consumer group, followed by a combination of posters + promotional videos + slogans + press conference + premiere.
Upon hearing this, Wu Chen couldn't help but complain: "It doesn't feel very good."

"Ah, not so good?" Ning Hao was stunned for a moment. In his opinion, this was already very rich, and almost all the necessary China Film Group companies had prepared it.

"China Film's approach is too slow. The number of cinemas in China is limited, and piracy is rampant. We are not Hollywood, and the strategy of accumulating strength over time won't work here for the time being. The first ten days are the lifeline of a movie.

If we wait until the market slowly reacts, piracy will have already eaten up the remaining money.

If a low-cost movie wants to explode, it must first have a gimmick, and it must do so in an efficient way to quickly ignite word of mouth, extend the box office life cycle, and seize market share.

The Lunar New Year holiday season is also a peak season for box office, with audiences favoring comedies, action, and blockbusters, so we must capitalize on this advantage.”

Ning Hao felt that what Wu Chen said made sense. Wasn't "The Dark Side" originally a film that used one gimmick after another to boost the box office?

But for a moment, I didn't know how to promote this according to Wu Chen's wishes.

"Well, I'll recommend someone to you. I'll say hello to him first, and then you can talk to Mr. Han later and ask him to send someone from the publicity department to go with you to see if there's any success.

Oh, and bring Xiang Zhuo and Chen Guowei over so we can study together."

Wu Chen suddenly thought of Li Feng, who was working with him.

Li Feng is definitely good at publicity and promotion, and he just happens to occupy the place that urban youth aged 15-30 are most fond of nowadays - Internet cafes.

This is also the main force of the current box office.

"to make!"

(End of this chapter)