Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 260 Gua Sha on the Chimney

That same afternoon, at Prince Gong's Mansion.

Zhang Yan held up his older brother and said in a loud voice, "Honey, I might be a little late for the wrap party tonight—it's okay, it's just that Jiang Wen is up to her old tricks again, saying the color is wrong and insisting on painting the chimneys of Prince Gong's Mansion from gray to dark red."

Of course, the management unit wouldn't agree to that so easily!
After smoothing things over and cleaning up, who knows how much money will be wasted? And the ginger pattern will have to wait for the paint to dry and be aged—Prince Gong's Mansion is not a place that can be used casually; how much does it cost to rent it for a day?

If everything goes according to his wishes, this one scene alone would cost well over 30.

How did I solve it? I told him I knew some high-tech people who could use post-production to make the chimneys in the film red... and that's how I ended up calling you.

There was nothing I could do; that stubborn mule just wouldn't listen to me. I told him to scrape off some of the ash from the blue bricks so that the color difference would be more apparent, but he insisted that it had to be aged in a dark red color to give it a proper look.

I can't just replace it because of painting, so I can only try to fool him with some high-tech stuff, since he wouldn't understand this new gadget anyway..."

As they were talking, Zhang Yan suddenly noticed Jiang Wen peeking out the window and quickly raised his voice, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, this is an era where technology changes lives... Hahaha, our director really doesn't know much, he thinks that what's filmed can't be modified."

The directing major's entrance scores are quite high, but he's only studying acting; his academic scores aren't even as high as a junior college student's. What kind of scientific literacy could he possibly have? —Alright, alright, you go ahead with your work, we'll get back to you later.

After hanging up the call with Chen Hong, Zhang Yan walked out of the house and saw that Jiang Wen had already dodged seven or eight meters away. He waved to her and said, "Things are settled. You can film however you want now."

Is the person you found reliable?

Jiang Wen said suspiciously, "Besides, I've heard that computer special effects are really expensive. I don't want to spend even more money later."

"It costs money to create something out of thin air. You're just changing the color, why make such a fuss!"

As Zhang Yan spoke, he pulled out Wang Zhidong's business card from his bag, pointed out the last three digits of the phone number, and showed it to Jiang Wen: "This guy is the first person in the country to write a Chinese operating system. He just got a HK$500 million investment from Sitong Company based on his technology."

Do you know what an operating system is? It's the brain of a computer; it steers the computer in everything it does! They can even create a Chinese operating system, so what's so difficult about giving a chimney a color?

Jiang Wen was clearly taken aback by the series of titles on the business card, and asked with some skepticism, "How do you know him?"

Zhang Yan half-jokingly said, "I am very interested in the Internet—that is, the international Internet—and have even written some books on the subject, so the Chinese Academy of Sciences specially invited me to a symposium a while ago."

You should remember this, right? I went to this symposium the day after I saw the unfinished film you shot—you've heard of Liu Qiangdong from Lenovo, haven't you? I was sitting next to him at the time…”

Listening to Zhang Yan's detailed and detailed account, Jiang Wen recalled what happened that day and began to believe him to some extent.

But just in case, he still suggested, "Could you invite this expert, Mr. Wang, to come and conduct an on-site inspection..."

Zhang Yan interrupted impatiently, "Didn't I tell you? They just got a 500 million investment. Do you think they're some Tom, Dick, or Harry that you can boss around? You keep filming, and when the time is right, I'll bring them over and show them what a professionally made film is all about!"

Jiang Wen was eventually stunned by the 'new words' Zhang Yan used and obediently went to give the chimney a scraping treatment.

Zhang Yan watched his departing figure with some worry. This guy was too damn serious. He couldn't get Wang Zhidong to come today, but he might ask to pay a visit tomorrow.

It seems I have to talk to Wang Zhidong. If current technology can complete the dyeing process at a relatively low price, that would be ideal. If not, then I'll have to ask Wang Zhidong to put on a show.

I don't know if that guy is willing to help.

At this moment, Dong Ping, looking constipated, came over and asked, "Mr. Zhang, can computers really help change colors?"

"Anyway, it'll definitely work on the Americans' side."

Zhang Yan spoke with both certainty and ambiguity.

Upon hearing this, Dong Ping slapped his thigh and said dejectedly, "If only I had known about this earlier, I would have saved a fortune! Back then, he was just trying to paint the plane..."

Once Dong Ping started complaining, she lost all restraint.

The staff had already given the chimney a thorough scraping treatment, but he was still grumbling incessantly—making a movie could turn a burly Inner Mongolian man into a bitter, resentful woman; Jiang Wen really deserves all this trouble!
…………

Evening. "Mr. Zhang."

Jiang Wen clung to Zhang Yan's car window, relentlessly asking, "When exactly can you get the experts here? I have so many ideas, and I want to see if we can make it using a computer."

"What are you in a hurry for?"

Zhang Yan counted on his fingers one by one: "Once I've made the arrangements, I'll definitely get the people here for you—what you need to do now is to finish filming the last night scene as soon as possible, and then take the crew back to rest!"

In fact, Zhang Yan felt that no special effects were needed at all. The effect of scraping the chimney was good enough, and it completely achieved the sense of layering that Jiang Wen wanted.

As for the color…

The colors captured by the camera under the conditions at the time were generally mottled gray. Even if red paint was applied to make it look old, it wouldn't change much—Zhang Yan personally carried the camera and pointed it at the red brick wall to verify this.

But Jiang Wen, being the stubborn mule, simply wouldn't admit it.

Sweetly, after filming this movie, I will never work with him again, no matter what. How much money I make is secondary; the main thing is that getting angry is bad for my health—constantly fighting wits with a stubborn mule like this is not a job for a human being!
As Zhang Yan started the car to leave, Jiang Wen chased after him and banged on the window again.

Zhang Yan rolled down the car window and heard him shout, "You need to hurry up and put together the music, especially the opening section. It has to be the top symphony orchestra in the country, with a total of 81 people including the conductor. It has to capture the grand narrative feel of the 1970s..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Yan gave the middle finger to the window, then stepped on the gas and sped away.

The TV station has plenty of old revolutionary songs like the ones Jiang Wen wanted, including choruses of 80 people and even 160 people.

The problem is that this guy insisted on re-recording, saying that the sound effects of the previous recording were not very good and were outdated.

Sweetie, isn't that exactly what you wanted – a sense of modernity?!

If it were Wen Xie or Liu Xiaoqing, they might have let him have his way, but Zhang Yan wouldn't indulge him on this issue.

At most, they would ask Zhang Weining and Zhang Yadong to adjust the sound and try to make the old song achieve the effect Jiang Wen wanted.

After driving onto the main road, Zhang Yan called Chen Hong to tell her that he was on his way to the restaurant.

During the call, Zhang Guoli discussed the English dialogue with him: "Mr. Zhang, I was worried that using English lines at the end would be a bit abrupt, but the effect was unexpectedly good—how did you come up with that idea?"

How else could I have come up with this idea? Of course, I saw it in a dream.

Although Zhang Yan didn't know the exact source of the quote, he had written about the playful scenes of teaching foreign languages ​​earlier, and there had to be a connection later on, so he simply used this scene.

Just hung up the phone.

The mobile phone suddenly rang again. Zhang Yan casually pressed the answer button and heard Wang Jinghua say on the other end, "Mr. Zhang, there's been a bit of an accident with the tour team."

"Is it Lao Liu's team or Lao Xu's team?"

"Liu Weidong's team is actually Teng Ge'er. Didn't he sign a no-alcohol agreement? He couldn't hold back for so many days, so he secretly poured some liquor into his water bottle."

Then, worried about being discovered, he would drink before getting into the car to move, and then take a sleeping pill. He would sleep the whole way, and by the time he reached the next city, he would be sober.

This guy really went to great lengths for a sip of wine.

Zhang Yan said speechlessly, "And then what happened? He was caught secretly drinking?"

"No, it was the drinking and sleeping pills that caused his health problems, and then he was sent to the hospital—fortunately, it wasn't a big problem, and he'll be fine after a day or two of rest."

Zhang Yan: "..."

(End of this chapter)