Zhou Yan took over the script and flipped through it. It was a script that caught the pulse of the times. It mainly told the story of how a twelve-year-old child dropped out of school and went to work in the city, and how he became a thief at the age of seventeen and was finally caught.
To be honest, Xiao Can's writing ability is average, the story looks good, but the script is not outstanding, including the design of some lines, which seems to be a bit uninteresting.
Of course, the script cannot fully reflect the final outcome of the movie. Xiao Can's practical ability is definitely stronger than his textual ability, and the filmed thing may be better than what the script reflects.
Originally, movie scripts are different from literary scripts. Movie scripts only need to consider whether they can be filmed, unlike literary scripts, which also need to consider literariness.
After reading the script, Zhou Yan nodded, "It's really not bad, but the budget of 800,000 yuan is a bit low."
If we go back a few years, it would have been very good for a film studio to invest 800,000 yuan to make a movie. However, the current situation is completely incomparable to previous years. The price of everything is rising, and the price increase in the film and television industry is even more significant.
So if we want to make a movie now, 800,000 yuan is simply not enough.
And Zhou Yan also noticed that Xiao Can may have been affected by the budget, and he felt constrained in writing the script, feeling a bit unable to let go.
In many places, there are obviously better ways to deal with it, but maybe because it is more expensive, Xiao Can has no choice.
Han Sanping said with a smile, "Of course I want to give Xiao Can more support, but the factory has just breathed a sigh of relief and the funds are not very sufficient. And there are so many directors in the factory, I gave the quota to Xiao Can may have already made many people dissatisfied, and they will be even more dissatisfied if the investment is increased. Moreover, Xiao Can applied for this budget himself.”
Zhou Yan nodded, and what Han Sanping said made sense.
Although Xiao Can has been at Yanjing Factory for many years, there are a lot of people in the factory who are better than him in terms of qualifications. Many senior directors are not making movies now.
When Han Sanping gave Xiao Can his quota, someone must have accused him of nepotism behind his back.
When Chen Zhigu was in charge, he gave Xia Gang a lot of targets, but he was scolded in private as well.
Furthermore, Xiao Can himself only needs 800,000 yuan, and it is impossible for Han Sanping to increase the price for him.
"Let's do this. Don't touch the 800,000 yuan in the factory. Tomson and my studio will provide another 1.2 million, adding up to a total of 2 million."
"If you want to say that, I Of course I have no objection, but this is Xiao Can’s first independent directorship. Isn’t two million a bit too much?”
Zhou Yan shook his head, "It's not much."
Han Sanping said with a smile, "Indeed, it's not much compared to you. Your first movie had a budget of six to seven million, right? ”
“No, the budget of my first movie was actually only tens of thousands of dollars.”
Han Sanping was stunned for a moment and said, "You are talking about "Antfly". Don't forget about the short film. If you want to say that, then you have not even been an assistant director, but you have directly become a director."< br>
Zhou Yan’s path as a director is different from that of most people. Before he made his first feature film, he had only made a short film of a few minutes.
And he became a director in one step. He has never been an assistant director or an assistant director, let alone any scene notes.
Looking around the world, Zhou Yan is unique.
However, Zhou Yan received a lot of baptisms on the crew of "Raise the Red Lantern". For a period of time, Zhou Yan basically played the role of assistant director on the crew, so he later filmed "Want to Fly" It was so quick to get started when playing "Piano Boy".
Of course, the success of "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" was indispensable to photographer Zhao Fei. When filming that movie, Zhou Yan often asked Zhao Fei for advice.
“Although Director Xiao has not directed a feature film independently, he has solid basic skills and is calm. He has also experienced some big projects. He should be able to handle such small projects.”
< br>"In that case, then I asked Xiao Can to come and talk to him about the script."
Zhou Yan nodded, "Okay."
Then Han Sanping went to the director's office. Make a phone call and ask them to call Xiao Can over.
After about three or four minutes, Xiao Can came to the factory director's office.
"Director, you are looking for... Director Zhou is here too."
Han Sanping pointed to the chair and smiled, "Director Xiao, sit down. I told Director Zhou about your movie. He read the script and thought it was very good. "
Xiao Can only mentioned the new movie to Zhou Yan once. The reason why he didn't mention it again was because he was worried that Zhou Yan would misunderstand that he wanted to use the back door.
“I’ve always wanted Director Zhou to help with the check, but Director Zhou is too busy. I’m afraid that Director Zhou won’t have time.”
Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Lao Xiao, you are too foreign. I read the script. The story is very good, and the theme fits the current social situation. Is this script original?"
"Well, it's me. "Written." Xiao Can nodded, "Actually, I was inspired to write this because of "Spring in the Cowherd Class" The idea of the script. When I was filming "Spring of the Cowherd Class", I also read a lot of materials related to children's education, many of which were about child labor."
At that time, I was filming "The Spring of the Cowherd Class". During "Spring", many young actors were child laborers, such as Li Haining and Xia Guobao, who both worked in restaurants before.
In addition to reading a lot of information, Xiao Can also talked with Li Haining and others many times and learned a lot about the situation of child labor.
In the script he wrote this time, some of the prototypes of the stories came from Li Haining and others.
"The factory is ready to approve your project application," Han Sanping said.
Xiao Can's eyes lit up, "Thank you, director."
"Don't thank me in a hurry. Although the factory is ready to approve your project, there may be some problems with the budget."< br>
Budget... Xiao Can's heart sank. The budget he requested in the application he submitted was 800,000.
He thought about this number for a long time before settling on it.
According to his vision, it would be difficult to shoot this movie for 800,000 yuan, but if it was higher, he was worried that the factory would not approve it.
So he combined the situation in the factory and the filming situation of the movie to determine the number of 800,000.
If it is any lower, it does not mean that the movie cannot be made, but that Xiao Can is not confident that he can make a movie that satisfies him.
After pondering for a moment, Xiao Can gritted his teeth and said, "Director, at least 500,000...400,000, otherwise we really won't be able to shoot."
Han Sanping knew that Xiao Can had misunderstood, but he still Decided to tease Xiao Can, "Is it 500,000 or 400,000?"
"Four hundred thousand."
"Then I'll give you four hundred thousand."
"Okay." Xiao Can breathed a sigh of relief, at least the project was confirmed.
It’s just that the cost was reduced to 400,000 yuan, and he had a headache for the subsequent shooting, as his previous plan had to be rewritten.
Zhou Yan smiled beside him and said, "Director Han, please stop teasing Lao Xiao."
Han Sanping also laughed, "Haha, Director Xiao, I was just teasing you. That's right, in addition to the 800,000 yuan in the factory, Director Zhou and Tang Chen also decided to invest 1.2 million together, a total of 200,000 yuan. Ten thousand."
Xiao Can was stunned for a moment. One second he was worried about how to shoot the movie when the cost was reduced to 400,000 yuan. The next second, Han Sanping told him that not only would the cost not be reduced to 800,000 yuan, but he would also be charged another 800,000 yuan. With an increase of 1.2 million, the budget has more than doubled. The sudden ups and downs made him feel a little dazed.
"Really? Director Zhou." Xiao Can looked at Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, so now you have to think about how you should spend the extra 1.2 million. With this extra money, is there anything that can be optimized in the script? I think you In the script, there are fewer characters and the scenes are relatively simple. Is this because of budget constraints? ”
"Yes, the budget is limited, so try not to use too many extras. Few scenes can also greatly reduce investment."
"Now you can make appropriate modifications. There are very few classmates of the protagonist in the script. , which greatly shaped his identity as a student. Disadvantage. In addition, you cannot focus all the perspectives on the protagonist. It is actually a common phenomenon for children to drop out of school. There should be many of his classmates who are in similar situations. If you take the protagonist's experience as a typical example, you will lose. It’s meaningful.” Zhou Yan said.
Xiao Can nodded, "I made a note of it, and I will make adjustments."
Zhou Yan thought for a while, and then said, "Old Xiao, do you want me to find someone? Can I help you?”
“Can you find me an assistant director?”
"No, I'm going to find a producer for you."
Many directors don't like the existence of producers, because producers will limit the director's performance, but Xiao Can knows the role of producers on the crew, so he He nodded and said, "Of course, Director Zhou, who are you planning to find as the producer of this movie?"
"Huo Jianqi." Zhou Yan named a name.
Xiao Can thought for a while, nodded and said, "I think it's okay."
He and Huo Jianqi are old acquaintances. "The Spring of Niuban", the relationship is also very good.
Therefore, he knew Huo Jianqi's abilities.
Huo Jianqi has the ability to coordinate the crew and has a sense of proportion. The second point is very important. If the producer has no sense of control and interferes in everything, the director will be very uncomfortable.
In addition, Huo Jianqi’s qualifications and relationship with Zhou Yan Studio make it very suitable to be the producer of this film.
"In this case, it is better to choose the day than to hit it. I will call Huo Jianqi over now, and we will have a meeting together."
"I have no problem."
...
Huo Jianqi is at the studio right now. After Zhou Yan called him, he arrived quickly.
Han Sanping did not participate in the subsequent discussion, and Zhou Yan and the others found an office alone.
He was also very happy to learn that Zhou Yan wanted him to be a producer for Xiao Can. Although he had never been a producer, he was not worried at all.
Since making his first feature film, he is now more and more confident.
The key is that he has Zhou Yan Studio behind him, so it is very easy to be a producer.
Being a producer for Xiao Can can also increase his crew experience.
The three of them chatted for a while, and Huo Jianqi asked, "Lao Xiao, do you have any ideas as an actor?"
Xiao Can shook his head, "Director Han just told me today that he wants to approve this Project, I didn’t dare to think about actors before.”
“Don’t want to think about it now?”
"These students must be found from outside. As for the main adult roles, let's see if there are suitable ones in the factory first."
"Well, let's see if there are suitable ones in the factory first. If not, You can also go next door and have a look.”
The next door Huo Jianqi refers to is the Yanjing Film Academy.
The Yanjing Film Academy is too close to their factory, and they usually like to go there and hang out when they have nothing to do.
“There have been many good talents in the past few years next door, including Jin Qiaoqiao, Jiang Qinqin, Chen Zihan, and Fu Dalong in 1994, Zuo Xiaoqing, Sun Li, and He Shengming in 1995. There are quite a lot of people in the 1996 class, including Zhao Wei and Chen Kun. , Guo Xiaodong, Yan Danchen..."
Zhou Yan looked at Huo Jianqi in surprise, "How come you are so familiar with these students? Even those who just entered school this year are familiar with them."
Huo Jianqi smiled and said, "I ran over there when I met him." I'll ask if you have any chance, maybe I'll use it when I make a movie later."
"You really have some free time," Zhou Yan sighed.
“I’m still not free enough, otherwise I would definitely know about China Film Academy.”
Actually, China Film Academy is not very far away from them, but it’s just a short walk with Yanjing Film Academy. Still can't compare.
In the early days, Zhou Yan often went to Yanjing Film Academy, but later he went less frequently.
"When we have time, let's go to China Theater and Yan Dian to see it together." Zhou Yan said.
It suddenly occurred to him that there were many outstanding students in the 1996 Chinese Opera class, and he wanted to observe and observe, maybe he could seize the opportunity and sign them into the Zhou family.
"How about we go take a look today?" Xiao Can said suddenly.
Hearing what Xiao Can said, Zhou Yan was a little surprised. Xiao Can was not the kind of person who said it all.
Even Huo Jianqi was surprised.
Being stared at by Zhou Yan and Huo Jianqi, Xiao Can smiled sheepishly, "I just thought about it and felt that there are not many suitable actors in the factory, so I'd better go and see those students early."
The reason why Xiao Can suddenly made this suggestion was because he wanted to take Zhou Yan with him while Zhou Yan had time today.
The main reason is that he believes in Zhou Yan's vision and wants Zhou Yan to help him provide advice.
If he missed today, he would be embarrassed to ask Zhou Yan for help next time. He also knew that Zhou Yan was usually very busy.
Zhou Yan really had nothing to do today. The manuscript was sent to the magazine. Wang Zuxian also returned to Taiwan yesterday. He had been planning to rest in the past few days.
“Okay, let’s go over there after we finish our meal.”
It’s almost lunch time, so Zhou Yan wants to have a meal at Yanjing Factory first, and then Go for a walk over there again.
Huo Jianqi said, "It's best to go during meal time. Most students can see it. Senior Lu has meal tickets for their school cafeteria. I'll get some."
Zhou Yan said unexpectedly, "Why do seniors have meal tickets from Yandian?"
"Hey, I'm with him."
Zhou Yan rolled his eyes, Huo Jianqi was really good at it, he even had meal tickets from Yan Dian. (End of this chapter)