Chapter 385 What to make in the next movie
Ang Lee is very popular now, really very popular.
Since he won the Oscar for Best Director two days ago, he has become the "Light of the Chinese" and a favorite in the eyes of the media. He is interviewed in various ways every day, and his every word and deed is sought after.
But Ang Lee was actually quite depressed. He thought he could also win the best picture.
The performance of "Brokeback Mountain" is really great.
Not only did it win the Venice Golden Lion, it also swept almost all the Academy Awards.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Picture, Golden Globe Award for Best Drama, Best Director, BAFTA Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay...
There are countless other small prizes such as trade union awards.
It would be an understatement to say that it was well-received by the public, but in the end it was defeated by public relations.
Does the Oscars have a PR?
Of course there is.
The selection of the Oscars is very American. It is clearly written in the selection regulations. Public relations is one of the rules of the selection.
In fact, no one expected that "Brokeback Mountain" would lose to "Crash."
"Crash" was little known before it was nominated, and even its producers and distributors didn't think about winning.
It can be seen from its release schedule that it was released in the summer, not during the awards season, which shows that the producer did not expect to win awards at all.
However, after the nominations came out, the producers and distributors realized that there was an opportunity, and they were really willing to spend money.
Various gifts were given, and it is said that the public relations expenses exceeded 2 million.
This is definitely a big deal that has never happened in the history of Oscar public relations, not even the Weinstein brothers have done this.
This is the rule of Hollywood. You may not get an award if you spend money, but you won't get it if you don't spend money.
There is another reason why many people don't like gay culture.
Although gay culture is rampant in the United States, it is not mainstream culture and many people are still disgusted with it.
There were many union members among these dissatisfied people. They unanimously voted for "Crash", which created the miracle of "Crash".
During the interview, Ang Lee specifically mentioned Zhang Chen and thanked him for his accurate predictions, which created his godhood.
Now Zhang Chen's biggest reputation is no longer the 'first director', but the 'prophetic emperor'.
One word becomes a prophecy~
Follow your words~
In the crew, Mr. Zhou always looked at Zhang Chen strangely.
Zhang Chen was stared at a little, "Miss, what on earth do you want to do? You have been looking at me with that strange look for the past day. Let's say it first. You are not the type I like. We won't call~ ”
Zhang Chen's narcissism immediately earned Mr. Zhou a blank look.
But immediately his eyes were full of inquiry: "Hey, can you tell me how you judged that "Brokeback Mountain" will definitely win the award?"
Zhang Chen suddenly realized and curled his lips disapprovingly: "Is it because of this?"
"Actually, there are traces to follow. Don't think of Oscar as too lofty. It is also politically correct.
Moreover, Ang Lee, if you know him well, you will know that this person is a professional award-winner. He has a vicious vision. The homosexual theme has become popular in the past two years, and he has captured that kind of love so beautifully. The probability of winning an award Very big..."
"That kind of love you are talking about~, who are you?"
Master Zhou's big eyes were full of inquiry.
"Of course not." Zhang Chen replied angrily.
Mr. Zhou also immediately reacted. Of course it couldn't be the case. After filming for such a long time, everyone knew the relationship between Zhang Chen and Fan Xiaopang.
"What I mean is that homosexual themes have become popular in the past two years. Although they existed before, they were too niche, but there has been a trend in the past two years. The Oscars may cater to this trend..."
After listening to Zhang Chen's explanation, Mr. Zhou nodded.
"You are so awesome. I thought you would say, 'It's a trivial skill, but it's not worth mentioning'~"
Mr. Zhou’s eyes are full of little stars.
It's a pity that she is not the style that Zhang Chen likes. It is too small. Otherwise, Zhang Chen would hook his fingers and change from Zhang Chen to Dirty Chen in no time.
Speaking of Ang Lee, Ang Lee is indeed an award-winning professional.
"The Wedding Banquet", Berlin Golden Bear.
"Eat Drink Couple", Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
Sense and Sensibility, Berlin Golden Bear.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
"Brokeback Mountain", Oscar for Best Director.
In the future, "Lust, Caution" will also win the Venice Golden Lion, and "Life of Pi" will win another Oscar for Best Director.
This is a very smart person. He was born to make movies and is very good at choosing themes.
Zhang Chen even had the idea to cut off "Pi".
But in the end I gave up because I really wasn’t too interested in awards.
Zhang Chen can't appreciate literary movies at all.
Asked him to comment on it, he wouldn't even be able to say good things about it, let alone film it.
“But now I’m looking forward to it~”
"What to expect?"
"Didn't you say that I can win at least one Best Actress in this year's Golden Statue and Golden Horse Awards?"
"Do you really believe it?"
"Huh?" Mr. Zhou's eyes widened.
Zhang Chen quickly waved his hand: "I'm just kidding~
I really think you can win at least one Best Actress in Golden Image and Golden Horse, and if you’re lucky, it’s not impossible to win both. ”
"Really?"
"True, truer than pearls, the prophecy is straight out of the mouth~"
"Well, if I really win the Best Actress, then I will star in your next movie for free~"
Zhang Chen rolled his eyes: "No matter how much you win or lose in this bet, you are the winner, but you are really good at calculating~"
While joking, Dong Jianqiang called: "By the way, your popularity has been really high in the past two days. Apart from Ang Lee, you have been mentioned the most times. Many media have called and want to criticize you. Exclusive interview, do you want to do it once? It can be considered as an advance promotion for "Painted Skin"~"
"Okay, then you can arrange it and try to find media that has a friendly relationship with us~"
"That's for sure."
Zhang Chen's popularity has indeed been high these past two days.
Ang Lee said in an interview: "Director Zhang Chen and I were not familiar with each other before this. We can only be considered close friends for a long time. It was the first time we met in Venice.
At that time, director Zhang Chen was very sure that I would win the best director. Even I was not sure at that time. The subject matter of "Brokeback Mountain" was not the type that the Venice judges loved, but I won it in the end.
Later, Director Zhang said that I would definitely win the Oscar for Best Director, which made me full of expectations. Sure enough, I finally won it. Thanks to Director Zhang Chen for his blessing, I only regret now that I didn’t ask if I could win it. Best Picture? ”
Li An's words were full of superstition about Zhang Chen, which immediately pushed Zhang Chen to the forefront.
Now he has become almost synonymous with the magic stick.
This is one of the reasons why Zhang Chen agreed to be interviewed:
I'm just talking about it, but if you don't think I'm just following my words, how can I talk in the future?
No, the rumors must be refuted.
But because of this incident, he also took time to pay attention to Oscar.
"Brokeback Mountain" did well, winning three awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score.
"Memoirs of a Geisha", which was so popular before, also won three awards, but none of them had anything to do with Zhang Ziyi. They were Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Photography.
But Zhang Ziyi is not at a loss either. She is now the most popular actress in China, one of the best.
Since being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, all kinds of resources have been tilted towards her, and the endorsements she carries are worth more than the other female stars combined.
In the list of winners, Zhang Chen also saw a familiar name - "King Kong".
"King Kong" was released in China in January, following "Fearless". But in the United States, the release date is December, so it is also within the scope of this Oscar selection.
"King Kong" won three awards, all of which were technical awards, best sound effects editing, best visual effects, and best sound effects.
When I think of King Kong, I think of my own monster series - "Rampage" and "Pacific Rim"...
It is now March, on the other side of the ocean, that is, next month, the first part of the big IP "Transformers" will start filming.
A total of seven films have been made on this IP, which shows that people love robot movies and the market prospects are huge.
But whether it is a monster or a robot, it requires powerful special effects support.
At this stage, the cost of special effects is frighteningly high.
"King Kong" cost US$247 million, "Transformers" cost US$150 million, and "2012" cost US$200 million...
Special effects blockbusters often cost upwards of 100 million, and the unit is still US dollars.
This made Zhang Chen's heart beat.
He thought carefully about the pros and cons.
"Transformers" will be released next year, raking in $700 million and creating a craze for machines.
"Pacific Rim" is a mecha, barely in the same category, and should be able to gain some popularity.
But there are pros and cons.
Later generations of "Pacific Rim" did not sell well in North America, but only sold well in China.
Although a sequel has been made, which proves that it is definitely profitable, it is definitely not a big hit.
A large-scale production like this consumes so much money and takes a long time. If it can't be a big hit, it won't mean much.
He himself has also analyzed why "Transformers" was a big hit and "Pacific Rim" was a blockbuster in the same robot genre.
The reason is probably because the shape of the mechas in "Pacific Rim" is a bit too low.
At that time, several "Transformers" movies had been released, and people were accustomed to "Transformers" with precision machinery, so they were a little bit intolerant of the stupid, dark and bulky mechas.
But thinking about it on the other hand, this is actually the difference between American aesthetics and Soviet aesthetics.
The Soviet aesthetic looks less sophisticated, but more powerful and closer to cyberpunk.
Later cyberpunk was very popular in the West, which shows that Soviet-style aesthetics are not without market in Europe and the United States.
It's just that "Pacific Rim" did not achieve the ultimate in Soviet-style aesthetics.
Speaking of Soviet-style aesthetics, the most familiar one is actually "The Wandering Earth". All the equipment in it has a silly, black and thick shape, full of a sense of power.
Guo Fan, the director of "The Wandering Earth" once said: "The Soviet aesthetic style is the only industrial design we can find, and the Chinese people have more emotional connections with industrial design. You can see that Chang'an Street still retains many bell towers, especially the military museum, which is a typical Yes, it is an aesthetic system, and we have feelings for that thing.”
This is an industrial design that can resonate with the Chinese people, so "Huan Taiping" with a Soviet-style aesthetic became a big hit in China.
Zhang Chen himself has also thought that if he really makes "Pacific Rim" and faces "Transformers", there is a high probability that he will be completely defeated.
But if it's "Pacific Rim" + "Rampage", you may not lose.
A rough, bulky, hard-to-touch iron lump is coupled with a rough, bulky, and extremely violent-looking giant beast. The style of painting will definitely attract the audience's attention.
But there is one biggest problem: special effects blockbusters are too expensive.
Even if he controls the cost to US$100 million, it is still a lot of money. He is a bit unsure about using such a large amount of money to practice shooting special effects blockbusters.
……
In the past two days, the filming of "Painted Skin" has been going more and more smoothly. In the next two days, Huang Xiaoming will take leave to participate in the activities of "The Condor", so these two days are focused on filming his scenes.
In fact, not only Huang Xiaoming, but in April, Zhang Chen and Mr. Zhou will also have to leave to attend the Academy Awards.
That's how it is with filmmaking, there's always something happening to interrupt your train of thought.
If you want to finish filming a movie in one go, unless you are a little-known small crew.
Even if the crew spends a lot of money, the stars have demands of one kind or another, and you have to respond.
For example, like Huang Xiaoming, can you not allow him to ask for leave?
When people were filming "The Condor", they signed a contract, and it was their obligation to cooperate with the publicity. If you insist on not letting them go, don't blame them for not cooperating with your publicity when "Painted Skin" is released.
The entertainment industry, why is it called an entertainment industry, because it is full of human feelings and sophistication.
You give me face and I give you convenience...
Don't look at Zhang Chen complaining every day that celebrities have little box office appeal, but when it comes to filming, if you ask him if he is willing to use celebrities, he is also willing to use them.
Box office appeal is really hard to say. Sometimes it's false, and sometimes it's real.
Do you like the fact that there are so many famous celebrities in Hong Kong that you have seen since childhood? Of course I do.
But would you go to see his movie specifically to support so-and-so?
The answer is definitely not.
At this time, Zhang Chen was absolutely right when he said that so-called celebrities have little box office appeal.
But if you want to say Jedi, it just doesn't have box office appeal, of course it doesn't.
Otherwise, how can we explain that Yang Xiaomi's "Far Cry" actually sold 90 million box office? How can we explain this? It cannot be said that the audience is all going to Jordan Chan.
……
At night, the coordinator sent the detailed report of "Painted Skin"'s recent expenses to Zhang Chen's room.
Zhang Chen picked up the report and found that he was really spending money like water.
Many people think that making movies is ‘expensive’ because actors are paid so much.
That was after 2016.
Since 2016, capital has entered the film and television industry, a large number of new projects have been launched, and there has been a shortage of people.
When there are not enough people, capital starts to increase prices to grab people, which causes the salary to skyrocket.
But before that, making movies and TV series was already a very expensive business, because it really costs money in every aspect.
It costs money to rent the venue, and it also costs money to build the scenery. Food, drinks, accommodation, and transportation for other staff all cost money.
And as long as it involves movies, they are very expensive.
An ordinary piece of clothing might only cost a few dozen yuan, but if it's a costume, sorry, it's a thousand yuan.
So does makeup.
In the past few years, the salary of ordinary people was only more than one thousand a month.
The most ordinary makeup artist on the crew can earn 5,000 a month, and a good one can earn tens of thousands.
As for the props, such as the weapons and blades in costume dramas, many of them are fake and made of wood, but they are still valuable.
If it's a real guy, the price will shock your jaw.
No crew dares to use all the real ones, so a crew that can be a little more sophisticated is considered a conscientious crew.
For a costume drama like "Painted Skin", every shot really costs money.
Let's put it this way, in one shot, the maid, maid, or soldier in the background costs about a thousand yuan just for his outfit.
And if there is a frontal shot in the camera, the outfit on his body will cost tens of thousands.
The clothes worn by the protagonist or the main supporting characters must be relatively exquisite, costing at least several thousand yuan a piece.
The weapons are even more incredible. Many of them are said to be hand-made and can cost thousands of dollars.
The filming hasn’t started yet.
Once you start shooting, makeup is money, and film is also money.
One scene, just a few times, and the money has been spent like water.
So when making a movie, at first glance, it doesn’t seem like money is being spent anywhere. In fact, money is being spent everywhere.
The trickling water flows into the river and the sea, and together they are not a small amount.
(End of chapter)