"Do you have any ideas about the name of this collection?" Shi Tiesheng asked.
Yu Hua thought for a while and said, "This is really hard to do. Why not call it "Tree Hole"? The publisher is mainly interested in the novel "Tree Hole", so why not let them do it? "
Zhou Yan shook his head, "That won't work, we still have to show the nature of the collection."
Shi Tiesheng joked, "It's better to call it "Borrowing Cucumber". >
Yu Hua pouted, "It's not over, right?"
"The key is that this song is now very well-known in Neon, and many people will think of the three of us together when they hear this song. This name is also very relevant."
"I It seems that the name they decided on before is quite good, "Collection of Excellent Chinese Novels", said Yu Hua.
“Isn’t it a bit shameless to use this name?”
Yu Hua said very seriously, “I think the few novels they have included this time are all very good novels. , this name is absolutely correct.”
In fact, most writers feel that their works are excellent, but Yu Hua just said what others are embarrassed to say.
Yu Hua has never been shy about saying that he considers himself to be one of the leading contemporary writers.
Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "Why don't we just use the names of the three of us."
"Use our names directly?"
"Well, just use them The name is just "Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng, Zhou Yan", what do you think?"
"It's okay to use names, but the order is not easy to pronounce, so it is better to call it "Yu Hua, Zhou Yan, Shi Tiesheng". Two, two, three, this is a normal seven-character sentence, which is very catchy to read," Shi Tiesheng said.
"It's better to call it "Zhou Yan, Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng", in order of length, and easy to read."
Shi Tiesheng nodded, "I think this name is okay, simple and clear, and not impetuous. "
Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "That's okay. I'll communicate with Shueisha later. After the matter is settled, the three of us may need to write a preface separately. "
"That's no problem. I'll write it when I get back tonight."
Later Zhou Yan contacted Chen Hongheng again and told Chen Hongheng the title of the book they had planned. Chen Hongheng communicated with Shueisha again. Shueisha had no objection to the title, so the matter was settled.
...
On June 4, when Zhou Yan went to Chang'an, the news that "The Flying Piano Boy" had exceeded 26 million US dollars at the box office in North America was published.
The box office of this movie in North America is basically set at this position. Although there are still a few days until the movie is officially released, the box office is only tens of thousands of dollars per day, so the data is basically not big. Changed.
Zhou Yan couldn’t help but sigh that the level of the data analysis structure was really good. They analyzed that the box office of the movie could exceed 25 million, and in the end it really exceeded 25 million, and it was also That's only about one million more than twenty-five million.
It can be said that it is very accurate.
In addition to the box office of 26 million U.S. dollars in North America, this movie also grossed more than 10 million U.S. dollars in several European countries. According to the current situation, the global box office of the follow-up film will exceed 40 million U.S. dollars. There is no difficulty at all. No matter how good the performance is, it should be no problem if it exceeds 50 million.
Fifty million worldwide is not a particularly high box office, but for a low-cost movie, it is very good, and it is also the highest box office among piano-related movies in recent years. part of.
If "The Piano Lesson" hadn't come before it, this might have been the highest-grossing piano movie.
In fact, "The Flying Piano Boy" has a greater relationship with piano than "Piano Lesson". "Piano Lesson" is mainly famous for its female themes.
The reason why the Palme d'Or was awarded to "The Piano Lesson" is of course not because of the piano, but because of its performance on female themes.
With the blessing of the Palme d'Or, coupled with the sensitive female subject matter, "The Piano Lesson" performed very well at the box office. As a film with a production cost similar to that of "The Flying Piano Boy", it received more than 4,000 in North America. $10,000 in box office.
In addition to North America, "Piano Lesson" is also performing very well in other places. I heard that the box office has exceeded 100 million US dollars and is heading towards 150 million US dollars.
Due to the success of the movie, the sales of the album "Piano Boy" have also risen sharply. Originally, the sales of this album were crushed by "Mysterious Country", but now its global sales have almost surpassed " "Mysterious Country".
The album "Mysterious Country" was also released in the United States, but North American music fans still prefer "Piano Boy", and without the blessing of the movie, the sales of "Mysterious Country" were far less than "Piano Boy".
……
Zhou Yan met Zhou Xingchi and Zhu Yin, the heroine of "Westward Journey" at Yanjing Studio.
Although the early preparations for this drama did not require the presence of the heroine, now Zhou Xingchi and Zhu Yin are still in the period of love, and they can be regarded as husband and wife.
Zhu Yin is shorter than Zhou Yan expected. Zhou Xingchi is not tall to begin with, but Zhu Yin is still half a head shorter than Zhou Xingchi wearing high heels, which is about as high as Zhou Yan's shoulders.
But watching it on TV, I think Zhu Yin is pretty tall.
"Director Zhou, this is Zhu Yin, the heroine of our movie."
Zhu Yin first greeted Zhou Yan, "Hello, Director Zhou."
Zhou Yan nodded in response, "Hello, Miss Zhu Yin."
After a few simple greetings, the three of them sat down, and Zhou Xingchi congratulated Zhou Yan, "I saw the news that the foreign language version of "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" did very well at the box office in Europe and the United States. Congratulations."
Zhou Yan said modestly, "It is mainly due to the director's credit. The original version is in It didn’t do well at the European box office ”
“But the original did well in Neon ”
The higher Zhou Yan's popularity, the happier Stephen Chow naturally becomes. At the previous Academy Awards ceremony, "Green Snake" did not win the Best Soundtrack Award, and Stephen Chow was slightly disappointed.
If Zhou Yan can win the Best Score Award, it will definitely be a good thing for "Westward Journey".
"Director Zhou, when are you going to Yinchuan?" Zhou Yan asked.
"On June 20th, there are some things that need to be coordinated with the Chang'an Factory recently."
"Have the staff at the Chang'an Factory participated in the filming not yet been decided?"
"There are too many people, which is a bit troublesome."
Zhou Yan nodded. He had also heard that eighty or ninety people would be invested in Chang'an Factory this time, which was indeed troublesome.
As a director himself, he naturally knows how difficult it is to manage a crew of one or two hundred people.
The two hundred people do not include the group performers, the staff who maintained order on the scene, and various migrant workers who came to do odd jobs, as well as the post-production personnel.
Like Zhou Yan's previous filming of "The Sixth Sense", the normal number of staff stationed on the set was only 40 or 50 people.
"Is the director here?" Zhou Yan asked.
"Liu Zhenwei will come over tomorrow, but Cheng Xiaodong has already arrived early. I have already told Liu Zhenwei that you are coming to Chang'an Factory, and we will meet together then."
"No problem."< br>
Cheng Xiaodong is the martial arts director of the movie. This time the Chang'an Factory will produce many martial arts fighters, so Cheng Xiaodong must come earlier to communicate with the Chang'an Factory.
Because Liu Zhenwei was not coming until tomorrow, Zhou Yan chatted with Zhou Xingchi for a while, then stood up and left, making an appointment to meet again tomorrow.
After that, he walked around Chang'an Factory first, saying hello to acquaintances, and his last stop was Liu Qing's dormitory.
Liu Qing had a day off today, and he was surprised to see Zhou Yan, "Why are you here at this time?"
"Isn't Westward Journey about to be filmed? Let me take a look, and there are also If you have something to do, go to my senior brother."
"Oh, yes, you are still the soundtrack director of Westward Journey." Liu Qing moved a bench for Zhou Yan, looked outside the door, and said, "They are doing this. I’m afraid the movie won’t go well.”
“What should I say?” Zhou Yan asked.
"The movie hasn't even been shot yet, and there is a conflict between the two parties."
"What conflict?"
"The issue of role allocation, the martial arts master in the factory vs. the action guidance team in Xiangjiang I have a big opinion.”
“To Cheng Xiaodong?”
“It’s not mainly Cheng Xiaodong, but the people under Cheng Xiaodong. If you ask me, I don’t blame those in Xiangjiang. People look up to the sky and don’t take our people seriously. And Zhou Xingchi, I heard Mengfei say that they speak Cantonese every day, and we people can’t understand them.”
"Is Mengfei also in their group?"
"Well, there are a lot of people going to our factory this time. Not only Mengfei is here, but Hong Xin and the others are also there. I don't want to join in the fun, you know me His temper is not very good, and he easily gets into conflicts with them. "
Zhou Yan was quite surprised. He didn't expect that the conflict between the two parties would be so deep before the filming of the movie started.
Liu Qing also said that Zhou Xingchi and others always spoke Cantonese. Zhou Yan himself did not feel this, because although Zhou Xingchi was very poor in Mandarin, he and he all spoke Mandarin, including Yang Guohui before. Don't speak Cantonese in front of him.
“Who is the producer here at Chang’an Factory?”
"Ding Xiaopeng and the others."
"If Ding Xiaopeng is here, there shouldn't be any conflicts."
Zhou Yan knows Ding Xiaopeng. Although he is not familiar with him, he still knows a little about Ding Xiaopeng. He is quite prestigious in the factory and should be able to control people.
Liu Qing lit a cigarette for himself and sneered, "It's one thing to be able to control it, but another thing to think about it. Ding Xiaopeng is such a shrewd person. If there is a conflict between the two parties, he may not I am willing to take charge."
Zhou Yan thought about it and realized that Liu Qing was right. If it was just a general conflict, Ding Xiaopeng would just take care of it, but if it involves core interests, the conflict between the two parties would be irreconcilable. , Ding Xiaopeng may not be willing to come forward.
The Westward Journey crew will leave sooner or later, but the staff at Chang'an Factory will always be there. If Ding Xiaopeng insists on suppressing these people, it will definitely affect his development in the factory.
"Hey, if I say this and you hear it, it has nothing to do with us anyway." Liu Qing waved his hand, "You don't need to be on site every day to make movie soundtracks."
“I’ll ask Zhao Lao to go and follow the team later.”
“It’s okay, just let Mengfei and the others take care of them. Zhao Lao is familiar with them.”
Zhao Lao Because his father often came to Chang'an Factory, he had many acquaintances in Chang'an Factory. Jiang Mengfei knew Zhao Xi earlier than Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan actually doesn't care much about the gossip in the crew. As long as it doesn't affect his friends, he will definitely not get involved in these things.
"I'll go find my senior brother right away. You can help me make an appointment with Hong Xin, Mengfei and the others later. Let's have dinner together in the evening."
"No problem, I'll go find him right away. "They." Liu Qing nodded, and then asked, "When will "The Sixth Sense" be released in other places? "
"The Sixth Sense" will be released in the mainland on June 17th. This Liu Qing He knows, but he doesn't know when it will be released elsewhere.
“After it was released in the mainland, it was followed by Xiangjiang, Neon, and Taiwan, each place was separated by a week.”
"Then Neon is July 1st, and Taiwan is July 8th." Liu Qing simply calculated the days, and then smiled, "I'm still a little excited now, this is also the movie with the largest investment I have ever participated in. "
"If you participate in "Westward Journey" this time, it will be the movie with the largest investment you have ever participated in. "
"The investment in "Westward Journey" is too high, I feel. "It's very dangerous."
Zhou Yan nodded slightly, the investment in "Westward Journey" is indeed a bit scary. When chatting with Yang Guohui before, Yang Guohui said that the upper limit of their investment this time is 60 million, which is "The Westward Journey". More than four times that of "Six Senses".
Even if the cost is controlled, it will still cost 40 to 50 million.
With such a high cost, it is very difficult to make a profit and the risk is too high.
You know, the box office of "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance", which ranked first in the Hong Kong movie rankings last year, was only 40 million.
Only if both "Westward Journey" and "Westward Journey" can be ranked among the top three in Hong Kong, can the movie hope to make a profit. Even if the box office is good in mainland China, it can only earn a small amount of copy fees.
The ticket warehouse in Taiwan is shrinking now, and the ticket warehouse itself is not particularly large, so there is no possibility of an outbreak.
The main reason is that Zhou Xingchi’s box office appeal in the past two years has been too terrible. The year before last was the most outrageous. The top five in Hong Kong were all participated by Zhou Xingchi. Last year, "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance" took the first place, and "The Dragon of Truancy" ranked first. "Celebrating the Year of the Rooster" also entered the top ten.
Today's Stephen Chow is basically a box office legend.
......
After looking for Zhao Jiping, Zhou Yan returned to Chang'an Factory and took Liu Qing and others to a dinner party.
While eating, he also heard more about the conflicts of the "Westward Journey" crew from Hong Xin and Jiang Mengfei.
Jiang Mengfei and the others are now among the crew and know more about the situation of the crew.
What Liu Qing told Zhou Yan before was not only not exaggerated, but even reserved. The conflict between the production team in Xiangjiang and the Chang'an Factory was more serious than Zhou Yan imagined. Two days ago, a martial arts master from the Chang'an Factory had a big quarrel with a person from the Xiangjiang Martial Arts School. If it hadn't been for the help of the people next to him, The two can start a fight on the spot.
It’s like this before the shooting. It’s hard to imagine what will happen during the official shooting.
……
The next afternoon, Zhou Yan met Liu Zhenwei.
When he saw Zhou Yan, Liu Zhenwei was very polite and took the initiative to say hello to him, "Hello, Director Zhou. I heard that you were hired as the soundtrack director, and I was very happy."
Liu Zhenwei's Mandarin is better than Zhou Xingchi's. It's better. Although the accent is very strong, communication is still relatively smooth. Unlike Zhou Xingchi, Zhou Yan sometimes has to guess to understand.
"Hello, Director Liu, it's nice to meet you. I'm also very honored to be the soundtrack for "Journey to the West"."
Liu Zhenwei smiled, knowing that Zhou Yan was completely guest. To put it bluntly, he had heard Yang Guohui say before that it was not easy to invite Zhou Yan.
“Actually, our script is not particularly perfect. There are many things that have not been written, such as the lines in it. We have recently compiled a new version.”
Liu Zhenwei quickly got into work mode and showed the latest version of the script to Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan flipped through it and found that it was indeed a little better than the previous version, but it was just a little better. It was completely different from the finished version of "Westward Journey".
The previous version was an outline, but now this version can only be said to be a slightly more detailed outline.
After reading it, Zhou Yan put down the script, "Now this script has no reference significance for the soundtrack."
"Understood." Liu Zhenwei nodded, "But we hope that we can let you Understand the core idea of the movie first, so that you can create a soundtrack for the movie later. ”
"Director Liu, your idea is fine. During the filming process, I will send my assistant to the scene to follow the team and keep an eye on your shooting trends. If you have any ideas about the soundtrack, you can call me to tell me, or you can directly contact me. My assistant said."
"Then when will your assistant arrive?"
"It should be July 5th. He is my student and will go back to Chang'an after the holiday. When the time comes you just have a car to take him there.”
“No problem, I’ll have someone arrange it for him.”
“He is the son of my senior brother Zhao Jiping. , is also very talented in scoring, and he also participated in the previous soundtrack of "Alive"."
Zhou Yan was also worried that Zhao Zhang would be treated coldly when he went to the crew, so he told his background in advance so that Liu Zhenwei and the others would take it seriously.
Sure enough, Liu Zhenwei and Zhou Xingchi's eyes lit up when they heard that it was Zhao Jiping's son.
"It turns out that Mr. Zhao's son is still your student. That's such a fate."
"Well, I just happened to be here for this class."
While Liu Zhenwei and the others marveled at the ingenious fate, they also lamented that Zhou Yan's school is really amazing. Two of the most well-known music composers in the mainland are now from this school.
In fact, Liu Zhenwei and the others don't know enough about Yangyin. If they didn't know enough, it would be impossible to express such emotion, because film and television soundtracks are really not within the scope of Yangin's attention.
After that, Liu Zhenwei asked Zhou Yan, "I wonder if Director Zhou has any suggestions for our script? Because you are the director and screenwriter yourself, I would also like to know your thoughts."
"It's pretty good, but the style is completely different from mine, and it's hard for me to comment."
Zhou Yan doesn't want to comment casually, as it can easily offend others.
Seeing that Zhou Yan didn't want to comment, Liu Zhenwei didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he openly discussed the script modifications with Zhou Xingchi in front of Zhou Yan.
"I've been thinking about it for the past two days. At the end of the movie, a swordsman and Zixia Fairy..."
After hearing what Liu Zhenwei said, Zhou Xingchi nodded, "After the Supreme Treasure possessed the swordsman, he faced Zixia Fairy..." Fairy Xia yelled, "I love you."
"Since the Supreme Treasure is a monkey, when I say I love you, I should have the characteristics of a monkey, such as shaking my head, which is very exaggerated."
"I don't think so, it's a bit exaggerated. The Supreme Treasure is possessed, he must..."
"No, no, it should be like this..."
At first, the two of them were still talking in Mandarin, but as they talked, Zhou Xingchi felt that his Mandarin skills were not as good as Liu Zhenwei's and he couldn't win an argument, so he anxiously spoke in Cantonese.
Although Zhou Yan doesn’t speak Cantonese, he can probably understand it.
The issue they argued about was very simple, which was what kind of expression and body movements the swordsman should use when he said "I love you" after he was possessed.
Zhou Xingchi advocates normal shouting, but Liu Zhenwei believes that the characteristics of monkeys should be reflected.
Zhou Yan had seen the original film and knew that the one proposed by Liu Zhenwei was used in the end.
But it was quite interesting that these two people had an argument in front of him, and Zhu Yin was also there.
Zhu Yin looked at Zhou Xingchi for a while and Liu Zhenwei for a while. Her face was full of innocence, giving the impression that she was a mainlander and did not understand what these two people were talking about.
The most outrageous thing is that after the two of them had just calmed down for a while, Zhu Yin actually said: "I think Zhou Xingchi is right."
Hearing Zhu Yin's words, Zhou Yan was a little stunned. Does the girl have no brains?
Why are you interrupting at this time? Besides, it is obvious that Liu Zhenwei’s plan is more reliable. Even Zhou Xingchi himself is about to be convinced by Liu Zhenwei.
But what surprised Zhou Yan even more was that Liu Zhenwei didn't care at all, as if he was used to it.
It seems that this is not the first time Zhu Yin has done such a thing.
Zhou Yan shook his head slightly, stood up and said to Liu Zhenwei and the others, "Let's chat first, I'll go find my senior brother."
Yesterday Zhou Yan went to find Zhao Jiping, and Zhao Jiping asked him to have dinner, but he had an appointment Liu Qing and the others refused, but Zhao Jiping was very enthusiastic and invited him to come over tonight.
After leaving the temporary office of "Westward Journey", Zhou Yan just turned out of the editing building and suddenly saw a red figure "escaping" in the corner.
He frowned, walked to the corner and took a look, and found that it was Chen Hong hiding behind.
"Chen Hong?"
Chen Hong's face turned red and she forced out a smile, "Director Zhou, you are also coming to Chang'an."
Zhou Yan and others Looking at her, "Are you hiding from me?"
Chen Hong shook her head repeatedly, "No, I didn't see you."
This sounds like a lie.
Zhou Yan is also quite strange. This girl used to take the initiative to come up to him when she saw him, and even clung to him a little, but now she started to avoid him.
Is it because you were embarrassed last time when you were drunk and saw your ugly face?
“You came today?”
“I arrived yesterday, and I need to set my makeup during this time.”
Zhou Yan found it quite interesting to see Chen Hong blushing. She was wearing a bright red dress today, and now her face was also red, from head to toe, like a cooked shrimp.
Although Zhou Yan likes sky blue very much, it has to be said that Chen Hong is more suitable for red. Her skin is white, and red makes her look more supple.
“You have to be mentally prepared when setting your makeup. It will definitely not make your makeup look too good, and it may even be ugly.” Zhou Yan reminded.
“What do you mean?” Chen Hong asked doubtfully.
Zhou Yan stared at her face and said, "You are so beautiful."
"Ah?"
Chen Hong was stunned and her face became even redder. Was Director Zhou teasing her? But looking at Director Zhou's expression, he was obviously very serious.
Zhou Yan said very seriously, "Mrs. Niu is a supporting role. She can't be more eye-catching than the two heroines. Moreover, Mrs. Niu is positioned as an old love and will definitely make you look old and ugly. The direction is set, so you have to be mentally prepared, otherwise you will definitely feel disappointed when the time comes."
Chen Hong understood now that this was what Zhou Yan meant.
“Oh, okay, I get it.”
"Then go and set your makeup." Zhou Yan nodded, turned around and left without saying anything else.
After Zhou Yan left, Chen Hong patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
When she woke up after being drunk last time, she saw Jiang Xia and learned from Jiang Xia that it was Zhou Yan who sent her home with Jiang Xia.
She also vomited at that time, and she even vomited on Zhou Yan.
This was so embarrassing. When she thought of making a fool of herself in front of Zhou Yan, she wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
So when she saw Zhou Yan just now, she subconsciously wanted to hide, but she didn't expect to be discovered by Zhou Yan.
But when she thought about Zhou Yan saying that she was beautiful just now, she was very happy. Although it was because of the makeup, at least Zhou Yan did feel that he was beautiful, didn't he?
She knew she was beautiful, but she lacked confidence in front of Zhou Yan.
For a person like Zhou Yan, beautiful women are nothing special to him, and Zhou Yan usually has a relatively calm attitude towards her, unlike other men who wish their eyes would pop out when they look at her.
……
When Zhou Yan arrived at Zhao Jiping's house, Sun Ling was watching TV. When she saw Zhou Yan, Sun Ling stood up with a smile and said hello, "Zhou Yan is here."
Sun Ling used to be called "Xiao Zhou", but Now that Zhou Yan has become Zhao Zhang's teacher, it is not easy for her to call her Xiao Zhou. If calling her Teacher Zhou seems awkward, she will just call him by his first name.
After greeting Zhou Yan, Sun Ling shouted to the study again, "Old Zhao, Zhou Yan is here."
"Okay, wait a moment, I will come out after finishing this paragraph." Zhao Jiping was at There was a reply from the study room.
Zhou Yan shouted through the door, "Don't worry, senior brother, please write slowly."
He said he was not in a hurry, but Zhao Jiping was really not in a hurry and didn't come out for a while.
Sun Ling poured a cup of tea for Zhou Yan and asked about Zhao Lin's situation. The questions she asked were the same as those asked by parents to teachers.
She was also very happy when Zhou Yan said that Zhao Lin was doing well in school.
The news from a local TV station in Shaanxi Province is being shown on the TV. News about a band is being broadcast at the moment.
“Not long ago, the Flying Band just accepted an interview with the neon magazine "Voice". This program of the literary station is also the first time they have been interviewed by the mainland after being interviewed..."
Zhou Yan was originally chatting with Sun Ling, but his attention was attracted by the news on TV.
This flying band sounds a bit familiar.
Then he heard the host's introduction: "Today, the Flying Band has just celebrated its first anniversary, and its leader Xu Wei..."
Zhou Yan suddenly remembered that this Flying Band was the former leader of Xu Wei The band was formed, but it didn't seem to last long and it quickly disbanded.
Seeing Xu Wei, Zhou Yan also became interested and focused more on the TV.
Seeing Zhou Yan's interest in Fei Band, Sun Ling said, "Although this band has not been established for a long time, it is still quite famous in Chang'an. They seem to have done some kind of northwest rock."
The fame of Fei Band is about It was limited to Chang'an, because Zhou Yan had not heard anything about this band in Yanjing.
Although their band was interviewed by Neon Magazine, this doesn’t mean anything. There are many musicians interviewed by magazines like "Voice", especially "Northwestern Rock" which is quite special. elements are very popular with this type of magazine.
A scene of a band performing appeared on TV, and Zhou Yan almost didn't recognize Xu Wei. Today, Xu Wei is still very immature and has long hair, which is very different from his later image.
After a while, Zhao Jiping came out and saw the news on TV. He smiled and said, "This band is good, more interesting than many rock bands nowadays."
Zhou Yan was quite surprised that Zhao Jiping would pay attention to this and even give a rock band a very positive evaluation. Yes, "interesting" is definitely Zhao Jiping's high evaluation of a pop band.
"Brother, do you know them too?"
"Well, they are very famous in Chang'an now, and I know a little bit about them. Their music is quite good, with the flavor of China's own rock and roll, not just "
The Chinese flavor that Zhao Jiping talks about is actually the northwest flavor. A lot of Fei Band's music incorporates northwest folk music, which is somewhat similar to Zhao Muyang.
Maybe this is why Zhao Jiping is optimistic about this band.
In Zhao Jiping's soundtracks for many movies, you can find the shadow of northwest folk music. This music has been engraved in Zhao Jiping's bones since he was a child, and it is what he really wants to carry forward. (End of this chapter)