Chapter 110 The Core of Horror Movies
As November entered, the North American box office results of "Dark Invasion" were reported back to China, and Zhang Chen truly experienced what it means to be popular.
If his reputation before was a small success, now he is famous.
There is no way. In 2004, the entire country was seeking Western recognition.
What the West thinks is good is good.
Zhang Chen's movie can take over 50 million at the box office in North America, which is bringing glory to the country.
In fact, Zhang Yimou should also enjoy this honor, but he is unlucky. BJ Eight Minutes made him a hot search topic some time ago, and the popularity has not gone away yet.
So, only Zhang Chen enjoys this honor.
How could Dong Jianqiang miss such a good publicity opportunity and buy a lot of press releases?
In the eyes of the media, Zhang Chen has become the flag-bearer among the sixth generation of domestic directors.
Zhang Chen watched "Young and Dangerous" when he was a child, and he always had a doubt, what is "the leader"?
Chen Haonan is the leader of Causeway Bay, Thirteenth Sister is the leader of Bollan Street, Prince Edward is the leader of Tsim Sha Tsui, and Han Bin is the leader of Kwai Tsing...
What exactly is the handle?
When I grew up, I realized that the handle is actually the flagpole. Carrying the handle means carrying the flag, which means the leader, the leader and so on.
Zhang Chen is now what the media calls the ‘leader’ among the younger generation of directors.
Who is dissatisfied? Come out for a duel?
“Don’t forget, there are several media interviews today!”
“How many?”
“Five.”
""Watching Movies" is at 9 o'clock, "Movie World" at 11 o'clock, "Global Screen" at 1 pm, "Popular Cinema" at 3 o'clock, "Take You to the Movies" at 5 o'clock..."
After hearing so many names, Zhang Chen put his hand on his forehead and said, "Are you trying to exhaust me to death?"
"I can't help it. You are popular now, so I'll recommend two to tomorrow. ”
“Will there be one tomorrow?”
“I’m getting used to it. Thinking about “Shark Beach”, don’t you feel so tired?”
Dong Jianqiang? He accurately grasped Zhang Chen's weaknesses, and even comforting him made him feel so unworthy of being beaten.
When Zhang Chen thought about it, the treatment was really different. During the last film "Dark Invasion", the interview with "Movie World" was arranged by Guangguang.
Now that the North American box office has become a hit, there is no need to arrange anymore, the media comes to you automatically.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to be exposed.
But this is a good thing for "Shark Beach".
Every time he is interviewed, Zhang Chen will talk about "Shark Beach". The more exposure, the greater the possibility that "Shark Beach" will be known by people.
The more times it happens, the more people will be curious about what kind of movie it is, and they can't help but go into the cinema to watch it.
“When I was in school, I liked to study popular films from all over the world, especially those from Asia.
Then I discovered that the horror film market is very prosperous. In recent years, there have been classic horror films in Asia. Frequently released, Japan has "The Ring" and "The Grudge", South Korea has the "Rose Flowers" and "Ghost Story" series, and Thailand has "Ghost Shadow" and "The Ghost Wife".
Hong Kong. Not to mention the film industry, the "Three Updates" series and "Hell" are very good products, but we don't have them in the mainland, so I am not convinced..."
"I didn't think of anything else at the time. , I just wanted to fill this gap, and when I was writing the script, I found that it was difficult to write because there were too many restrictions.
Then I thought, what is the core of horror movies?
A ghost?
No.
It’s that sense of unknown oppression. Everyone knows something will happen, but they don’t know when or what will happen.
This is the core of horror movies.
Then I write around this.
Ghosts and stuff are actually not necessary. If you look at New Line's "Death Comes," the Grim Reaper never shows his face from beginning to end, but the film is still very successful. Horror movies are actually very easy to write. You need to build the tension well and then sell the setting. ”
“What is the setting? "
"It's about the settings of monsters, such as the God of Death in "The God of Death", such as the monsters in "Dark Invasion" are actually people in another evolutionary direction, for example, why do those murderers do this? ”
"Oh, that's it, but why is it that only "Dark Invasion" has such a high box office? There are so many horror films in the United States, but they usually only have a box office of 20 to 30 million..."
Zhang Chen smiled : "Because I added something different. The plot of Hollywood horror movies is actually very simple. A bunch of idiots come to a place and are chased by the villain. The villain can be a monster, a murderer, a ghost, a beast, anything. .
Make it gory, and make everyone die in a different way, and it’s better to be creative, and that’s fine.
But I didn’t want to do that when I was doing "Dark Invasion". I thought it was boring to do this, so I added the emotional line between Xia La and Juno, probably because of this, the box office was particularly good."
These are Zhang Chen's "Look". "Movie" interview, but in fact the questions asked by each magazine were similar, and Zhang Chen said it over and over again.
But that's propaganda.
Fortunately, the interview finally ended around six o'clock in the evening.
When Dong Jianqiang was asked to stay with reporters for dinner, Zhang Chen ran away first. He really didn’t want to stay in this place anymore.
......
In November, good news came from the Golden Horse Awards. "Dark Invasion" was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Feature Film.
The film was sent by Dong Jianqiang. Originally, Zhang Chen didn't care about awards and other things.
He comes from a later generation and really doesn’t think the award is anything lofty.
In that era of later generations, no one even paid attention to the Oscars, let alone the three major European companies.
But Dong Jianqiang insisted, so he let him.
I didn’t expect to be shortlisted.
The media reported that Zhang Chen also received congratulatory calls from friends, but he couldn't care less about it because "Shark Beach" was about to be released, and his mind was now occupied with the premiere.
"The venue is chosen to be the Beijing Exhibition Center. I have also made a list of invited guests and media. Take a look..."
Zhang Chen took over the list, and there were a lot of media lists. The same goes for celebrities. Most of them are familiar names.
Wang Jinghua, Chang Jihong, Huayi Wang Brothers, Guangguang Wang Changtian, Columbia Chen Guofu, China Film Han Sanping, and the rest are a long list of stars, Fan Xiaopang, Chen Hao, Li Binbin and so on.
“I also invited Cheng Long, but whether he comes or not is up to him.”
Dong Jianqiang explained specifically and then asked: "Do you want to call New Line and ask them to send someone..."
Zhang Chen shook his head: "Forget it, just for the premiere. Half the world, I don’t have that much face.”
“Okay.”
Dong Jianqiang didn’t force it, he had known this would be the result.
“Is there anything else you want to add?”
Zhang Chen shook his head. He didn't have many friends in the circle, but he immediately thought of one: "Send an invitation to our teacher Fu."
"It has been prepared for a long time." Dong Jianqiang was introduced to Zhang Chen by Fu Donglai. They know each other, and in terms of relationship, the two of them are closer.
"Premiere, what should I pay attention to?"
Zhang Chen really doesn't understand. The only premiere he attended in his life was "New Police Story" a while ago.
Dong Jianqiang was already prepared and handed over a piece of paper: "I have listed the common questions reporters usually ask here. Take a look and you will have an idea in your mind. The rest can only be done on the spot. It works, but as long as you think about it in your mind before answering the question, it should be fine.”
Zhang Chen nodded, feeling both expectant and anxious. The premiere of "Shark Beach" was finally going to be held. It was like an ugly daughter-in-law finally meeting her parents-in-law.
(End of this chapter)