Chapter 154 Hollywood Unique Skills
December 7, the 26th of the twelfth lunar month
The company's car came to pick up Zhang Chen, handed the luggage to the driver, and Zhang Chen got into the car.
This is the end of the year, and many migrant workers in Beijing have returned home, so the transportation in Beijing is rarely much better.
There was no traffic jam along the way, and the car drove towards the airport. Zhang Chen called home.
Most families in China are the same, especially boys. They always look to their mothers for anything at home.
Mom, it’s time to pay school fees~
Mom, what are you having for lunch today~
Mom, I want to buy a pair of shoes~
Mom, Living expenses are not enough~
There is only one situation when looking for dad: Dad, where is my mom?
Zhang Chen’s family is different. He likes to talk to his dad when he has something to do.
"Dad, I'm afraid I won't be able to go back for the Chinese New Year this year. I have to go to the United States."
"Why are you going to the United States?"
"We are cooperating there. A movie must be made as soon as possible.”
"Don't the Americans take a break during the New Year?"
"They celebrate Christmas over there, but not the Spring Festival."
"Oh, wait, your mother wants to be with you Talk~"
Then the phone came to Zhang's mother, and the first thing she said was: "How many days will it take to go to the United States?"
"I'm not sure yet, I think it will be at least a month. ”
"Is it okay if I don't go? I heard that it's very chaotic over there, and people shoot at every turn..."
Zhang Chen knew that his mother was worried about him: "Don't worry, I used to make movies, and basically just take pictures. It’s safe to stay in the shed.”
He was just talking nonsense, just for comfort.
Mother Zhang on the other end had no doubt that he was there, "Okay then, oh by the way, go over there and be honest, don't mess with the little girl or anything."
Zhang Chen A black line on the forehead.
Those who have sons at home probably have the same experience. When the children reach the age of seventeen or eighteen, or during adolescence, parents will have similar advice.
Anyway, since Zhang Chen was in high school, every time he went out to play, such as skating, swimming, mountain climbing, etc., before going out, the mother would not only ask who she was going with, but also tell her not to mess with him. Little girl, don't get into conflicts with others.
"I know, I'm not a gangster."
"Well, okay, remember to call your grandpa on the 30th to say New Year greetings."
Because there are two people in Zhang Chen's family She is an aunt, so she is always older than thirty, because the two aunts can also come back that day.
"Don't worry, I'll never forget it."
Hang up the phone, feeling not in a good mood. He could hear his parents' deep disappointment.
I probably thought I would be able to see my son in a few days, but suddenly I was informed that I would not be going back for the New Year.
He had no special feelings about these before, but now that he has the memories of later generations, especially after he has a family and his own children, he understands the feelings of his parents more and more.
As the old saying goes, if you don't have a family, you won't know the kindness of your parents. Only by experiencing many things personally can you know what it feels like.
When I arrived at the airport and passed the security check, I saw two familiar figures.
"Haozi, Xiaofei, you guys have arrived a long time ago~"
"No, just a little earlier than you."
Ning Hao took Zhang Chen's luggage, The group of people walked towards the rest area.
After a while, Fan Jiuyi also arrived.
The four chatted for a while and then boarded the plane.
The filming location of "Lake Eden" was in a valley near Santa Monica. There is a natural lake there, which fit the shooting requirements very well.
The crew has arrived and is waiting for Zhang Chen and the others.
The four of them came to the set, and Pete came up to them: "Zhang, you are finally here~"
Zhang Chen laughed, the two hugged, and then Pete said with an exaggerated expression: "Let Let me guess, this beautiful lady must be the heroine of our drama?”
Sister Jiuyi extended her hand generously: "Hello, Mr. Pete, I am Fan Binbin. You can call me Fan or Binbin."
After getting to know everyone one by one, Pete pulled the A person behind him said: "Let me also introduce to you. This is the male protagonist of our drama, Jason Statham."
The somewhat balding Jason also reached out to Zhang Chen when he heard this. : "Hello Zhang, I heard that it was you who urged me to play this role. Thank you very much."
Jason is actually somewhat famous now, and even has a starring role - " "Very Human Trafficking", the box office was also pretty good.
Originally, the role of the male protagonist in this drama did not meet his expectations, but his agent told him that the director of this drama is the director of "Dark Invasion", and it was you who was asked by name.
"Dark Invasion" is not a big production, but it is a non-English film, but it sold well in the United States, which is amazing.
The North American film market is very exclusive.
No matter how good you are in your own country, you have to start all over again when you come to North America.
That's what Jason is like now.
He actually has a certain reputation in Europe now, but it is useless. Hollywood thinks that he has no box office appeal and is unwilling to give him important roles.
Although "Eden Lake" is made with a small budget, it is produced by New Line after all and is a son of Hollywood.
And the director of "Dark Invasion" appointed him, which proves that the director is very optimistic about him.
Being favored by a director is a good thing that every actor dreams of.
Schwarzenegger has appeared in many of his works because of his good relationship with Cameron.
So Jason is here. Even though this film is a small production and a horror film, he is still here.
He has just started trying out tough guy roles on screen, but he can also try other avenues of acting. "Oh, I like your performance very much, and your image is also good. You will definitely become a big star in the future."
Hearing Zhang Chen's compliment, Jason was stunned. I have a good image, but I have had little hair since I was a child, and I went bald early. Do you call this a good image?
But looking at Zhang Chen’s appearance, it didn’t look like he was being sarcastic, so Jason didn’t take it seriously.
As a foreigner, his spoken English is not very good. Maybe that is not what he wants to express.
On the day the group arrived, in addition to getting acquainted with the staff of various departments on the crew, the first thing Zhang Chen did was to read the script.
This was specifically requested by Pete and is a common practice in Hollywood.
“Reading the script?” Sister Jiuyi looked confused.
Zhang Chen was even more surprised: "Why, you haven't participated in a script reading before?"
It is said that Fan Jiuyi has participated in many movies, but he doesn't know what a script is. Read around.
Sister Jiuyi shook her head in embarrassment.
In the era of big film studios, script reading was a necessary step before the filming of every movie. However, after the decline of film studios, it seems that few crews implement it strictly anymore.
It seems that only Zhang Yimou still retains this habit.
By the way, South Korea seems to like to do this too. It is said that Korean dramas will conduct script readings before they start filming.
Zhang Chen himself has never actually conducted a script reading. Wherever he went, he was just a big internet director before.
Script reading is actually when all the cast and crew get together to discuss the plot, simulate shooting, and at the same time connect their own understanding of the characters with others.
The benefits of doing this are obvious. It allows everyone to understand the ins and outs of the entire story from a macro perspective. Each actor will position his role more accurately, and the people behind the scenes will have a better idea of what to do next. A clear understanding.
This can avoid a lot of trouble. Many problems can be discovered during the script reading and solutions can be found in a targeted manner.
After the script has been read, each department of the crew will know what to do in each subsequent scene, which can greatly reduce wrangling and improve efficiency.
Improving efficiency means saving money, and Hollywood is all about money.
If you still can’t do it after reading the script, then I’m sorry, but if it’s not because of a lack of ability or a problem with your attitude, please get out of here.
The people who came from China felt that it was quite new and they learned a lot. This was their first gain from coming to the Hollywood crew.
There is no such environment in China.
Ning Hao was very excited. After all, coming to Hollywood was not in vain. He had gained something as soon as he came.
Pete is the producer of this drama, and everything about the filming has already been planned.
"Eden Lake" has a total of more than 1,200 shots before and after, which is nearly one-third more than "Shark Beach".
The shooting time is 35 days. Calculated in this way, at least 34 effective shots must be shot every day.
Note that the 35 days mentioned here are 35 working days. Whether actors or behind-the-scenes staff, everyone has weekends off and only works eight hours a day.
In this case, there are 34 effective shots every day. Even if I have read the script, the time is actually very tight.
So Hollywood is basically multi-camera shooting.
Multi-camera shooting is easy to understand. For a scene, two or three cameras are set up to shoot at the same time.
Of course this is faster.
For example, a scene where the male and female protagonists are chatting would definitely not be possible in one shot during normal shooting.
If it were in China, there would be a medium shot of the two of them first, then the male protagonist would take a shot, and the female protagonist would take another shot.
In this case, the actor has to perform at least three times during the performance.
Of course it takes time and effort.
The reason for this situation is that most of the time in China, we are accustomed to single-camera shooting.
To put it bluntly, there is only one camera.
Why, of course it’s because of poverty.
At this stage, the daily salary of a cheap photographer in China is about one or two thousand yuan, but a camera is more expensive. The daily rent costs three to four thousand yuan, which is equivalent to two photographers.
Actors' salaries are also cheap.
Typical labor is cheap and machines are expensive.
So the general crew shoots with a single camera.
But it is different in Hollywood. Here, machines are cheap and labor is expensive.
The rental of a camera is not much, but labor is expensive. There are so many types of work behind the scenes, and the total is not a small number, it is very expensive.
So they are used to shooting with multiple cameras. They can shoot multiple cameras in one go, saving time.
Saving time means saving costs. Every time we finish filming one day in advance, we can save a lot of money. The cost of transportation, accommodation, food, drink, and insurance for the crew every day is not a small amount.
So Hollywood photographers are very familiar with multi-camera shooting.
This is my unique skill, because I was born into this environment and have been exposed to it since I was young.
Ning Hao and Song Xiaofei admire these photographers very much. They are both professionals and understand the difficulty of shooting with multiple cameras.
Two or three cameras are shooting at the same time, and the lighting, scenery, art, and performance all have to be coordinated, which is not easy.
In addition, the lens is not static and may need to move, which makes it even more difficult.
If you do it once, you can certainly save a lot of time, but if something goes wrong, it will affect the efficiency even more.
Why can we set up a separate department to learn about lenses? It’s because it’s really very complicated when you go into it.
(End of this chapter)