Chapter 482 Strikes Back
After intense preparations, Guo Fan’s first project finally came to fruition, and a crew was set up to start filming.
He and Liu Ji were so busy that they did not dare to relax for a moment in order to live up to the money given by their investor, Boss Wang.
Guo Fan is a detail-oriented person, and he strives to achieve every aspect to his satisfaction, and Liu Ji became Guo Fan's producer.
After all, he is a good friend from the film school. Liu Ji is versatile and good at dancing, and can help Guo Fan deal with many things.
As a director with some experience, Guo Fan is too young and may not be able to suppress the veterans in the crew.
However, although Guo Fan has not really studied with little Gilbert, he has also learned one of Gilbert's working methods, which is to do business in a business-like manner.
The crews of Chinese-language films are somewhat different from those in Hollywood. Mature Hollywood directors basically have their own fixed crews.
For example, Doyle Randolph, Little Gilbert's royal photographer, later followed Sofia Coppola. After that, John Schwartzman was appointed art director Serena Haifey.
There are also assistant director Anne Burton, stunt coordinators Tony Ridley and Luca Farias, editor Mehdi Thomson, etc.
These people are all old people who have been with Gilbert for more than ten years. They all cooperate with each other and are very efficient. This ensures that little Gilbert, a Hollywood fast shooter, can produce works at a rate of almost one movie a year.
Did Little Gilbert have such a tacit understanding of the team from the beginning? Obviously it's impossible.
At the beginning, little Gilbert was young and took charge of the crew for the first time thanks to Spielberg's relationship. There must be some people who were dissatisfied with him, especially the veteran assistant director.
People who have worked diligently in Hollywood for more than ten years have never had the opportunity to direct independently. You are a 21-year-old boy, but you only got the opportunity to direct after working on "Captain Hook" for a few months.
How can this make those veterans who have been in the industry for many years balance their minds? There are bound to be stumbling blocks. People are just bullying you because you are just starting out and don’t understand the rules of the crew.
But Guo Fan knew that little Gilbert later solved these troubles very well, using the contract and work accountability system, and if there was a problem in any link, he would find the person in charge of that link.
Getting angry or arguing is meaningless. Instead, it will make people think that you are nothing more than that.
These are what little Gilbert heard from some old Hollywood people. There may be some discrepancies and exaggerations, but the descriptions are basically consistent with the facts.
Later, little Gilbert became successful step by step, and naturally gathered the best talents in Hollywood around him to ensure the operation of his team.
And what about directors who don’t have Little Gilbert’s stature? They don't have the power of little Gilbert and have their own fixed team.
Does it take a long time to adjust every time you film?
Guo Fan discovered that the biggest difference between Hollywood and Chinese-language films is that Hollywood is a producer-centered system.
The director is a very important part of the film production process, but it is not irreplaceable. Just like a link on the assembly line, missing people can be filled at any time.
And Hollywood has enough industry talents, like screws, that can be used at any time. It takes a little getting used to before you can get back to work.
Like little Gilbert, there are only a few people who even have to listen to the director.
In the Chinese entertainment industry, many big directors basically have their own fixed teams. But more directors, like ordinary Hollywood directors, do not have their own team members.
What Chinese-language films lack most is actually professional producers, which causes a director to wear multiple hats. Not only have to manage the crew, but also be busy filming.
He and Liu Ji did some calculations and concluded that a director can only spend 10% of his attention on filming, and the remaining 90% is spent on crew management.
So on the first day of work, Guo Fan hoped that Liu Ji could learn from Hollywood producers and manage the crew well so that he could shoot with peace of mind.
Liu Ji said he couldn't do it, but he would work hard.
The project that the two fooled Boss Wang into investing was a satirical comedy full of black humor. The story itself was adapted from the incident of fake student that Guo Fan had experienced.
At that time, Liu Ji thought the story was good after reading the script, but he was a little worried about whether the filming would hurt some people's faces.
"Those people are very, very hateful now. They hate Director Gilbert and they also hate you." Liu Ji said.
Guo Fan was very surprised: "Why do you hate me? I didn't do it. Besides, Director Gilbert is right to stick to his principles!
You replace the students who were selected through the assessment, you Isn’t this a slap in the face of a major Hollywood director?”
"That's what I say, but if everyone realizes their mistakes, there won't be so many disputes in this world." Liu Ji pointed at the script and said: "If you film this, you will probably offend me. A large group of people, you will feel better when the time comes.”
"Since you have offended others, do you still dare to accompany me?" Guo Fan asked with a smile.
Liu Ji shrugged and said indifferently: "I am just playing for fun. If I offend others, I can't go home. You are different, you have ideals.
Brother, I can't let you fight alone. No matter what, we, the waves behind us, have to fight hard and beat the waves in front to death on the beach. "
"It's best to shoot them dead on the shark beach and let the sharks bite them to death." Guo Fan said.
Liu Ji was stunned for a moment, still wondering where the shark came from on the beach. It took me a while to remember that it was Little Gilbert's first movie, "Shark Tank."
"You're right, let the sharks bite them to death." Liu Ji felt that he had made the right move. Guo Fan had the potential to change the Chinese film industry.
When the time comes, he will be a minister of the dragon. With Guo Fan's character, he will not treat him badly.
Since the two of them agreed on the project with Boss Wang in February and March, they have been writing scripts, preparing the crew, and selecting actors.
Because it looks like a grass-roots team, many slightly famous actors will not choose Guo Fan's projects.
But it doesn't matter, Guo Fan has a special charm, and he still managed to attract a few familiar faces who often hang out in the film and television industry.
I also found an unknown actor named Huang Bo, and King Baoqiang, who had appeared in several film and television dramas, and they starred together.
The crew was successfully set up and the opening ceremony was officially held.
As investors, Boss Wang and Sister Ling came to the scene in person, opened Moutai, worshiped the gods, and announced that the crew would start filming. So when the movie "Wushuang" was released in the Chinese market, Guo Fan and Liu Ji led others to start their own arduous filming journey.
"Lao Guo, there were some problems with our work flow yesterday. You see, Bo Ge and Bao Qiang are both starring roles. Our crew has just started filming. To get used to it, we should use small supporting roles and extras to get used to it.
Use the protagonist to get along, and people may have opinions even if they don’t say it. "
After the day's work, Guo Fan and Liu Ji returned to the hotel, where they summarized today's shooting process.
After hearing this, Guo Fan slapped his head: "This is a mistake made by inexperience. Fortunately, Bo Ge and Bao Qiang have good tempers, otherwise it would be lively."
The two discussed that they would communicate with the starring actors tomorrow and change the shooting method.
After discussing the work, it’s time to take a break. In order to save money, Guo Fan and Liu Ji lived in the same house and spent more money on filming.
"By the way, "Wushuang" has a good domestic box office." Liu Ji mentioned this matter.
Guo Fan really didn't pay much attention: "How much is it?"
"The box office in the first three days was 27.5 million, which is not bad. It is estimated that the final box office will be around 100 million." Liu Ji replied.
"It's not bad. I haven't seen this movie yet. It's said to be a crime action movie starring Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks."
Guo Fan is a little envious. When will he be able to make a work that brings together Dehua Liu and Chao Weiliang?
In this day and age, although Hong Kong films have begun to decline, when it comes to movie stars, especially male stars, the first thing that comes to mind is Hong Kong male stars.
There is no way, due to objective constraints, the development of mainland movies is relatively slow, and the movie stars they cultivate are indeed not as famous as Hong Kong stars.
So when Guo Fan thinks of movie stars, he first thinks of Hong Kong stars.
Liu Ji also mentioned what happened at Shang Hai: "Ms. Theron came to China to promote, and I heard that someone deliberately asked questions at the Shang Hai road show.
The person who said that "Wushuang" imitated the style of Hong Kong films is now being scolded by the media and domestic filmmakers. "
"Really?" Guo Fan was very surprised: "That guy has a grudge against Director Gilbert Little?"
"Of course I have a grudge. Have you forgotten about pretending to be a student?"
Guo Fan suddenly realized: "That's it, a few words don't matter. Director Gilbert is a big shot and won't care about these boring accusations."
"It's true that Ms. Theron didn't get angry. Instead, she said that it was precisely because Hollywood learned from it that it became the center of the film industry." Liu Ji sighed.
Yeah, what’s wrong with accusing others of borrowing from others? Can making a movie be called plagiarism?
If we want to talk about borrowing, then every one of these later directors basically borrowed from Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick.
"By the way, do you want to respond? After all, I have named all the students of your little director Gilbert." Liu Ji asked.
"Well," Guo Fan decided not to respond proactively: "I think if someone takes the initiative to ask me this question, I will answer it."
"Okay!" Liu Ji agreed.
Although Guo Fan decided to concentrate on work and not respond to this matter, it does not mean that others cannot.
Ning Hao, who had worked on the Little Gilbert crew and was already somewhat famous at this time, stood up and spoke out, reprimanding and blasting the remaining forces in certain circles in the industry.
Now if you don't keep your tail between your legs at this time, why are you still showing off your face?
What happened last year was not a simple matter of pretending to be a student. He went to Hollywood to study, was discovered, and was sent back.
What's this? This is a naked slap in the face. The key is that you have to stand at attention. After all, you are responsible for the loss.
Because of the chain reaction caused by this incident, people lost face outside and affected their international image.
Now that the time has come, these people don't think that things are over and everything is calm, and they can come back and continue to do good and dominate, right?
After Ning Hao, great directors such as Guoshi Zhang and Ge Ge Chen were interviewed and highly praised the movie "Wushuang".
The two did not mention what happened to Shang Hai, but supporting the movie is enough to explain their attitudes.
Of course, Lao Tian was even more angry.
He was originally in charge of the cultural department, but what happened last year made him extremely passive. This time something happened again, Lao Tian was very angry.
Lao Tian once again called Sanping Han and several domestic film and television company executives, scolded them, and ordered them to go back and rectify those disobedient bastards.
Whoever causes trouble for him again will be tortured to death before he goes down.
Several bosses who were the most influential people in the film and television industry remained silent, not daring to refute a word, and repeatedly promised to rectify those who were disobedient.
The matter of Shang Hai was actually a minor matter, and Charlize Theron didn't pay much attention to it.
She didn't tell little Gilbert after she went back, but the consequences of last year's incident were so serious that Lao Tian was so frightened that he immediately struck hard.
However, this incident did not affect the sales of "Wushuang" in the Chinese market. Little Gilbert is still very, very popular here.
(End of chapter)