China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, in the afternoon, a theater in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.

John Woo, wearing sunglasses and a mask, finally arrived here from the center of the Magic City.

After spending more than two hours on the road, John Woo felt that watching a movie was so ritualistic for the first time.

Entering the theater, it was afternoon time, and logically there should not be many people at this time.

But the ticket buying queue in the hall at this time was still lined with more than ten people.

John Woo thinks this is the reason why the economy here is still good. After all, it is close to the Magic City.

I glanced at the electronic ticket screen of the theater.

There are actually more than five movies showing during the entire Spring Festival.

In addition to Xingchen's three movies, there are also his own "Red Cliff", the Hong Kong movie "Happy Events 2009", and the Hollywood movies "The Legend of Dreams" and "The Bridge to Wonderland".

This is normal. In previous years, it was not that there were no movies during the Spring Festival, it was just that there were very few that could make a splash.

John Woo calculated the film schedule and found that Xingchen's three films accounted for more than 80%. Of the remaining films, "Red Cliff" probably accounted for less than half.

John Woo knows that this kind of film schedule is almost the same across the country.

Naturally, he did not think that this was still the result of strong support from above.

After all, China Film Cow is a cow, but it also has relative influence that radiates into vacuum areas, such as around the Magic City.

And now around the magic city, Xingchen's three movies can get such high rankings.

Needless to say, that is the result of market selection.

So, is it really that beautiful?

At this time, the assistant reminded: "Ticket checking has begun."

"Well, let's go in."

John Woo went directly into the cinema.

Next, he will watch "Unfortunate Road" first, then "Crazy Race", and finally "Wonderful Night 2".

Four hours later.

John Woo and his assistant were smoking cigarettes in the safe corridor of the theater and reviewing the two movies they had finished watching.

Two comedies, one light and laugh-out-loud.

The other one is a bit more advanced. As long as movie fans turn a corner and experience the laughter, it will be full of stamina.

He calculated by himself that during the two movies, the theater laughed no less than fifteen times.

And these two movies are very different from the Xiangjiang shit-peeing movies.

Both of them have their own unique and profound themes.

The former is in line with highly resonant themes such as Spring Festival travel, asking for wages, and going home for the New Year. It also has humanistic care, and the actors' images, performances, and plot are simple and down-to-earth.

The latter is full of irony and hits the mark without any transition. The actors' performances are also simple, down-to-earth and full of sincerity.

The laugh points of the two movies are different, so you won’t get tired of watching them back-to-back, and the freshness is still there.

No wonder there are so many people saying that they read all the suggestions.

In the festive atmosphere of the New Year, movies can make people laugh and "celebrate the New Year happily" without worrying about the box office.

But the question is, can this alone have such a big influence?

John Woo feels that even with Lu Ping An’s appeal, support from above, and publicity at all costs, it is obviously not enough.

The fact that so many cinemas were closed earlier is proof of this.

And now the market response is stronger than expected, causing theaters to open early one after another.

There must be other factors involved here.

He then set his sights on the last film, "Wonderful Night 2."

The number advantage of this film is not obvious, and it has a 4:3:3 relationship with the other two films.

But online, the film has the highest ratings, the most reviews, and the fastest growing number of reviews.

It can be said that this movie accounts for at least half of the credit for the entire Spring Festival season to have such a big impact.

So what is the magic of this movie?

John Woo looked at the time and it was almost time to check in.

He took out a cigarette again, smoked it, and then probably entered the venue.

Five minutes later, the ticket checking for "Wonderful Night 2" began.

John Woo and his assistant enter.

After sitting down, look around.

Like the previous two shows, the attendance rate was huge and almost always full.

After another five minutes, the big screen started playing commercials.

After about ten minutes of commercials, the movie officially started.

The same opening animation, Xingchen's "Holding the Stars in Hands" is now an iconic opening and is very recognizable around the world.

Then quickly get to the point.

First, the music starts. The iconic background music of "Wonderful Night 1" sounds, thick, mysterious, and clear in memory.

John Woo has watched "Wonderful Night 1", both the Chinese and American versions.

At that time, he lamented that the Chinese and American versions were almost identical. As a result, the Chinese version could not be exported, while the old and American version was welcomed all over the world.

At that time, this topic also aroused discussion among many people. Everyone felt that the influence of Laos and the United States in the world was really strong.

Of course, there are still many people who talk about how smart and shrewd Lu Pingan is, and some people think that Lu Pingan is really strong for being able to do this.

Having said that, the opening of the film first uses a concise lens language, first overlooking the entire capital, then zooming out a little, the height of the camera is also smaller, and then lowering it to focus on some specific high-rise buildings.

Finally through the woods, the concrete museum revealed itself.

It's very Hollywood. Just a few shots brought fans back to the museum.

John Woo already knew that the next step would be shots of museum pieces.

Sure enough, with the artistic font title of "Night at the Museum 2" appeared.

Along with the high dynasty part of the BGM, dinosaur skeletons appeared on the screen, as well as the protagonists from the first part such as Hua Mulan, Genghis Khan, Zhao Kuo's Little Soldier, and Turtle Back Board.

The way each lens is moved is different.

For example, characters such as Hua Mulan are displayed with a horizontal movement of the camera to highlight an expression.

For example, the tortoise shell is a lens with a changing depth of field. In the picture, you can only see the small tortoise shell dozens of meters away, which is guarded by the four heavenly kings and others. It is constantly being pulled closer. Coupled with the use of light and shadow, the picture Only the golden tortoise in the distance is sparkling, so shining and so far away, what stands out is a solemn mystery.

The next second, a close-up of the turtle's back plate appears.

When everyone saw the turtle's back clearly, they also subconsciously understood that it must be the protagonist in this movie.

Coupled with BGM, the quality of the movie will be directly different from ordinary movies through just a few shots.

And the list of producers that appears in every detail in the picture also appears to be more important in this high-end picture.

Of course, for ordinary viewers, they won't think that much.

Such an opening will only bring back the memories of all the viewers who watched the first part to the summer of 2004.

Look at those very familiar characters.

Everyone begins to look forward to how the new adventure will unfold.

As a result, before this idea dissipated, the next second, a pair of gloved hands appeared, and the characters in the first part were packed into boxes one by one. (End of chapter)