China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 255 Everyone has learned word-of-mouth marketing

Lu Hongzhe, who was wearing a black windbreaker, was pulled up by Wia, and Yu Haoming, who was also wearing a black suit, jumped into the air, stretched their limbs, and rushed towards each other while taking out pistols and shooting at each other. Then they rushed together, hijacking each other and freezing each other.

His arms moved and he fell on the green blanket.

"Cut! Very good, this one passed!" Chen Jingxing stood up from behind the monitor and shouted loudly while clapping his hands.

As soon as he finished speaking, not only the lighting and camera crew members breathed a sigh of relief, but also Lu Hongzhe and Yu Haoming, who were lying on the ground, also relaxed their body muscles and tight fatigue nerves.

Lu Hongzhe turned over, stretched his limbs into a large letter shape, and let out a comfortable groan. He looked at the light above his head with a relieved smile on his face. It seemed that he didn't want to get up for a while.

This scene was filmed near the end of "The Matrix", the climax of the battle between the male protagonist and his pursuer. The two men soared into the air like bats, flew toward each other, shot each other with guns, and then fell to the ground...

Shot from the roof of a subway car.

Yes, for the fight scenes in the original "The Matrix", Chen Jingxing imitated its style and artistic conception, as well as some famous classic scenes, but made a lot of changes to the background and process of the fights.

For example, in the action scene in the subway station, the two of them hit the track from the subway station, then hit from the track back to the platform, then hit from the platform to the roof of the subway train, and then hit from the roof to the dark tunnel.

After chasing and escaping from the subway station, they then hit the roof of the building, and then mixed parkour chaos into the chase and fight, from residences to shantytowns, and then to old houses in Jing'an District.

From the prosperous modernity to the ordinary people to the Western style, it not only shows the panoramic view of the magic city, but also shapes the fighting action scenes into a visual spectacle in another sense.

In the eyes of colleagues, the quality of Chen Jingxing's movies cannot be learned for a while, and the sci-fi settings and imagination are sometimes impossible to learn, but the four words "word-of-mouth marketing" can be learned.

Not only "Mermaid", but also "Lion and Camel Kingdom" and "Casino III" whose predecessors had a bad reputation. The reason why many people think this year is the strongest Spring Festival schedule in history is because of the screening of these major films.

The "word of mouth" is not bad, even quite strong.

The "new kung fu movie" Chen Jingxing said was really not just talk. The scenes he saw, from the costumes to the movements, including the camera movements, were really novel, although he couldn't fully imagine the green screen and

The pictures and effects after other special effects are implemented, but it has a refreshing feeling.

"I don't think you did it on purpose, right?" Qin Zhonghe joked half-truthfully: "During the promotional period before the release of "Signal" in 2014, you were filming "Source Code", and now "Mekong" has started.

We’ve been promoting intensively, and you’re busy with “The Matrix” again. It’s so easy for you to be a hands-off shopkeeper.”

"Lion and Camel Kingdom" is "too hot!", "far exceeded expectations, the special effects are not inferior to Hollywood", "has laughs, irritations and tears", "the best film adaptation of the Journey to the West IP so far!"

As the leading actor, Lui Hongzhe is an 18th-tier star.

The well-funded DreamWorks has invested a production budget of 250 million in "The Matrix". Don't underestimate the amount of 250 million. The main special effects production is all done by Mo Lai, so the special effects budget Dreamworks has compiled is quite generous.

, some work is outsourced mostly to domestic special effects companies and Korean special effects companies, which are both very economical special effects studios.

After Chen Jingxing said a few humble words, the two of them talked about the promotion work of "Mekong" and the prospects for the Spring Festival release.

Chen Jingxing, who has quite a lot of production funds, naturally wants to give enough big scenes. Anyway, after the male protagonist awakens his savior power, the second and third parts will be "high martial arts", and the action scenes will be completely different.

Mainly because the strength of his competitors was a bit beyond his expectation. He was naturally prepared for the appeal of "Mermaid" and Mr. Xing, but after all, Mr. Xing's last movie was four years ago, and the box office at that time was also low.

There is no reference, so we still greatly underestimate the emotional power of "returning Xingye movie tickets", or the popularity of marketing "returning movie tickets".

"But you do have some skills with this magic weapon..." Qin Zhonghe said with some admiration after joking.

After "Mermaid" was screened, the media and film critics all said in unison, "The Star is back!", "That's what it tastes like!", "I laughed so much that my stomach ached!", and "The whole audience laughed from the beginning to the end!"

Chen Jingxing stepped forward and pulled Lu Hongzhe up, and said with a smile: "Okay, that's all for today, and the next one will be tomorrow." Then he patted Yu Haoming on the shoulder: "You two go back to the medical care later.

Massage your muscles in the room, and no one is allowed to escape. It’s the last few days, so don’t get hurt, or else I won’t be able to live a good life in the New Year!”

Of course, Chen Jingxing has a different view on this. In his opinion, DreamWorks' movies are of high quality, and all he has to do is spread this quality as much as possible through reasonable means.

The distribution of "Signal" was handled by National Film Group, so Qin Zhonghe made this joke.

Qin Zhonghe, chairman of the National Film Group Corporation, said angrily: "How dare I call myself a busy person in front of you, Director Chen? "Mekong" has been on the road for a week, and you, the producer, haven't even shown a single face. On the poster

Your name was printed at the front, and the media couldn’t even take a photo. I have to take a look at what kind of magic weapon you are building?"

"Director Qin, why do you, a busy man like you, have time to come to the studio?" Chen Jingxing smiled and shook hands with the visitor.

Now that the savior can fly into the sky and escape from the earth, scenes like parkour chasing and fighting on the rooftops of a metropolis are not suitable. Chen Jingxing naturally wanted to achieve as much as possible in the "low martial arts" stage in the first film

.

Even the first two movies of "Casino III", which received extremely high reviews, received reviews such as "Better looking than the previous two movies!", "Some surprises!", and "Great improvement!".

Yu Haoming, who plays the villain, has experienced an accident that almost ruined his acting career. To a certain extent, he is considered a newcomer in the acting circle. Although he does not have a big reputation, his acting skills are at a relatively high level among young actors, and he is considered very good.

A cost-effective actor.

Although the post-production visual effects have not yet been produced, Qin Zhonghe is also a senior director and producer, and he can also see some skills from several action scenes.

The original version of "The Matrix" in the previous life did not have sufficient funds. After all, it was an original script. Warner did not approve a large budget. Although $60 million was not a small amount at the time, this standard was still far from an A-level production.

of.

Chen Jingxing naturally does not have the caution and risk control considerations of Warner in his previous life for an original science fiction script, so the budget cost is still quite generous. As the boss of DreamWorks, it is not difficult for him to have a larger budget, 8

I have already filmed "Gravity", "The Matrix", "This little money" is really nothing.

There are more action scenes than in the original version. It’s not just the director Chen Jingxing who has to work hard. The actors also suffer more “torture”. In addition, Chen Jingxing has relatively high requirements for action scenes, but he really doesn’t have much experience in shooting kung fu movies.

, the result was that not only was the filming time from September last year to mid-January this year not completed, but everyone on the entire crew felt miserable, with one action shot taking a long time to complete.

After the first part of "The Matrix" caused a sensation around the world, Warner generously spent 300 million US dollars for the director brothers to make a sequel.

Chen Jingxing could only complain about this. Although he really didn't like running around on road shows, attending to screenings and media previews, or even being interviewed on shows, being the boss twice was indeed a coincidence that he loved.

After the crew members dispersed in twos and threes, Lu Hongzhe and Yu Haoming walked to the infirmary set up on the other side of the greenhouse, holding their shoulders. Chen Jingxing also met a thin old man.

As the leading actor, Lu Hongzhe once suffered a muscle strain and had to rest for half a month before returning to the set. This is one of the reasons why "The Matrix" has not been finished filming since the Chinese New Year is almost here. From then on, Chen Jingxing asked everyone to

Actors in action scenes must undergo muscle massage after finishing work for the day, and no one is exempt.

It can be said that the salary for "The Matrix" is quite cheap. If first- and second-tier stars were invited to participate, the salary would be at least tens of millions more.

Perhaps the quality of these films released during the Spring Festival this year has indeed improved a lot. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some of them are fishing in troubled waters. Anyway, with the unprecedented emphasis on "word-of-mouth marketing" by major producers, including "Mekong"

Several major works have created a good reputation through screenings and film critics and media meetings.

Fortunately, most of the shots were taken in a greenhouse, so we didn't have to suffer from the severe cold in winter.

Speaking of the Spring Festival stalls, even as the helmsman of the National Film Festival, Qin Zhonghe showed some regrets. Of course, he would not vent his anger on Chen Jingxing, who came up with the idea of ​​fixing the Spring Festival stalls. As a big boss, this level of courage is still

some.

Because the original version was positioned as the first B+ film, the action scenes in the first film were not very grand. Even if it is a "low martial artist" who has not yet awakened his savior authority, there is actually a lot that can be done.

Chen Jingxing quickly apologized: "I had to apologize to Lao Guo before, and I didn't want to. I can only say that I have high ambitions and low abilities. I did lie before. It's really difficult to make a kung fu movie. But the filming is almost finished. It will take three more days at most."

,No, four days, it can be completed in four days at most."

In addition, the cast is quite economical, even the well-known Yan Xiaoyue and Bao Shengming are only third-tier stars.

And it's not just the first one. Chen Jingxing has already decided to make three parts, so he signed a three-part contract with the actors, which to a certain extent avoids the consequences of the actor's dissatisfaction after the first part became a hit.

Although there are martial arts substitutes, they are generally only used in more dangerous scenes. Most of the action scenes are done by actors. The action scenes in "The Matrix" are among the best among Chinese movies in recent years, so

Sometimes it’s hard to get hurt.

After Qin Zhonghe came to the studio, he saw that Chen Jingxing was concentrating on shooting a few action shots, so he did not disturb him, but just watched for a while. Chen Jingxing ended work early because he saw Qin Zhonghe.

If you sign a three-part package contract with a first-line actor, the actor will definitely not be happy, and you will have to pay a lot of money to sign it. But if you sign a three-part package contract with an unknown actor, all actors dream of it.

Not only is it a blockbuster film by a big director, but it can also gain stable exposure for years to come. Only a fool would refuse it.

Upon hearing Chen Jingxing's order to end work early, the entire crew immediately cheered. Only Lu Hongzhe and Yu Haoming had bitter faces that did not soften. The muscle massage was not pleasant.

When the industry mentions word-of-mouth marketing, DreamWorks often comes to mind, especially the pre-screening word-of-mouth that film critics and media have praised unanimously through media previews and screenings.

This makes "Mekong", whose subject matter is out of schedule, whose director is unknown, and which is still a main theme film, not outstanding in terms of pre-screening reputation and expectations. Even the reviews of the screenings are on a collision course with some films. I will not spoil it here.

On the basis of this, other than "the special effects that make people cry are not inferior to Hollywood", there is nothing innovative to praise.

Therefore, in the face of competitors with the support of celebrities or big IPs, and the reputation of itself has not surpassed its competitors in the screenings, even if the national film takes the lead in distribution, it only obtains 17% of the film schedule, barely surpassing "Casino".

16% of "Wind and Cloud III".

"Mermaid" accounted for 35% of the film schedule, and the second-placed "Lion and Camel Kingdom" also accounted for 27%.

Four blockbuster films are scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival, and they are only ranked third, far behind the top two. This means that "Mekong" may have a very difficult road to the box office.

(End of chapter)