I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 696 693. Rain and Light

Everything about Xiying Studio is down to the smallest detail.

Things in the northwest circle are big or small.

Your roots are here, and if you see a place that may be rotten, you must repair it quickly.

Otherwise, when things get really bad, it will be too late to say anything.

Xu Xin didn't know if his worries were groundless.

But now that I thought of it, I naturally had to bring it up.

I dare not say that the revitalization of the northwest circle is a century-old plan, it is out of the question. But times are changing, and if an enterprise wants to develop, it will always encounter many problems during its development.

There are things that others can think of that you can’t think of.

Then someone else will do it.

When it's my turn to think of it, I won't be lazy.

After this conversation, the two of them determined the spiritual civilization construction of these branches and leaves under the future West Film Studio as the absolute core of the northwest circle.

I just wait for the leader of the Northwest Circle to come back and put it on the agenda and incorporate it into the topic.

As for how to do this topic, Xu Xin doesn't worry about it.

Mr. Tian is very thoughtful. For him, this little thing... is not a problem at all.

After this topic was over, the two of them naturally started chatting about the release of "33 Days" before it was time to eat.

Before sending it to Cannes for review, Xu Xin made it very clear.

This script really has no depth.

Don't have any naive illusions that once this movie comes out, you will be invincible.

And now that the shortlist has been announced, his words have become true.

Seeing that the purpose of going to Cannes this time was to build reputation, Xu Xin, who had already suffered a small loss at the screening of "Hawthorn Tree", naturally understood that he had to learn from the advanced experience of his predecessors.

After Cannes is over, it will be released as soon as possible.

The popularity has not dissipated, just enough to support the early box office. Don't think about stuck dates or anything like that, there's no need.

He thought so, and Qi Lei thought so too.

And a movie schedule for theaters has been pulled out in advance.

This time Cannes is held on April 30th and ends on May 12th, lasting 13 days.

Then go to the back...

What movies are there in May?

"Pirates of the Caribbean", "Kung Fu Panda 2", "Fast and Furious 5", "Thor"...

"Plus" has always been a massacre at the domestic box office, and it will definitely not be able to beat it.

"Kung Fu Panda" was the most popular animated film in China at the time. Now that the sequel is back, regardless of its quality, its appeal is definitely not bad.

Not to mention "Thor". Since "Iron Man", Marvel has begun to fully recover, and the box office will definitely not be low.

As for "Fast 5"... How can "33 Days Later" be able to beat such a big logging tired, come back to death and come back to fucking life?

Oh yes.

In May, there will be a sequel to "The Hangover" that created a low-budget Hollywood legend that year, "The Hangover 2."

This May, I'm afraid I'll go crazy.

Xu Xin guessed that he couldn't afford to offend anyone.

Yes, let’s look at June.

When he saw June, he was happy.

Isn't this a group of soft persimmons?

He simply ignored domestic movies.

Not blindly, but confidently.

His low-budget "Hawthorn Tree" was able to compete with the No. 1 film in Beijing. During the domestic film protection month that started in the second half of June, it seemed to be mediocre.

Then... stop bullying others.

"Animal Story" is about to be released. If you are a domestic movie maker, go watch this big boss. I won't argue with you.

As for the first half of the month, except for one "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", everything else seemed to be average.

"The Secret Fan of Snowflakes" is a play by Zhang Ziyi.

Since the ink incident, she has basically disappeared from domestic circles.

This drama is being produced in Hollywood. Xu Xin doesn't know whether Zhang Ziyi wants to use it to make a comeback. But judging from the current stage, the international Zhang, who is no longer worthy of his name, has to avoid the edge temporarily when he sees himself.

Decided.

First half of June.

Look at the date... Children's Day, Wednesday.

Thursday, June 2nd.

The golden box office can just catch up with the four days of April, May, June and July.

The timing was pretty perfect.

"Then let's go to No. 2. How about it? Wolverine and I will fight each other. As long as he doesn't scratch me, there should be no problem."

"..."

Hearing Xu Xin's words, Qi Lei still had a strange look in his eyes, even though he knew he was joking.

He said to himself...it's really the same movie.

Obviously when everyone first met, he was just a young director with no experience in the world.

do not understand anything.

What are the film and television box office rules, promotion, or competitors.

Can't figure it out at all.

But look at it now...

After four films, he is already a standard first-line director in China and the number one among the young generation. Although these words were a joke, any greenness in his tone was completely gone, replaced by a confident expression that showed greatness...

Tsk.

This time... flies so fast.

He nodded and drew a circle on June 2 on the perpetual calendar:

"Okay. The cost of this promotion... Anyway, Jiayuan's sponsorship fee has paid us back. What I mean is... you name it. You are not a small director now. We don't compare with the Beijing circle. But if we don’t promote it this time, it will look a bit petty.”

"Well……"

Although she understood what he meant, Xu Xin felt it was unnecessary.

"33 Days" cost less than 9 million in total to shoot.

It’s one of his movies with the least investment.

There can't be a movie cost of 9 million and a publicity cost of 10 million, right?

Not realistic.

What a nonsense.

"Let's settle on five million, I think it's almost enough."

"It's too little... Five million is just regular promotion, I mean advertising space in theaters..."

"It's too expensive and not cost-effective. For an eight-million-dollar movie, you still think about how much it will earn at the box office? This movie doesn't have an old man as a producer, and it's not a movie with a main theme. To be honest, in my mind, this number is not worth it."

"Five billion?"

Seeing him holding out five fingers, Qi Lei said subconsciously.

Then he saw Xu Xin's face that was turning green.

Take less?

Five hundred million?

A movie with an investment of 8 million can earn a box office of 500 million?

Why don't you go and grab it?

Do you think this is a hawthorn tree?

He looked ridiculous.

He shook his head helplessly:

"Brother Qi, you have a really big heart."

Qi Lei was also happy:

"Haha, this is confidence in you. If the box office of your movie is less than 200 million, I feel outrageous now."

"..."

Xu Xin really didn't know how to answer.

He threw a cigarette helplessly and said:

"The list of people who will go to Cannes this time is me, Wang Sicong, Di Wei, Wen Zhang, and Tang Yan. Just these few people."

Hearing this, Qi Lei nodded:

"Okay, then I'll call them to confirm the travel date. How about you this month? How do you arrange it?"

"I'll call you after selecting the scene. I have ten days to spare. In ten days, the audition for "Heart of the Burning Sun" will be held. The director of photography of the crew is Li Pingdong. As for the assistant director...it should be Brother Yong. As for I don’t worry about other people’s arrangements.”

"Okay. But there may be more people this time. The factory also hired a lot of people in March, and the newcomers who came in the past two years have also settled down. This time they will be put on your crew to learn."

"Um."

After Xu Xin nodded in agreement, he looked at his watch.

"Let's go, it's time for dinner."

"good."

…

Shantou.

Shantou Bay Bridge.

In the middle section of the bridge, road administration workers laid triangular cones at a safe distance of 200 meters.

Two lanes in one direction are reduced to one lane.

Slightly crowded.

Fortunately, it was around one o'clock at noon, which is when the Bay Bridge has the least traffic.

Xu Xin, wearing a sunhat and sunglasses, looked at the monitor placed on the table in the emergency lane and shook his head slightly.

He raised his head and said politely to the people at the bridge management office:

"Okay, that's all. Thank you, Director Liu. It's causing too much trouble for our unit. Please let us have someone put away the triangle pyramid. I've already finished selecting the scene."

"Ah? You've made your choice now?...Okay, then I'll let the workers collect the piles?"

"Yeah, let's take it. It's really causing trouble to our unit."

"Haha, Director Xu, don't be polite. You come to make a movie. Hey, it is also a kind of publicity for us in Shantou. We will definitely cooperate and work hard to cooperate!"

"Oh, I don't dare to take it seriously. Director Liu is too polite. He still makes everyone so busy..."

"I told you, it doesn't matter..."

The person who was chatting with Xu Xin in front of me was a staff member at the Department of Transportation and Bay Bridge Toll Station.

Although there is still some distance between him and the old man's level, wherever he goes now, he is no longer an unknown person. When I was shooting scenes in certain places in the city, or I wanted to get a filming permit, after contacting the relevant departments, I heard it was him and everyone was very cooperative.

The same is true for Shantou.

When I heard that Xu Xin was choosing a shooting location, even though he was not sure that it was Shantou, in order to cooperate with him, the Bay Bridge used triangular cones to isolate a 200-meter isolation zone, and then rented a car in Shantou to simulate the shooting environment. The SUV parked here and set up the camera to capture the scene.

But it's a pity...

Although the other party treated him very thoughtfully and learned that he was filming, some leaders in Shantou also hoped that he could promote the city's image...

But the scenery here in Shantou is not suitable.

After watching a few shots, he came to a conclusion.

The scenery of the Bay Bridge in Shantou is not as suitable as the Jimei Bridge in Xiamen.

But he couldn't say it directly. He could only exchange pleasantries with Director Liu, who had been accompanying him all afternoon, and said that he still had a few places to choose from.

Finally, I watched the workers put away the triangular cones, and after the entire bridge was reopened to traffic, the work on both sides ended.

After getting in the car, the first thing Xu Xin did was to ask Su Meng:

"Mengmeng, have you bought all the condolences I asked you to buy?"

"I bought it, Brother Xu. 90 boxes of fruit, two boxes per person. Director Liu and several other leaders in the management office also added two boxes of tea.

The thank you banner is also ready and will be delivered in the afternoon.

Hearing this, Xu Xin nodded with relief.

Giving away money is definitely not an option.

Therefore, these condolences are your own way of expressing gratitude.

There are even workers. After all, they have worked hard all day long.

At this time, Li Pingdong, who was sitting next to him, asked:

"Not satisfied?"

"Well, I'm not satisfied. It's not as good as Jimei Bridge."

Looking at the sea view outside the window, Xu Xin nodded.

Li Pingdong asked:

"What do you think is the difference?"

“It starts to rain, it’s not pretty.”

Xu Xin gave a very specious answer.

rain.

It is what he considers to be the soul of the film "Heart of the Burning Sun".

The style of this film will be defined by all kinds of rain.

This is also the reason why we plan to start production in June.

It is now the fourth day since he came out of Yanjing.

After meeting with Li Pingdong, everyone walked to three places in a row. During this period, when he had nothing to do, he, as the director of photography, came over to accompany Xu Xin around.

Naturally, we started chatting about the shot concept for this movie.

As a photographer, he has to understand what style the director wants to shoot.

And the answer Xu Xin gave him was "rain".

Very Wang Jiawei's answer.

When Xin Xiaofeng, Yang Zidao, and Chen Bijue appear, it will rain.

When Xin Xiaofeng appeared, he wanted the sky to be filled with clouds and a steady drizzle.

When Yang Zidao was driving, sitting in the car, the windshield would sometimes be clear and sometimes raindrops would fall. Xu Xin even designed a lot of little moves for him. For example, when he was driving a taxi and driving Igatsuki, the weather was dry when he and Igushatsu were chatting. But if he smiles and it doesn't rain, the taxi will spray water on the glass.

And when he and Iguka secretly have feelings for each other, it will rain heavily in his world.

Where is Chen Bijue?

It's foggy and rainy.

The rain was neither fast nor slow, but it was foggy. It always looked foggy, making people unable to figure it out.

This montage-like form of expression is somewhere between true and false in Xu Xin's settings.

The scene he wanted was to "cross the gang".

For example, when Xin Xiaofeng and Yi Guchun were together a second ago, it was still raining outside.

But the next second, when the camera turned to Iguchun who was smoking, as he spoke, there was dry weather outside the window.

This "Scorching Sun" has very high requirements on the weather.

Because from the second half of the filming of "The Hawthorn Tree", when for the first time he truly expressed the mood of the characters through some scenery such as distant mountains and dead trees under naturally occurring conditions... he left behind the During the "Secret" period, I liked to use very deliberate and ingenious scenery to express the characters' potential inner activities.

It's not correct to say abandon it.

It should be said that he has also grown.

Just like Dugu Qiubai in martial arts novels.

From long swords, to heavy swords, to wooden swords, to picking leaves and flying flowers, they can all be used as swords.

His creativity is far from unimaginable, but he is walking on the right path step by step.

And "rain" is the theme he set for this movie.

He wants the audience to think that he has shot a lot of hidden scenes at the beginning of the movie.

But as the plot develops, they gradually understand the purpose of these "gang shots".

When Li Pingdong heard his idea, his first reaction was:

"Do you want to help the audience improve their appreciation of movies?"

But his words made Xu Xin stunned.

He didn't think so.

I just think this way of expression is very romantic.

He treats the audience as friends.

There are a lot of underlying details in the script of "Heart of the Sun". Professionals may catch it, but for most viewers, it may not be that much.

Everyone just walked into the cinema to watch the story.

But this time, he wanted to make his friends... feel like they were participating in a puzzle game.

Although at the end of the game, he will give all the answers.

But it does not prevent the audience from participating together and experiencing the joy of this "suspense book".

This is what he wants to do.

Therefore, the rainy season in June in Xiamen, July in Guangzhou, and even the August rain in Huguang are all important to him.

Rain needs to be photographed beautifully.

Or depression, or confusion, or the beauty of struggle.

Only by accumulating these beautiful feelings in the heart and then detonating them in the final ending can everyone, including Xu Xin himself, feel a sense of joy and refreshment.

Just like after he told him why there was so much "rain" in the script "Scorching Sun", Li Pingdong frowned subconsciously and told him his thoughts on the ending. It's like a shock.

"Finally, I want a very clear and clear weather. The sun shines through the frosted glass behind the interrogation room and shines on Yi Guchun's back. I Guchun will stand in the sunshine and stand on the moral high ground.

His police uniform will shine, which represents the absolute fairness and impartiality of justice. But again, his face cannot be seen clearly. Because, under that glorious police uniform, he is just an ordinary person. He would also feel heartbroken when he looked at Xin Xiaofeng, who was handcuffed and wearing prison uniform.

And the golden brilliance will also sting Xin Xiaofeng's eyes, because it was the look he longed for most..."

Li Pingdong and Xu Xin have collaborated twice.

He knew that this director was one of those rare people who had the talent to "project" the entire story of a movie from his heart.

In his heart, he knew what kind of scene was the most shocking.

Have cooperated.

Feel it.

But when he followed Xu Xin's description, he outlined a roughly blurry scene bit by bit, and then combined it with the "rain" he talked about before.

All of a sudden, he was shocked.

The scene that ends this scene...

What kind of heart-wrenching yet yearning beauty would it be?

So, he didn't leave.

Just stay with Xu Xin.

As he is over 57 years old this year, he feels that this is a movie that can also bring a highlight to his already exciting career.

If he doesn't start from scratch and do it bit by bit, he will be sorry for this work.

"Then where do we go next?"

"Go back to Xiamen. The scene where Xin Xiaofeng and Yi Guchun work together for the first time at the beginning of the story will be set at Jimei Bridge. In the past few days, we will re-determine all the filming locations...Brother Yong, if there is no problem, just go directly Submit filming request.”

"Okay, Director Xu."

Xue Yong on the side nodded to express his understanding.

Xu Xin yawned quietly.

He is a little tired.

…

April 11th.

Xu Xin, who had been running for eight days, finally returned to his long-awaited home.

But Yang Mi was going out.

She finally lost enough weight and exceeded her goal.

93 pounds.

With this weight, Wang Jiawei temporarily stopped all filming in the Northeast and went to the city, turning to Chikan to film the last scene between Gong Er and Ip Man.

When I left, I still took my family with me.

Take the baby with you, take your parents with you.

It can be said that Xu Xin's buttocks were not even hot when he and his family arrived in Chikan.

But after arriving at the rented house, he didn't care about anything about his wife.

I stay at home every day, for ten days.

And within these ten days, a piece of news spread throughout the entertainment industry.

"Xu Xin's new film has entered the preparatory period, and auditions will begin on April 23. The script of the film is adapted from "Sunspot" by the famous Xiamen female writer Xu Yigua. Actors who want to audition can register with Xiying Studio through various channels. "

The message was as brief as that.

Investment, budget, etc. are all not explained.

But just this little bit of news made the actors and actresses in the entire film and television industry feel like an earthquake.

Director Xu is going to start a new movie again?

There is no need to detail his past achievements.

The name "Xu Xin" alone is worth a try for all actors who have confidence in themselves or want to get ahead.

As a result, visible to the naked eye, Xu Yigua's physical book orders for "Sunspot", online book downloads, etc. began to surge.

Even the audience who heard the news began to pay attention to this place.

Even Liu Yifei called and asked her if she had a chance.

As a result, he was ruthlessly rejected by Xu Xin.

Original words: "You can stay where you want to cool off."

The angry fairy sister became a demon.

I'm so sorry I didn't come to SOLO him.

But no matter how you put it, this news is like throwing a huge boulder into a calm lake.

The huge ripples spread in many circles one after another.

Xu Xin, who spent ten days in seclusion at home and prepared a thick stack of drafts of scenes, including rough sketches of some necessary props, kissed goodbye to his wife who was also in a hurry to go and was continued to be tortured by Wang Jiawei early in the morning on the 22nd.

Embark on the return journey to Yanjing.

It's time to start.