I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 840 836. MOREVFX was tricked

As for the words, let's talk at both ends.

He liked the "Embroidered Spring Knife" that Chen Shu talked about, but...it gave him a lot of things.

Moreover, this pure design of the protagonist as a little person who drifts with the crowd and can only struggle... requires the director's ability to grasp the tension of the plot.

This is also a solid reality.

Chen Shu is just a screenwriter, and she is actually right about this.

Screenwriters just need to write wonderful stories.

As for how the story is shot, that is the director’s job.

Unless she can replace Lu Yang as the director... But then again, although the director and the screenwriter are not as separated as each other, they have different positions and require different things.

Even if a screenwriter becomes a director, he may not be able to film the story he wrote in its original flavor.

This is also true.

So, when Chen Shu was done venting, he said to Lu Yang:

"What are your thoughts?"

Lu Yang glanced at his fiancée helplessly, turned to Xu Xin and said:

"Director Xu, this is a commercial film."

"It has nothing to do with this. Just like martial arts movies from Hong Kong and Taiwan, commercial movies can also have a full core in addition to fighting scenes and gorgeous special effects. Your excuse is a bit too amateur~"

Seeing Xu Xin denying himself, Lu Yang couldn't laugh or cry:

"I know this truth, but the problem is that the time has to be controlled and the things to be given are full. I can't make subtractions? I made a conservative estimate. If this film omits Hokusai's line, the story can definitely be shot within 2 hours. It’s very complete. But if we add more... it will be at least half an hour longer... I know she wants to make a good story, but the problem is that it’s really hard to balance.”

"So unsure of yourself?"

"It's not that I don't have confidence... I'll tell you first what I thought after killing Hokusai. It's very simple. The conflict completely abandoned Hokusai's line. It started with Ling Yunkai who was investigating the case at the beginning. The two of them drank because of that Yin Cheng, a drunken Jin Yiwei, started the conflict and introduced Pei Lun to avenge Yin Cheng. Forced by Ling Yunkai and Pei Lun, Shen Lian stepped into the trap set by Lu Wenzhao and Ding Baiying step by step, and was used as a gun. In the end, he was unwilling to give in and simply broke out into the sky, which just happened to pave the way for Wei Zhongxian in the second part..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw the twitching corners of Xu Xin's mouth.

Suddenly I couldn't speak anymore.

He said tentatively:

"Is it bad?"

"You are also a screenwriter, what do you think?"

Xu Xin directly denied his view:

"I like Chen Shu's script better, although I also know that it will test the director's ability...but a director should not be afraid of challenges. The worst it can do is make a bad movie~ It's not okay to back out before filming is even started. Of course. Well, these are just my personal thoughts. If you talk about the script "Xiu Chun Knife", I would definitely recommend you to shoot Chen Shu's version, not the one you mentioned."

Speaking of this, he thought for a moment and pulled out a stack of manuscript paper from under the coffee table:

"Actually, this story is easy to film. Let me ask you, should you have learned it when you were in school? How do we express the character's personality?"

Lu Yang was stunned and replied subconsciously:

"The most intuitive way is to express it through clothing, makeup, lines, and actions. It can also be hinted through borrowed objects, but the latter is relatively obscure."

"That's right. The character of Shen Lian in Chen Shu's point of view has actually been revealed. For example, when Ling Yunkai wanted to insult Beizhai, he did not stop him at first but then stopped him later. She wrote it all, Beizhai In desperate situation, Zhai put her last hope on Shen Lian. She looked at Shen Lian, but Shen Lian did not respond... You see, through Beizhai, Shen Lian's character is reflected."

After writing the word "character" on the paper, he underlined it and wrote, "Hokusai looked at him in despair, but he ignored it."

Then start another line:

"For example, Lu Wenzhao. In the script, didn't he say before after being rescued by Shen Lian that he had to change his way of life? Then his flattery to Wei Zhongxian later was easy to express."

"Another example is Hokusai. Is Zhu Youjian important to her? Or is Shen Lian important to her? You only need to design her expression when facing Shen Lian, and her completely different expression when talking about Zhu Youjian in her words. Reflection. And to extend this point of view, let’s give Shen Lian a close-up. He clearly sees that Beizhai likes Zhu Youjian, but he doesn’t know how to express his feelings... You see, each character is different. They all stood up.”

Xu Xin's tone at this moment, in Chen Shu's ears, was particularly like her teacher who taught literary creation when she was in school.

Inspiring the students bit by bit...

That feels really strange.

But she had to admit... Director Xu was quite right.

Just follow his train of thought... This script does not have the factors that my fiancé said were "too obscure and difficult to explain, and I'm afraid the audience won't understand it."

Yeah.

This is right!

Director Xu knows a lot more than you!

And Xu Xin chatted with him bit by bit.

Soon, a piece of paper was filled.

Shen Lian's character expression method is almost the same.

Xu Xin didn’t say any more.

If you continue talking, it will become your own movie.

"So you see... we are directors, and the movie we make is not about how deep you can express what you want to express. On the contrary, you have to express the deep things you want to express in a very simple way. Express it so that more people can understand it and resonate with it. This is the same way. You are too obsessed with the difference between business and literature and art, which makes you unable to see the essence of the story, which is the story of a small character."

"..."

Lu Yang said nothing.

I just stared at the sketch paper that looked a little complicated at first glance, but as long as I found the right idea, it was extremely simple.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

Su Meng opened the door and walked in:

"Brother Xu, it's 6:30. The appointment with Director Ning is for 7:30. It's almost time to leave."

"Um...ok."

Xu Xin checked the time and after realizing that it was indeed time, he responded.

Then he turned to Lu Yang and Chen Shu and asked:

"Let's go? Let's have dinner together tonight. I have an appointment with Ning Hao~"

Chen Shu asked subconsciously:

"Is it convenient for us to go...?"

"What's the point? We're all our own people. Let's go~ It just so happens that you can talk to him about this movie, listen to other people's opinions, and open up your mind."

Hearing this, Chen Shu glanced at Lu Yang.

"Shall we go? I'll polish the script when I go back. There's no rush anyway. I'll express some of the deeper things through the story...so that you won't be scratching your head so much, okay?"

Take a look.

As soon as the anger subsided, the couple's atmosphere returned.

…

So, four people and two cars walked towards the hotel together.

After everyone left home, Xu Xin called Yang Mi and asked her what she was doing. The reply she got was:

"I just finished a magazine shoot and am heading home."

After telling her that she would have dinner with Ning Hao tonight, Yang Mi felt quite regretful.

"I bought you KFC."

"Thank you for your kindness, old man."

Xu Xin simply rolled his eyes.

Eat a shitty chicken.

He has trouble eating a bowl of noodles...

All the way to Su Mengding's restaurant, Xu Xin discovered that it was the Guangdong private restaurant that he and Lao Lang had eaten last time.

Wang Sicong found this store, and I don't know where he found the connection.

The decoration looks a bit hidden from the city, but the food tastes really good.

Seeing the assistant's eyes shining, he said:

"Mengmeng."

"ah?"

"You pay the bill tonight."

!!!∑(Дノ)ノ

Xu Xin, who was in a good mood after teasing the mascot, walked in with a chuckle.

When we got to the box, Ning Hao hadn't arrived yet.

Xu Xin didn't rush him. Everyone had a menu in hand and decided what they planned to eat.

Not long after, the box door was pushed open.

"Director Xu."

Ning Hao took the lead and walked in, followed by someone else.

Xu Xin also recognized the person. It was the protagonist of "The Golden Heist", the actor who played Xiao Dongbei.

He stood up to greet him:

"Director Ning, come on, come on, sit down quickly."

"Oh, I'm late, I'm so sorry."

Ning Hao quickly said politely.

"Haha, it's okay."

Following Xu Xin's words, Ning Hao pointed at the man next to him and introduced:

"Lei Jiayin, the actor who plays Xiao Dongbei in our movie. We happened to be together today and came here together."

"Hello, Director Xu. I am Lei Jiayin."

It turned out to be Lei Jiayin.

After Xu Xin remembered the name, he smiled and nodded:

"Hello. Ning Hao, let me introduce you to Lu Yang and Chen Shu. They are also the directors of our factory. They happened to come to see me today, so we got together."

After the two sides introduced each other, they took their seats.

Xu Xin asked the waiter to come over and start ordering.

In fact, he called Ning Hao over today just to ask about the special effects company. This company called MOREVFX also produced special effects for "The Favorite".

But...Xu Xin thought about it and still couldn't recall what special effects the movie "The Favorite" had.

Quite vague.

But it’s definitely not easy to ask at the beginning. After all, everyone needs to be involved in the topic.

So, after everyone ordered their dishes and ordered drinks from the waiter, Xu Xin asked:

"Director Ning just came back today?"

"Yes. I just came back from Magic City this morning. I will stay another day tomorrow and go to Zhejiang the day after tomorrow. Please run more~"

"I watched the movie. It was very well shot."

"Haha, Director Xu praised me so much..."

In fact, to be honest, Xu Xin and Ning Hao don't have a close relationship.

But after everyone was on the top of a mountain, they were not so divided.

At first, they were all chatting about the movie "The Golden Heist", and as the food and drinks arrived, everyone's conversation started to open up little by little.

Lei Jiayin has a pretty good personality, he is not very restrained or pretending.

Eat when you need to eat, drink when you need to drink.

Occasionally, a joke can make the conversation quite enjoyable.

In comparison, Lu Yang and Chen Shu were slightly less talkative.

During this period, Chen Shu, who had been staring at Lei Jiayin for some reason, whispered a few words to Lu Yang from time to time.

Then, Lu Yang also started to stare at Lei Jiayin from time to time.

But Xu Xin didn't pay much attention.

When the hot dishes were served, and after grabbing a glass of wine, he asked:

"Director Ning, I'm actually looking for you today because I'm curious about something."

"Director Xu, please tell me."

"I think the special effects company MOREVFX is doing pretty well. How is this company? What is its scale in China? How did Director Ning find them?"

Ning Hao didn't hide anything when he heard this and said directly:

"After the film was shot and brought back to the factory for editing, I happened to meet Director Gu. We chatted for a while and he said that this special effects company is good and that this is what he used in his film. On the one hand, it's cheap. They seemed like they used to They specialize in advertising special effects. Director Gu's movie was their first contact with film and television special effects. The price was very low and the work was pretty good... In the end, my film actually exceeded the budget a bit. Director Gu said that they were here It was cheap, so I thought I’d give it a try, so we made an appointment to meet. Not to mention... the work was really good. And..."

Speaking of this, Ning Hao suddenly showed a dumbfounded look:

"I can't tell you their level. It's just...how can I put it? They were tricked by me."

"Did you trick me?"

Xu Xin was a little puzzled:

"How do you say this?"

"Director Xu, guess how much it cost to package all the special effects shots for my film together?"

"It depends on how much special effects you put into it. The reason why I think you did a good job is because sometimes if you don't pay close attention, you really can't tell the difference between backgrounds, distant views, etc., whether special effects are used or not. But I I guess... 30 to 40 percent? About 300 to 400 shots?"

"More than 600."

Ning Hao gave the exact number.

Then he said:

"I actually didn't expect there to be that many. This was all what they estimated. After I packaged the project and showed it to them, they estimated it to be 200 to 300, which I thought was about the same. So the final total payment was 750 Ten thousand."

"In the end, more than 600 shots were made?"

Not to mention Xu Xin, even Lu Yang and Chen Shu were shocked.

Lu Yang couldn't help but ask:

"Did you, Director Ning, break down the more than 600 shots? Or... did they take the initiative themselves?"

"The two parties discussed it. The main reason is that they have touched the threshold of film special effects shots with "The Favorite". The analysis of my project is also based on the advertising model. There is still a difference between advertising and movies... I was I was also puzzled, and I had an idea of ​​how many scenes there were in this film. 7.5 million? Isn't it too much for them to make a profit at a loss? They also confirmed it repeatedly, but their CEO Xu patted his chest and assured me, absolutely. No problem…results…Hi.”

Ning Hao looked dumbfounded:

"It turned out that when production actually started, I discovered that they had made a rough estimate. There were at least 370 VFX special effects shots in my film, probably 400. Then they were changed in the middle, and in the end there were more than 600 shots in total..."

"Good guy..."

As the "boss" who is about to own a special effects company, Xu Xin certainly knows the weight of this number.

Don't mention anything else, just the simplest sentence.

The original project cost 7.5 million, but it turned out that it would cost 15 million to complete.

What to do?

"Then what did they do next? Did they ask you to renegotiate the quotation?"

"without."

Ning Hao showed a look of admiration:

"The person in charge of them is a real person. He did it without saying a word. But... the price was quite heavy."

"……How to say?"

"More than 70 people were laid off, and only 15 people were left."

Lei Jiayin from the side said something.

Everyone listening was stunned.

Xu Xin asked in shock:

"Layoffs?"

"Um."

Ning Hao nodded:

"I can't help it. I really can't afford such a huge expense. They guaranteed a loss of 5 million on my order. I just came from the field of advertising special effects, and the company is not big. In the end, they lost so much again, only That's it. When I got the finished film some time ago, I had a drink with the person in charge. I saw that this guy was indeed a man, and I agreed to him. I would try my best to let them do all my movies in the future. That's it. Make up for it..."

Speaking of this, Ning Hao asked in confusion:

"Didn't Director Xu's film be produced in the United States? ... Are you planning to bring the special effects back to China? Then you can indeed consider them. Their technology is quite solid. Although the company is not large in size, it is very meticulous. The technology is pretty good too…”

"The special effects for "Heart of the Burning Sun" have been completed."

"That……?"

Looking at his doubtful eyes, Xu Xin shrugged:

"I plan to set up my own special effects company, so I have been paying more attention to this aspect recently. I originally planned to get in touch... But today I heard what Director Ning said... Is their company complicated? Is there any external capital injection?"

As soon as Xu Xin spoke these words, everyone understood what he wanted to do.

Ning Hao thought for a while, took out his mobile phone and said:

"I'll forward his WeChat account to Director Xu. They were really fooled by me this time...but I really don't know whether the company will accept investment or not."

"OK."

Soon, a business card named "MOREVFX Xu Jian" was pushed over.

After Xu Xin clicked on add, he heard Ning Hao ask:

"Why did Director Xu think of setting up a special effects company?"

He looked rather curious.

But this time, Xu Xin didn’t say much about the real reason, he just said:

"Well, I want to get one. I have always been interested in special effects. I also went to Hollywood and saw that the special effects there are so good. I want to learn from it and try it out."

"The investment in this thing is not small..."

"Not much, mainly because the equipment is updated too quickly."

"Yes, I heard what others said...the hardware is at the same level after three months, and a computer costs tens of thousands at least..."

"right……"

The topic naturally led to this aspect, and it became the talk of the wine party.

During this period, "MOREVFX Xu Jian" approved Xu Xin's friend application and took the initiative to send a message:

"Hello, Director Xu, I am Xu Jian, the founder of MOREVFX. It's an honor to meet you."

You can feel the kindness in every word.

Xu Xin replied:

"Hello, Mr. Xu, I added you through Director Ning's WeChat account. We are having dinner and drinking some wine right now, and we will chat with Mr. Xu tomorrow, okay?"

Of course the other party will not refuse to agree.

Then, the two of them stopped chatting.

The meal ended at 9:30 pm.

Then, Xu Xin and Lei Jiayin exchanged WeChat messages.

The two of them had just added friends, and Lu Yang and Chen Shu also added him over there.

Everyone talked and laughed, said goodbye, and left.

In the car, Xu Xin leaned on the passenger seat and yawned, thinking about the MOREVFX situation that Ning Hao mentioned today, and considering whether to call Lao Wang to talk about it.

At this time, his phone vibrated.

I picked it up and saw that it was from Lu Yang.

He drank today and Chen Shu was the driver.

A WeChat message was sent:

"Director Xu, do you think Lei Jiayin can play Pei Lun?"

Lei Jiayin?

Pei Lun?

He thought for a while and replied:

"Is he suitable?"

"That's right, the way he eats is similar to the Pei Lun in my heart!"

"Then ask... But I suggest you finish the script first. Remember to have a good chat with Chen Shu when you go back tonight, otherwise I'm afraid you won't be able to see the sun tomorrow morning."

"It's not that bad, we're fine."

Seeing Lu Yang's words, Xu Xin did not continue to reply via text.

I just sent an emoticon of a husky holding a rose in its mouth.

Those wise eyes have seen through everything.