The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Haig Road, Zhou Mansion.

There were four people sitting in the living room, namely Zhou Hexuan, Ruan Lingyu, Luo Mingyou and Sun Yu.

Luo Mingyou didn't talk about business after meeting, but looked at the house and said: "Mr. Zhou, you bought this house well, did you spend a lot of money?"

"Father-in-law bought it." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

"Tsk tsk, your father-in-law is really willing." Luo Mingyou said dumbfounded.

Luo Mingyou's lament is normal. Houses in Shanghai are only rented and not sold. 90% of Shanghai's permanent population needs to rent houses. It's not that many people can't afford a house, it's just that the owner is unwilling to sell it, and it's not even easy to rent a good house.

Take Xu Zhimo and Lu Xun as examples. After they came to Shanghai, they both lived in the "top" houses. That is to say, subletting to the original tenant requires not only the rent, but also a one-time payment of several hundred yuan to others.

Unless the homeowner needs money urgently, or the bid is extremely high, it is impossible to buy a house in Shanghai.

The property purchased by Zhang Mouzhi cost 80,000 oceans. The housing prices in Shanghai are still rising now. If it is resold, it is estimated that someone is willing to take over 100,000 yuan.

Luo Mingyou said with a smile: "If I have spare money, I will either use it to start a company or travel around. I will definitely not buy a house to trap myself to death."

"Boss Luo is called Game Fengchen, which is really enviable." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

"They said I was a slut, hahaha," Luo Mingyou laughed, and then took out the script of "Goddess" and asked, "Mr. Zhou, how do you plan to cooperate with this movie?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "I plan to make a movie with sound."

"This is a little troublesome. Lianhua Films lacks sound film equipment." Luo Mingyou wondered.

Sun Yu interrupted suddenly and suggested, "You can rent sound equipment from Xingxing or Youlian Company. I heard that Xingxing's sound film has already been filmed."

"Song Girl Red Peony" produced by Star Film Company is the first sound film in the history of Chinese film. The "disc wax method" is adopted, that is, the sound is recorded on a record, and the record is played while the movie is played.

This is the most original sound film, only the characters can be heard, no other background sounds can be heard, and all scenes are silent.

Even if it is very simple, the production cost of "The Showgirl Red Peony" still costs 120,000 yuan, which can be regarded as one of the best large-scale productions in the Chinese film industry today. Of course, since it was the first time to make a sound film, the film was made after five trials, and twenty to thirty thousand yuan might have been wasted during the trials.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "I want to make a real movie with sound, not a movie where you can only hear the dialogue of the characters."

"A real movie with sound?" Sun Yu didn't understand.

Luo Mingyou is well-informed, and he asked, "Mr. Zhou is talking about the 'voice on film' method?"

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "Not bad."

Sun Yu asked confusedly: "What is the 'voice on film' method? I also came back from Hollywood, why haven't I heard of it?"

Luo Mingyou said with a smile: "The new thing just developed last year is that it can record the sound on the film simultaneously when shooting a movie. Even in Hollywood, only Warner Bros. adopts this technology."

"Isn't the machine expensive?" Sun Yu asked.

Zhou Hexuan said: "The machine is not expensive, but the film is expensive, because the sound-on-chip technology uses a special film. But because it is too expensive, this technology is good, but it is not easy to promote it. Western Electric Company of the United States is cutting prices to promote it. "

Ruan Lingyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said in surprise, "Mr. Zhou is also so good at making movies?"

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "I sent an overseas telegram two months ago, and asked my father-in-law to inquire about the sound film situation, so I know it better. Now 95% of the movies in the United States are sound films, but only two films use 'on-film'. Sound method' shooting. In order to promote sound film, Western Electric has reduced the price to double that of ordinary film, but still no company is willing to buy it."

Before the advent of digital video cameras, film was the most expensive consumable in filmmaking. Sound film is twice as expensive as ordinary film, which is equivalent to increasing the cost of film production by two-thirds. Now that there is still a market for silent films, few film companies are taken advantage of.

Even Luo Mingyou, a young master who doesn't take money as money, gasps when he hears the price. A good movie can be made with an investment of 100,000 yuan. If sound film is used, the production cost may be as high as 150,000 yuan or more.

"Well," Luo Mingyou said, "I think it's okay to make a film with sound, but it's better to use the 'pan wax method'. The 'sound on film' method is too expensive."

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Boss Luo, Star Company has produced China's first sound film, and it will be released soon. It will definitely attract the limelight. If we adopt the 'sound-on-film' production method, we can completely steal the limelight. We can even Ridiculous Star Company made semi-sound films, which belong to outdated technology, and what we make are real sound films."

When Luo Mingyou heard this, his eyes lit up instantly, and he liked to show off. Without even thinking about it, the young master made a decision and said, "Then shoot!"

Zhou Hexuan said: "My father-in-law has communicated with Xidian Company. Since we are the first Chinese customer to order sound film, they are willing to sell it at a discount again. The price is only 60% more expensive than ordinary film. I have already ordered 50,000 square feet. The film will arrive in Shanghai in half a month."

"You are really generous. If you save 50,000 feet of film, you can make 3 movies." Luo Mingyou laughed.

Zhou Hexuan added: "Let's talk about cooperation again. Investment and profit are both divided in half, but your movie theater share must be minimized."

"Yes." Luo Mingyou nodded.

Sun Yu volunteered: "Mr. Zhou, I want to be the director of this movie."

"I agree," Zhou Hexuan said, pointing to Ruan Lingyu, "Miss Ruan is the pre-appointed heroine, and I believe she can do it."

Luo Mingyou smiled playfully: "Haha, of course, Mr. Zhou has the final say."

Ruan Lingyu couldn't help but blushed when she heard the teasing in Luo Mingyou's tone, she lowered her head and dared not make a sound.

Sun Yu also said: "Mr. Zhou, since this is the first time to make a film with 'voice on film', I'm afraid it will waste some money. After all, everyone has no experience. In terms of language, should I use Mandarin, Shanghainese, or Cantonese?"

"Of course it's Mandarin, otherwise the northern audience wouldn't understand it." Zhou Hexuan said without hesitation.

Sun Yu spread his hands: "That's difficult. There are very few actors who can speak Mandarin, and even fewer can speak standard."

Ruan Lingyu raised her hand in embarrassment and said, "I don't speak Chinese very well either."

Sound film has only just been invented, and post-dubbing cannot be done at all, because the film and the recording disk are integrated. Zhou Hexuan suggested: "You can ask someone who can speak Mandarin well to dub the film simultaneously, and the recording equipment is not aimed at the actors."

"This difficulty is really high." Sun Yu said dumbfounded.

"Challenges make progress," Zhou Hexuan said to Luo Mingyou with a smile, "By the way, Boss Luo, your theater also needs to replace the sound playback equipment. Including shipping and installation costs, a theater will only cost three to four thousand block."

"What?" Luo Mingyou jumped up in shock, he realized that he had been tricked. It costs two to three hundred thousand yuan to replace audio playback equipment in dozens of movie theaters under his umbrella.

This is also the most difficult part of the promotion of sound films...

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "If Boss Luo is in trouble, I can invest in the theater. Sound movies are the general trend. 95% of the movies in the United States are sound movies. If you don't update the equipment, you will fall behind."

Although Lianhua Films may lose money when making movies, investing in movie theaters is guaranteed to make money.

"I'll think about it again." Luo Mingyou had difficulty making a decision.