Huayu, my wife, I support myself

but!

Now that "Changjin Lake" and "Shuimen Bridge" have been released,
Then Chen Hui was free.

Basically didn't think much about it.

Lu Chen directly sent the script of "Jiang Ziya" to Chen Hui.

Whether he wants to shoot or not.

This is his next task.

For tasks assigned by the company.

Chen Hui didn't have any objections.

but.

Where is the other person, something happened.

That is Chen Sicheng.

After Lu Chen dialed his phone to explain his purpose.

His reaction was this.

"and many more."

Chen Sicheng said: "You should know that I am still working on the post-production of "Detective Chinatown 3". Although most of the work is done by others, even the editing is also in charge of a dedicated editor, but I, the director, have to keep an eye on it. This is the only way to do it, otherwise I am afraid that I will not recognize the things I have photographed..."

These words are not alarmist.

in Hollywood,

There is an unwritten rule that the director does not have the final editing rights.

of course,

The director can enter the editing room, communicate with the editing room, and even supervise the editor's editing, but the final choice of film shots is decided by the editor.

Why is there such a regulation?
It starts on set.

Imagine if, as a director,

I watch the shooting effect on the set every day, but in addition to the monitor, various things will appear in the field of vision.

For example, there is a row of lights next to the set,

If the actors are preparing off-screen,

For example, the staff are watching, and there are various layouts that disturb the sight, etc.

In fact, the director will unconsciously remember these things in his mind, and these memories will directly affect the judgment of the subsequent editing of the material.

Sometimes the director will remember the details of the shots that have not been captured, but he can no longer tell the difference. For an effect, he will find a shot that does not exist in the material of more than ten hours.

to be honest,
Directors are sometimes tricked by their brains.

In addition, the most common thing is that directors are often reluctant to throw away the beautiful clips that they have spent a lot of money on or reshot a lot of.

I am reluctant to give up some shots that I have worked hard on, so it is easy to cause the problem of film procrastination.

If this happens frequently,

The director is like ruining his own work because he ignores the feelings of the audience.

The director may know the script and the story characters very well, but because he knows too much, he ignores the details of editing.

For example, there are two groups of people, who is decent and who is villain, the director knows very well,

Switch back and forth freely on clips,

But the audience doesn’t know,

If the logical sequence of editing is not clear, it is easy for the audience to miss the mark.

In this case, the editor, on the basis of familiarity with the story, adjusts a little bit of detail, so that switching the camera back and forth will not confuse the character scheduling.

Foreign qualified editors,

In fact, we must understand all aspects of audio-visual language, light and shadow rhythm, narrative structure, persuasiveness, etc. like a director. When editing a film for the first time, most of the film creation is done independently without a director.

of course,

We'll also see a lot of great director's cuts.

If you, as a director, really want to edit the film, make sure that after the first cut, you must let as many viewers as possible watch the film on the big screen together, collect feedback, and make objective revisions.

Which scene character line did not understand?
Where are the transitions too abrupt?

Which shots didn't work at all or were considered boring?
Is the logic of each scene clear?

Consider the large scenes first, and then consider the single frame.

In fact, the safest thing is to leave it to the editor to complete the editing work for the director.

As a director, there are already enough things to deal with, such as shooting shots, on-site control, actor scheduling, etc., it is difficult to avoid being undisturbed when editing a film.

So if you hire an editor and do the first cut, don't bother the editor's creation, maybe the film will catch your eye.

Then go to collect feedback, communicate with the editor, and integrate these valuable objective opinions into the revision of the film. I believe that the film will definitely not be bad in the end.

As for domestic words.

Quite the opposite.

Basically, famous directors have editing rights.

This is why Lu Chen was worried about Guoshi and the others starting filming.

Because they will never give up the editing rights!
They will definitely have to cut it themselves.

And cutting it yourself will lead to the problems mentioned above.

Of course, this situation is really not good or bad.

Each has its pros and cons.

for example.

"twin"

"I think the most incomprehensible thing is that such a huge change, I didn't ask for any opinions beforehand."

These are the words of the director of this film.

During the post-editing process of "Twins",
as director,

Jin Zhencheng did not get the final editing rights, did not receive the due compensation for his labor, and could not even see how his film was edited after the film was released.

Changing roles, reshooting, squeezing for three years, and post-production on his own. Under the double squeeze of the current situation and capital, Jin Zhencheng lost the director's final editing rights from the very beginning. This may be the only way he can protect the work. Chance.

If you take a step back and give up your signature in anger like other directors, you will lose even the chance to recover your hard-earned money.

No one is willing to give up their work, but when it has been painted beyond recognition, is it still your work?
This is another question.

therefore.

Whether the right to edit is given to the director or to the company.

Really bad.

For many directors.

Final Cut Rights: It's a Game of Thrones.

From the very beginning, it was a power struggle.

In Hollywood, the producer-centered system is deeply rooted, and the final editing rights have long been firmly in the hands of the producers. If there is a director who can control the final editing rights, it proves that the director himself is already a golden sign.

When Wu Baige broke into Hollywood,

Becoming one of the five directors who hold the final editing rights is a fact that the Chinese-speaking circles still talk about so far.

As producers hold on to the final cut,
Most of them will be considered from purely commercial interests.

When a movie hits theaters, the longer it fits the audience’s traditional movie-watching habits, the more popular it will be at the box office;
The second is the content. In an art film, the more personal and obscure the plot, the easier it is to be "scissorhands".

Once the film enters the international market,
The film is in the hands of the distributor,

Many versions of different lengths will be cut out, and the integrity of the content of the film is naturally no longer under the control of the director.

The competition between the director and the film crew for the right to edit the film has begun since the birth of film art.

In 1927, "Metropolis" premiered in Berlin, Germany, with a duration of 153 minutes.

It is precisely because distributors from all over the world have edited and edited by themselves that it has been difficult to restore the original appearance of the film. It was not until 2001 that a restored version was released, and at the same time, a quarter of the content has been determined to be difficult to retrieve.

The worst one is of course the famous "Ugly Past" in the history of Ugly.

At that time, Sergio, who had already made many well-known films such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "The Bicycle Stealer", sought investment for "Once Upon a Time in Ugly Country" for 11 years, and the film was 251 minutes long. After the film was released in China, a large number of flashback scenes of the film were deleted, resulting in the loss of the film's box office reputation.

Years later, the director's cut version came out, which made this classic film reappear.

It turns out that

Even if you are a big-name director, it is difficult to avoid the editing rights lawsuit with the film studio forever.

Especially today, when Hollywood films are serialized and investors are less and less willing to take risks, it has become increasingly difficult for the director's editing rights to become the director's privilege.

Alien from many years ago is an example:

When filming "Alien 3", David had no control over the set at all during filming,
There were constant frictions with the producers during the filming, and even the director's cut was withdrawn without participating in the production.

David Fincher not only denied that this film was his own work, but once threatened: "Many people hate "Alien 3", but no one hates it more than me."

Naturally, the Marvel series, which has been popular for ten years, can't escape.

Due to the uniform style of the Marvel universe, the director does not have much room to play when shooting.

"Thor 2" director Alan has absolute freedom when shooting,
But in fact, after the shooting, the producer edited the film beyond recognition, which made Alan express that he never wanted to make Marvel movies again.

Of course, if the studio is really good at selling DVDs and Blu-rays, then the director's cut becomes a profitable commodity again.

In order to increase sales, the director's cut version, the director's commentary track, and shooting highlights will all become additional products of the movie.

But for some directors, this is tantamount to superfluous.

"Alien" director Ridley once said that the released version of Alien is the version he is most satisfied with, and the director's cut version "has no need to be born at all."

As for domestic.

Since the distribution market of DVD and Blu-ray movies has shrunk to almost zero, and the online platform is in a period of vigorous development, the director's film is usually a foregone conclusion after its release.

The so-called director's cut,
Most of them cannot see the light, so the director can only focus all his energy on negotiating with the producer.

With the gradual improvement of Huaguo's commercialization,

The producer-centered system and the director-centered system continue to see-saw,

In the past few years, there have been many cases where directors and producers have resorted to court.

In 2011, Zhang Liang, the director of "Butterfly on the Shoulder",
Because the release version was 30 minutes shorter than the film festival version, it was unbearable, and angrily announced that it would withdraw from all promotional work for the film.

Under the tug-of-war between the two sides, the film studio finally agreed to use the 120-minute version edited by the director for the release version, but they also put down their words neatly: this film will bear more pressure at the box office.

of course,

There are directors who are not so lucky.

In "Pretending to Be a Couple" in the same year, the director Liu Fen did not compete for the final editing rights of the film. After the two parties had disagreements over the duration and reshoots, Liu Fen's signature method was "pre-director".

Liu Fen, who was caught in the whirlpool at the time, said: "So far, no film company or director in Huaguo has the final editing rights of the film, only the Film Bureau has. The producers and directors are fighting for the one that they actually don't have. thing."

at this point,
It happened to be verified in "Mystery of the Floating City" and Director Lou a few years later.

41 days before the release of "Mystery of the Floating City", Director Lou suddenly received a suggestion from his superiors, suggesting that he modify the scene where the hero kills the scavengers by hitting him with a hammer more than a dozen times.

But Director Lou firmly rejected this modification.

Later, although the film only used fade-out processing, Director Lou still gave up the director's signature of the released version to protest the interference of the director's creative power.

thus,

Director Lou also became the first mainland director to give up his authorship.

When the commercial pressure of a film is extremely high, the director's pursuit of artistic creation becomes even more insignificant.

Even Director Lou himself later publicly stated that the reason why he was able to keep the director’s editing rights in his own hands was because the return on investment of his films was not under great pressure. Once the investment was particularly large, the decision-making power would naturally not be in the hands of the director.

Lu Chen also agrees with this.

This is why he has been unwilling to accept the kindness of the national teacher and the others for release.

Because he can't get the final editing rights!
And the national teachers are not willing to give it!

What's the matter with the top domestic directors handing over the final editing rights of the movie to others?

Say without hesitation,

This is an insult to them!
therefore.

Regarding the situation that Chen Sicheng said.

Lu Chen really didn't know what to say.

"I'll wait for you to finish cutting."

In the end, Lu Chen could only say this.

but!

Chen Sicheng seems to have a better proposal.

"How about you cut it for me?"

heard,

Lu Chen was in a daze for half a minute,
Then he said incredulously: "Wait, what did you say, say it again, I didn't seem to hear clearly just now..."

"You cut it for me!"

"Are you kidding me?" Lu Chen was still a little confused.

"I know your strength. The miss rate of your edited works is almost zero. I believe in you."

Lu Chen: "..."

"I don't have time either!" In the end, Lu Chen shook his head.

I don't have time

Otherwise, he agreed.

This made Chen Sicheng a little disappointed.

really disappointed
Lu Chen works as an editor for his own movies.

This may make your own movie more dynamic,

Because he knew Lu Chen’s level very well,
For each of Lu Chen's movies, countless people study the level of editing.

"Wait until you finish editing. I'm still shooting here, and I have to edit after shooting. The appointment with Kashen is coming soon. If there is enough time, I can agree to it."

Lu Chen wasn't kidding,

If he had the time, he would really be willing to edit it for Chen Sicheng.

"Okay," Chen Sicheng finally nodded in agreement.

Fengshen such a big project.

If he doesn't participate, it really doesn't make sense.

Precisely,

There is no director in Huaguo who does not want to participate.

Lu Chen smiled and said: "Now you can inform your team to prepare for "Shen Gongbao". I will send you the script of this movie later. Take a look, and you can tell me if you have any ideas, or you can change it yourself. That's fine too."

"Shen Gongbao"?
Chen Sicheng didn't have any objections to Lu Chen letting him film Shen Gongbao.

It is not my own work.

Everything is the same!
He knew in his heart that Lu Chen would not let go of the final editing rights!

The style of the series of films must be unified.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be a series of movies!
It's very simple.

If there are three versions of Qin Feng in his Detective Tang!
Will audiences still enjoy this series?
This is what separates series directors from other directors. (end of this chapter)