China Entertainment: Indulge in Vanity Fair

Chapter 100 Movie plots of old filmmakers

Xi'an is a good place. It not only has a long cultural history, but also has the most famous Xiying Film Studio in the film industry. One, there have been many great directors.

In the eighties and 90s, the West Film Studio carried Chinese films forward with its own efforts. Why was there a Northwest Gang in the film circle of the 90s?

If you don’t know, you can look up the celebrities who have come out of Xiying Film Studio. Xiying Film Studio is the first film studio to win the highest award in the international A-category film festival. It has won the Golden Bear Award in Berlin and the Golden Lion Award in Venice.

In fact, "Farewell My Concubine" also has the shadow of Xiying Film Studio.

It is the studio that has won the most international awards in China, and its exported films in the eighties and 90s accounted for more than a quarter of all films in mainland China.

It can be seen how brilliant it used to be, but unfortunately, the current studios are all gone.

To be honest, until 2011, the West Film Studio still had a certain amount of vitality and energy. In He Fang's perception, all the film studios in China could go down, but the downfall of the West Film Studio should not be.

Because Xiying wants history to have history, talent to have talents, and strength to have strength, why did it fall down?

Western Film Studio has always been walking on two legs. The literary films they made have won various international awards, and the commercial films they have made have always been box office. They even cooperated with Hong Kong films earlier.

It can be said that Xiying Studio is open, free, diversified, and has strong strength.

Why did it fall?How did it fall?
Maybe it can't keep up with the pace of marketization?Or something else?
In short, in the 90s, for the sake of so-called marketization, some large domestic companies privatized factories that were still strong enough to untie the burden of big factories. It's gone.

Not only did it fail to untie the burden of the big factories, but it weakened the strength of the big factories, resulting in the incomplete technology of the big factories, and the products that could have been produced could not be produced in the end.

So He Fang didn't dare to speculate about what caused it. After all, it was impossible for him to go back to history to find out the reason and turn the tide. It had nothing to do with Mao.

When He Fang arrived in Xi'an, someone from Xiying Studio contacted He Fang, saying that the old director of Xiying Studio wanted to meet He Fang.

Who is the old director of Xiying Film Studio?Of course it is Wu Tianming, he is the initiator and the biggest contributor to the rise of Xiying Film Studio.

This made He Fang a little flattered, and didn't understand why Wu Tianming wanted to see him.

After finishing the propaganda in the West, he boarded the car Wu Tianming sent to pick him up.

He didn't know where Xi'an was, so the car turned around and took him to an old building, which was quite clean and ancient.

He Fang met the 81-year-old Wu Tianming, a legend in the Chinese film industry.

Although he is 81 years old, he is still making movies. Not only will he be a guest actor in some movies, but he will also be a producer. The most difficult thing is that he is still thinking about making a movie. Movie.

This is a real filmmaker, a person who loves movies, and a person who dedicates his life to movies.

"Mr. Wu, hello, hello, I am honored to meet you today, I am so lucky." He Fang's posture is very low, no matter in terms of achievements or qualifications, he is a child in front of Wu Tianming.

"Haha... I saw a real person, not bad, not bad. The second director in China to win the Palme d'Or is so young, it's really rare. Chen Kaige was already 27 when he won the Palme d'Or, and you are only [-]. You are young. So young. Well, there is hope for Chinese films. Come, come, sit, sit.”

Wu Tianming also kept praising him.

"Mr. Wu, you are too well-respected. Where is Chinese film without me, there are Zhang Fang, Wang Fang, and Li Fang. I can't bear the burden of hope in Chinese film."

"Hey, who said you can't afford it, you can afford it, you can afford it. I have watched your "Far Cry" and watched "Single Zoo" three times at the same time. Whether it is business or art, your level is not top-notch in China Under the great director."

"Don't dare, don't dare..."

The two chatted for a while, bragging for a while, and then the food was served. The two chatted while eating. At first, they just talked about film creation.

But when the meal was almost finished, Wu Tianming asked.

"Director He, I also read the film industrialization plan of Huying Group drafted by you. It is a big step forward. However, I am very optimistic. The film and television industry in Hunan has been very courageous and has made some achievements over the years. I feel that the people in Xiying Film Studio are now timid, but unfortunately I am old and unable to do anything."

Wu Tianming said as he took a sip from the teacup.

"Ms. Wu, how old are you? You can continue to make movies and continue to support young directors and filmmakers." He Fang boasted.

"Oh, I'm the only one who insists on doing this now, but the new team doesn't want to make movies anymore. Movies are risky, but the benefits are small. They all want to change their assets into real estate and other fixed assets, build a good building and wait to collect rent. , the risk is small and the return is long-term. They say this is asset optimization, heh, anyway, I can’t keep up with new ideas.”

Wu Tianming shook his head lonely and said, He Fang was also stunned for a moment, and he also smiled wryly.

"Well, after all, many directors of film studios now pay more attention to the company's revenue and expenditure. A large group needs money to support them. Without a fixed source of income, they will have nowhere to go. Therefore, they optimize asset management and earn some money. Fixed income is not without reason."

Wu Tianming raised his eyes and looked at He Fang.

"Then why don't you let the Huying Group build the building? I heard that their earliest plan was to build the building to collect rent. Your suggestion on a piece of paper is now industrialized."

He Fang also scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Mr. Wu, you know that a major decision requires a group of courageous leaders who are brave enough to take responsibility. Back then, it wasn't because of you that Xiying Film Studio would have such glory? But you can't expect all His leaders are all courageous, maybe they just hope that they will not collapse in his hands? You can’t say that they are completely wrong, right? After all, you have a chance if you are alive.”

Wu Tianming thought for a while and nodded.

"You can be eloquent. I guess that's how you persuaded the leaders of Huying Group? It's a pity, it would be great if you were from my West Film Studio."

Wu Tianming has a heart to love talent.

"Ha, Mr. Wu, it's really not me who persuaded the Huying Group, but the Huying Group took the initiative to ask me for a change. I just used the experience I saw in foreign countries for several years, and then proposed a plan. Now this plan is not good. Knowing whether it will be successful or not, everyone is waiting to see the joke."

"Joke? They are the joke. You said very well, the improvement model of the film studio is the way out for the industrialization of the film. I have not seen in recent years that the director-centered system relies entirely on the director's all-rounder, which is too risky. "

"It is not only necessary for the director to understand production, but also to let the director know how to create, and more importantly, let the director know how to control costs and understand the market. How is this possible? If a crew completely lets the director decide, then the result is that the director keeps squandering, going Realize his unrealistic ideas."

"Then it was delaying the progress, increasing expenses, and suddenly adding and changing plays, and the cost increased a lot. The result? The biggest possibility is to make a bad film that has no market or even wins awards. Everyone says that Chen Kaige was born in "Overlord" After Farewell My Concubine, I couldn’t make any good films, that’s because he was given too much power later on.”

"I think back then, the script of "Farewell My Concubine" was adapted by Lu Wei, and Chen Kaige hardly changed it, because the script was approved after repeated discussions by the film studio. When Chen Kaige was filming, the filming progress and cost control were all monitored by the film studio. Including "Yellow Earth", "The King of Children", and "Walking and Singing" he made before. But since he has the greatest right to speak, what kind of film has he made?"

"What director-centered system? It's all bullshit. Without the film studio model, what kind of award-winning and excellent films have their so-called directors who followed the director-centered system made over the past ten years? Those so-called sixth-generation films can see?"

"Our way is wrong, but no one listens to me. I have to say, ours is also behind this, and that is also behind, this is not good, and that is not good, and then Hollywood will do it, and Europe will do it."

Wu Tianming waved his hand angrily when he mentioned this, then sighed, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.

He Fang is also confused, is this the truth?What he thought was the fact that the director-centered system was popularized from the film studios in the 90s and [-]s.

I heard that Xie Jin of Shanghai Film Studio was criticized by everyone for not being artistic, and Shanghai Film Studio fell into decline.

I don't know the specific situation, I don't know.

"Forget it, I won't complain anymore. After all, it's the age of your young people, and what I say doesn't work. This time I ask you to meet, I just want to say something to you, I am very optimistic about you. The commercial film has been made The viewability of commercial films, and the artistry of literary films produced by literary films."

"And your film industrialization plan is very good. I know that it will be difficult to go back to the old film factory. The group you created builds a platform, reshape the system and process to provide services, and the policy of creative freedom is correct."

When He Fang heard this, he was suddenly moved. He didn't expect that his ideas would be scolded as shit in the public opinion, but would be recognized by an already old filmmaker.

He Fang immediately stood up and bowed deeply to Wu Tianming.

"Hey, what are you doing, kid?" Wu Tianming asked suspiciously.

"Mr. Wu, I just want to thank you for your support. You are a senior. If there is anything you need from me in the future, just ask me." He Fang said sincerely.

"Really?" Wu Tianming's eyes lit up.

He Fang was stunned for a moment, really?Are you welcome?

"Of course it's true, Mr. Wu, what do you want me to do?"

Wu Tianming nodded, "I heard that you are preparing a 3D sci-fi blockbuster? Can I study it? I don't want to point fingers, I'm just curious about how this thing was shot."

He Fang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, "That's no problem, you can go over to guide the work at any time, and shoot in Changsha. However, the preparations are not ready yet, and I estimate that the filming will not start until October at least."

"Oh, it's okay, call me when the time comes, and I'll definitely be there. What's the problem with your industrialization?" Wu Tianming asked.

"The industrialization of film is not just a word. We need to build an underwater and underwater filming studio, and we also need to build several aircraft carrier warship models of this size, and we need to make props for future robot armor. We are still testing. It will take a few months until the test is successful, and it will actually be usable. Moreover, our current actors have not yet implemented some supporting roles, and our post-production special effects production room and team have only just been completed. There are many things to do."

"..." Wu Tianming listened enviously, "Tsk, this is industrialization, this is the real blockbuster. No, when the shooting starts, I must follow the crew to shoot the whole process. I just watch and learn."

"Haha, this is a trivial matter, Mr. Wu, don't worry, I will have someone pick you up before the filming starts."

"I don't need to pick it up, I can go by myself, don't worry, I won't interfere with the group's filming."

(End of this chapter)