Siheyuan starts from a better life

Chapter 969 Conditions
"Old leader, the environment here is great, and you can see everything from here." Because he was familiar with Jiang Yan, he didn't say anything too polite and just stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

"It's okay! Tea or coffee?" Jiang Yan said.

"Let's have some tea!" Xiao Gong said.

"What would you like to drink, Director Yang?" Jiang Yan turned around and asked Director Yang who came in with Xiao Gong.

"Tea, thank you, Mr. Jiang." Director Yang said.

"You're welcome." After Jiang Yan said this, he asked his secretary to pour two cups of tea.

"How come you have time to come here today?" After chatting for a while, Jiang Yan spoke directly.

"This is it. I'm here to beg for alms from my old leader today." Xiao Gong said after taking a sip of tea.

"What kind of fate?"

"Old leader, it's like this. Director Yang recently started filming "Journey to the West", one of my country's four great classics. The funding from superiors is limited, so they only filmed 11 episodes in total and had no more funds. Director Yang's husband is a friend of my uncle, and he knows the relationship between you and me, so he found me. Today I wanted to introduce Director Yang to someone else. You two can discuss the details." Xiao Gong explained his purpose succinctly.

"Boss Jiang, you also know that the Journey to the West filmed by Jiaobenji before was completely based on ruining our country's famous works, so the leaders asked us to film our own four great classics. However, you also know that the country is in trouble now, and the funds allocated are limited. Now the prices are soaring, so only 11 episodes were filmed. The superiors have no funds, so they are thinking of getting some corporate sponsorship."

"Xiao Gong said before that you are happy to support other causes in our country, so I am sorry to bother you." Director Yang said.

In 1978, the world's first Journey to the West was remade by Jiaobenji. The Tang Sanzang in the film was changed from a male to a female. This is a bit difficult to understand. Not only is Tang Sanzang a female, but even the Buddha is a female. The plot has no bottom line, the imagination is too wild, and it ruins the original series. It is really unbearable to watch. That's why China decided to shoot our own Journey to the West. We can't let Jiaobenji ruin our classics.

"Director Yang, let's talk business. I don't know what I will get from investing in your TV series." Jiang Yan said.

"This." Director Yang was speechless when he heard Jiang Yan ask this. They had never thought about this matter before.

"How about this! Director Yang, in principle, I can invest in the TV series, and the ownership of the TV series belongs to us, but our TV station can broadcast it for free. In addition, the TV station can give me a five-minute advertisement during the broadcast of this TV series, which is valid for one year. What do you think?"

To be honest, the conditions proposed by Jiang Yan are not harsh. On the contrary, they are quite beneficial to the other party. You know, the first commercial advertisement that appeared on TV screens in my country was not until 1979. This advertisement was for ginseng beauty wine.

The advertisement was only 95 seconds long and consisted of 5 inserts without any moving shots. It was no different from the TV newsreels at the time. The content was also very simple: the son, daughter-in-law and grandson went to the store to buy a bottle of "Shengui Yangrong Wine" for their old father. The old father was very happy after receiving the wine. At that time, the cost of the first TV advertisement in my country was 300 yuan.

"I agree in principle, but I need to discuss it with my superiors. I wonder how much Mr. Jiang can invest." Director Yang asked.

"I don't know how much money you need." Jiang Yan asked back.

"If we shoot all 36 episodes of 500 Difficulties as planned, it will cost at least 24 million yuan. If we only shoot 300 episodes, it will cost at least million yuan." Director Yang said after thinking for a moment.

"Since we are going to shoot, we must finish it. We will shoot it according to the 86 difficulties." Jiang Yan said directly. In later generations of Journey to the West fans, the 25 version of Journey to the West was only shot for 81 episodes due to funding reasons, and there were many episodes that were not included in the version. Later, after Journey to the West became a big hit, in order to enrich the plot and make up for the regrets, a sequel to Journey to the West was shot.

The sequel was filmed more than ten years later, so the style is quite different from the previous one, and the evaluation is much lower than that of the 86 version of Journey to the West. Many fans of Journey to the West feel that it would be much better if the complete difficulties were filmed at that time. Now that Jiang Yan has the ability to do so, he must make up for this regret in the future, so Jiang Yan said so.

"Also, I heard that our crew currently only has one camera. Regardless of whether we can reach an agreement or not, I will personally sponsor three of the latest cameras for the TV crew to use for filming." Jiang Yan continued.

This TV series has been broadcast for more than 30 years, bringing us a magical world. In other words, Sun Wukong is the Chinese version of a superhero.

In the play, Sun Wukong can grow bigger and smaller, fly up to the sky and into the earth. Although the special effects look crude now, who wouldn't be stunned back then? The 86 version of "Journey to the West" is so classic, not only because of the performance of Liu Xiaolingtong, but also because of the wisdom and hard work of the entire crew and director Yang Jie.

The filming of the 86 version of Journey to the West was very difficult due to the limited conditions. It is a true journey of "seeking scriptures". So some people say that the hardship of filming Journey to the West behind the scenes is no less than that of seeking scriptures in the West.

At that time, the domestic tourism industry was not as developed as it is now, and many scenic spots had not yet been developed. The mountain roads were dangerous, and the crew went to India, Thailand and other places to shoot in order to achieve better results.

During the filming process, the main creative staff encountered danger many times. Yang Jie almost fell off a cliff from the mountain once. The four masters and apprentices almost slipped and fell when filming the scene of walking across the waterfall. Even the White Dragon Horse encountered dangerous situations such as falling into ditches many times.

The most important thing is that there was only one camera for the entire crew at that time.

For example, when filming the scene where the Princess of Baoxiang Kingdom chased the rabbit that was the incarnation of the Yellow Robe Monster, "one person was holding a rabbit, the photographer was carrying the camera and ready, and then released the rabbit. The cameraman had to carry the camera and chase after it, and behind them was a group of assistants carrying monitors. Director Yang Jie also ran after the monitor, just for this shot of chasing the rabbit." That's more than ten people forming a long line to chase the rabbit!
This old machine does not have a telephoto function, and needs a telephoto lens. It also needs to file a report and queue up before it can be used for three days and then sent back. There is only one camera, and it cannot shoot from multiple angles at the same time. The efficiency is very low, so "Journey to the West" took six years to shoot. If Jiang Yan sponsors a few more cameras, it is estimated that this TV series should be able to be released earlier.

"Director Yang, I believe you know that I work in the automotive industry. I can also privately sponsor three vans for our crew to use for filming." Jiang Yan then threw out another bait.

"In addition, I also heard that the salaries of our crew members are generally low. I can increase the expenses to be used for the workers' salaries, board and lodging, and food expenses. This expense will not be included in the investment." Jiang Yan continued.

But the food allowance for the crew members was five yuan per day, and the highest pay for each episode, including the main cast and crew, was only more than 100 yuan. The crew members did not come for this little pay.

The conditions were so difficult back then, but the 86 version of Journey to the West is still popular. This proves that the most important thing is not the technique, but the attitude.

Putting aside other things, just based on the attitude of these actors, they are worthy of Jiang Yan's investment, so Jiang Yan said such words.

After listening to Jiang Yan's conditions, Director Yang thought for a moment and said, "I can't agree to you immediately. I need to go back and report to the leader."

"Okay, I'll wait for Director Yang's good news." Jiang Yan said lightly.

The three of them chatted casually for a while, and then Xiao Gong took Director Yang away. However, this guy was not shy when he left and took a box of tea from Jiang Yan.

(End of this chapter)