1990: Starting from Baojia Street

In Ye Xiaogang's opinion, whether they get film music composition work depends entirely on chance, and they don't get many jobs throughout the year. Even if they do get work, they can't handle it. There is no need for them to cooperate with Zhou Yan's studio.

Tang Jianping had a different idea. He smiled and said, "I think Zhou Yan's idea is good. With the help of their studio, we can save a lot of trouble. As for whether it is profitable, Zhou Yan should know better than us."

Guo Wenjing asked curiously, "Old Tang, are you also involved in film soundtracks now?"

He had never heard of Tang Jianping composing film music before, so he was a little surprised.

"No." Tang Jianping shook his head. "But I think Zhou Yan's studio can help us, whether it's film music or other work. Some time ago, someone from the Grand Theater came to discuss with me and wanted me to compose music for one of their operas, but there were so many miscellaneous tasks that wasted our energy."

"The Grand Theater is going to produce a new opera?" Ye Xiaogang asked curiously.

Tang Jianping nodded. "That's the idea, but I don't know the details yet."

"Is Zhou Yan's studio unable to help you with this matter?" Guo Wenjing said.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "We can help Teacher Tang complete the early stages of the meeting with the theater, such as negotiating remuneration."

"It's not easy to negotiate the remuneration with the theater, and composing for the theater is also a good opportunity, so you don't have to pay too much attention to the remuneration." Guo Wenjing said again.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. The value of creation needs to be reflected. We can't just think about promoting our own style. We need to help when we can and ask for the money when we can. Brother Ye just said that you don't have many jobs and that it's not profitable. This is a misunderstanding of our studio and your own value."

At this point, the boss brought a plate of hot dishes, and Zhou Yan picked up the bottle of wine, pouring wine for Ye Xiaogang while continuing, "In recent years, domestic films have paid more and more attention to soundtracks during production, and the investment has continued to increase, so the market will only get better and better. In addition, domestic films have been undergoing reforms in the past two years and will become more and more commercialized, resulting in an increase in overall investment in films. The investment in soundtracks will naturally rise with it."

"But at this stage, domestic film and television producers don't know much about music. Many directors don't know where to find music directors when preparing for a film. In most cases, they can only be introduced by acquaintances. After finding a music director, communication between the two sides on the direction of the film's music is another big problem. Sometimes you will find that you can't agree on a point. The filmmaker doesn't understand music, and the composer doesn't understand movies."

When Zhou Yan said this, Ye Xiaogang nodded, "That's true. I discovered this problem when I was composing the music for "After Dusk". Chen Yifei has made outstanding achievements in art, but he takes music for granted. His feelings are too vague and cannot be conveyed to me well. There are actually many regrets about the soundtrack for this movie. The most critical problem is that Chen Yifei didn't consider the soundtrack at the beginning. He didn't think about it until the movie was almost finished. So when I was composing the soundtrack later, it wasn't easy."

The Chen Yifei mentioned by Ye Xiaogang is the director of "Appointment at Dusk".

In fact, Chen Yifei is a cross-border director. He was originally a painter and had made great achievements in oil painting. In the 1980s, he held many art exhibitions abroad.

It was not until 1993 that Chen Yifei made his debut in film, directing the autobiographical art film "Old Dreams on the Sea - Chen Yifei's Personal Thoughts".

Two years later, he directed and completed the film "Appointment at Dusk".

Chen Yifei not only didn't know much about music, he didn't know much about movies either, so when he was directing, he couldn't think of many details at all.

"Well, that's another problem I want to talk about. Many directors like to put the soundtrack later. They think that after the movie is shot, they can just find a composer to add music to the movie. But in this way, the things that the composer can do will be greatly compressed, and the composer can do very little preparation work, so it is difficult to be handy when composing the soundtrack for the movie. The movies that our studio is taking on now require us to intervene in the preparation stage of the movie. We will not accept some movies that come to us after the filming is completed."

Zhou Yan’s studio has received many inquiries, many of which are about the situation he just described.

Many filmmakers don't consider the soundtrack at all in the early stages, and only think of finding a soundtrack director to compose the music after the film is finished.

In this situation, Zhou Yan and his team would not accept the offer, even if the other party expressed willingness to pay a high salary.

"It seems that signing with your studio does have some use." Ye Xiaogang nodded.

"Another point is that the studio's equipment and environment are very good, which can help you create and greatly save your time."

"Yes, that's true." Guo Wenjing agreed.

Composers are different from writers. Most writers basically only need pen and paper when creating, but most composers cannot compose good music with only pen and paper. They must use musical instruments to assist in composing, because no matter how well the music is written, it has to be presented through musical instruments.

Zhou Yan's studio is well-equipped, has a great environment, and even has a full orchestra to assist in creation.

The most important thing is that Zhou Yan also has a film studio, which means he has a complete industrial chain.

After Ye Xiaogang and his team come up with the music, they can record it in a timely manner, edit it into the movie to see the effect, and then make adjustments based on the presentation effect.

The feedback time is very short, which greatly improves work efficiency.

When Ye Xiaogang was composing the soundtrack for "Appointment at Dusk", he made the score and handed it over to the producer. If there was anything inappropriate, both parties had to spend more time communicating, and the feedback was not timely enough.

Sometimes when there is something not perfect, they are too lazy to communicate and make changes, and just make do with it.

Tang Jianping smiled and said, "Speaking of this, it occurred to me that if I sign with your studio, I can let your studio record the soundtrack in the future, and I don't have to look for anyone else."

"Well, that's right, this is also one of the ways the studio makes money."

After Zhou Yan's talk, Ye Xiaogang also became interested and started to think about it.

Guo Wenjing said, holding a glass of wine, "I think this is feasible. Why don't you go to Zhou Yan's studio and take a look, Old Ye?"

Zhou Yan picked up the wine glass and said, "How about this, I'll invite you to visit our studio."

Ye Xiaogang and Tang Jianping also raised their glasses. The four of them clinked their glasses and took a sip. Ye Xiaogang said, "Okay, let's go and have a look when we have time in the next two days. Although I did the soundtrack for "Date at Dusk", I still don't know much about soundtracks and film post-production. This is a good opportunity for me to go and learn."

"Okay, let's put work aside for now and have a good drink. The food won't taste good if it gets cold."

……

The next morning, Zhou Yan slept until around nine o'clock.

Last night, it was almost four o'clock when Zhou Yan came home and took a shower. He slept until after nine o'clock, and only slept for more than five hours.

In fact, they only drank until about twelve o'clock last night. The reason why Zhou Yan didn't go to bed until after four o'clock was because Ye Xiaogang acted crazy after drinking.

Ye Xiaogang performed very well at the beginning. He drank quickly and in a normal state. Zhou Yan once thought that he had a very good alcohol tolerance.

However, when he was halfway through drinking, Guo Wenjing winked at Zhou Yan, meaning that Ye Xiaogang should not drink any more.

Later Zhou Yan found out that Guo Wenjing was the one who understood Ye Xiaogang.

Later on, Ye Xiaogang began to ask for more wine. If Zhou Yan and the others hadn't stopped him, he would have asked the boss for a few more bottles of Erguotou.

When they finished drinking and walked into the school, Ye Xiaogang climbed over the wall and climbed a tree. When they entered the school gate, the three of them were chatting. When they turned around, they saw Ye Xiaogang had climbed up a tree.

When Zhou Yan saw Ye Xiaogang holding the tree branch, he was stunned.

The branch was about two meters above the ground. Even if Ye Xiaogang hadn't drunk too much, it would have been difficult for him to climb up the branch. However, after drinking, his athletic ability increased dramatically, and he climbed up without noticing.

Three people were standing under the tree trying to coax Ye Xiaogang to come down, but the guy on the tree turned a deaf ear to them and held onto the branch, mumbling something in his mouth.

It took more than half an hour just to get him down from the tree.

After climbing down from the tree, Ye Xiaogang ran around in the yard again, and he ran very fast, like an athlete.

Later, I was so tired from running that I just lay down on the ground and fell asleep.

It was already very cold late at night in Yanjing at the end of October. Zhou Yan and his friends didn't dare to let him sleep on the ground, so they could only help him to the dormitory. However, this guy seemed determined to sleep on the ground. Whenever Zhou Yan and his friends pulled him, he would shake his arms and make a scene.

Zhou Yan originally thought that he was very strong and should have no problem picking up Ye Xiaogang. However, when he really tried to pick up Ye Xiaogang, he found that his strength was not enough. Ye Xiaogang shook his arms and he couldn't hold him at all.

Finally, it was Guo Wenjing who came up with an idea. He dragged a large plastic trash can from somewhere, put Ye Xiaogang into the trash can, and then the three of them carried the trash can and sent Ye Xiaogang back to the dormitory.

I don’t know what Ye Xiaogang would feel when he wakes up and remembers that he was put into a trash can and carried home.

I have to say that Guo Wenjing's move was really mean, but it also really worked.

After being put into the trash can, Ye Xiaogang became much more well-behaved and could no longer throw a tantrum.

After getting up, Zhou Yan was brushing his teeth when the phone in the room rang. He went over and answered the phone holding his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Hey."

Zhang Youan on the other end of the phone laughed and said, "Just got up?"

"Ah."

"Getting up so late is not like your style."

Zhou Yan used his foot to move the trash can in front of him, spat, and said, "I went out drinking with a few brothers last night and stayed out quite late."

"We've won an award, so we should celebrate. It's not easy to win the second prize. I've seen the list of first and second prize winners, and you're the only young person on them."

"Well, the jury is pretty bold."

"We can promote this award well. After all, it is very valuable." Zhang Youan smiled and said, "Harry Kane contacted me. He said he has arranged for Shutter Island to contact Bantam. After they receive the manuscript, we can formally discuss the first print and royalties."

Zhou Yan nodded. "This Harry Kane is really concerned. Does he have any other requests?"

"He did have one request. He said that he hoped you could hold a book signing event at his Little Bear Records and Bookstore after the novel is published."

"this one?"

"Well, that's it. He didn't mention any other requests... Oh, by the way, asking for two autographed copies of your books, is that also a request?"

"That's easy. I'll sign it for him once the book comes out."

"Harry Kane is a smart man. Even if he has any ideas, he won't mention them at this stage."

Zhou Yan nodded. He understood what Zhang Youan meant.

Harry Kane is not stupid. He knows that favors are hard to repay. Now that he has helped Zhou Yan, any future cooperation will be a natural thing and there is no need for him to make requests in a hurry.

Raising your demands at this time would only make things worse.

"Since he's a smart man, we can work with him more. How about this? He wants me to hold a book signing in his bookstore, so I can hold the book signing for Shutter Island in the Little Bear Bookstore, and then ask Warner to help promote it and make it a good event."

"Okay, but we still have to finalize the publishing first. Your manuscript..."

Zhou Yan rolled his eyes. Zhang Youan had urged him about this the day before yesterday, and now he did it again today. "I'll have someone send you the manuscript tomorrow night."

Zhang Youan laughed and said, "Okay, I'll go share this good news with Harry Kane in a moment."

Zhou Yan looked up at the clock on the wall. It was already half past nine.

"It's getting late over there."

"It's okay. He goes to bed late. It's still early now."

Zhou Yan nodded, "Anything else?"

He was in a hurry to brush his teeth, but halfway through he felt discomfort in his mouth.

"One more thing, the preparations for "Go All Out" are progressing very well and filming will start soon."

"Well, good thing."

Zhang Youan didn't need to tell Zhou Yan about this matter, but it was Zhou Yan who recommended him to invest in this film, so now that the preparations for the film have made progress, he wanted to share it with Zhou Yan.

"There's nothing else to do... Celine Dion and her husband are going to spend a few days in Yanjing. I've arranged for someone to accompany them. You don't have to worry about it."

"okay."

Zhou Yan was just thinking about how to arrange for Celine Dion and her husband. They came from afar, so he couldn't just ignore them after the work was done. Now that he heard that Zhang Youan had made the arrangements, he felt relieved. (End of this chapter)