1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The piece ended nearly forty minutes later.

Yu Hua ran to eject the CD and asked Zhou Yan, "You should have a backup of this CD, right?"

"Yeah, there's more."

"Then I'll take this one back." Yu Hua said to Shi Tiesheng while loading the CD, "Tiesheng, do you want to listen to it? I'll go downstairs and make another copy for you later."

Yu Hua and his colleagues have come to the studio so many times that they are very familiar with it and know where the copies are.

Shi Tiesheng shook his head and said, "Forget it. I don't have any equipment at home. If I want to listen, I can either go to your house or come to the studio."

"Then let's come here. They have better equipment here."

After putting the CD away, Yu Hua asked again, "Is there a piano solo version of this song? I think the piano solo version of this song must be very nice, and I can play the piano solo version for Haiguo at home when I have nothing to do. He is too young to accept the majestic and vast sound of a symphony."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "No, but if you want, I'll ask Zhang Zuoquan to record a version for you later. Zhang Zuoquan has been practicing this piece recently, so it won't be a big deal to ask him to record a version for you."

"Is Zuo Quan practicing this piece recently?" Yu Hua became interested. "Then I can go and listen to it live."

Compared to listening to recordings, Yu Hua still prefers to listen to live performances, the feeling is completely different.

"Sure. Recently he usually practices for one to two hours in the big recording studio after dinner, around 6:30."

"That's perfect. Let's have dinner here today and then go and listen afterward." Yu Hua said with a smile.

Yu Hua doesn't feel any pressure at all to eat at the studio.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "You should take advantage of this time to eat more in the cafeteria. The cafeteria downstairs will be closed soon."

Yu Hua asked curiously, "Why are you closing the cafeteria?"

Zhou Yan sighed, "There's nothing I can do. My studio has not been doing well recently, and with people coming to eat for free every day, I can't support it. Now that I can't increase the source of income, I can only cut costs. You guys should eat quickly, one meal at a time, because there won't be many opportunities in the future."

Yu Hua rolled his eyes, not believing Zhou Yan's words at all. "You made up this nonsense just to tease us."

After knowing each other for so many years, Yu Hua has a relatively good understanding of Zhou Yan.

Even if the studio is really not profitable and needs to cut costs, Zhou Yan can't just close the cafeteria first.

Although Zhou Yan is not the kind of person who is extremely particular, he cares a lot about eating, and their studio has always invested a lot in the canteen.

Besides, Yu Hua didn't believe that the studio was not profitable. Although he had not been here often recently, he had some understanding of the studio's situation. All departments of the studio were now busier than before, and there was obviously more business than before.

When he came today, he noticed that the sofas in the lounge area on the first floor lobby had been replaced with new ones. The new sofas looked much higher-end than the previous ones. Could this be due to poor efficiency?

There is also a warming cabinet for drinks in the corridor.

If you really want to save money, you should first remove the refrigerator and thermal cabinet.

"Haha, the cafeteria downstairs is indeed going to be vacated because it will be moved to another building. The current cafeteria is a bit small, and moving to the new building will make it bigger."

Hearing that they were moving to a new place, Yu Hua smiled and nodded, "It needs to be bigger. There are more and more people in your studio now. Sometimes we have to queue up to eat."

Not to mention Yu Hua, even Zhou Yan would have to queue if he went to eat during mealtime.

Zhou Yan actually wanted to move the canteen before. There were some empty rooms in Building No. 3 that could be used to turn a canteen.

But the cafeteria was barely sufficient before, the studio was still developing, and we didn’t know when the rooms in Building No. 3 would be used, so this was not done.

Now that they have rented three adjacent buildings, with ample space, they can consider rebuilding a canteen.

As Yu Hua knew, Zhou Yan attached great importance to the canteen.

Food is the most important thing for people. Eating always comes first.

"In the future, there will not only be a cafeteria, but also a leisure area. You can come and play when you have nothing to do."

"Recreation area? What to play?"

“For example, gaming area, sports area, fitness area.”

“It’s really comfortable to work here.”

"How about you come and work for me?" Zhou Yan joked.

Yu Hua immediately waved his hand, "Forget it, I can't go to work now. But you can come and play, Haiguo is in kindergarten now, and I have more time every day."

"You can bring Haiguo here to play, too. I'll have someone get a few more game consoles."

"Forget about the game console. It's really nice to let him listen to music. If it's up to me, it would be best if he could become a musician in the future, or a director, just like you."

Shi Tiesheng joked, "You want Zhou Yan to be your son."

Yu Hua rolled his eyes. "Everyone says you're a good person. This is the biggest misunderstanding of you. You're full of bad intentions."

"I am just interpreting what you said."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Why not just let Haiguo be my son? I will teach him music and how to make movies. I am better than you at both of these."

"Tsk." Yu Hua sneered, "If you want a child, go find one yourself, don't think about my son."

"I don't have one yet. Let Haiguo be my son first so I can try my hand. Otherwise, when my own child is born, I will have no experience."

Yu Hua gave Zhou Yan a thumbs up in annoyance, "You are such a genius, why didn't I think of this method before? Before giving birth, you can practice on other people's children."

Shi Tiesheng lit another cigarette and said with a smile, "But speaking of which, Zhou Yan, you are not young anymore, aren't you thinking about the important things in your life? There are many girls around you, why don't you like any of them?"

"Yeah, is there any possibility between you and Xiaoxian?"

Zhou Yan curled the corner of his mouth. These two guys were no different from ordinary people and were still very weird.

"Ahem." Zhou Yan coughed lightly and changed the subject, "The workers' congress will be held next month. Have you made an appointment with your poker friends?"

Yu Hua nodded, "Of course. When Su Tong, Han Shaogong and the others come, are we still worried that there will be no one to play cards?" "We can ask them to come in advance. I'll host them and we can all get together."

"That's no problem. You're a big shot here, so it's a waste if you don't eat it."

"Okay, tell me how many people there are in advance, and I'll make the arrangements then."

"There aren't that many people, mainly because I want you to know them."

"It doesn't matter. I can call someone I don't know. After we have a meal together, we will know each other, right?"

"Okay, I'll come and see when the time comes."

……

After having dinner in the cafeteria, Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng went to the large recording studio.

Today, Zhang Zuoqun was practicing "Xu Sanguan" in the big recording studio as usual, and the two of them became his audience, listening to him play the piano quietly.

It was not until after nine o'clock that Zhou Yan drove them back.

After returning home, Zhou Yan took a shower and prepared to go to the study to work for a while when the phone in the living room rang.

The call was from Hong Ben from Mexico. He was currently on the set of "Titanic" and would call Zhou Yan regularly to report on his work.

"Director Zhou, I've really learned a lot today. I didn't expect that movies could be shot this way..."

As soon as the call was connected, Hong Ben excitedly shared with Zhou Yan the new knowledge he had recently learned on site.

Hong Ben was talking about the set of shots of "I am the king of the world". Cameron used half real scenes and half CG, shooting in a track rotation method.

Hong Ben had never seen or even heard of this kind of shooting technique before, so he was so excited.

When he first arrived at the filming set of "Titanic", Hong Ben was like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. He was amazed at everything he saw, especially the half-built ship on the set.

The visual impact of that thing was so strong that Hong Ben himself said that when he walked under the big ship, his mind was completely blank because he could never imagine that making a movie could be done to this extent.

In addition to the big ship, there were many small boats of other proportions on the scene. At first, Hong Ben didn't know what these boats were used for, but as the filming progressed, he understood more and more.

The more he understood, the more surprised he was.

Before going out, Hong Ben felt that the filming technology of their crew was already quite advanced. Although it certainly could not catch up with the top level abroad, the gap should not be too big. After all, their crew's filming technology and equipment had surpassed most domestic crews.

Moreover, Hong Ben had not seen Zhou Yan's shooting technique for a long time.

But after arriving at the filming site of "Titanic", Hong Ben realized that he had been looking at the world from a narrow perspective. Hollywood's filming technology was completely two generations ahead of that in China.

It's not just the gap between equipment, but also the gap between shooting concepts.

Seeing such a huge gap, Hong Ben was a little discouraged at first. After all, the gap was too big, making it difficult for people to think about surpassing others.

But gradually, his mentality changed and he began to seriously carry out the tasks assigned to him by Zhou Yan.

What he needs to do now is to study the technology of "Titanic" well, follow Zhou Yan's filming after returning to China, and improve the domestic filming technology.

Zhou Yan had said something before that made people feel at ease. Zhou Yan told him that the technology used in "Titanic" was so great that not only China could not match it, but even Hollywood would be far ahead of it. As long as one tenth of the technology was learned from them, it would be able to surpass most Hollywood movies.

In addition, movies are not just about technology, and Chinese movies are not completely without advantages.

After listening to Hong Ben excitedly sharing what he had seen and learned recently, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "When you are learning on the scene, don't just stay on the surface. You should know not only the results but also the reasons. If you encounter technology you don't understand, don't be shy and ask questions. Assistant Director Sebastian and I have a good relationship. You can get in touch with him more when you have nothing to do. If you need anything, just ask him directly."

"Well, actually, the people in the director team took good care of me. Even Director James Cameron treated me better than people in other departments. Sometimes, I felt that they were a little too nice to me, especially Christie, who would come to me and ask if I needed anything. Of course, I know that they were doing it for your sake."

Zhou Yan smiled. There was a reason why the director team gave him face.

Before in Canada, Zhou Yan can be said to have saved James Cameron's life and Christie's life.

If Zhou Yan had not used his arm to stop Christie's attack, the consequences would have been disastrous and the movie "Titanic" would no longer exist.

But Hong Ben didn't know about this.

Although this incident was reported in the newspaper at the time, the outside world was not clear about the details and the crew did not disclose them to the public.

On the one hand, the matter is still under investigation, and the police asked them not to reveal too much information. On the other hand, such details will not have any good impact on the crew for the time being, so James Cameron also asked those who were present at the time not to tell anyone.

"Since they have taken the initiative to ask you what you need, don't be shy. Just go to them directly if you have any problem."

"I understand. By the way, Sebastian and Christie asked me these past two days when you will come over."

Zhou Yan groaned, "I'll see. The post-production of Time Traveler is still in progress. After that, there may be other things to do. I have other things to do in December, so I may not be able to get through this year."

"If he can't come, it would be a shame. I guess Christie would be very disappointed too." Hong Ben said with a smile, a hint of gossip in his tone.

Whenever she had time, Christie would go to Hong Ben to ask him if he needed anything, and she would always ask Zhou Yan.

Hong Ben could tell that Christie treated Zhou Yan differently and it was obvious that she had taken a fancy to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan also heard the gossip in Hong Ben's tone and said unhappily, "I think you are still too idle at the scene. I have to assign you more tasks."

"Compared to other people, I do have a lot less time. The key is that the atmosphere on the set is too depressing. I feel a little suffocated just watching from the sidelines. Before, I thought you, Director Zhou, put a lot of pressure on me, but now it seems that you are really gentle."

"Is the crew under a lot of pressure?"

"Well, the director has a gloomy face every day, and the producer keeps provoking him. Recently, the crew has been in a very negative mood. People are injured every day, the budget is falling, and the filming progress is not satisfactory. I heard Sebastian mention that it seems that the budget for the movie is not enough."

"The budget is not enough?" Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes.

"When I was chatting with Sebastian a few days ago, he mentioned it casually, but I didn't ask in detail. After all, it has nothing to do with me. No wonder the producer is anxious. The cost of this movie is too high. If the budget can't keep up and the plan is shelved, the loss will be too great. Oh, by the way, their insufficient budget will not affect the income of our studio, right? Otherwise, I will go and ask around?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. Just stay in the crew." (End of this chapter)