1990: Starting from Baojia Street

"If you release an album later, will these songs be released in full version?" Han Sanping asked.

"It depends. If there is a lot of demand, I will consider releasing a full version."

What this means is that songs that are not popular will not be released, after all, it would be a waste of resources.

Han Sanping nodded and asked, "I heard that the English translation of the movie has already started?"

"Not only English translation, but also Japanese and Spanish. Japanese is faster, and if nothing unexpected happens, Japan will probably be the first country outside of China to release the film."

“I believe this movie will definitely do well at the box office in Japan.”

Han Sanping made such a judgment based on two points. On the one hand, it is naturally because of Zhou Yan's popularity and historical achievements in Neon. Zhou Yan's three consecutive movies have achieved high box office in Neon. On the other hand, it is also because movies of this type such as "Time Traveler" have been very popular in Neon in recent years.

This situation is related to Neon’s economic situation.

Neon’s economy is not as good as before, and tragedy movies are not as popular as this kind of healing and fresh movies.

Even Han Sanping feels that the movie "Time Traveler" is very suitable for Japan's current society.

Of course, in addition to the first two factors, "Time Traveler" has another advantage, that is the heroine.

Joey Wong is often at the top of the list of the most popular foreign female stars in Japan. She plays the male and female protagonists with Zhou Yan, so they are naturally very popular in Japan.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "The expectations for this movie in Japan are indeed very high."

Some time ago, Asahi TV conducted a street survey interview.

The TV host approached more than a hundred passers-by on the street and asked them if they knew about Zhou Yan's new movie "Time Traveler" and whether they were looking forward to it.

More than 60 percent of them said that they had heard news about the film, more than 70 percent expressed their anticipation for the film, and only more than 20 percent said they had no interest.

Finally, the reporter asked them whether they would like to go to the cinema to watch the movie. More than 70% of those who were interested basically expressed their willingness to go to the cinema to support it.

Even among the 20% who expressed no interest, some said that if they had time, they would go and see the movie, or at least listen to the songs in the movie, because they heard that there would be many songs in the movie.

Zhou Yan's popularity in Japan is mainly due to his music, otherwise he would not have been able to achieve his current influence with just those few movies.

The reason why many people are willing to go to the cinema to watch Zhou Yan’s movies is actually because of his music.

Judging from this survey report by TV Asahi, Japanese audiences do have high expectations for this movie.

Of course, the report from TV Asahi may not be credible, because TV Asahi is a well-known "pro-Zhou" TV station.

Among all the people in Japan, the one that cooperates the most with Zhou Yan is TV Asahi. Now that Zhou Yan is going to release a movie, it is normal for them to help promote it.

This kind of survey report is very easy to falsify, just fill in the data yourself.

If you want to be more realistic, you can actually do the interview and then delete all the unfavorable answers. It's not a live broadcast anyway.

This is also the usual routine of many media.

……

When Han Sanping first heard a song, he would ask Zhou Yan, but later he found that there were too many songs, some long and some short, and it would be a waste of time to ask about every one of them.

So later on, he just picked out a few that were of certain length and that he was more interested in and asked about them.

Before there were no sound tracks, I only watched silent films and felt that they were going to be worse. Han Sanping also knew that it would be much better with the sound tracks.

But he didn't expect that the improvement would be so obvious.

There are many music clips in this movie.

Han Sanping did not count them in detail, but there are definitely more than ten or twenty songs. However, after watching the whole movie, it does not give people a cluttered feeling.

All the songs are well-timed, and the key is that most of the songs are not very long.

In some places, only one or two lines of lyrics appear, so Han Sanping has no way of judging whether those songs are parts of the same song or different songs.

Musically, the highlights are very clear, and there are only two or three songs that are relatively long and can leave a deep impression on people.

It’s not that other songs can’t leave an impression, it’s just that Zhou Yan didn’t have the chance. Many of the songs are too short, and it’s easy to ignore them if you only watch the movie once. After all, normal people will pay more attention to the movie screen when watching a movie.

The song with the highest proportion is naturally "How Long Will I Love You". Han Sanping had heard this song before, and this song is indeed very suitable for "Time and Space Love Traveler".

Moreover, there are different versions of "How Long Will I Love You" in the movie, one is more affectionate, the other is more light-hearted, with different emotions, but the same tone runs through the entire movie.

I have to say, you really need to listen carefully to the music in Zhou Yan's movies, it really deserves extra points.

Han Sanping didn’t pay much attention to the music in movies before. It’s not that he didn’t know the importance of music at all, but he didn’t expect that there were so many details in the soundtrack.

It was the appearance of Zhou Yan that made him realize that the soundtrack could be done in this way.

After watching the whole movie, Han Sanping smiled and said, "This movie is really pleasing to the eyes. I found that you are really good at filming female characters. Although Wang Zuxian's casual clothes in the movie look ordinary, not as bright as she is in other movies, but in the wedding scene, she looks very charming. This kind of vitality and playfulness is rarely seen in her previous movies."

"And Chen Derong, her makeup looks messy, but you can feel her unrestrained charm, which is completely different from the TV dramas she starred in."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "They have a good foundation. All I can do is add icing on the cake."

"Your mouth really pleases girls." Han Sanping smiled and added, "But the main female characters in your movies are indeed very pretty. The heroine Yu Feihong in your first movie "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" is very pretty, as is He Saifei. Later, the actresses you filmed included Zhu Lin, Wang Zuxian, Chen Derong... Oh, does Chen Hong also act in your movies?"

"That's it."

Chen Hong played the leading female role in "Tree Hole", and indeed she has played Zhou Yan in a play.

"All of these actresses are very pretty, but among the male protagonists, except for yourself, none of them seems to be handsome. Tony Leung Ka Fai is not bad, but he is not a handsome guy."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "The role requires it, Third Brother, you have also finished watching the movie, can you give me some suggestions?"

Han Sanping waved his hand and said, "I don't have any opinions, but I do have a lot of praise. I can't wait until the day the movie is released."

In fact, even if he had suggestions, Han Sanping would not raise them now.

The work has already been done to this point. Even if he makes suggestions, we can't just turn around and revise it. It's not an easy thing to change.

Moreover, the movie has exceeded his expectations. He had previously worried that with such a short time frame, there might be some minor problems with the quality of the movie.

But now that he has seen the finished film, he is completely relieved. The standard of this movie is absolutely right.

Although the theme is not as good as Zhou Yan’s previous film "The Chorus", Zhou Yan has made progress in shooting techniques.

Han Sanping has studied each of the three films Zhou Yan had previously made.

Looking at Zhou Yan's four films, it is obvious that Zhou Yan has been improving in his techniques. Perhaps non-professionals cannot see the difference between "The Chorus" and "Time Traveler", but when "The Chorus" is compared with "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly", even a layman can feel the difference between the two films.

These two movies are completely not on the same level. "Time Traveler" can crush "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" in all aspects. In front of "Time Traveler", "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" seems a bit simple.

Of course, the gap between the two films is not only because Zhou Yan’s technical level has improved, but also because the production costs are much different. If the production level is the same, wouldn’t the money be wasted?

Zhou Yan also smiled and said, "Even if you give me suggestions now, I'm afraid I can't change it, unless it's from the radio and television department."

"Haha, not only is there no problem with the censorship of this movie, but the higher-ups are actually quite concerned about it and have proactively given it a fast track."

"why is that?"

"Because the film involves the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is conducive to national unity, especially in this special period. Hong Kong will return to Taiwan next year, and this film is also in line with the occasion."

"This is an unexpected bonus. By the way, where are we going to hold the premiere? Are we going to find a movie theater?"

Han Sanping shook his head. "Instead of going to the cinema, my idea is to hold the premiere at the Yanjing Concert Hall. The concert hall is more impressive and also fits the temperament of our movie."

"That's okay too."

"We'll let you know once the specific plan is out. What we need to do now is to set the date and promote it as soon as possible so as not to keep the audience waiting too long."

……

Han Sanping did not stay in the studio for lunch as he was in a hurry to finalize the release date.

Zhou Yan also called Xu Feng and talked to her about the release date and premiere ceremony.

Xu Feng had already talked to Han Sanping in advance, and when Zhou Yan said he had no objection, he didn't say anything else.

After talking about "Time Traveler", Xu Feng asked again, "Have you recently asked Zhang Youan to talk to Fox about investing in "Titanic"?"

"Yes, but we haven't come to any conclusion yet. I guess it will take quite some time. Fox is waiting for news from other companies."

"I heard it would cost thirty to fifty million dollars."

"Fox wants 100 million US dollars, but I told Zhang Youan that we can negotiate if it's less than 50 million, but forget it if it's more than 50 million."

"Do you have that much money on hand? Do you want me to give you some?" Xu Feng asked with concern.

Zhou Yan knew that Xu Feng was not being polite. If he said he needed money at this time, given Xu Feng's personality, he would definitely give him some money.

"No need, Sister Feng, I have already arranged the money matters here."

"Since you said that, I won't ask any more questions. But you have to remember, don't be afraid to bother me if you have any questions. As long as you ask, I can definitely raise several million dollars for you, even if I don't ask too much."

"Thank you, Sister Feng."

"You don't need to thank me. Your investment in Titanic is a bit risky in my opinion, but since you did it, I support you."

"Haha, if I fail this time, I'll have to rely on you, Sister Feng, in the future."

On the other end of the phone, Xu Feng laughed. She knew that the more Zhou Yan said such things, the more it showed that Zhou Yan was confident, and she also became confident in this investment.

Although she didn't know where Zhou Yan's confidence came from, after spending all these years together, Xu Feng developed an almost blind trust in Zhou Yan's vision.

"Okay, as long as I can make it, I will make sure you have enough food and clothing. As long as Tomson Pictures has money in its account, we can use it to make a movie for you."

"Will you continue filming even if it doesn't make money?" Zhou Yan joked.

Xu Feng did not hesitate at all and said directly, "We must shoot it. As long as you are willing to shoot it, I am willing to invest. Even if we lose money, forget it. When I founded Tomson Pictures, I didn't think about making money."

If someone else said this, Zhou Yanzhen might not believe it, but when Xu Feng said this, he believed it came from the heart.

Even with Chen Kaige like that, Xu Feng still wanted to invest in him, or was it Chen Kaige himself who felt that Xu Feng was too controlling and was unwilling to cooperate with him?

This girl seems to be decisive and resolute, but when it comes to investing in movies, she seems to be a bit "love-brained". As long as the director is someone she recognizes, she will always support him.

"Don't worry, Sister Feng, I won't let you suffer any loss."

"Haha, I believe this. I'm looking forward to the premiere day. I'm really curious about what it's like for you to partner with Xiaoxian."

"If you're in a hurry, I can give you a copy of the finished film."

Xu Feng immediately refused, "Forget it. How can I watch it alone as well as with everyone else? Let's save the surprise for the premiere. Then I won't have to prepare my emotions when facing the reporters."

"I heard from my third brother that the premiere will be held at the Yanjing Concert Hall. Please reserve a seat for me in the front rows."

"Isn't that a simple matter? How many places do you want to reserve?"

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said, "Leave 20 to 30 for me, and leave 100 for the back row."

"You're saving it for the orchestra, right? No problem. There are plenty of seats in the concert hall. You can just call them all over."

"Well, besides the people in the studio, there are some other friends."

Xu Feng didn't ask who Zhou Yan's friends were, "Okay, I'll ask them to reserve 30 tickets for you in the first four rows, and 120 tickets in the back rows."

……

The release date of "Time Traveler" was set and the promotion began soon.

Even before Tang Chen's later publicity plan was launched, the news had already spread everywhere. There was no need for Tang Chen to actively promote it. As soon as the news came out, major newspapers and TV stations rushed to report it.

This is the celebrity effect. With Zhou Yan and Wang Zuxian, two people who are already popular, it is very easy to promote the movie.

The reason why those producers like to invite celebrities is not because of this. Inviting popular celebrities can save a lot of publicity costs.

This is a very normal thing, but later some producers went too extreme and the film remuneration accounted for too high a proportion of the production cost, so that the production of film and television dramas was very rudimentary.

There is a producer who, with a production cost of 100 million, dares to spend 80 million as the actors' remuneration, and 79 million of the 80 million are given to the protagonists, and the supporting actors can only get the remaining 1 million.

The TV dramas and movies produced in this way have no quality at all.

Even if the main actor is very good and worth so much money, the supporting actors who can be hired for one million are probably not good actors.

Later, the state stipulated that actors' pay could not exceed 40% of production costs, and main pay could not exceed 70% of total pay.

But after this regulation came out, some people still took advantage of loopholes, and some people signed yin-yang contracts with actors, and the salary on the surface was completely different from the actual salary. (End of this chapter)