China Entertainment started from Nortel 2002

Chapter 864 New Culture Series

On October 10nd and October 2rd, Li Mu led the crew on a two-day road show, from the capital to Shanghai, and then to Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Chengdu.
A movie roadshow will probably visit at least ten cities.

Of course, Li Mu will not go again later. Generally, he only participates in the first few, and the rest are led by a few producers and divided into two teams, which go to various cities for roadshow promotions.

Roadshows seem to be just a place where the main creators go to the screenings of their films, meet each other, talk about interesting things during the filming, and talk about movies. Many people are not even aware of the existence and importance of roadshows.

But in reality, it plays an integral role in a film’s popularity, box office, and audience engagement.

Li Mu usually starts his roadshow with a sentence, "Hello everyone, welcome to our world!"

This is like opening a door for the audience to the deeper world of film.

In Li Mu's view, the roadshow is not only a public relations event for a movie, but also a link for communication and interaction with fans.

Good publicity does not rely solely on media reports, but on the word-of-mouth and emotional resonance accumulated through roadshows.

A drama like "The Captain" has a very good reputation and it resonates with people's emotions. Therefore, it often becomes a hot topic after every roadshow.

These hot searches show great appeal and can attract more audience attention and discussion.

In the past two days, the box office of "The Captain" continued to maintain, and even on October 10, the second day of National Day, it continued to rise and earned 2 million yuan in box office. However, the box office on October 4.3 had begun to decline from its peak to 10 million yuan.

This is normal. After all, during the period, "My People, My Country" also reaped a lot of box office revenue, and "The Captain" was not the only one dominating the market.

However, two days of continuous high-intensity roadshows also made Li Mu feel tired. This thing is much more difficult than shooting a movie. Basically, he goes to the next one after finishing one event venue.

Therefore, during the lunch break, the warm autumn sun is very gentle, and the breeze brings a refreshing coolness.
Li Mu sat on a large stone chair in the courtyard, trying to drive away his fatigue from the past two days.

Not far away, the little kid on National Day was making a lot of noise in the courtyard. He would pull up the things planted by his mother Li, and then race with Ala, having a lot of fun.

At this moment, Liu Yifei also came out, looked at the little bun, smiled slightly, then bent her knees and sat on the stone chair, leaning her back against Li Mu.

Her long hair fell softly from her slender neck and sat on Li Mu's shoulders and clothes. If Li Mu looked back, he could see Liu Yifei's delicate collarbone.

"What are you thinking about? About 'Changjin Lake'?" Liu Yifei asked, supporting her chin with her hand.

"By the way, when is the project of "Changjin Lake" going to be launched? It seems that you are almost done with the preparations."

"Almost done, this month, probably in the latter part of this month. I'm waiting for news from Bona and Bayi. There are still some small things to deal with, but there's no rush. The shooting will be in winter."

Li Mu said gently, "But I'm not thinking about "Changjin Lake"."

"Oh?"

“It’s Tiangong. There will be a sequel to Nezha, but it can’t be connected for the time being. Deep Sea does need manpower, but it’s a bit of a waste to use so many people to make a work.

I’m thinking about whether to start another animation, but I have no idea what to do and there are no promising projects in the industry.”

It is indeed easy to feel sleepy in the autumn afternoon. After Li Mu finished speaking, he couldn't help but yawn.

"Well, do you still want to make a special effects blockbuster? Or a mythological story?"

Liu Yifei doesn’t know much about animated films, but the themes seem to be the same over and over again.

"To be honest, I'm a little tired of it. We've already made two movies, and there are sequels coming one after another. It would be best to start a new series."

There are only a few well-known Chinese mythological stories that have come and gone: Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, and Classic of Mountains and Seas. However, Li Mu feels that Tiangong Animation cannot continue on this path.

The history of China spans more than 5000 years, and the wealth is not limited to this. We must take a long-term vision.

"Director Tian, ​​do you have any ideas?"

"He is probably worried too. He asked me and Yang Yu to go have tea together tomorrow."

Liu Yifei was troubled when she heard this. After all, professionals like Li Mu and Tian Xiaopeng were stuck, and as an amateur she couldn't give any suggestions.

At this time, the sound of the little bun playing was like the sound of a clear bell, ringing in the yard.

"Ala, catch it, quickly!"

The little bun threw a small ball with all his might, and Ala jumped up and caught it very accurately. Then the dog put on a silly smile on his face, wagged his tail and gave the ball back to the little bun.

Alaskan dogs are too energetic, and only children of three or four years old can control them.

"How long does it actually take to produce an animated film?" Liu Yifei suddenly asked, looking at the little bun.

Li Mu was a little surprised, but after thinking for a while, he said slowly, "Generally speaking, it takes two to three years at the shortest, four to five years at the longest, and of course it can be even longer. After all, from the early creative conception, script writing, character and scene design, animation production, to post-processing, each one is time-consuming and laborious."

"It takes much longer than our live-action movies." Liu Yifei roughly calculated that, on average, it takes less than a year and a half for a movie to go from project approval to release.

"So even if we produce it now, by the time it's released, the kid will be in elementary school."

"Well, the time is indeed about the same." Li Mu nodded slightly.

"How about making an animated movie as a gift for my daughter?" Liu Yifei's eyes lit up and she turned around and said. "Huh?" Li Mu was stunned. This meant that an animated movie that children could watch.

Li Mu looked at the little bun, and suddenly an idea came to his mind. He couldn't help but pat his thigh, "That makes sense."

"Huh? What makes sense?"

Liu Yifei was a little dazed and didn't quite understand what Li Mu meant.

Li Mu gently hugged Liu Yifei's face, then kissed her excitedly.

"Oh, Dad, I want one too." The little boy seemed to be paying attention all the time, then ran over excitedly and pointed to the right side of his cheek.

"Okay, okay!" Li Mu squatted down, gave him a kiss, and then touched the little bun's head, "Dad will make an animated movie for you, okay?"

"Good duck, good duck, is it Pleasant Goat? Or is it Flying Wolf?"

"You'll know then!"

Li Mu said with a smile.

Liu Yifei on the side was very anxious and tugged at Li Mu's sleeve.

"I plan to choose a historical theme and make an animated film suitable for all ages." Li Mu said lightly, he already had an idea.

"Historical subject?"

"Yes, I named this series the 'New Culture' series."

"New culture?"

"Yes, that is, to use the shining figures and classic works that are widely respected in history as the creative objects, interpret traditional culture from a new perspective, or present traditional culture in a new way, mainly to explore things that are familiar and unfamiliar to the audience."

After hearing this, Liu Yifei roughly understood that it was basically about drawing materials from history to tell stories.

"So what historical story should we choose for the first one?" Liu Yifei asked with interest.

"You said that the little girl has just started school. If she studies Chinese, what will she learn?" Li Mu asked with a smile.

"Pinyin, oh, eh, I don't understand."

"." After Liu Yifei said this, Li Mu didn't know what to say for a moment.

But what he said is not wrong.

"Uh, this isn't a good story, let's try another one."

"Change it?" Liu Yifei stroked her chin, pouted her lips, and fell into deep thought. Suddenly, she realized, "You mean poetry?"

"Bingo, that's right!" Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Liu Yifei would come up with something weird again.

"For the first film, I plan to choose the prosperous Chang'an, and use the form of an animated film to show the magnificent scenery of the Tang Dynasty, the ambitions of the poets, and the charm of Tang poetry that has been passed down for thousands of years. These are the 'romance that belongs only to the Chinese'."

When Li Mu thought of this, he wanted to find Tian Xiaopeng and Yang Yu immediately to discuss what to do.

The next day, Li Mu called the two of them directly to Tiangong Animation instead of going to the teahouse.

It's already a holiday here and no one is working overtime. After all, it's National Day and there's no need to work overtime, and there's no rush for any movies to be released.

"Mr. Li, do you mean to do a historical theme?"

Tian Xiaopeng's eyes lit up. He had to admit that this proposal was indeed quite imaginative.

"Mr. Li, what type of series do you plan to create and what is its positioning?"

Although Yang Yu has not yet taken up a position, his studio is still cooperating with Tiangong Animation. However, he currently has a very good relationship with Tian Xiaopeng, and Li Mu also intends to bring him under his umbrella. Li Mu did not hide his intentions and said directly:

"We take the shining figures and classic works that are widely respected in history as the subject of our creations, interpret traditional culture from a new perspective, and create themes for all people, rather than targeting a specific group in particular."

Li Mu said calmly, "So we chose the prosperous Tang Dynasty as the background for the first part, and used the most brilliant treasures of the Chinese nation as the introduction to compose this period of history."

"Li Bai?"

Tian Xiaopeng said subconsciously.

In China, if we were to ask who is the most familiar and favorite poet, it would definitely be Li Bai.

The line in Yu Guangzhong's "Looking for Li Bai" that "When wine enters his heroic stomach, seven parts of it turn into moonlight. The remaining three parts turn into sword energy, and when he speaks out of his embroidered mouth, it becomes half of the prosperous Tang Dynasty" is not an exaggeration at all.

"It's Li Bai, but the protagonist is not Li Bai." Li Mu shook his head. "Li Bai is a genius and a banished immortal, and most of us are ordinary people. Choosing Li Bai as the protagonist would make the perspective too narrow."

"I plan to choose ordinary people in the traditional sense, people who are closer to the general public, as the protagonists to describe this period of history and make it easier for the audience to immerse themselves in the story of the film."

Li Mu expressed his thoughts.
(End of this chapter)