This director needs to apologize

Chapter 266 The world instantly became clean

The editing of "Mulan" is progressing at a rapid pace.

In the first round of fine editing, Chen Yiming did nothing else and painfully answered multiple-choice questions every day.

In this current situation of choosing one from two or three, Wang Suqiu has nothing to do and can only let Chen Yiming make the decision.

He also felt Fu Ruixiang's entangled feelings when he participated in the editing of "Love Letter". The palms and backs of his hands were full of flesh and he couldn't remove them.

It hurts, it hurts so much!

These days, Chen Yiming enters the editing room at 1 p.m. and works until he leaves at 10 p.m., strictly following an 8-hour working day.

If we hadn't followed the no-eat-no-drink rule in the editing room, the end time would have been earlier every day.

Although the progress is slow, Chen Yiming believes that this way he can always keep his head clear and not get stuck while cutting.

After 10 days, the first round of fine editing was completed, and the length of the material was reduced to less than 300 minutes.

In the second round of technical editing, Chen Yiming gave up the power to Wang Suqiu and no longer stayed in the editing room to watch the whole process.

This is the second time we have collaborated. Chen Yiming is aware of Wang Suqiu’s editing skills and is very confident.

The material continued to be compressed to 4 hours, and the refined version has begun to take shape.

When it comes to the third round of fine cutting, it can’t just be two people working behind closed doors.

Music and sound effects, special effects shots, and empty shot narration all need to be coordinated and considered comprehensively.

The script and storyboards at the beginning of the project followed the narrative rhythm of a commercial film.

When it comes to the editing stage, it needs to be based on the narrative and further fit the rhythm of the movie.

If a movie of more than 150 minutes is poorly paced, it will make the audience mentally exhausted and ignore key information in the film, thereby significantly reducing the viewing experience and affecting reputation.

Not to mention that "Mulan" is an ancient war film, involving a relatively obscure historical background, and there is a certain threshold for viewing.

Although the environment of a movie theater helps audiences concentrate, the human brain is sometimes too poor to stay in a state of excitement and tension for long periods of time.

Therefore, commercial movies will consciously take care of the audience, so that the narrative rhythm is in a sinusoidal state with staggered peaks and troughs. Every climax of the plot will be followed by a slow-paced soothing chapter, allowing the audience to calm down.

Chen Yiming did arrange it this way when he was writing the script. However, film production has its own force majeure. Except for those cheating experts in online articles, there is no crew in the world that can compare the script and storyboards to reproduce it one-to-one.

There will always be changes of one kind or another during the filming stage. It is common for the original script to be changed or even overturned. The final material produced will definitely have many unexpected differences.

Even if Chen Yiming writes and directs himself, he cannot escape this rule, because movies are essentially a product of collective creation.

The screenwriter and director can only take the lead, but cannot make overall decisions.

Actors, photography, lighting, martial arts, and all participants on stage and behind the scenes will play a subjective role in the filming process, causing the material to deviate from the script.

The most direct influence in this regard comes from the actors. The more actors have a sense of mission for the role, the more intense the "confrontation" with the script and director will be.

For example, the scenes in "Mulan" in which Zhang Yi appeared were beyond Chen Yiming's expectations in terms of rhythm, duration, mood, and perception.

The scene between him and Yu Rongguang and Qin Zhilei at the end of the film was shot in seven or eight versions, and each version was different.

The one that Chen Yiming finally chose was shot out of four pages of storyboards, swallowed up several of Qin Zhilei's lines, and shortened the duration by half a minute.

The interpretations of the three actors did not deviate from the overall narrative framework of the script, nor did they shake Chen Yiming's expected narrative rhythm.

However, the rhythm of watching the movie has changed, and it is misaligned with the rhythm of the narrative.

Specifically, this scene is at a trough in the timeline of the entire film. The previous peak was when the Tang Army's infantry and cavalry defeated Zhang Yi's formation, and the later peak was when Yu Nan and Qin Zhilei's black and white cavalry collided.

Due to Zhang Yi's "drama tyrant" behavior, the mood of this scene was too concise and restrained, and the duration was reduced, resulting in an insufficiently smooth transition from trough to trough, with the two crests almost merging into one.

It is indeed enjoyable for the audience to watch a long section, but it can also be very tiring.

Of course, it is not without its benefits. The characters of Zhang Yi and Yu Rongguang are more three-dimensional and personalized. In other words, the spotlight is focused on themselves.

The cute newcomer Qin Zhilei's lines were robbed, and for this three-person scene alone, the character was forced to be flat.

However, the white horse rushing into battle in the latter part is cool enough, so it’s not entirely a bad thing that the scene was robbed.

Many times, it is a blessing for a movie to create a classic scene that is included in the collective memory.

Now that Chen Yiming has chosen a shorter clip because of the actor's outstanding performance, he has to bear the negative effect of disordered viewing rhythm.

The means to achieve a secondary balance is the post-production period of the film, which is currently being intensively advanced.

Chen Yiming's initial idea was to simply compress the previous peak and use fast-cut editing to speed up the narrative rhythm.

At the same time, in the latter peak, where the black and white riders collide, unconventional background music is used to delay the audience's emotional outburst. There was a wonderful example of this technique in the previous life, which was the scene of Anthony Wong falling from a building in "Infernal Affairs".

Tony Leung's intense emotional outburst, as well as the subsequent large-scale street shootout, are paired with soothing, plaintive, and light female singing.

The contrast between the "out of sync" sound and picture, as well as the depressing experience of wanting to explode but not being happy, left a deep impression on Chen Yiming.

Obviously, the editing of this paragraph is not just the work of the editor alone, but requires the cooperation of the entire post-production department.

For example, in the scene where the black and white riders collide, the original BGM was no longer suitable. Ge Jiming had to read the sample and re-adapt it based on Chen Yiming's request.

The close-ups interspersed in this paragraph have to be rearranged according to the second version of the BGM. In the words of P site netizens, they are stuck.

A few minutes of footage is already so troublesome, but when extended to the entire film, the time and energy consumed is evident.

Chen Yiming had to get vaccinated with Ma Er Ye in advance. It may not be guaranteed to be released during the Lunar New Year in December as originally planned. It may be postponed to next year's Spring Festival.

Time came to mid-September, and "Love Letter" was finally released after being postponed for one period, with a total box office of 9 million.

Lao Niu is not greedy enough and wants to apply for a second extension to try to break the 4 million mark.

However, Da Zhuang was relatively sober and decisively called for gold to withdraw his troops as soon as possible.

Xiangrui has been in the limelight for a long time. At the beginning of the year, the film "Super Sense" made a fortune, and in the middle of the year, the film "Love Letter" directly topped the list of domestic films. Seeing that the National Day movie is just around the corner, it will be a mistake to stay in love with it. People were outraged.

You must know that this film will be released in Xiaoli and Bangguo next month. No matter how hard it is in the domestic market, it will only receive some cookie crumbs. It is better to focus your limited energy on the next new market.

The overseas rights don’t stop there. Meghan is very optimistic about the narrative logic of “Love Letter” and intends to purchase the remake rights and create a nutty version across the ocean.

Nut Campus Love is definitely not the reserved and reserved style of "Love Letter", and it may not be more pornographic, but the main line is the same.

To put it bluntly, Megan is not only optimistic about "Love Letter", but also the screenwriter behind it, Chen Yiming.

Facts have proved that Chen's storytelling skills have been certified by time. If he follows his approach, most movie fans will buy it.

With the low RMB 4 million for "Love Letter", Ma Erye breathed a sigh of relief. Coupled with the rapid performance of Hollywood blockbusters in the first three quarters, there is great hope of completing the film bureau's annual target.

As a result, Chen Yiming was a blessing in disguise. Finally, he would not be called by the life-threatening serial calls seven times a week. Ma Erye, Long Yan, was overjoyed and said happily, "It's okay to take it slow and don't rush it. It's really too late for next year's Spring Festival."

Just one day before the National Day holiday, the refined version of "Mulan" has finally come to an end.

Chen Yiming decided to take a vacation with his mother, and stay at home for three days without worrying about anything else.

But before that, he still went to Bojue to pay symbolic attention to the company's affairs.

After finishing "Love Letter", everyone in Bojue herded the sheep. With the long holiday coming soon, there was an atmosphere of impetuousness in the company.

Chen Yiming ignored all the commotion in the large cubicle. After saying hello to the front desk, he went straight to Da Zhuang's office.

After pushing the door open and entering, I was surprised to find that it was crowded with people. Xiaomei, Xiangrui, Wang Wei, Tian Li, Li Zhun, and the backbone of the production department were all there.

Something happened? Why don't I know?

After the greetings, Xiaomei briefly introduced the situation. It turned out that three groups of people just happened to get together.

Xiangrui came here to apply for a long vacation. She had been nervous since the beginning of the year. When the movie was released, she finally couldn't hold back anymore and strongly requested a vacation.

Xiaomei, considering that the overseas release is about to take place, hopes that she will take a short vacation first, wait until the next overseas trip is completed, and then take a long vacation completely.

The two couldn't argue, so they found Da Zhuang together.

Wang Wei and three other assistant directors happened to be in Da Zhuang's office, and they also came to ask for leave.

It's just that their purpose is not to take a vacation, but to conduct an inspection at public expense.

Next year's Chinatown crime-solving story has been confirmed to be directed by Wang Wei, with Tian Li and Li Zhun continuing to serve as assistant directors.

The three of them cherished this opportunity, so they planned to go to Chinatown overseas to experience it firsthand before the script was released.

Anyway, the three of them have nothing to do now, and they will not be the protagonists in the subsequent announcement of "Mulan".

Chen Yiming was speechless. One or two of them were showing off their "freedom" in front of him. How could he be so embarrassed that he was always 996?

Without saying a word, he first gave homework to Wang Wei and the others. Wasn't it easy for him to have nothing to do? Come and stay for a while at the Boulder Workshop.

When the special effects are completed, when will we consider going abroad for inspection!

After sending away the three assistant directors, Chen Yiming looked at Xiangrui maliciously.

The latter suddenly became smart, said "See you after the National Day" and turned away, not forgetting to drag the confused Xiaomei along with him.

The world instantly became clean.

(End of this chapter)