This director needs to apologize

Chapter 384 The tip of the needle versus the awn of wheat

The idea that Chen Yiming gave Wu Lianjing was naturally the "Wolf Warrior 2", which was the box office champion in China's film history in his previous life.

So he told Lao Wu that if he summarized and reviewed the situation himself, he would figure it out sooner or later. He was not being modest at all.

In this time and space, since Chen Yiming had already made a movie called "2012" in 1951, there has been a trend of a resurgence of military themes in the industry very early on. Not to mention the Bayi Film Studio, which has tasks every year, all the private film and television companies in the imperial circle have produced some similar films.

Although it failed to replicate the box office performance of "1951", objectively speaking, the box office was not bad.

The August 4st Film Studio, in particular, changed its tradition of grand narratives and followed Chen Yiming's idea of ​​creating works with small characters in a big background. The three war films released in the past two years have both been above average in terms of reputation and box office. Among them, "The Bugleman" even set a record by taking a box office of million yuan. It can be said that it reversed the decline of the August st Film Studio in one fell swoop.

But to be honest, whether it is the Bayi Factory or the private enterprise in the Diquan, the purpose of carrying out such projects is mainly to explore the way forward.

There is no way. War films have high costs and low upper limits, and the input-output ratio is relatively low. They are indeed not a good choice for making money.

Now that Wu Lianjing has transformed into military action themes, it can be said that he has taken into account both aggressiveness and conservatism. It seems that he has taken a big step forward, but in fact he has retracted half of his leg when he landed, which is in line with Brother Wu's style of doing things.

Chen Yiming only mentioned the general direction. Wu Lianjing is not Brother Jing after all. Apart from their good skills, their ages, experiences, habits, and team members are all different. If there is a modified version of Wolf Warrior in the future, it is difficult to predict what the ending will be.

Having said that, the box office miracle of "Wolf Warrior 2" is also somewhat accidental. The same plot and the same actors may have completely different results if the release date is changed.

Therefore, Chen Yiming was very open-minded. If Wu Lianjing had not insisted on settling the accounts clearly, he would not even want to sign his name.

After returning from a trip to Europe, Chen Yiming continued to work in a split-second manner. Now that he no longer had to catch up on homework for the Spring Festival, he felt a lot more relaxed.

The work at hand is just the debut work of one or two directors under me.

Tian Li's "Negotiation Expert" has been in preparation for more than half a year and is finally about to start filming. It is not easy at all. The trainee producers in the group have been replaced three times.

Duan Yining's partner in the play went through many twists and turns, and the final choice can be said to have surprised everyone in the entire project. Tian Li went against the majority opinion and chose a veteran but newbie.

Bai Yu, born in the 90s, just graduated from the Capital Theatre Academy one year ago. Before joining the crew, he had been hanging around in the online drama circle and had never played a leading role.

Tian Li's reason was that he looked anxious and handsome enough, which fit the image of the male protagonist in his mind.

After all, Director Oda does not have the prestige of Chen Yiming, and he cannot use anyone he wants without caring about the consequences. Producer Xiaomei was the first to stand up and express her opposition.

The reason is ready-made, acting with Duan Yining, and taking the lead, no joke. The advantages mentioned by Tian Li are all disadvantages in Xiaomei's eyes.

He is only 25 years old, but looks like a man in his thirties or forties. His acting skills are also very immature. If he is really chosen, he will definitely be crushed by Lao Duan.

The so-called being handsome just right is clearly without any characteristics. To put it in the best possible way is to not be ugly. Putting it directly on the big screen is tantamount to forcing things to grow. I'm afraid that after watching it, the audience will not even remember that he existed.

Tian Li argued that what he wanted was Bai Yu's characteristic of being ordinary at first glance but becoming more handsome the more he looked at him, and that he had a temperament that was more than 10 years beyond his age, which was in line with the basic setting of the story.

The executive producer compromised and said that instead of taking unnecessary risks by finding a new face with an older look, it would be better to replace him with a veteran actor who has remained young. This way, wouldn't the temperament and acting skills be up to standard? There are quite a few similar core male actors in the circle.

However, Tian Li insisted that Bai Yu was the only one who could do it, and the result of the argument was that they ended up going to Chen Yiming.

If you are a director, you must support the director. Chen Yiming didn’t even look at Bai Yu’s audition information and just said, “Listen to the director.”

After seeing off the satisfied Tian Li, Chen Yiming left the angry Xiaomei for a private chat.

"Yiming, you've been slacking off enough, right? Now that you're back at the company, you should pay attention. When Wang Wei was filming The Usual Suspects, weren't you always paying attention to every detail? Why did you suddenly change your temper today?"

Chen Yiming gestured to the girl to sit down. "So you also know that the director of Negotiation Expert is Tian Li, not Wang Wei. Let's cooperate. How can we not cooperate? The partners have changed. Do you want to change your way of doing things as well?"

Xiao Mei said disapprovingly, "Even if we change ten or eight directors, we're still making movies, so the working principles should not be shaken. Didn't you beg me to formulate the production process before? It's fine if you say one thing and do another, but you're the boss and I can't afford to offend you as an employee. Now the directors below are following suit and you don't care. What's the point of the production process?"

Chen Yiming didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Isn't this a casting issue? What does it have to do with the process? Besides, isn't it clearly written in the process that the director has the final say on casting? Tian Li didn't violate any rules."

Xiaomei said anxiously, "The process also stipulates that the producer is in charge of project preparation and oversees decisions related to major matters. Does the male lead count as a major matter? If you say it doesn't count, then I'll turn around and leave." Chen Yiming smiled and said, "Boss Bao, calm down. The male lead is of course a major matter. Boss Bao's supervision is correct."

He turned the laptop around and pushed it towards Xiaomei. "I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious yet. Put aside your preconceived impressions and prejudices, and look at Bai Yu's information from the perspective of an audience who has read the script.

To be fair, does Bai Yu’s personal temperament fit the setting of the male protagonist in the movie?

A negotiation expert in his thirties, with elite temperament, accumulated experience, and the ability to be both friendly and sharp. What's wrong with him?

I admit that he is not the only actor with similar qualities, and some candidates on the audition list are more competitive than him, but it was Director Tian who chose him.

As long as the hardware conditions are up to standard, it is up to the director to decide who to use and who not to use. As a producer, it is not convenient for me to intervene."

Xiaomei took a few deep breaths and clicked the mouse in anger, but she finally calmed down. After all, she was a mature producer and her professional ethics made it impossible for her to deny Chen Yiming's words.

Chen Yiming immediately handed over another sweet treat, "I know you are worried about the quality of the film and the future box office. Bai Yu's acting skills are indeed immature, and he doesn't have much popularity or appeal. But isn't this exactly the original intention of the genre film plan? Platinum Jue can't always stick to the style of handsome uncles. The next story must always be led by young people. From this perspective, I prefer to use fresh blood."

Xiao Mei frowned and said, "You have successfully argued, but you still haven't explained why you treat Wang Wei and Tian Li differently."

Chen Yiming smiled and said, "Of course it's because they are not the same kind of people.

Wang Wei is a perfect executive director. The script is the most important thing when filming. All the actors, from the main actors to the supporting actors, are his tools. Even if anyone is replaced in the middle, he will always find a way to adjust the details to make the story come full circle.

Tian Li is an emotional author-type director who puts his own feelings first. The performances of the actors are his creative catalyst. When filming, a script alone is not enough, he also needs a dedicated muse.

Old Duan is obviously unable to take on this role, and choosing an old actor is unlikely to work either. Given his current status and prestige, he can only find a newbie to play the role.

So you might as well go along with him now, because he will be able to fly after the machine is turned on, and that’s when our General Bao will show his power.”

Maybe Chen Yiming's smirk was too obvious, Xiaomei rolled her eyes at him and said, "Don't judge others by your own standards. I won't deliberately pick a fight just to vent my anger.

As a big producer, you should not just stand there and do nothing. You should go to the crew more often, knowing that Director Tian has poor self-control. You are the only one who can have an equal dialogue with Teacher Duan. I don’t want Tailan to use a repertoire that has become a platinum jazz. "

There was a background to what Xiaomei said. During the filming of "The Usual Suspects" in Thailand, Wang Wei and Duan Yining had a lot of arguments. Although they were both motivated by public interest in the good of the show, there was still some discomfort between the two of them. They even felt awkward drinking from each other's cups at the celebration banquet.

Wang Wei has been on vacation since the movie was released, which has a lot to do with the physical and mental exhaustion he felt during that period.

Now that the more emotional Tian Li is the director, Xiaomei's prediction that Old Duan would get angry is reasonable, and letting Chen Yiming run around the group more often is also a foresighted decision.

Unfortunately, Chen Yiming had already made up his mind to stand aside and watch. Unless the crew encountered a major change and had to shut down, he would just be a visitor to eat for free.

The progress of "Negotiation Expert" is slow, and "Her Memories" is even slower. So far, only the third draft of the script has been revised, and there has been no progress in the cast except Xiao Qi.

It's not that Li Jun is not concentrating. He returned to the company the week after Chen Yiming went abroad and worked with several former Internet soldiers from the screenwriter team to perfect the script.

The story outline given by Chen Yiming was a bit too simple. The original work was actually just a 40-50 minute animation. If it was to be adapted into a live-action movie, the first problem would be that it was not long enough.

This is why the script was difficult to produce. The director and the leading actor had a disagreement on the direction of expansion.

Li Jun’s approach is to add supporting roles, increase the number of people entering the space ruins, and construct more diverse and sharp character relationships.

The lead actress Xiao Qi did not express any objection, but the agent assigned to her by her brother had objections. The agent, who stood on Xiao Qi's side, believed that if the running time was to be increased, it should be given to the heroine, Mrs. Rose, which meant making the past experiences that served as the background of the story concrete.

Rather than saying it is a disagreement on script writing, it is more like a struggle between the two sides for dominance over the crew. Xiaoqi's agent hopes that the movie will only promote Xiaoqi, while Li Jun positions Xiaoqi as a charming female villain. The real protagonist of the whole film is actually the male captain who leads the team.

The two of them are at loggerheads.

(End of this chapter)