China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 136 "Those Years" starts, Li Yu's ambition

On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, Li Yu returned to the capital.

Although he stayed in his hometown for half a month and had a lot of social activities and had to deal with a lot of relatives, Li Yu's mental state was still relaxed after being reunited with his family.

After a short period of relaxation and returning to the capital, it was time to get down to business.

Lao Ma, the actual manager of the company, returned earlier than Li Yu.

"The project of "Those Years" was reviewed and approved years ago. You can start this project at any time." Lao Ma said.

As a manager, he is definitely qualified, and Hualiu Company is in good order under his management.

Many small details have been done to perfection, saving Li Yu a lot of trouble.

"Yeah! When Zhenyu Luojin and the others come back, our "Those Years" plan will be launched immediately." Li Yu nodded.

He has already planned it, and "Those Years" is targeting this year's May Day release.

There is no strong opponent in this year’s May 1 stall.

In 2005, the mainland's annual box office champion was a murder caused by a steamed bun - "The Promise", which was released on December 12th.

"Myth" co-starring Cheng Yong and Silla goddess Kim Hee Sun will be released on September 9.

"Seven Swords" by the famous Hong Kong director Xu Ke, and "Initial D" by the Asian pop king Zhou Jiulun and the famous photographer Chen, are released on July 7 and June 29 respectively.

These are the top four box-office movies in mainland China in 2005.

By the way, "The Great Sage" ranked fifth was also released at the end of December.

It can be said that the second half of 2005 was the battle of the gods in mainland movies, and the opponents in the first half were much weaker.

Especially the May 1st slot, a pretty good slot actually doesn’t have a strong opponent.

Li Yu's previous glory came from the television industry, and he is a newcomer in the film industry.

If there are many big names in the same period, the theater chain will definitely assign him a very low number of films.

For a newcomer like him, it is important to stagger the big brothers and choose a time period when the competitors are relatively weak.

It's already mid-February, so it's a bit rushed to lock in the May Day schedule, but it's not a big problem for a mature director like Li Yu.

The plot of "Those Years" is very simple, and there are no special effects in the entire film.

Qiao Zhenyu, Luo Jin, and Tang Yan all have acting experience. Shi Shi attended Beijing Film Academy for a semester and has made considerable progress.

The guarantee only takes one month, and it doesn't even take one month for Li Yu to shoot all the scenes.

The remaining month or so is enough for editing and other post-production work.

In Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s, Li Yu was too embarrassed to call Quick Gun a movie he made in more than two months.

Because at its peak, the Hong Kong film industry could shoot a movie in as little as a month, or as quickly as a few days.

For example, Star Master's "Happy Events at Home" was completed in 13 days.

Fatty Wang sometimes has no script at all, only a title. After the actors are in place, he thinks about the plot while filming. I can only say that it is outrageous!
  By the 15th of the first lunar month, the main actors of "Those Years" were all back, as were the behind-the-scenes workers such as photographers, lighting, makeup artists, etc.

Li Yu plans to divide the filming location of "Those Years" into two places. The main scenes will be shot in Sichuan Province, and the seaside scenes will be shot in Yazhou, Qiong Province, the southernmost province of the motherland.

The budget for filming this time is quite sufficient, and Li Yu can definitely spend a little more money on the filming.

In terms of film, Li Yu's acceptable range is 1.5 million.

As long as the cost of the film does not exceed 1.5 million, he can accept it.

The camera is the same as before, borrowed from Qingying Film Studio because of the school.

Li Yu is now an excellent TV director and an outstanding student of Beijing Film Academy. His first step into the film industry is very crucial, and the school cannot help but give him strong support.

What Li Yu borrowed was a very advanced film camera in the Mainland, and in order to support Li Yu's film career, the school sponsored two hundred reels of film. These two hundred reels of film are worth at least 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.

Li Yu experienced firsthand what it means to enjoy the shade under a big tree.

"Come on, work hard, make a good movie, bring glory to our Beijing Film Academy, and make our directing department look good."

Before Li Yu set off for Sichuan Province, Teacher Gao patted Li Yu on the shoulder and said sincerely.

The students he brought out will finally direct their first movie independently.

At this moment, as a teacher, he felt very proud and proud.

He hoped that Li Yu would be victorious and win the first battle.

"Teacher Gao, my eagerness to make progress is as enterprising as before. I will make a good film this time." Li Yu said with a smile.

On the 18th of the first lunar month, which is also the 2th of February, Li Yu led the main creators of "Those Years" to Sichuan Province.

Why choose Sichuan Province?

Because Sichuan Province has been known as the Land of Abundance since ancient times, there are many beautiful places, which are convenient for the filming crew.

Even though he has already made a movie, Li Yu will still not give up his pursuit of scenery.

Another reason is that Sichuan Province has more earthquakes than other provinces. When people think of the word earthquake, their first reaction will most likely be Sichuan Province.

In the movie, there is a plot where the male and female protagonists search for signals and call each other to report that they are safe after an earthquake.

By placing the location in Sichuan Province, the audience will have a better viewing experience.

If the story were told in a province like Guangdong, which has not had a major earthquake in decades, wouldn’t it make the audience laugh? The audience had no sense of involvement or silence, and even wanted to laugh at the director and screenwriter for their lack of geographical knowledge.

Li Yu originally wanted to keep the film's opening ceremony low-key, but his current fame and the popularity of the leading actors did not allow it to be low-key.

A great director in the TV industry has moved to the film industry. Last year's "The Ghost Bride" and "Professor Qiao" which became very popular last year were the female lead and the male lead respectively. It was difficult not to attract attention when the film was launched.

Li Yu, Qiao Zhenyu, Shishi and other creative members accepted interviews from various media.

"Director Li, are you confident about the film's first run? Can you give us an outlook on your expectations, such as how much the box office should be and what kind of results it should achieve."

Li Yu said calmly: "I don't have the final say. The audience has the final say. As a director, the only thing I can do is to make a good movie."

Li Yu behaved very modestly this time!

The lineup of "Those Years" determines that the popularity and attention of this movie will not be low, so it is better to be low-key and modest.

Shi Shi: "Please stay tuned. Director Li wrote the script with great care. I cried twice when I read the script."

Qiao Zhenyu: "I'm sorry, I can't spoil it. I can only say that the story is very touching and it writes about everyone's youth."

Shi Shi's and Qiao Zhenyu's answers were both very official. They were typically enthusiastic and generous, and they kept asking questions. The key information was not disclosed at all, and the confidentiality work was done very well.

After the reporters sent by these media returned, many pieces of information about "Those Years" made headlines.

""Those Years" will officially start shooting in Sichuan Province on February 2th. It will tell a youth love story. I am highly looking forward to it!"

"Can a great TV director succeed in transitioning to the film industry?"

"What's wrong with the world? Can anyone make a movie now? It's unreliable for a TV director to make a movie. Fortunately, the attitude of a certain director surnamed Li is modest, and there are points worthy of recognition."

"I'm optimistic about Li Yu's entry into the film industry. Neither Zhang Yingmou nor Feng Xiaogang were directors at the beginning, but they have both achieved great success in the film industry. Li Yu is also from the Beijing Film Academy's directing school with a well-established background."

"There is a huge difference between movies and television. After achieving success in the television industry, Li Yu did not stay in his comfort zone, but chose to be proactive. This young man's vitality and courage are worth learning from."

The media is like this, with different opinions and everything is said.

(End of this chapter)