Chapter 62 Preparation for The Shallows
Chapter 62 Preparation for The Shallows
Zhang Chen didn’t know that Lu Chuan hated him, and he probably wouldn’t care even if he knew.
This guy is a villain in almost all Chinese entertainment novels, so why can he not be a villain in mine?
The different treatment in the car was indeed intentional on his part, and he did have some issues with Lu Chuan.
The reason is very simple. A director who can make a movie like "Nanjing Nanjing" is inherently crooked, so there is no need for Zhang Chen to be nice to him.
In fact, he felt sorry for "Kekexil". "Kekexil" is a good movie, and the pseudo-documentary format is also very novel.
It can be seen that Lu Chuan has some talent.
But if the butt is crooked, it is crooked. It is a matter of stance and has nothing to do with talent.
But Zhang Chen didn't have time to think about these things now, he was busy calling Wu Hehu.
"Yes, Mr. Wu, China Film invested 20%. Mr. Han personally made the decision. We will sign the contract tomorrow..."
"Okay, I'll give you 10% as soon as the project is launched..."
"Yes, yes, I want to give it a try. What if I succeed? I'll need Mr. Wu's help in scheduling the film..."
After finalizing the investment with Wu Hehu, Zhang Chen called Dong Jianqiang again.
"You're really quick, kid. I just told you the day before yesterday, but I didn't expect it to be done today."
"I also want to thank Brother Dong for clearing up my doubts. You have shown me the way, but I should hurry up and implement it."
"Don't be polite. You're so polite that I suddenly become speechless. Hahaha. I'd like to thank you for not leaving us behind. This also allows me to give an explanation to the new president..."
"How could that be possible? Brother Dong from Dark Invasion has taken such good care of me. I can't leave you no matter what."
"Brother, I accept your kindness."
……
Sign the contract and the funds will be received.
The investment issue was settled, and in the next few days Zhang Chen began to prepare the crew, with Chen Xi as his little follower.
First of all, the crew is basically the same as last time, some are old and some are new.
The photography team has added more equipment. In order to capture the texture of a movie, the camera equipment cannot be saved. Ning Hao is the photographer, and there is also a focus person, a follow-up camera, and an assistant, a total of four people.
He only rented one set of equipment, the Alyssa movie camera and the Steadicam, which saved him money since he didn't need two cameras.
There are three people in the lighting team, one lighting director and two lighting assistants.
There are two people in the recording team.
The directing team consists of Zhang Chen and two assistant directors, and the producing team consists of Zhang Chen and Chen Xi.
The makeup team includes makeup artist Xiao Jin and two makeup assistants, but they are also responsible for special effects props.
There are four people in the stage management team, who are responsible for all the set design, and the rest are the actors.
The leading actor Fan Binbin has not joined the crew yet. Among the supporting roles, Zhang Chen has taken on the role of the guide. Cao Bingkun and another crew member play the two surfers. They did not specifically look for an actor for the little boy as it was too complicated.
Anyway, there aren't many scenes, so the crew plans to just hire a kid locally at the filming location.
There was no costume team, the whole story took place at the beach, and the costumes were just a few swimsuits, so there was no need for a dedicated person to be responsible for that.
In addition, the China Film Special Effects Production Center also sent two technicians to follow the team to provide guidance on the shooting of some special effects shots.
The assistant director who was sent out to scout locations had not yet reported back, so Zhang Chen took Chen Xi to do the preparatory work, which is the so-called coordination.
There are a lot of things that the film crew has to prepare for in the early stages, including personnel, accommodation, venues, schedules, and local public security filings...
At the same time, the script needs to be broken down and a shooting schedule needs to be drawn up: how many days will the shooting take, what is the sequence, and how will the actors' schedules be arranged.
What the coordinator needs to do is to implement the shooting plan of the entire crew in detail every day.
Of course, there will definitely be discrepancies in the actual process.
For example, the weather at the seaside is unpredictable. If it is windy, they may not be able to shoot for several days. However, Chen Xi was lucky, and the coordination work of "The Shallows" was relatively simple.
Because the scene is fixed, it is a bay.
There is only one main actor, so there is no problem of coordinating schedules.
Zhang Chen taught Chen Xi step by step how to list and summarize all the factors one by one and finally make scenario cards.
Another thing is the choice of shooting method.
The first ten minutes or so of the film show the magnificence of surfing in the bay and the beauty of Fan Binbin, and one of the sections uses aerial photography.
Aerial photography has its own problems. Is it helicopter aerial photography or hot air balloon aerial photography? If it is helicopter aerial photography, where to rent the helicopter, which places to register before the helicopter takes off, and what insurance to buy, all these need to be arranged in advance.
After teaching almost everything, Zhang Chen handed it over to Chen Xi and let her do it on her own while he went to work on the special effects.
Special effects shooting these days is still very complicated, and Zhang Chen doesn’t want to follow the old path of “The Promise”.
In the original time and space, the special effects production company of "The Promise" was Xiantao Digital, which was considered to be the top company in the industry at that time.
But the resulting effect was far from satisfactory.
The poetry-reciting master complained that the special effects company was not helpful, while the special effects company complained that the poetry-reciting master did not understand special effects shooting at all. Many times he could not clearly explain what he wanted and could only rely on the special effects production staff to guess.
If it is a Hollywood crew, the person in charge of special effects is called the special effects director. This is a person who understands both movies and special effects. He is the window between the special effects department and the film crew, and all special effects shots need to be approved by him.
But it is definitely not available in China now, so Zhang Chen discussed it with two technicians.
Which ones can be filmed, which ones are risky, and what are the alternatives if that is not possible.
Chen Xi, who had just finished making the scene cards, was assigned another task by Zhang Chen, which was to connect with advertisers.
Yes, Zhang Chen is planning to product placement in this movie.
When he was filming the previous film, "Darkness", he was still an unknown newcomer and no one would pay attention to him even if he went to talk to him.
But now it’s different. He is already an emerging director with a successful work, and advertisers are willing to have equal dialogue with him.
There aren't many places where ads can be placed, including surfboards, swimsuits, helmet-mounted DVs, waterproof watches, and jewelry worn by the protagonist.
In this regard, Feng Xiaogang is the most mature person in China.
It is said that his movie "A World Without Thieves" had 12 brand advertisements embedded in total, at a cost of 4800 million yuan, and there were also several patch advertisements, costing another 2400 million yuan.
The production cost of his entire film was only 4600 million, and the advertising placement alone paid for it and even made a profit.
Zhang Chen told Chen Xi all of this and asked her to talk about it on her own. It was up to her to express how much she wanted to talk about.
This was Zhang Chen’s first time doing advertising placement, so he didn’t plan on earning much, he just viewed it as an opportunity to train the team.
Chen Xi happily threw herself into the negotiations with advertisers, but she soon discovered that the prices of surfboards and swimsuits were not worth talking about at all, and the two electronic products and jewelry were the ones that could really make money.
So she specially listed some DV brand manufacturers and jewelry brands, preparing to find the real fat sheep among them.
While Chen Xi was arguing with the brand owners, Wen Zhang was also planning for his future in the small garden of the Central Academy of Drama.
Today, a piece of news stimulated him - "Director Zhang Chen's new film may start shooting."
In the photo, Zhang Chen looked full of vigor and vitality. Wen Zhang felt sad when he looked at that face.
They are all from Level 02, but how come he is already the director of a hit movie and is about to start filming the second one.
And I am still a small actor who interviews the crew every day.
A few days ago, he was somewhat frustrated by the reply from senior Chen Xi. He thought it would be easier with an introduction from an acquaintance, but he was still rejected and didn’t even have the chance to have an interview.
Wen Zhang is reflecting on the fact that maybe his relationship is not strong enough.
If the protagonist Fan Binbin was his girlfriend, then his chances of getting the role would definitely be much greater.
So should I find a famous actress as my girlfriend?
(End of this chapter)