Chapter 88 Li Xiaowan's Dinner
Chapter 88 Li Xiaowan's Dinner
Thinking about the TV series, Zhang Chen suddenly remembered "Wulin Waijia" again.
As I recall, the birth of this classic TV series was quite difficult, as sitcoms are notoriously low-budget.
The scene is simple, the staff is fixed, and every day is just trivial matters, so how can the cost be high?
But Shang Jing and Ning Caishen insisted on making a costume sitcom, which was completely asking for trouble.
The cost of costume films is definitely higher than that of modern films. The number of staff, costumes, and props are much higher for no reason, so investors are not optimistic about them.
It was very difficult to get investment for the original time and space "Wulin Waijia". Shang Jing and Ning Caishen begged for 1200 million yuan. They originally wanted to shoot it in Huairou Film and Television City, but when they looked at the budget, it was not enough. They had no choice but to rent a place in the suburbs of Beijing and set up the scene themselves.
And they tried to save wherever possible. There wasn't even a roof on the second floor of the inn, so they just omitted it because it couldn't be captured by the camera.
Zhang Chen wanted to steal the deal, but he had no money.
Alas, it’s all about money.
Therefore, he still has to focus on making money and try to make his assets snowball in the shortest possible time, so as to support the endless stream of ideas in his head.
Seeing that it was almost time, Zhang Chen got up and went out, making an appointment with Ning Hao and others to have hotpot in the evening.
The meal took place at Ning Hao and Xing Aina's home. Zhang Chen brought two bottles of wine, Bamboo Leaf Green.
Zhuyeqing is a specialty wine of the coal-producing provinces and the only health wine among the eight famous wines, but it is not very well-known and is mainly consumed locally.
This wine is made with Fenjiu as the base wine, mixed with bamboo leaves and a large number of Chinese medicinal materials. It has a unique taste and is sweet, which some people cannot get used to.
But Zhang Chen and Ning Hao are both okay.
He spent a lot of effort to find this wine. Although Fenjiu is famous, its marketing is not as good as that of Moutai and Wuliangye, so there are not many specialty stores in Beijing.
Moreover, something happened in the past two years, and people are now afraid of Fenjiu.
It is really a misfortune. It is obviously the representative of light-fragrance liquor, but the coal-producing provincial government does not pay attention to the protection of the liquor brand.
Not to mention outside the province, fake liquor is rampant even within the province.
Those who make fake liquor are uneducated and are so bold as to mix fake liquor with industrial alcohol, causing blindness and death to the drinkers.
Then it happened.
Named by the whole country.
The coal-producing provinces then began to take it seriously, but it was too late, the reputation had already been ruined, and Fenjiu had lost the best opportunity to rise.
But it is also because of this that the price of Fenjiu has always been within the acceptable range for the general public. Otherwise, it would definitely develop to the point where people cannot afford it, just like Moutai.
Zhang Chen walked in and was about to change his shoes when Xing Aina came up and said, "No need to change, just come in."
"I brought two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Green Tea. Let's drink this today. It's very delicious and you women can drink it too."
Bamboo Leaf Green is indeed very drinkable, with a light, sweet taste and not spicy, so women don't dislike it. But because it is easy to drink, it is very easy to drink too much, and it has the nickname "the slightest touch of the wind makes people fall down".
When I arrived, I found that there was someone else in the room.
"This is Yue Xiaojun, my good friend, he studies screenwriting~"
Ning Hao introduced the two of them. Zhang Chen knew him. The later "Lost in Thailand" was said to be adapted from the real experiences of Ning Hao and Yue Xiaojun. However, Zhang Chen was curious. It was said that Huang Bo played the role of Yue Xiaojun in the film, and Xu Zheng played the role of Ning Hao. But the screenwriter of this film was Xing Aina. When Xing Aina was writing the script based on the prototype, wouldn't she think of Ning Hao when she saw Xu Zheng's many fancy moves?
There was another noise at the door, and Chen Xi and Cao Bingkun arrived one after another.
One of them was carrying meat, and the other was carrying vegetables and fruits. Zhang Chen looked at the wine in his hand and said, "Haozi, you're not just going to prepare a pot, are you?"
Ning Hao replied shamelessly: "How could that be? I have also prepared the base of the pot and some condiments."
"You are this~"
Zhang Chen expressed his admiration for this guy's shamelessness.
Xing Aina smiled and explained, "Don't listen to his nonsense. All the ingredients are ready. It's just that Lao Cao said that he didn't eat last night. He was afraid that the food was not enough, so he called Lao Cao and asked him to bring some more on the way."
"So that's what happened. But Lao Cao, you're too cruel. Just to have a meal with Haozi, do you have to start preparing since last night?"
The group was laughing and joking. Yue Xiaojun was also a young man, and after a few words he became familiar with everyone.
The group sat down and started eating. Cao Bingkun said, I can beat 10 of them.
Two bottles of wine were definitely not enough for six people, so Ning Hao took out the black jar he had prepared. If Zhang Chen hadn't brought the wine, they would have been drinking this.
First, fry the lamb tail fat in the pot, then add the lamb and tofu.
After eating it a few times, Zhang Chen and Dong Jianqiang became more particular about it.
The way of eating hotpot in the north and south is different: the south uses oil sauce, while the north uses sesame sauce.
To be honest, Zhang Chen first learned about the condiment of mashed garlic and oyster sauce after he went to Beijing to study. Before that, he always thought that everyone in the country dipped hot pot in sesame sauce.
But it is delicious.
He mixed both kinds of condiments and ate them with the dip.
"Chen Xi, can you handle the preparation of the new movie alone?" The few of them chatted while eating, and unconsciously talked about the new movie again.
"Don't worry, I'm already familiar with the production set, and the content of the sequel is similar to the previous one. I have some references, so I'm sure there will be no problem."
Chen Xi stuffed the fat beef into his mouth and combed his hair at the same time, full of confidence.
Zhang Chen thought to himself that this guy is really awesome. After making one movie, he can now produce films independently. Although it is a low-budget one, it is still pretty impressive.
Then he looked at Xing Aina again: "Sister Na, how is the script going?"
Xing Aina is a professional screenwriter. She participated in the later works "Stone", "Racing" and "Heart Flower".
"It's almost done. I'll show it to you later. We'll modify it if there's anything inappropriate."
Seeing that Zhang Chen heard the word "we", Ning Hao explained, "Xiaojun also participated in the script this time. This is my first time directing a commercial film, so I used all the resources I have."
Zhang Chen nodded. Yue Xiaojun must have good abilities since he could become Ning Hao's personal screenwriter in the future.
"Let's see later~"
The meal was very satisfying. They ate a total of four pounds of mutton, and Cao Bingkun ate at least one pound by himself.
Later, another bottle of wine was added, and a total of four bottles were drunk.
Even though Chen Xi is a woman, she has the strongest fighting power. Yue Xiaojun didn't know the details at first and wanted to pour a drink for Chen Xi, but then he was stunned by the fighting power of this girl.
What kind of people are in this group? They can eat and drink!
After eating and drinking, Cao Bingkun and Chen Xi, the two gluttons and drunkards, were sent to wash the dishes, while Zhang Chen sat on the sofa and read the script.
The script is very thick, and it can be seen that it has been revised several times. It is about 50,000 words.
Zhang Chen read it very carefully, while Xing Aina and Yue Xiaojun sat opposite him somewhat nervously. This was their first time writing a horror film script and they didn't know if it would work.
The original time and space "Darkness 2" tells the story of Sarah escaping from the dead, but losing her memory. Juno is actually the governor's granddaughter. The governor sent police and rescue teams to search for Juno's whereabouts. The police suspected that Sarah killed Juno, so they took Sarah and the rescue team into the cave.
In the cave, Sarah's memory is restored and she escapes from the police. However, the police and the rescue team are attacked by monsters and lose members one after another. Then Juno appears, saves the police, and then meets Sarah, and the two sides fight.
The plot is actually not that interesting, and the interesting parts are some specific points, such as how to avoid monsters, how the team members trapped by the landslide were coveted by the monsters, and how Juno and Sarah reconciled at the end, and how Sarah didn't want to live anymore after seeing her friend die.
"Well written."
The two people opposite finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Zhang Chen's evaluation.
When designing this version of the story, Zhang Chen deliberately avoided the police line.
Although the previous work said that the cave was located on the China-Myanmar border, the appearance of the police would eventually cause trouble, so Zhang Chen directly changed it to another expedition team encountering them by chance.
Without the entanglement between Sharla and Juno, the sequel may not be as classic as the previous one, but there is nothing we can do about it. We can only try to make other parts as exciting as possible.
“We can add some more scenes, such as two people being chased by a monster and escaping to a dead end. In order to avoid the monster, they can only build a human bridge in the air.
Another example is that their escape caused a collapse, and then a person was trapped inside. The team members left him, and at this time there was a monster outside digging a hole to get in. Isn’t it terrifying..."
Zhang Chen told them about some classic scenes from the previous work and encouraged them to think differently.
"It can be designed further. For example, if the flashlight suddenly runs out of battery at this time, the only sound you can hear in the dark is the monster digging the soil." Yue Xiaojun added at the right time.
"Yes, that's the idea. A horror movie should be scary, but not too bloody or violent. We have to consider the issue of approval."
Zhang Chen listed the principles and bottom lines and asked them to think about how to dance with shackles and dance beautifully.
“Oh, right, design a scene at the end where the Monster King appears. It’s not necessary to kill him, but the appearance of the Monster King can make people feel that these monsters are related, and it can also pave the way for the next sequel.”
"Okay, we understand. We'll revise it in the next few days and come back to you to review it then."
"it is good."
Just after he finished talking about the script, Zhang Chen's cell phone rang.
After answering the call and listening to the conversation on the other end for a while, Zhang Chen's expression suddenly became strange.
"What's wrong? Who is it?"
Ning Hao was the first to notice the situation here and asked.
"Teacher Fu, he said Li Xiaowan wanted to meet me and arranged a dinner party tonight."
"Li Xiaowan? The one from Rong Xingda?"
"Correct."
Zhang Chen nodded, thought for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Has anyone come to see you in the past two days?"
Ning Hao shook his head.
Chen Xi, who had just finished washing dishes in the kitchen, answered, "Of course I have. I don't know where the news leaked from, but many people know that we are preparing for The Darkness 2 and that I am the producer. Several people have called to ask about the role."
Ning Hao, damn it, I am the director, okay? No one came to me, how can you look down on me...
(End of this chapter)