Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 34 Ladder Advertising

The preparations for the film are progressing rapidly. The locations have been selected, the script has been filed with Qingying Studio, and we are working on some props. It is expected to be completed in three to five days.

As for the actors, the male and female protagonists have been decided, the male protagonist is Liu Ye and the female protagonist is Yu Feihong.

This time, Cao Yang didn't dare to do anything, for fear that a situation like Li Xiaoran's would happen again.

However, he was still waiting for the props these days, and he stayed with Liu Ye and Yu Feihong every day, asking them to read the script carefully first and talk about their understanding, and then he corrected them and told them what the story was about.

This process can also be called script reading, but it only involves the male and female protagonists, and it goes beyond the scope of script reading. Cao Yang imposes his own views on them and does not allow them to understand blindly.

This movie is a bit unusual because the male and female protagonists have almost no lines. The whole thing depends on their performances. If there is a slight difference in understanding, the performance will definitely be very different.

Even if Cao Yang had to break it into pieces, he would make them understand his intention.

Liu Ye and Yu Feihong are two completely different actors.

When she first learned that there were no lines, Yu Feihong's first reaction was that this movie was easy to make. She didn't have to memorize the lines or think about what expression to use for each sentence.

Liu Ye's reaction was worry. He knew that he was not in the right state. Without dialogue, acting skills would be more needed, as well as body language and micro-expressions - you can't just use one expression in the whole film without any dialogue, right?

There's a dog out there whose acting skills are better than yours!

Dogs can still show their teeth from time to time.

Privately, Liu Ye also looked for Cao Yang, and said hesitantly that there were some problems with his condition and it would be difficult to recover in a short time. If his condition was fine, he felt he could still give it a challenge. Now he might as well change an actor.

Cao Yang wanted to laugh. If you were in good condition, looking like a carefree and sunny boy, I would not choose you.

"I believe you'll be fine. Just keep doing what you are doing now. This is what I want. This is what fits the character of the male protagonist. Don't ruin it for me."

Cao Yang smiled and comforted him.

If you are really in a normal state, you still need to spend some time to prepare yourself. Now it happens that you can save the time to prepare yourself, and then you can add an immersive experience...

Cao Yang suddenly hesitated. Given Liu Ye's current situation, is it suitable for him to experience the drama? Don't let him be unable to bear it.

As for Yu Feihong, Cao Yang left her alone after he made her fully understand the plot of the movie.

Since this elder sister looks so relaxed right now, there shouldn't be any problem in giving her the opportunity to immerse herself in the role.

On the surface, "Empty Room" tells the story of the male protagonist riding a motorcycle around the city all day long. His favorite thing to do is to find empty rooms in the city that are uninhabited and sneak in to live for a while.

He ate and slept leisurely as if he were at home, and even took photos with his owner. However, he never took other people's things, and would help people clean the house, wash clothes, and repair furniture.

Then, one day he sneaked into a villa and met the heroine with bruises all over her face. She was curled up in the corner alone, silently enduring the double pain of body and mind.

To the male protagonist, this is just an empty room, but to the female protagonist who is often abused, isn't it the same? Although she has a home, but no one is with her, what is the difference between this and an empty house?

At this time, the heroine's husband came back, and as usual, he started to speak harshly to the heroine and even hit her.

The male protagonist couldn't stand it anymore, so he beat the domestic violence man with a golf ball and took the female protagonist to "experience life". Walking from one stranger's house to another, the female protagonist felt the freedom and happiness she had never experienced before... Then, the male protagonist was framed by the domestic violence man and imprisoned.

Finally, when the heroine was forced to return to that cold home and faced her husband's continued violence, she finally stopped being silent and chose to fight back.

...The male protagonist, Longchang, attained enlightenment, mastered his magical skills, and joined the female protagonist's family. Since the domestic violence man could not see the male protagonist, the three of them lived a shameless life...

In fact, the most ridiculous plot at the end is the highlight of the whole film.

Without this segment, this would be a drama about domestic violence, failing to achieve sublimation, let alone win an award.

As for the other actors in the film, the most important supporting role of the domestic violence man has been cast, and Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua has been cast. Also, the old police officer who cooperates with the domestic violence man to frame the male protagonist has been cast, and Hong Kong actor Liao Qizhi has been cast.

Originally, Cao Yang wanted to find a Hong Kong actor to play the correctional assistant in the correctional facility, but this role is not a positive character, and we can't use Hong Kong actors to play all the villains. What if people accuse us of discrimination?
Forget it, just two Hong Kong actors. Anyway, there's a supporting role with an important part in the film. If it really doesn't work out, then give them a third-place special starring role. Anything can be done.

Chen Kun and Fu Dalong also agreed to play the two supporting roles, as well as the role of a photographer. Cao Yang told the acting department teacher Wang Jinsong about it, and Teacher Wang happily agreed.

In this way, the roles with more important parts have been almost decided.

The remaining minor supporting roles will be cast from Beijing Film Academy, which can be considered as an explanation to the school. After all, it is nominally a student practice film, and it would be unreasonable not to find a few students in school.

But Cao Yang doesn't have to worry about these things. He can leave them to the two assistant directors, Liu Shan and Li Mingyi. This is what the assistant director does.

At the same time, the old rules apply: each department of the crew recruits one or two assistants from the students on campus, provides food and lodging, and gives some subsidies depending on the situation. This is considered a practical part of the teaching task.

With the support of the local government of Ludong Island, the entire filming was carried out on Ludong Island, which was also one of the conditions.

This shoot will not be like the last one, there will be a larger launch conference, which will be held on Ludong Island.

After several days of negotiations, Cheng Jianye finally agreed on several product placements.

Cao Yang's principle is that product placement is allowed, but it cannot affect the plot. For example, the digital camera that the male protagonist uses to take selfies in the movie can be of any brand, and it is harmless.

For example, the motorcycle ridden by the male protagonist can be of any brand. After all, if it is interpreted that the male protagonist is the heroine's fantasy, the heroine's husband is very rich, and she can accept any brand of motorcycle she fantasizes about the male protagonist riding.

For example, the car driven by a domestic violence man. As a rich man living in a villa, and the incident happened in Hong Kong, it is impossible for him to drive a Mazda or a Hyundai. At least it should be a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, etc.

For example, the car driven by a police officer cannot be a BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Lexus, but can be a Mazda or something like that.

Advertising placement is also for the purpose of making a profit for film and television productions, which is understandable.

But you can't be a rich second-generation heir to a listed company, driving a car worth around 100,000 yuan to go in and out of various places every day - this situation is very common in some TV dramas.

Following Cao Yang's advice, Cheng Jianye discussed the tiered advertising fees.

The basic advertising fees are not high, but if a movie can win the three major awards in Europe, the advertising fees will be a good income - each one is hundreds of thousands of US dollars!
But even with the basic advertising fees, more than half of the investment in the film was recovered. This is probably the effect of the famous director.

(End of this chapter)