Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 479 Old Situ Takes Action Personally

Old Situ sat behind his desk, sometimes frowning, sometimes muttering to himself. He had been like this ever since Cao Yang left the office.

"A subversion of traditional documentaries?"

"Is a complete revolution, from narrative philosophy to technical aesthetics, needed to break the established paradigms of documentary filmmaking?"

"It needs to be story-driven, told from a grassroots perspective, and it needs to achieve technological innovation and in-depth cultural exploration?"

"While traditional documentaries are still gazing at the stars and relying on grand narratives, he wants to ground the camera in reality, elevate the narrative, and create a three-dimensional narrative matrix?"

"How can a documentary reflect the spectrum of civilization, including geography, history, technology, economy, and ethics, and achieve a holographic image of Chinese civilization across time and space?"

Old Situ really wanted to burst into a mocking laugh.

"Ha ha, ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! Who do you think you are?"

If a well-known producer or documentary director who has made many documentaries said these things, Lao Situ would not find it so absurd; he would only encourage the other party to be brave in exploring new models of documentary filmmaking.

If a director who has never made or even been involved in documentaries before, even someone like Chen Kaige, were to say this, Lao Situ would definitely give him a good scathing rebuke and tell him to start from the basics and be down-to-earth.

But the person with no documentary experience happened to be Cao Yang, which made Lao Situ extremely conflicted.

What bothered him even more was that Cao Yang said the type of documentary he wanted to shoot was food!

They also said they would use food to connect fragmented stories, combining food preparation with characters' fates and regional culture to form a narrative chain of "food-humanities-emotions"...

Old Situ was at a loss for words.

Emotionally, Lao Situ hoped that Cao Yang would succeed and make an unconventional classic documentary.

But rationally, he felt that this was impossible!
If Cao Yang had studied documentary filmmaking with him and had practical experience in making documentaries, he probably wouldn't be so conflicted.

If Cao Yang hadn't made such a big claim and had only said he wanted to shoot a traditional food documentary, he wouldn't have been so conflicted.

"Ugh!"

After much deliberation, Old Situ finally slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and made his decision.

He needs to go back and do a detailed core plan for a food documentary, including defining the theme, narrative tone, shooting outline, storyboard, and contingency plan.

Old Situ decided to put a serious and meticulous effort into creating a satisfactory plan, and then have Cao Yang film according to his plan.

As a leading figure in Chinese documentary filmmaking, Lao Situ is confident in creating a high-quality food documentary.

After returning home, Cao Yang wrote a planning proposal while considering filming issues, especially the selection of photography equipment.

He initially considered shooting on film, as film has advantages that digital equipment cannot match.

Film can capture very subtle colors, textures, and layers, and it has a unique charm, especially for objects like food that need to show gloss, texture, and color.

For example, unique graininess and color transitions.

But after careful consideration, he abandoned the idea.

High-quality film is expensive, and shooting a documentary requires a huge amount of footage. The long shooting cycle and massive amount of footage in documentaries lead to a geometric increase in production costs.

In addition, film shooting is "what you see is not what you get," meaning you can't monitor the final result in real time; you can only see a small monitor or waveform.

The cost of unusable footage due to exposure and focus errors is far higher than that of digital shooting. In the complex environment of documentary filmmaking, the lighting changes rapidly and the environment is uncontrollable, posing a great risk.

A single roll of film has a short shooting time, and the film canister needs to be changed frequently during the shooting process, which can be very troublesome when shooting food preparation.

Compared to digital equipment, film is highly sensitive to light, adjustments are not constant, the equipment is bulky, and real-time feedback is lacking.

Furthermore, digital photography equipment has developed rapidly in the past two years, especially 2008, which was a key turning point in the history of digital cinematography.

This year witnessed high-end digital cinema cameras beginning to truly challenge the mainstream status of film, especially in large-scale film productions, where many mainstream manufacturers launched top-of-the-line digital cameras.

Many Hollywood blockbusters have also begun to gradually use digital photography equipment instead of film.

Typical examples include "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Wanted", "Transformers", "Fast & Furious 4", etc.

Even in "The Dark Knight," a collaboration between Cao Yang and Nolan, Nolan, a staunch supporter of film, used the Phantom series of high-speed cameras in some scenes.

Like "Slumdog Millionaire," which was neck and neck with "Joker" at the beginning of the Oscars, it was also shot using the Sony CineAlta F35 as the main camera.

Cao Yang knew that digital cameras were the future trend, and film shooting would be gradually phased out.

Therefore, shooting documentaries with digital cameras is the most suitable choice.

All of Cao Yang's previous films were shot primarily on film. After he initiated the project "Joker", companies such as Sony, Thomson, and traditional film camera manufacturer Arri strongly recommended their latest digital cameras to him.

He considered models like the Sony CineAlta F35, the Thomson VIPER FilmStream, and ARRIFLEX D-21, but Cao Yang rejected them all.

Cao Yang is going to film "A Bite of China". According to him, the main camera for the first season of this documentary is Sony's entry-level digital cinema camera, the PMW-F3.

Although the PMW-F3 is an entry-level camera that Sony will launch next year, in 2010, it cannot compare with the high-end flagship digital cinema camera CineAlta F35 released last year.

Whether it's the sensor, imaging style, dynamic range, or resolution, the CineAlta F35 wins.

The only advantage of the PMW-F3 compared to the CineAlta F35 is its lower price.

When the PMW-F3 was first launched, it sold for $1.5, while the CineAlta F35 sold for around $15 at the time, ten times more expensive.

Sony also currently has entry-level digital cameras, such as the PMW-EX1 / PMW-EX3. For example, many scenes in the Hollywood film "The Hurt Locker," which was filmed long ago but has not yet been released, were shot using the PMW-EX1.

Since he decided to use a digital camera, Cao Yang certainly wouldn't choose a low-end one, because he would have many more options if he wanted to use a digital camera.

"Jianye, send a message to Sony and RED ONE, saying that for my graduation project, I'm going to use a digital camera for the first time."

Cao Yang called Cheng Jianye. This was the result of his careful consideration. With the Sony CineAlta F35 and the RED ONE as a supplement, it would be more than enough.

The RED ONE was the most disruptive product of 2008.

Its emergence has completely changed the landscape of digital filmmaking, making 4K RAW shooting relatively affordable and greatly promoting the popularization of digital photography, especially for independent films and low-budget productions.

What Cao Yang values ​​most is RED ONE's groundbreaking modular design, natively recording REDCODE RAW to a CompactFlash card, and the Mysterium CMOS sensor providing 4K resolution.

This will also be the mainstream trend in the future.

"Also, let Phantom know that my graduation project will use a high-speed camera."

Why did Cao Yang ask Cheng Jianye to leak information to these companies?
It wasn't that he wanted to get these devices for free, but rather that these latest digital cameras are extremely rare in China. Instead of spending time and effort searching for them, it would be more convenient to have the manufacturer send them directly.

Will these manufacturers deliver them?

There is no doubt about this.

Cao Yang is currently the most influential director in the world, and the only living director to have won all three major European film awards. This is his graduation project, and it's also his first time using a digital camera...

If Cao Yang didn't leak the information to specific manufacturers, but instead leaked it to all manufacturers, who knows how many tricks they would pull to get Cao Yang to use their equipment. This is not an exaggeration at all.

Cao Yang, to some extent, represents both the mainstream of commercial films and the mainstream of art films. If he uses a digital camera from a certain manufacturer, it means he approves of that equipment, which means countless subsequent attention and imitations.

"Director Cao, approximately how many units do you need?"

Cheng Jianye asked.

"We need three CineAlta F35s, two RED ONEs, and one Phantom is enough."

Cao Yang said.

"Ok."

After hanging up the phone, Cao Yang continued writing the planning proposal and filming outline for "A Bite of China".

Less than half an hour later, Cheng Jianye called.

"Director Cao, the executives from all three companies called me back. They assured me that they would airlift the equipment you need as soon as possible, and that it would not delay your graduation project."

"Okay, I know."

Cao Yang thought for a moment and then gave the instructions:
"Jianye, gather the manpower. This time, we need at least three groups to shoot simultaneously. Come over the day after tomorrow to pick up the shooting plan. According to the requirements, send more producers out to conduct on-site investigations and find out what I need."

You could contact the local cultural department for assistance; that would be more convenient and would reduce unnecessary trouble.

"Okay, Director Cao."

Cheng Jianye hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Director Cao, as you asked, I only sent the message to those three manufacturers, but for some reason, Alai also received the message in a short period of time."

Their president just called me, saying they want to send two of the latest ARRIFLEX D-21 units to Nortel as a donation. However, they want you to inspect the equipment first, and only donate it to Nortel after it passes inspection.

Donate to Beijing Film Academy?

Could Cao Yang refuse?

This long-established European manufacturer clearly has a deep understanding of Chinese customs and social dynamics.

That's true. This company is going to enter the domestic market next year, so they must have done a lot of research this year, especially on interpersonal relationships.

ARRIFLEX D-21, a high-end digital camera launched by ARRI last year, retains the operating habits of film cameras and targets photographers who are accustomed to the workflow of film cameras.

The D-21 itself is a camera head. To form a complete working system, it also requires an external recording unit, viewfinder, lens, battery system, follow focus, lens hood, etc.

A complete D-21, including a series of external units, currently costs around $30, which is more expensive than a complete CineAlta F35.

The current situation is clear: it is not only the most intense competition between digital and film, but also the most intense competition among digital cameras.

Therefore, dominating the market and becoming mainstream are the most important goals for these large companies.

For major digital camera manufacturers like Cao Yang, a director with immense influence, the importance is self-evident.

These past few days, whether due to pressure or something else, Old Situ has been incredibly clear-headed, as if divinely inspired.

He referenced the 2007 German public television program "The Frontiers of China", the 1990s German television channel ZDF's "Holiday Special", and the 1985 East German television and CCTV co-production "Inside and Outside the Great Wall", combining an international perspective with the depth of local culture to create a planning proposal that highlights the core value of "food as a carrier of dialogue between civilizations".

"The Frontier of China" focuses on the diverse ethnic cultures of the frontier regions of China and is the first to systematically film local food scenes: naan bread in Kashgar night market, bamboo rice in Yunnan Dai ethnic group, sour fish soup in Guangxi Zhuang ethnic group, etc., connecting the relationship between ethnic identity and geographical environment.

The "Holiday Special" featured Beijing roast duck and Guangzhou teahouses, but the content was mostly tourism-oriented and lacked in-depth cultural exploration.

"Inside and Outside the Great Wall" is somewhat special, with the "Hebei Farmhouse Feast" segment showing a detailed process of making donkey meat sandwiches.

Old Situ's proposal breaks through the geographical limitations of traditional food documentaries, constructing a new narrative paradigm of "the history of food globalization" through scientific archaeology and food anthropology methods.

It ensures both academic rigor and enhanced visual drama.

Of course, in constructing this plan, Lao Situ also incorporated some of the boasts that Cao Yang had made, trying to include as much of the content as possible.

"Wonderful!"

After reviewing his achievements over the past few days, Old Situ couldn't help but slam his hand on the table and stand up, unable to contain his pride.

He could confidently guarantee that if this plan could be fully implemented, it would be a rare achievement even in his career.

It's a bit of a shame that when designing this plan, he got carried away and focused on the "grand" narrative, neglecting the production costs.

Old Situ estimated that if the documentary were filmed seriously, it could be made into a series of 6 to 8 episodes, but the final production cost would be an astonishing 800 million.

To be aware of the current market, a typical documentary costs around 10 yuan per episode, while some of CCTV's large-scale, high-quality documentaries, which are well-funded, typically cost between 20 and 40 yuan.

The documentary series "Retracing the Flavors of the Silk Road," named by Lao Situ, is expected to have a production budget of over 100 million yuan per episode.

He carefully reviewed the episode designs for "Wheat's Journey to the West," "The Spice's Lost Path," and "Fermented Civilization," and felt that none of them were suitable for budget reduction.

But it's really unreasonable for a graduation project as a documentary to require a budget of 800 million.

It's important to understand that, even though the domestic film market is developing very well, let alone documentaries, 800 million is still a considerable budget in China.

Only a handful of top directors can secure investments of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of yuan. For about 80% of domestic directors, getting an investment of 8 million yuan is a dream come true.

"Forget it, let Cao Yang take a look at the proposal. With his reputation, even if it's a graduation project or a documentary, it shouldn't be difficult for him to get investment. Let Cao Yang decide for himself."

Old Situ muttered to himself.

He really couldn't bear to cut any part of such a good plan.

"Retracing the Flavors of the Silk Road, wonderful!"

Having put aside his budget concerns, Old Situ looked at the planning proposal and couldn't help but grin again.

If this documentary is made, it will most likely be sold to a top-tier TV station. Even CCTV's science and education channel or documentary channel is not out of the question.

It's not about how much money you can make selling it to these channels, but rather that selling it to these channels is a form of recognition and affirmation, proving that the documentary is of high quality and successful, and is an affirmation of the documentary.

Picking up the phone, Old Situ couldn't wait to call Cao Yang.

"Cao Yang, it's me."

"Oh? You've finished your documentary proposal too?"

"Okay, okay, let's go to the school tomorrow so I can take a look at your plan and evaluate it. If it's feasible, we'll proceed with the plan."

Old Situ laughed and hung up the phone. He was going to give Cao Yang a surprise tomorrow.

"Yes, we still need to be careful about how we speak tomorrow. Even if we have to reject Cao Yang's proposal, we can't be too direct."

Old Situ was thinking about how to phrase things more tactfully the next day, and then hand over his brilliant plan to Cao Yang, so that he would know that experience counts. His teacher might not have achieved as much as him in the field of feature films, but in the field of documentaries... haha!
He had absolute confidence in his plan.

(End of this chapter)