Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 482 Gratitude
Although "A Bite of China" is a documentary with only 7 episodes, the food and scenes involved in its filming are quite complex.

His footprints can be said to have covered the entire land of China, from south to north, from west to east, covering a very wide area.

Documentaries are different from movies.

Documentaries are actually closer to television programs; their broadcast format, fixed duration, and standardized structure all bear the genes of television programs.

Therefore, most documentaries in China have a chief planner.

There are exceptions, such as some low-budget independent documentary films, and some low-cost single-episode short series.

However, even if these documentaries do not have a chief planner, there is usually a similar organization that performs the role of chief planner, such as the editorial office.

In some larger-scale documentaries, there is a chief planner and a chief director. However, the person who holds the most power in the production team and can represent the team is the chief planner, not the chief director.

The chief planner is responsible for planning the entire documentary and for overseeing its overall direction.

The chief director is the one who carries out the specific tasks.

To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, the chief planner is like the operating system of a computer, while the chief director is like the specific application program.

Of course, in many documentaries, the chief planner also serves as the chief director.

Cao Yang was also the chief planner and director of "A Bite of China".

Below that are the directors who execute the plans, that is, the directors who work according to the general director's plan.

Initially, Cao Yang planned to divide the filming into four groups.

He was in charge of one group, shooting footage for one episode, while the remaining three groups shot footage for two episodes each, as required.

The specific method he used was to first gather several groups together and have those three groups follow him to see how he filmed each segment. Once they were familiar with his filming method, he would let those three groups go their separate ways to film the remaining six segments.

Therefore, when choosing digital cameras, he requested three Sony CineAlta F35 cameras, which are his main cameras.

However, when Alai learned that Cao Yang needed to use digital cameras, he took the initiative to contact Cheng Jianye and sent him two of their latest ARRIFLEX D-21 cameras.

The ARRIFLEX D-21's performance is no worse than Sony's CineAlta F35, and it also has two RED ONE models, which are not very well-known now but will become mainstream in the future.

Cao Yang changed his mind and decided to divide the filming into six groups. In addition to himself, there were five other groups, each responsible for a theme. This way, the production time could be shortened further.

The reason there are six groups instead of seven is that when Cao Yang shoots an episode, he has everyone else follow his style to create a unified style.

Then, he worked with the remaining five groups, each responsible for filming footage for one episode.

In other words, he needs to shoot footage for two episodes, while the other groups only need to shoot footage for one episode.

Since there are five other filming crews besides Cao Yang's group, we need to appoint five directors to be in charge of the specific filming matters.

When selecting directors for each group, Cao Yang first decided on a few of his regular team members as group directors: Gu Changwei, Ning Hao, and assistant directors Liu Shan and Li Mingyi, who had always been with him. That made four.

Of the remaining candidates, Lao Tian is actually the best choice.

As a student of Lao Situ, Tian Zhuangzhuang "slightly" inherited some of Lao Situ's mantle; he has made documentaries.

The year after Lao Tian was released from his ban, he filmed the documentary "Tea Horse Road: Delamu".

"Tea Horse Road: Delamu" is Lao Tian's first documentary film and also the first film shot in China using "high-definition" digital technology.

In order to film and record the living conditions of the original inhabitants of the Nujiang River Basin in northwestern Yunnan, he led his filming team up the Nujiang River, enduring wind and rain and sleeping in the open along the way, experiencing many dangers, and walking with a caravan to Chawalong, and then returning along the same route.

This 50-day journey along the ancient trail caused Lao Tian to lose over ten kilograms.

After the production of "The Ancient Tea Horse Road", Lao Situ was extremely satisfied with Lao Tian, ​​believing that he had learned some "spots" from him.

Well, for at least two or three months, I haven't cursed Lao Tian.

This is not an easy thing to do.

What Cao Yang finds somewhat regrettable is that Lao Tian was pushed by him to be the director of "The Founding of a Republic". Now that "The Founding of a Republic" is being filmed, Lao Tian will definitely not be able to be the documentary director for him.

However, after Lao Tian learned about this, he recommended another of his students to Cao Yang, Zhang Qi, a young teacher at the Beijing Film Academy's School of Management.

Lao Tian was Zhang Qi's teacher.

Lao Tian told Cao Yang that Zhang Qi had worked as the director and cinematographer for CCTV's 12-episode documentary series "The Diplomatic Situation of the Republic" in 2000, and had a unique understanding of documentaries.

Cao Yang checked Zhang Qi's resume. He was a graduate of the Television Department of the Communication University of China. After graduation, he joined CCTV as a cameraman, working entirely on documentary filmmaking.

In "The Diplomatic Situation of the Republic", his main job was as a photographer, and he also served as the director of a segment, for which he won the Best Documentary Director Award at the 18th Golden Eagle Awards.

Later, he was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy with a master's degree in film studies, specializing in production management. Lao Tian was one of his mentors in this major.

Zhang Qi has been teaching at the Beijing Film Academy's School of Management since 06.

Of course, at present, among all the graduate students that Lao Tian has supervised, only Ning Hao can be considered his "personal disciple". The others can only be considered students, and their progress cannot be compared with Ning Hao's.

However, since Lao Tian recommended Zhang Qi, Cao Yang decided to give Zhang Qi a chance and asked Ning Hao to inform him to come to his office the next day.

We still need to evaluate Cao Yang. If he's suitable, we'll use him; if not, we'll replace him.

The episode director and the actors are different.

If it were an actor, Cao Yang would definitely have no concerns. He doesn't have such high requirements for actors. He doesn't care about acting skills; as long as the image matches, that's fine.

However, episode directors must have certain analytical and execution abilities, and their basic skills must be solid.

After Lao Tian returned to teach at Beijing Film Academy, he has mentored many graduate students over the years, among whom Ning Hao is currently the most successful.

Before Ning Hao started his graduate studies under Lao Tian, ​​he was already working with Cao Yang. He didn't actually attend many classes, as he spent most of his time filming with Cao Yang. He would only go back to school for a few days of classes during his free time after filming was over.

Therefore, Ning Hao wasn't really that familiar with Lao Tian's other students.

For example, Ning Hao isn't very familiar with Zhang Qi, since their majors are different and they have little interaction.

Although I'm not familiar with them, I still know they exist, and I have their phone number.

When Zhang Qi's phone rang, he glanced at it and saw that it was Ning Hao, which surprised him.

To be honest, he wasn't familiar with Ning Hao, and they weren't in the same year, but they were both students taught by Lao Tian, ​​and they had exchanged phone numbers.

"Director Ning, hello, hello! It's been a long time! You've returned to China?"

As a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, Zhang Qi still pays some attention to his "junior" Ning Hao.

After all, among all the students Lao Tian has taught, Ning Hao is undoubtedly the one who is doing the best now.

What everyone envies most about Ning Hao is that he is a regular member of director Cao Yang's team, and director Cao Yang has also given him many opportunities.

For example, Ning Hao was the executive producer of "The Dark Knight," which caused a great deal of discussion and became a huge box office hit last year. This is an achievement that most people at the Beijing Film Academy could never attain in their lifetime.

Moreover, there's another piece of news that's already spread: a Hollywood film produced and written by Cao Yang is being directed by Ning Hao.

That's a Hollywood movie! And, as a fellow student, Zhang Qi knew more than the others at the Beijing Film Academy, knowing that the movie was called "The Hangover," had a budget of $3500 million, and was invested in by Warner Bros., one of the six major Hollywood studios.

That's a $3500 million investment.

Even though the exchange rate isn't as high as it was a few years ago, it still amounts to an investment of nearly 2.5 million RMB.

In China, only three or four top directors can secure this amount of investment and dare to make films with such a large budget.

However, these three or four directors can only get this much investment in China. If they went to Hollywood, they would definitely not be able to get more than $3000 million in investment, because they have not proven themselves.

Even a renowned director like Chen Kaige, after winning the Palme d'Or, was invited to film the Hollywood movie "Kill Me Softly," with a budget reportedly only $1000 million.

Unfortunately, Chen Kaige messed it up, and the actual box office was only around 500 million, thus losing the opportunity to develop in Hollywood.

Zhang Qi compared Ning Hao with Chen Kaige, a well-known domestic director, which clearly shows how well Ning Hao has developed now.

"Yes, I also came back a few days ago. I was thinking of taking a break for a while, but I didn't expect Director Cao to find me some things to do. That's why he called you."

Ning Hao said on the phone.

Zhang Qi's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Director Cao asked Ning Hao to do something, and Ning Hao needed his help in some way?

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As long as I can get along well with Ning Hao, I'd be happy to become his photographer.

I'm a photographer by profession.

Of course, becoming his assistant director would also be good, as it would provide long-term development opportunities, which is much better than staying at the Beijing Film Academy as a teacher and waiting for other opportunities.

Both Ning Hao and I are considered students of Teacher Tian, ​​which is a natural basis for trust.

"Oh, Director Ning, just say what's wrong. We're both Teacher Tian's students. I'll do my best to help as long as it's within my power."

Zhang Qi quickly replied with a smile.

"Hey, senior, you've misunderstood. It's not that I need your help. It's like this, weren't you working on documentaries for CCTV before? Director Cao's graduation project is to be a documentary, and now we're missing... um, haha."

Ning Hao didn't elaborate, leaving it at that point with a laugh. What if his junior uncle didn't think much of Zhang Qi? So, he couldn't reveal the truth for now.

However, Ning Hao didn't want to take any credit, and he said directly:
"After our teacher found out, he recommended you to Director Cao. Director Cao knows we are fellow students, so he asked me to give you a call. He wants you to come to his office at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"what?"

Zhang Qi immediately realized what was happening, and instantly felt a surge of heat throughout his body. His heart was pounding so loudly that it seemed like it could jump out of his body at any moment.

"Thank you, thank you, teacher. Thank you, Director Ning. Thank you, Director Cao, for giving me this opportunity..."

Zhang Qi was so excited that he didn't know what to say. This was much better than he had expected, and something he had never anticipated.

"Haha, senior brother, don't get excited yet. You'd better prepare yourself. Director Cao will definitely test your abilities tomorrow. In Director Cao's eyes, ability is always the most important thing. You should be mentally prepared."

Don't let Director Cao's seemingly approachable demeanor fool you; he has extremely high standards for his work and for his own abilities.

Ning Hao said tactfully.

His underlying meaning is quite clear: don't get excited yet, it's still uncertain whether it will work out or not, it mainly depends on your abilities.

If you have the ability, Director Cao will definitely use you out of respect for Teacher Tian.

However, if you displease Director Cao, then I'm sorry, no one's feelings will matter.

Zhang Qi had calmed down considerably by this point.

He roughly understood what Ning Hao meant.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with what Ning Hao said. It was only right. Director Cao couldn't ruin his reputation just for the sake of a favor, could he?

Zhang Qi swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing his nervousness and anticipation, and tried to speak in a calm tone:
"I still want to thank my teacher for the recommendation, and also thank Director Ning for the introduction. I will work hard, and whether I succeed or not, I am extremely grateful for the recommendation from my teacher and Director Ning."

"Okay, that's settled then. Don't forget to go to Director Cao's office at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Best of luck, senior."

"Thank you."

Hearing the dial tone, Zhang Qi stared at the phone for about ten seconds.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, at least outwardly.

Zhang Qi had absolutely no confidence in film-related matters, but he was somewhat confident in documentary filmmaking.

Before coming to teach at the Beijing Film Academy, he worked on documentaries for almost ten years. Although he had never been in charge of a documentary on his own, it was not because he lacked ability. As a director and cinematographer, he had worked on the planning and filming of at least dozens of documentaries.

The reason why he has never independently planned or served as the chief director for so many years is because, as is well known, in many places, one needs to accumulate seniority and opportunities.

Especially in organizations like CCTV, seniority and opportunity are almost never separate; you have to have them both.

For the average person, individual qualifications and individual opportunities are useless.

This is why he later applied to the Beijing Film Academy for graduate studies, and also why he stayed at the Beijing Film Academy as a teacher after graduating with his master's degree.

Given his experience at CCTV, staying at the Beijing Film Academy as a teacher would offer him far more career development opportunities than returning to his home base.

Especially since he was Tian Zhuangzhuang's student.

Isn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Cao Yang didn't go to Li Xiaoran's place today.

Li Xiaoran has already gone to Nanjing. Many of her scenes in "The Founding of a Republic" will be filmed at the Meiling Palace in Nanjing.

After learning that Li Xiaoran had another movie to film, President Han made some adjustments, moving Li Xiaoran's scenes forward a bit.

Before leaving, Li Xiaoran bit Cao Yang hard, and she was probably a little poisoned, because she was whimpering and talking incoherently.

She complained to Cao Yang that one reason she didn't want to take on the role in "If You Are the One" was that the female lead's character reminded her of unpleasant things, and there was another reason as well.

That was last year, before the project "Tangshan" was officially launched, Xiao Gangpao originally planned to launch the project "If You Are the One" and invited Li Xiaoran. After listening to the story outline told by Xiao Gangpao, Li Xiaoran agreed without much thought.

Who knew that even though she had cleared her schedule, Little Cannon actually went with Cao Yang to work on "Tangshan".

Of course, Li Xiaoran was furious.

But even if you're so angry your chest hurts, there's nothing you can do. After all, Cao Yang is the initiator of "Tangshan".
As a result, Li Xiaoran held a grudge against Xiao Gangpao, which was one of the reasons why she rejected Xiao Gangpao's project, "If You Are the One".

If she hadn't heard that Xiao Gangpao was planning to invite that vixen Gao Yuanyuan, she wouldn't have accepted the role on "If You Are the One".

Cao Yang was deeply moved and also felt somewhat guilty.

So he let Li Xiaoran "bite" him again, to let her vent her anger.

(End of this chapter)