I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 383 Chen Jin: Hmm, Zhang Yimou takes full responsibility!

After returning from Bell's house, Chen Jin took the post-production team of "Killer: Dragon" to the Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

There are various film post-production studios here that are open to independent filmmakers.

The facilities inside are very complete; if you have the money, you can even rent the post-production bases of the six major studios.

That's the good thing about capitalist society; the service is very thorough when dealing with wealthy clients.

Of course, the price also made Chen Jin's heart ache. Earning RMB and spending USD is definitely not as comfortable as earning USD and spending USD.

and so--

"We have to earn US dollars!"

"Make a killing!"

When Chen Jin arrived at the base, he was inwardly ranting, but he still held a sliver of hope for Bell's collaboration with the Big Six.

Even if he has to give up more profits, if he succeeds in the North American market, it will greatly benefit his future global influence.

This is a great opportunity to show off.

"Brother Jin, all the materials have been organized!"

Ye Xiang, a junior member of Guo Fan's team, walked over, wiping his sweat.

He served as the script supervisor for "Killer: Dragon," responsible for recording and organizing the slapstick.

Guo Fan asked him to come to Hollywood to learn, and in fact, he studied editing.

One of the editors for the future "The Wandering Earth 2".

Several people from Guo Fan's team are now working on Chen Jin's production crew, such as Ye Ruchang, the editor of the first "Earth" series, and Ding Yanlai, the special effects artist... Guo Fan's people are basically in every position.

To put it nicely, it's learning; to put it bluntly, it's... stealing someone else's skills.

However, they are all from the same company, so ultimately they are Chen Jin's employees.

Moreover, many editors start as script supervisors and work their way up, because the footage of actors on set, audio recordings, script supervisor sheets, and other materials are all used for the initial editing process. Guo Fan, for example, also worked as a script supervisor.

Before you edit a movie, you definitely need to prepare all the footage that has been shot beforehand.

After filming "Killer: Dragon" was completed, Ye Xiang and his team worked with the editor to categorize and back up the footage, creating various databases. With digital photography, backups have become much simpler, and many directors request more backups.

Unlike film, this is where the editor's skill is truly tested.

Sometimes, if the editing went wrong, the footage had to be reshot, which is why early special effects blockbusters were particularly time-consuming to produce in post-production.

With the advent of computers and digital technology, post-production filmmaking has made great strides while also saving a lot of unnecessary time.

"Xiao Ye, you've worked hard!"

Chen Jin casually remarked, and followed him into the studio that was about to begin work.

David and Chad were also there. As assistant directors, they weren't supposed to be present, but they were just too eager to improve.

Moreover, they will soon be directing "Hong Kong Trip," so they will definitely need to familiarize themselves with every process and step of filmmaking as much as possible.

In addition to them, there was also the original post-production team of "John Wick".

Editor Delroy Lindo, visual effects supervisor Colin Davis, sound effects, visuals... it can only be said that if David could gather so many people, he could do the same now, and none of them were specifically requested by Chen Jin.

It truly follows the same path as "John Wick," with David hiring the same team for editing, sound effects, and so on.

Because several of them, including Delroy Lindo, had worked with David for many years.

This Black editor later rose to fame in the industry for editing "John Wick," eventually being recruited by Marvel and editing many of Marvel's major works, such as "Deadpool" and "Shang-Chi."

Right now, it's just a "small edit" of many documentaries and independent films.

Even for small edits, the other party still has a team.

The same goes for special effects artist Colin.

This is far more professional than the fact that there are only 1-2 editors in China.

In China, one person often does the work of ten people, and sometimes the director also does editing; while in Hollywood, the division of labor is very clear, editing is editing, directing is directing, and each link does not "interfere".

Domestic directors often try to do the work of all professions themselves.

This is the difference between producer-centric and director-centric systems.

In China, directors and producers are not much different; directors have to manage many things. Hollywood producers, on the other hand, have more control. The most important point is that Chinese directors usually have the right to make the final cut.

But many Hollywood directors... don't have that.

They only have the right to edit, which is the right to participate in the editing of the film, but the final cut of the film and which version to use is often decided by the producer, and the director does not even have the right to refuse.

This is why there are many director's cuts abroad.

Directors also want their films to have that final "button" for approval, but unfortunately, capital won't listen to you.

Producers are the executors of investors; they possess the industry's most professional eye for blockbuster films and determine the final cut of a movie.

Of course, even the best horse can stumble; not everyone is an excellent producer.

On the contrary, many directors have a better understanding of their works because they have made films, and they are able to edit better versions.

For example, Zack Snyder, the director of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," can be considered synonymous with "director's cut" in the industry.

His works, such as "Dawn of the Dead," "Watchmen," and "Justice League," have all been released in director's cut.

Watchmen grossed just over $1 million in North America and received lukewarm reviews from both the media and audiences. Then came the director's cut, followed by the final cut. It was after the release of the cuts, especially the final cut, that Watchmen received a lot of praise and was even hailed by some as a masterpiece of comic book adaptation.

Therefore, editing is very important for a finished film.

Chen Jin certainly has all the rights to "Killer: Dragon".

He's an absolute oddball now.

It can be said that it combines the producer-centric system and the director-centric system.

He is a producer, a director, and a lead actor, which is similar to Guo Fan and Wu Jing in the future.

Both of them later directed films with this kind of positioning.

They have forged a unique path that combines directors and producers, a path that is distinctively Chinese.

"Brother Jin, I've numbered and organized all these shots. According to the script, they add up to roughly 9 hours of content!"

"We need to cut it into a rough cut version that takes at least 5 hours, preferably 3 hours!"

Ye Ruchang, the key editor of the "Wandering" series, spoke to Chen Jin, while a nearly 2-meter-tall black man stood beside him; he was Delroy Lindo, the editor of "John Wick".

The editing of "Killer Dragon" was handled by the two of them.

The project was spearheaded by Delroy, with Ye Ruchang assisting, and the Chinese and American teams collaborated; the final edited version was approved by Chen Jin.

This is a perfect idea in everyone's eyes.

But... something went wrong on the very first day.

It's not that communication between China and the US is inconvenient, but rather that... it's Chen Jin's fault.

"That's a great shot!"

"This one is fine too, keep it!"

"You must have filmed this many times back then, right?"

"..."

Delroy Lindo glanced helplessly at Ye Ruchang beside him. Perhaps only editors like them knew how helpless they felt.

They also understand that it is perfectly normal for a new director to choose to keep the good shots.

That's how directors all start.

After all, the footage shot was all material that Chen Jin had approved as usable, and it took the actors a lot of effort.

Some even required many takes before they were finally approved.

However, this meticulous filming process resulted in a finished film that was over nine hours long.

What Chen Jin had to do was to repeatedly delete any shots that she felt were unnecessary.

This is what's called rough cutting.

The rough cut mainly involves selecting effective shots, with a retention rate of about 30%-50%, and then splicing them together according to the narrative logic.

This step involves removing redundant and repetitive segments to achieve the initial final cut.

Meanwhile, visual effects artists, art directors, and others will make relevant records of this initial finished product, such as when to apply special effects and when to render, etc.

Chen Jin will also provide corresponding reminders during this process.

Even so, despite Chen Jin's immense financial pain, he ultimately only managed to cut it down to a 6-hour version.

It took many days to go from 9 hours to 6 hours.

For the first time, Chen Jin realized that being an editor wasn't so easy.

He also understood why Americans didn't like directors to be editors, because many shots... were too expensive.

Deleting it like this is like bleeding blood.

Especially considering that Chen Jin is also an investor.

Imagine you're the director, watching the filming process on set every day, but besides the monitor, there are all sorts of other things in your field of vision.

For example, there might be a row of lights next to the set, actors preparing off-camera, crew members watching, and various other distracting elements. Directors unconsciously memorize these things, and these memories directly influence their judgment in the subsequent editing of the footage.

Even if Chen Jin has the final edited version, it doesn't mean he can arbitrarily cut it haphazardly.

He actually wanted to shoot a better version. Sometimes, he even remembered details of shots that weren't filmed, but he couldn't distinguish them anymore. He would search through more than ten hours of footage for a shot that didn't actually exist, just for the sake of achieving a certain effect.

To put it bluntly, directors are sometimes deceived by their own brains.

But these are actually nothing special. The most common thing is that Chen Jin is reluctant to throw away the exquisite scenes that she spent a lot of money on or that she reshot many times.

Being reluctant to give up shots that you've put a lot of effort into is actually a major taboo for directors when editing.

This can easily lead to a dragging video!

The future famous film "Jiangyuan Lane" is like this: there are too many big-name stars, and the director can't bear to cut any of them, so the movie is both long and tedious.

The director may be very familiar with the script and the characters, but because he is so familiar with them, he may overlook the details of editing.

Hollywood separated the two entities to avoid these problems.

Directors should focus on their directing duties and not interfere with editing. Editing is handled by producers and editors, with the director supervising at most. However, the most common scenario in China is that directors and editors get into physical fights or even heated arguments.

It's not uncommon for directors to fire the editor after finishing a film, and even if the film is a huge success, they may never work together again.

Unless...capital intervenes.

Chen Jin hasn't reached the point of arguing with the editors yet; many of her scenes were deleted by her own gritting her teeth.

There's only one thing on his mind right now.

The question is whether "Hitman: Dragon" will ultimately achieve the same level of quality as "John Wick" if it is fully entrusted to Delroy Lindo, the original editor of "John Wick".

Even Chen Jin himself wasn't entirely sure about this.

Because the moment he took on the role, the main characters in the story had already changed.

He was constantly reviewing the finished film of "John Wick" while directing, watching it several times a day, probably hundreds of times in total.

However, even when filming in this way, there are still many differences.

Most importantly, by shooting the clips together like this, it's not the original 2-plus-hour version of "John Wick," but 9 hours... You can't guarantee that when the director shoots, the final version will be 2 hours long.

No director can be this amazing.

Even if you have the final cut in your mind, it won't work.

"Everyone, take a break..."

"I'm going out for a walk!"

Chen Jin has been locked in the editing room for many days. He definitely needs to go out and calm down before dealing with this mess.

Thinking too much only makes things more chaotic.

The system possessed the final cut of "John Wick," but Chen Jin had no idea where to begin. It felt like... knowing the final outcome but not knowing how to fit it into the final picture.

buzzing-

After taking a stroll outside, Chen Jin's phone rang.

Besides editing, Bale has also been contacting several producers from the Big Six studios these days.

Many people are very interested in the "Hong Kong Tour" project.

But once they heard that the script was by Chen Jin, that the filming would be done in collaboration with him, and that he would be the director and producer... many people just gave up.

To be frank, the script for "A Trip to Hong Kong" is excellent, Bale's starring role is good, and Hollywood can invest money without hesitation.

It's also an option for China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) to invest together.

But since the film's production is decided by Chen Jin, there's no room for negotiation.

Hollywood won't trust an outsider, even if he's a Venice Film Festival Best Actor winner.

"The new line is very interested in the collaboration and would be willing to let you take the lead, but they've looked at CETC's previous work and aren't very confident..."

Bell said on the phone.

Chen Jin had heard this tone many times in the past few days.

Imagine a film company that made movies like "So Young," "Love is Not Blind," and "Life's Big Events," suddenly wanting to make a big-budget zombie blockbuster. If you were Hollywood, you'd hesitate too.

"Chan, how's that project you're directing going?"

How did the later stages go?

Bell suddenly asked, changing the subject.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jin felt even more troubled: "Progress is a bit slow; we're still in the initial editing stage!"

"How about this: you take the rough cut to the Big Six studios and show it to them, so they'll believe you have the ability to make commercial films?"

This is a method Bell came up with.

Of course, this is quite normal within the industry.

Many directors, because their films are not yet finished, will take some movie clips to various film festivals in order to sell them for a good price.

Some movies can reveal a lot from just 15-30 minutes of footage.

The director's ability, the film's visuals, camera work, and so on.

In the eyes of many professionals in Hollywood, trailers are actually very valuable.

"How about a rough cut version that takes 6 hours?"

Chen Jin suddenly made a joke to Bell, saying that things had been going badly for her lately, so she could only resort to humor.

"6 hours?"

"Hahaha!"

Bale across from him laughed too: "Actually, it's not impossible. Six hours would better showcase your directing skills, wouldn't it..."

"This joke is not funny at all!"

Chen Jin sighed and shook her head: "How about I just cut a random version and show it to them first? Anyway, I have a backup—"

"Ok?"

Chen Jin's expression suddenly froze.

Grass!
I have my own backup!

What's the big deal about deleting it?

I have a backup!

"I can easily cut a rough version based on the finished film of 'John Wick'!"

"Delroy Lindo also had a separate cut of his words!"

"At worst, we can just make another ensemble edit..."

"Chinese cut, Hollywood cut..."

"Ha ha!"

Chen Jin suddenly understood something.

His editing skills aren't great, but he can manage to edit one-to-one.

Most importantly, compared to editing, he does have the ability to appreciate the quality of the finished product.

Ultimately, which version is better can be determined through internal viewing feedback.

Chen Jin has been stuck in a dead end these past few days, actually because she was led astray by Zhang Yimou.

Yes, Zhang Yimou takes full responsibility.

He likes to shoot the initial cut first, and then discuss it with the editing team to come up with a final cut. This is also the most common practice among Chinese directors.

However, Chen Jin could easily edit out several versions.

Because he has a minimum guarantee.

That is, the finished film of "John Wick".

At worst, we can just copy and edit it to release it one-to-one.

But Chen Jin was not giving up.

Maybe I can be even better than John Wick in my previous life?

That depends on the abilities of Delroy Lindo, the original editor of "John Wick".

Anyway, the lower limit is set. As for the upper limit... edit several versions and compare them. Chen Jin may not have much else, but he has plenty of time.

"Chris, give me three days, I've got a plan!"

First, let's cut out the "Crazy Chase" version of "Killer Dragon" to appease these Hollywood producers.

As for the final cut, that's up to the editing team.

Professionals should do professional things. No matter how reluctant Chen Jin was to discard those shots, there were backups anyway.

If you can't show it to the audience, then watch it secretly by yourself when you have nothing to do.

Many directors are simply too eager to show off and prove themselves.

Showing the audience shots and stories that you think are great gives you a subconscious feeling of how awesome you are.

Little do people know that just because you think you're awesome doesn't mean the audience thinks you're awesome too.

But if you watch it alone, no one will care...

(End of this chapter)