Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 267: You were asked to shoot a cultural tourism promotional film, but you shot the Jingjue Ancient City

Unlike movies, TV dramas have a core storyline, so the most important person in the creative team is the screenwriter.

But this does not mean that the director is unimportant. After all, no matter how brilliant your script is, it still has to be transformed into a picture in the end.

Meng Bai chose Li Muge to direct "The Lost Tomb" because of his excellent lens aesthetics and picture expression ability.

Facts have proved that his choice was right.

As soon as the drama was aired, the entry #《精绝古城》绝美图片# became a hot search.

"This shot! This picture! Is this the kind of thing I see in online dramas?"

“This director must have made landscape documentaries before!”

"My friends, I'm dying of laughter. I was watching a play here, and my mom passed by and took a look. She asked me if I was planning to go on a trip and was watching a promotional video for a scenic spot?"

"So, does anyone know where this was filmed?"

"..."

An excellent work not only has its own entertainment attributes, but also has an amazing effect on the cultural and tourism promotion of the filming location.

When "Lost in Thailand" became a hit, the number of tourists to Chiang Mai, Thailand increased fivefold.

"Grave Robbers' Chronicles" has a "Ten-Year Agreement" and has created a "Grave Robbers' Chronicles Cultural Festival" in Changbai Mountain.

The popularity of "The Lost Tomb" has also brought popularity to several filming locations in the drama.

The first is Dunhuang.

But as the "tomb-robbing trio" set foot on the desert in the plot, the vast Gobi Desert and the magnificent scenery of thousands of miles of yellow sand immediately attracted the audience's attention.

Dunhuang has always been a very popular tourist city, but it is currently the off-season, so both air tickets and hotel fares are much cheaper.

This is just the right time. Seeing how cheap it is, many people bought tickets and flew over directly, hoping to check in at the real "Jingjue Ancient City".

Another popular place is the vast mountains and forests in the opening "Kwantung Army Fortress" plot, which in reality is near Songhua Lake in Jilin.

Compared with Dunhuang, this place is not very well-known.

After the broadcast of "The Lost Tomb", the search index related to the scenic spot increased more than tenfold overnight.

The local cultural and tourism departments did not expect that traffic would come in skyrocketing just by sitting at home.

Jilin Province’s Culture and Tourism Department also responded quickly and seized this rare opportunity.

First, the official account was used to thank "The Lost Tomb" for bringing popularity to the local area, and then the local department directly contacted ArcLight and Penguin to start the collaboration.

The two parties joined hands to launch a topic activity on Weibo called "Watch "The Lost Tomb" and check in and take photos", where participants could enter a prize draw by commenting and forwarding.

The prizes include tickets to scenic spots, various preferential benefits, and the grand prize can even cover travel expenses and accommodation, allowing you to travel for free.

These activities, in turn, stimulated the popularity of online dramas.

Within half a month of its launch, the total number of views exceeded 12 billion; in the third week of its launch, the total number of views exceeded 23 billion.

By the time the 12th episode was halfway through, the total number of views had exceeded 30 billion.

Although the rating has slightly decreased with the increase in the number of viewers, it still remains at around 8.2 points.

Whether in terms of data or evaluation, it is far ahead of many dramas of the same period, which can be said to be a win-win situation in terms of traffic and reputation.

Meng Bai felt okay about this result, after all, there are so many projects like Arc Light.

But the other producer, Penguin Pictures, was overjoyed.

As the first work produced after its establishment, Penguin really wants to produce "The Lost Tomb" as a benchmark work.

Otherwise, they would not agree to the budget of "100 million investment".

However, Penguin originally expected that it would be similar to "Forensic Qin Ming". Unexpectedly, Arclight made it a hit that broke the circle.

For Penguin Pictures, this is a time of both joy and sorrow.

Needless to say, I am happy, but what worries me is that the first film in this series has such a high standard, how will the subsequent films be filmed?
If we continue to maintain this quality, the total cost of the entire series will be too high.

But if the budget is lowered, the production quality will inevitably be compromised.

The audience’s demands will only increase and not decrease. If the first dish tastes so good, they will be dissatisfied even if the subsequent dishes remain the same, let alone if the dishes decline.

And another point is that with the popularity of "The Lost Tomb", the popularity of the leading actors of the "tomb-raiding trio" has also increased.

If a sequel is to be made later, the pay will inevitably increase.

Especially Pan Yueming and Ni Ni, they reaped the biggest benefits.

Pan Yueming was affected by the "divorce case" a few years ago and was in a slump for a long time.

When the candidate for the role of "Hu Bayi" was first announced, he was met with a lot of doubts.

But after the show started airing, most of the doubts were replaced by praises.

Quite a number of viewers said that he fits the image of "Commander Hu" in their minds.

Even just considering the popularity of this role, Pan Yueming's support is comparable to that of Chen Kun in "Mojin: The Lost Tomb", which can be said to be a resurgence in popularity.

Pan Yueming himself feels fine, and he has been filming "Day and Night Chase" recently, so he hasn't added too many activities.

In comparison, Chen Zhixi was more excited.

These two have been friends for many years. When Pan Yueming and his ex-wife Dong Jie were confronting each other, the online public opinion was almost entirely handled by this sister alone, and her fighting power was quite fierce.

This also shows how good the relationship between the two is.

In addition to Pan Yueming, another person whose popularity is rising is Ni Ni.

This girl can be said to be a representative of those who reached the peak as soon as they debuted. After all these years, the only representative work that people can remember is "Yu Mo". Her popularity is entirely due to fashion resources.

With the explosion of popularity of "The Lost Tomb", she has also become the focus of discussion.

Many viewers commented on her, "Maybe she is not the most suitable, but she did perform in her own style."

In particular, her look in the drama, wearing a work jacket, tight jeans and goggles, made many viewers take screenshots and save them.

For Nini, she finally has a new representative role.

Without even waiting for the show to finish airing, she had already added "The Lost Tomb" to her representative works list on her Weibo signature.

The girl was also very happy and kept thanking Meng Bai when she called him.

"You played well on your own, no need to thank me so much."

"How could that be? If Teacher Meng didn't give me a chance, how could I have performed well?"

Ni Ni's unique lazy voice came from the phone: "I wonder if Teacher Meng has time tonight to have dinner together."

There was some charm in her tone, and the ending sound was playfully upturned. It was obvious that the meaning of her words was not as simple as "eating".

Meng Bai naturally understood what the other party meant. Recalling the previous cooperation in Dunhuang, his heart couldn't help but move slightly.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have time right now.

"Sorry, I'm not in Jingbei. Maybe next time."

"Day and Night" has not been completed yet, so he, as the producer, has to come and continue watching.

(End of this chapter)