Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 523: Filming Starts Again (23)

The production team specially arranged a wrap party...

Although most of the actors have left, there are still more than 200 staff members, enough to fill ten tables!
In addition to the crew members, representatives from the major production companies all came over…

The Martian had a total cost of 4.2 million RMB…

The main investors are five companies: Spark Studio, China Film Group, Enlight Media, Wanda Media, and Starlight Entertainment…

There should be more than a dozen more co-producers in the future.

A phenomenal hit, just being featured in the opening credits is an honor!

As for the investment ratio, it's actually quite easy to discuss...

Back at the wrap party, Shen Yan didn't drink too much, since he had to go to Dingzha Ancient Town in Jiaxing, Zhejiang the next day to film "Riding the Waves"...

Dingzha Ancient Town in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, retains the appearance of the 1980s and 1990s and is a water town.

It fulfilled Shen Yan's various imaginations of the misty rain in Jiangnan in "Riding the Waves"!

Oh, at the dinner table, no one talked about the movie; they mostly talked about funny things that happened during filming…

However, at Shen Yan's table, they still talked about the film market, and recently "No Man's Land" was released!

Well, after being shelved for four years, it's finally being released.

"The film 'No Man's Land' actually passed censorship back then, but it was suppressed and not allowed to be released due to the major events at the time..."

"This year, China Film Group wanted to boost its performance and was busy with its IPO, so it made a push and released 'No Man's Land'!"

"Indeed, after four years, the box office appeal of the Ning Hao + Xu Zheng + Huang Bo combination has become much stronger... It's estimated that it will gross 500 million yuan!"

"That can't be right! It premiered yesterday, and the box office was only 2400 million!"

What do you think, Brother Yan?

Shen Yan thought for a moment, then said, "I don't think 500 million is very likely..."

Although I don't remember the final box office of "No Man's Land", it certainly didn't exceed 500 million!

It probably didn't even reach 300 million!

Otherwise, Ning Hao wouldn't have guaranteed a minimum box office of 500 million for "Breakup Buddies"...

"It would be good enough if it could even be released. With Xu Zheng and Huang Bo's current reputations, 'No Man's Land' is sure to make money!"

"Benny Chan's 'The White Storm' also received good reviews...it has a bit of an old Hong Kong film feel to it!"

The first "The White Storm" movie was indeed good...

The character of Zhang Jiahui was not given enough attention and was not developed in depth—Ziwei, played by Zhang Jiahui, had only one belief from beginning to end: to be a good policeman.

People who can still uphold their beliefs and principles after experiencing tremendous changes are generally called heroes.

But... what if Zhang Jiahui chooses revenge!

This film has the potential to be a 9-point film.

What a pity...

Perhaps it's a tribute to "A Better Tomorrow 2" in the final showdown—the three brothers teaming up to fight the Eight-Faced Buddha…

"Five years, I waited for five years. Do you know how I spent those five years?!"

"I am Duan Kun from Tsim Sha Tsui!"

"You chose it, my idol!"

Few Hong Kong films have produced so many memorable lines…

"The White Storm" absolutely deserves a box office of over 500 million!
Unfortunately, Benny Chan's reputation has been somewhat tarnished—after two mediocre films, "City Under Siege" and "Shaolin," audiences have lost patience with him.

Moreover, there were too many new films released at the same time: "No Man's Land", "The Four 2", "The Storm"...

Oh, and "Northeast Lover" will also be released on December 12th...

Then on December 19th, "Personal Tailor" was released, and on December 24th, "Police Story 2013" was released...

Another film coming out for the New Year's season is "Up in the Wind," directed by Teng Huatao and written by Bao Jingjing—the same cast and crew as "Love is Not Blind"!
Starring Nini and Jing Boran.

"These things have nothing to do with us... Lao Guo, are you going to promote 'Northeast Love Brother'?" Guo Fan nodded: "I definitely have to go!"

“Okay, then I’ll direct ‘Duckweed’ myself…” After a pause, Shen Yan said to Shen Teng, “Call Yan Fei and Peng Damo over…”

"The two of them?"

"Yeah, make me your assistant director... plus Zhang Chiyu, that'll be enough!"

Guo Fan shook his head: "...No, Zhang Chiyu is the post-production director for 'The Martian'...he has to oversee post-production!"

"Alright then... I'll put in more effort myself!" He then looked at Shen Teng: "Brother Teng, let's go directly to Dingzha Ancient Town in Jiaxing tomorrow..."

"So fast? Is filming already finished?"

"It was all prepared a long time ago. Zhou Yi went there at the beginning of the month and has already taken care of everything!"

Zhou Yi is Guo Fan's assistant director. He has been working with Guo Fan since "The Adventures of Li Xianji"...

From script supervisor, production coordinator, assistant director to executive director.

He's already the executive director of "The Martian"!

Then he was recruited by Shen Yan and became the producer of "Riding the Waves"...

Responsible for overall planning in the early stages!

……

Actually, when it comes to movies, bosses all want things to be "fast, efficient, and cost-effective"...

The reality is that "Duckweed" was filmed and released in just three months!

Time is very tight…

It is indeed 'fast'...

So how can it be improved?

Of course, it's about spending money!

First, the photographic style was determined—it continues the style of "Our Times," but this time it has a misty, verdant feel, typical of the Jiangnan region!

Secondly, the special effects were done upfront—the car crash scene was filmed in Xiangshan…

There are also racing scenes...

Three tall, large LED display walls were erected directly in the studio, with the car parked in the middle. The LED walls displayed pre-shot footage from all four directions of the car, filmed by Team B. The actors then acted out driving based on the road conditions shown in the windshield images, like playing a video game. This provided a basis for the actors' performances and reduced post-production time…

By the way, in addition to the three photography teams, we also rented several Phantom Flex high-speed cameras, which cost tens of thousands of yuan per day, for multi-camera shooting…

Finally, the filming and editing were done simultaneously.

Filming and editing simultaneously is now a common practice in modern film production!
However, the on-site editing for "Duckweed" used a system called QTAKE...

Video distribution system: It can read the file names of the footage from the camera. The usual workflow is camera – monitor – copy to editing system. The QTAKE system eliminates the monitor step. Files are generated simultaneously when the camera is turned off. Then, a gigabit network cable connects to the editing system, and the editor can directly access the footage from the QTAKE hard drive…

The system was rented for two months at a cost of 600 million RMB – including the salaries of the operators.

The entire production cost a whopping 8500 million!
The production cost plus staff salaries was close to 5500 million.
The actors' salaries were as follows: Shen Teng received 800 million yuan, Zhao Liying received 100 million yuan, and the other actors' salaries combined were less than 500 million yuan. Shen Yan, the screenwriter, director, producer, and actor, received 1600 million yuan plus a 30% profit share…

Yeah, he took up half by himself…

That's normal, it's his movie!

The film's investors are Spark Studio, China Film Group, and Enlight Media.

Shen Yan's movie, being released during the Spring Festival, is basically guaranteed to make a profit as long as the cost doesn't exceed 3 million yuan!

"Duckweed" borrowed from "New Brothers"... or rather, it borrowed from "Back to the Future".

Traveling back in time; meeting, getting to know, and becoming friends with a father (mother) who is younger than you; helping your father (mother) with their marriage, and in the process, getting to know them again and reconciling...

This type of narrative construction is actually quite traditional.

Shen Yan had actually considered whether it was possible to change it to the type of "Someday or One Day"...

(End of this chapter)