Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 217 The Hunger Games Part II and Inception
Gu Bei did the math.
An artist took a picture,
It only cost him a little over twenty million dollars.
At this scale, the cost consideration isn't whether it will be profitable, but rather how much profit to generate.

He smiled at the two of them: "My leading man and leading woman, how's your tap dancing coming along?"

Leonardo turned around.
He had already finished his makeup.

It used a slicked-back hairstyle that was very popular at the time. The hair was relatively short and smooth, extending backwards without any parting. The whole hairstyle was seamless, simple and neat.

Paired with Leonardo's neatly grown mustache,
The whole person immediately exuded that retro and elegant feeling from that time.

Upon hearing Gu Bei mention tap dancing, Leonardo immediately wore a bitter expression: "When I first started learning, it was actually quite fun..."

Right now, I just feel like I'm going through torture. I really hope that last scene will be filmed soon!

Marion, however, found it very amusing: "Leonardo, you should immerse yourself in the joy of dancing; only then can you truly experience its pleasure!"

Seeing this, Gu Bei smiled.

The tap dance in the final scene is very important.

It symbolizes the male protagonist embracing sound films and accepting the transformation of art.

As part of the two-part "La La Land" series, Gu Beidu included the same tap dance in the film, specifically to echo Leonardo DiCaprio's scene.

Gu Bei acted as if he were inspecting his own territory.
He toured the entire film set.
everything's ready,
The artist is finally about to start filming!

For the first scene, we naturally filmed something simpler.

Gu Bei chose the scene where the male lead enters the private dressing room, where, in addition to the male lead, there is also a butler who helps him sign autographs.

"Action!"

Leonardo DiCaprio adjusted his tie in front of the makeup mirror.

He first raised his chin,
The apple cheek on the right side of the face is raised high.

His entire face was filled with self-admiration, his expression exactly like that of a crooked-mouthed war god.

This was also the style of the silent film era, where facial expressions and body language were relatively exaggerated in order to evoke the audience's emotions.

After a while,
He fell into deep thought.
Thinking about the argument I had with my wife that morning,
So he turned to talk to the butler.

"Cut!"

Leonardo DiCaprio was halfway through his line when...
Gu Bei immediately yelled "Cut!"
All we need to do is film the actors moving their mouths.

A 'credits' section will be inserted here in the final cut of the film.
This is a storytelling method unique to the silent film era. These insert subtitles are all written by professionals, and the font can be matched with the movie plot. Even adding hand-drawn illustrations is not a problem.

Back then, the Oscars even had a Best Subtitle Writing Award, which was given to these subtitle writers.

but……

Gu Bei rested his chin on his hand.

He fell into deep thought, feeling that something was missing from the entire film set.

Director of Photography Eric was sitting next to Gu Bei. He asked curiously, "Bruce, have you noticed anything wrong?"

"The set is so quiet!"

Gu Bei thought about it and realized where the problem lay.

They made a silent film.
However, the film set operated according to modern filmmaking methods.
The entire crew remained quiet as usual, afraid that their noise would be picked up by the microphone.

The issue is……

There are no microphones here!
They would even cut off the dialogue halfway through.

The entire set was now as quiet as outer space. "But we're making a silent film, aren't we?" Eric asked, just like everyone else, puzzled.

"But film sets weren't this quiet during the silent era. Back then, actors were performing while other staff members could do whatever they wanted. This is not like it at all now."

Gu Bei turned around and shouted to the assistant director, "Go get two sound systems."

Leonardo walked over curiously, saw the stereo system that had been moved in, and asked curiously, "Bruce, what kind of music are you planning to play?"

"Let's play some piano music first. Tomorrow I'll find some old records and songs, and it would be best to add an old-fashioned hand-cranked camera so you can truly experience what it was like on a film set back then."

Gu Bei said with a smile.

"That sounds interesting!"

Since Leonardo DiCaprio began his career,

This is the first time I've ever experienced such a 'noisy' film crew.

Filming has begun to progress steadily.

Artists and film crews can be seen in many corners of Los Angeles, especially in classic locations.

One of the great advantages of silent films is that they are completely free from the interference of onlookers.

No matter how loudly they shout, as long as they don't enter the frame, they can't affect the filming.

During this filming process,

Gu Bei met Joel, an editor from Random House, who had flown in from New York.

"My dearest author Bruce, it's been so long since we last met!" Joel opened his arms warmly, wanting to give Gu Bei a hug.

"You're probably the author who can make you the most money!"

Gu Bei firmly rejected him and sat down in the coffee shop on her own.

Joel sat down opposite Gu Bei with a sigh: "Bruce, I didn't expect you to develop so quickly. In just one year, you've already worked with Leonardo on a movie. I really like Leonardo!"

"It's a pity we're resting on set today. If you're still in Los Angeles tomorrow, I can introduce you to him."

Gu Bei ordered a coffee, then leisurely looked at Joel across from him, "You should have received the manuscripts for The Hunger Games 2 and Inception by now. How do you think they are?"

"The Hunger Games 2 is naturally fine, maintaining your usual standard."

Joel's smile slowly faded. "But your Inception... the style is quite different, though the concept is very good."
But have you considered writing from the perspective of the dream architect Adrian?
Or perhaps you could simply use a completely new pen name to publish?

Gu Bei looked at Joel,

He understood what Joel was worried about.
The first Hunger Games film didn't sell as well as The Hunger Games.

However, its sales were enough to support the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Revenge of the Siege, during the most competitive summer movie season.

Therefore, the release date of the Inception novel will definitely be before The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2.

If the Inception novel doesn't sell well, it could very well affect the sales of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2.

Joel's two options,
The first approach is to use Gu Bei's past successes and approach the story from the perspective of a young girl who works as a dream architect; this is a safer approach.
The second option is that even if Inception flops, it's fine; they can wait until the sales of The Hunger Games 2 stabilize before announcing that Gu Bei is the author of Inception.

However, Gu Bei would not choose either of these options.

His goal was to claim the spot, so naturally he wanted to maximize the exposure of the Inception novel.

"Joel, the story's structure is already set. I won't make any major changes to the story, nor will I choose to publish it under a new pen name. I'll just publish it under my own name!"

(End of this chapter)