Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 239 Preparing for the Film
Happy times always pass too quickly, and this holiday was no exception.

For Hu Xiaobei and Liu Xiaoli, there wasn't much difference; it was simply a transition from rest to work.

For An Xiaoqian, the difference is significant.

Because of a prior agreement with Hu Xiaobei, they did not plan to announce their relationship for the time being, and they also had to keep it a secret from their mother, Liu Xiaoli.

Therefore, An Xiaoqian was very uncomfortable.

Moreover, she receives a great deal of attention in China, and her every word and action is scrutinized by reporters.

Any slightly intimate gesture between him and Hu Xiaobei would have a significant impact on him.

In order to prevent Hu Xiaobei from being accused of abducting a young girl, An Xiaoqian managed to control her emotions very well.

It's one thing to act like this in public, but in private, because her mother is around, she can't show too much closeness to Hu Xiaobei.

Although Liu Xiaoli felt that the two, who had not yet entered into a romantic relationship, already seemed extremely close.

However, some boundaries cannot be crossed. Once the line is crossed, even slightly, it will inevitably attract Liu Xiaoli's attention.

In light of this, An Xiaoqian could only devote herself entirely to filming the TV series.

The three returned to China before August 28, and officially began filming "Dialogue with Masters of the Past and Present" on September 1.

With the first installment of the Dialogue Between Past and Present series already filmed, and while retaining the original creative team, the filming efficiency of The Masters' Biographies was significantly higher than that of The Brilliant China series.

After honing her skills by filming "The Glory of China," An Xiaoqian's acting skills have greatly improved, making her more adept at filming the same series, "The Legend of the Masters."

Even so, it was still a bit beyond my capabilities to face dozens of veteran actors.

Fortunately, with Hu Xiaobei providing invaluable guidance, she was able to maintain rapid improvement in her acting skills while also being able to act alongside veteran actors with relative ease.

While filming The Legend of the Grandmasters, Hu Xiaobei also wrote his first film script.

The movie is called "Sissi's Dog". Just from the title, you can probably guess what kind of movie it is.

This script was created by Hu Xiaobei after careful consideration.

This film fulfills several elements:
1. I and Sisi play a married couple, with intimate scenes and wedding shots.

2. In the original timeline, An Xiaoxi had a cameo role in a dog movie called "A Bao's Story." Now, she's the lead actress in this movie, and Candy and Laifu can also appear on screen.

3. This kind of movie has a very low cost and won't lose much money. It also makes it easy for Hu Xiaobei to use his cheat codes to get the dogs to cooperate in making the movie. This is his advantage and something that others can hardly do.

Generally, to depict the short life of a dog in a movie, multiple puppies, adult dogs, and senior dogs of the same type are selected for filming.

Hu Xiaobei chose the most distinctive Chinese rural dog, commonly known as the "local dog".

Five small yellow dogs were selected for this photoshoot.

Among them are two puppies at different stages of growth, one adult dog, and two elderly dogs, showcasing the different stages of growth of mixed-breed dogs.

Therefore, Hu Xiaobei doesn't need to spend too much time training these stray dogs.

He only needs to train the dogs to perform the specified actions and expressions according to the storyline required for different stages of filming.

The goal is to get the dog to perform specific actions and expressions, and to influence the audience's emotions.

This is a challenge that would be almost impossible even for professional dog trainers.

Getting a dog to cooperate in playing games and performing commands isn't difficult, but getting it to fit the storyline is quite challenging.

Even if we shoot dozens or hundreds of times, it will probably be in vain.

But for Hu Xiaobei, this was exactly the simplest thing.

He can make dogs act out the cuteness and clinginess of their puppies, the agility and intimacy of their adults, and the deep emotions of their old age, with every move perfectly matching the needs of the movie plot.

Therefore, as long as the plot isn't too bad and the filming techniques aren't too poor, making a Chinese version of "Hachiko" isn't too difficult. If the plot is better, and the actors and filming are up to par, it's safe to say the film has the potential to be a huge hit.

Of course, in the eyes of Chinese people in 2005, these kinds of movies were all considered box office flops.

Yes, it's the same now.

The "Interim Provisions on the Access to Business Qualifications of Film Enterprises" issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television came into effect on November 10, 2004.

The regulations stipulate that the state allows domestic companies, enterprises, and other economic organizations (excluding foreign-invested enterprises) to establish film production companies.

Due to policy reasons, filmmakers making their first film must establish a film and television culture company, which will then apply for and obtain a "Film Production License (Single Film)".

A film can only be shot after obtaining a "Film Production Permit (Single Film)".

Given that "Sissi's Dog" is a regular film, the script still needs to be submitted to the Beijing Broadcasting and Film Administration Department for preliminary review.

Once the initial review is passed, filming and production can begin.

Once the film is completed, a film screening license will be required.

There are companies, and Qianbeifeng Entertainment has the necessary qualifications.

However, these matters were too complicated for Hu Xiaobei to handle, so he left them all to Liu Xiaoli.

With the backing of the Beijing Film Academy and CCTV, handling these minor matters wouldn't be difficult at all.

In this era, this type of film is not popular in the country.

If Hu Xiaobei didn't have sufficient funds of his own, finding investment would have been extremely difficult.

Therefore, even if such films are made, their release is still a problem.

Therefore, Hu Xiaobei had long planned to target international film festivals.

The Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals are relatively well-known film festivals both domestically and internationally.

He holds considerable weight in the hearts of Chinese filmmakers at this time.

The Cannes Film Festival is still a long way off; it won't start until May 17-28.

The Berlin Film Festival opened on February 9th of the following year, and the latest deadline for submissions is the end of December this year.

For Hu Xiaobei, a quick shooter with extremely high shooting efficiency, there was plenty of time.

If the film "Sissi's Dog" was planned to participate in the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.

Twenty working days before the film festival, applicants must submit a filing application with an official seal to the Beijing film authorities.

The application must also specify the film festival's name in both Chinese and English, the dates and location, as well as the contact person and phone number of the film production company.

Please attach a copy of the film's public screening license to complete the exhibition registration process.

There's plenty of time, and with the Beijing Film Academy as a backer, there shouldn't be any problems.

The subject matter is just a movie about stray dogs, so there shouldn't be any problems.

It's said that most problematic movies are made by problematic people, and naturally, the movies themselves are also problematic.

Given this situation, it's no wonder the authorities refused to approve it.

Filming "Dialogue with Masters of the Past and Present" took a little over two months, and even including post-production, it took only two and a half months.

During this period, preparations for the film "Sissi's Dog" have been completed and filming can begin at any time.

In particular, the local dogs were selected well in advance, and Hu Xiaobei had even communicated with and trained them beforehand.

(End of this chapter)