Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 448 Art Department, Wu Chen is the Director
In June, Beijing is in the midst of the deepening summer heat.

The news of Chow Yun-fat's diva-like behavior spread like wildfire, causing quite a stir in the entertainment industry within just one day.

This is the first time similar news has surfaced since "Curse of the Golden Flower" and "Red Cliff," and this time it's from the "Confucius" film crew.

Once or twice could be considered a misrepresentation, but repeated occurrences make it hard to dismiss as baseless rumors.

Jiang Wen frowned as he looked at the report, weighing the matter repeatedly in his mind, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the table a few times.

He hesitated for a long time before finally dialing Wu Chen's number, only to hear a cold, icy female voice:
The number you dialed is currently switched off.

"On the plane?"

Jiang Wen paused for a moment, thought to himself, pondered for a moment, and then dialed Ge You, whom he had just finalized the deal with a few days ago.

The other party answered the phone with a chuckle and said, "Old Jiang, what's up now?"

The two had been friends for over ten years, and Jiang Wen didn't stand on ceremony, expressing his hesitation.

"I think it depends on you. Chow Yun-fat's diva-like behavior isn't a new thing; he demands Hollywood treatment."

After saying that, Ge You changed the subject: "By the way, whose idea was Liang Jiahui? Did you decide on it yourself?"

"No, I initially thought of Chow Yun-fat, but Wu Chen mentioned Tony Leung Ka-fai to me. After thinking about it carefully, I realized that Tony Leung Ka-fai is indeed quite suitable."

"Director Wu," Ge You pondered for a moment, "Director Wu's ability to launch actors to Best Actor and Best Actress awards is undoubtedly superb, but since you're the director of this script, I won't offer any suggestions."

"Alright, even though you don't say it, I understand what you mean!"

Jiang Wen smiled, and after thinking for a long time, he finally crossed out Chow Yun-fat, one of the two candidates for Huang Silang, and directly assigned the role to Ying Huang:

"Mr. Yang, please invite Tony Leung Ka-fai for me."

"Oh, you're sure? Okay."

Yang Shoucheng was overjoyed. In his opinion, Jiang Wen had made a wise decision.

Think of how much money we could save by replacing this person!

Is Tony Leung Ka-fai's acting worse than Chow Yun-fat's?

Absolutely perfect
Moreover, the production team already has Jiang Wen and Ge You. The former's film is about to break 600 million yuan at the box office, and the latter's films have always had high box office returns.

Upon returning to the mainland, Wu Chen immediately called Ren Zhonglun, but did not mention Gome at the outset.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ren! Shanghai Film Group has been making a lot of moves lately, from the third anniversary of Shanghai Film Group Yinghuang to the establishment of Shanghai Film Group Media Asia."

Shanghai Film Group, backed by the city of Shanghai, does indeed have a lot of exchanges and collaborations with companies in Hong Kong.

"Haha, Director Wu, to be honest, I'd rather establish Shanghai Film Star Academy."

Wu Chen chuckled upon hearing this, half-jokingly saying, "Xingchen is no match for Huanya or Yinghuang."

"Not necessarily."

Ren Zhonglun smiled and responded.

He has a clear mind.

Why are Yinghuang and Media Asia so eager to align with the mainland? Aside from a few stubborn conservatives who choose to remain oblivious, everyone else in both regions knows the truth. The decline of Hong Kong's film and television industry is an undeniable fact, while the mainland's is steadily rising.
Among private enterprises, the most valuable is Starry Night Pictures, which boasts three renowned directors.

In today's film and television industry, what resource is the most scarce?
In the past, investment channels might have played a part, but now good directors are the most scarce resource.

Their funding sources are very diverse, and many people bring funds to invest, but still can't get their money in.

It's like an outside investor suddenly saying they want to invest in Zhang Yimou's film, but Zhang Yimou completely ignores them.
"Mr. Ren, about the China Academy of Art..."

"Director Wu, I've spoken with Dean Xu at the Academy of Fine Arts. They strongly support promoting the development of the domestic film industry and establishing university-enterprise cooperation projects."

Wu Chen was a little unaccustomed to Ren Zhonglun's string of official jargon.

Although he did indeed want to take advantage of the project to boost the industrialization of the domestic film industry.
"By the way, there's the Shanghai International Film Festival in a few days. Would Director Wu like to participate?"

"President Ren, I think I'll pass. I have a lot of things to do. Ning Hao already accepted President Ren's invitation and went over!" Wu Chen shrugged. He'd been flying around these past few days, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't tired. He was too lazy to go to Shanghai.

Although the Department of Fine Arts at the Beijing Film Academy was not established in 1950, it is still one of the four earliest major departments established at the film academy.

Department head Wang Honghai is still the visual consultant for "The Founding of a Republic," and he, along with some teachers from the Fine Arts Department, participated in the production of the film.

When Wu Chen mentioned inviting teachers and students from the Fine Arts Department to participate in the development of a major international project, Wang Honghai was momentarily stunned and looked at Zhang Huijun in a daze.

"This is true, how could it be false?"

I spoke with President Xu of the China Academy of Art on the phone. You should seize this opportunity. The two schools have their own unique strengths in art, and teachers and students should collaborate more to leverage each other's talents.”

Zhang Huijun had clearly attended far too many official meetings. After listening, Wu Chen couldn't help but remark:
"Principal Zhang, let's keep it simple since we're all family. This is going around in circles."

Upon hearing this, Wang Honghai suppressed a laugh, wanting to laugh but daring not to.

"you boy"

Zhang Huijun himself burst out laughing.

This old problem is a common ailment among people working within the system; there's nothing that can be done about it.

The talks went smoothly, and some word got out. People from other departments could only watch with envy. One of them asked Mu Deyuan sourly:
"Old Mu, your photography department didn't participate this time?"

"Of course I was involved. How could I not be involved? Wu Chen is the director, isn't he?"

Mu Deyuan's casual remark immediately made everyone feel even more bitter.

Damn it, how could I forget that?
After finishing his business, Wu Chen went to call out to Park Song-il, who had been studying one-shot filming techniques since the beginning of the year.
"Brother Chen, shooting in one take is really difficult. The lighting requirements alone are very high. Last week, the teacher instructed me that the lighting should not interfere with the photographer's movement, and at the same time, it is necessary to achieve 360° continuous lighting."

It required using techniques such as hidden light sources, wireless light control, and gradual color temperature adjustments to follow the 'dynamic light source changes' of the camera. My team and I spent several days tweaking it, and we finally got it right once. We were completely exhausted.

Park Song-il plopped down on the ground, his face noticeably thinner.

Wu Chen smiled, sat down, and patted Park Song-il on the shoulder:

"But it was finally adjusted successfully, so don't worry. The entire crew will train together until it's ready to start filming, so don't feel too much pressure."

"Brother Chen, when do we start training?"

Wu Chen pondered for a moment: "The script is still a bit lacking. I'm going to contact the August First Film Studio again and get in touch with the next group of people to polish it further and try to finalize the draft as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)