Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

When Yang Che saw Zeng Jian, with his round head and chubby face, on the steps in front of the guesthouse, he immediately knew who he was. Well... actually, the two had already communicated on the phone before.

This guy will marry Mei Ting in the future, and she will have a son and a daughter with him.

Yang Che also knew that this guy had directed several films for Lou Ye, including Li Yu's "Buddha Mountain." Of course, all of that happened five or six years later; right now, this guy was just a junior in college who had directed a documentary.

"Zeng Jian?"

Zeng Jian turned around upon hearing the voice, and said somewhat hesitantly, "It's me. Are you Brother Yang?"

Yang Che smiled and nodded: "Have you eaten?"

Zeng pointed at Lu Dong and said, "I ate a pancake."

Yang Che subconsciously looked over there and saw a pancake stall with quite a few people buying them. Looking further north, across the street from the Beijing Film Studio, wow, there were even more people.

Oh, so this is the earliest meaning of the term "Beijing drifter"—extras waiting for work outside the Beijing Film Studio. I imagine Wang Baoqiang is probably among those people right now.

He inexplicably recalled a saying: If ideals had a color, it would surely be the night sky over Beijing.

Thinking of this, Yang Che couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

This scene seemed particularly eerie to Zeng Jian, who was about to sit up from the steps. Yang Che's smile gave him a feeling that combined certainty, peace, and expectation, as if someone was looking at you and saying, "The world is yours..." How could this not feel strange?

Yang Che turned his gaze to Zeng Jian: "Did you bring a camera?"

Zeng Jian nodded somewhat blankly: "I brought it with me."

Yang Che pointed to the gate of the Beijing Film Studio: "Take a picture, the prettier the better."

Zeng Jian was speechless. What kind of talk was that? What did he mean by "the prettier the better"? But he didn't ask. He just took out his camera from his backpack. It was a Nikon F3, a manual film SLR, a classic among classics.

Zeng Jian kept adjusting the parameters, took a few pictures, and then showed them to Yang Che.

Yang Che took a look and felt that it wasn't as good as his own film, but he was very satisfied with Zeng Jian. No problem, he would do whatever he was told, which was good.

Afterwards, he led Zeng Jian back to his room. On the way, Yang Che asked a very amateurish but really interesting question.

"Why is the picture quality of most movies in our country so blurry? It feels pretty dirty. It's one thing if it's a period drama, but why do modern city movies all look like that?"

Zeng Jian looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, "Are you kidding me?" and remained silent for a long time.

Yang Che glanced at him: "I really want to know. I didn't tell you before, but I've never actually worked in film."

Zeng Jian suddenly realized: "Most of the film produced in our country is of average quality, some of it is expired, and the developing and projection equipment is generally outdated..."

As Zeng Jian spoke, a bad feeling crept into his heart. Was this "Brother Yang" really as formidable as Ulan Tana had described? Didn't he know that?

Yang Che nodded, understanding the gist of it.

Compared to films of the same era, not to mention Hollywood and European countries, even the newly emerging South Korean films had incredibly clear and sharp picture quality.

"Beijing Bicycle" and "My Sassy Girl" were filmed at the same time, but look at the picture quality—the difference is like two generations apart.

This refers to image quality, not photography and lighting effects.

It seems that Chinese films and Beijing rock music share a common characteristic: poverty.

Some big-name directors are not poor, but their films are still dirty, which is intentional.

Don't make excuses about how the era limited the filming quality. What was the quality of the visuals in Zhang Shaolin's 1994 version of "Water Margin"?

Are these big-name directors really less skilled at controlling the visuals than Zhang Shaolin? Deliberate is deliberate.

As the two were talking, they entered the room. Yang Che invited Zeng Jian to sit down and gave him a bottle of mineral water.

"What equipment and film should I use for a clear and sharp image, and how much would it cost approximately?"

Hearing this series of questions, Zeng Jian relaxed considerably, paused for a moment, and then said:

"For the camera, Hollywood blockbusters often use the ARRI 535. And the lens is a Panavisense prime lens; its coating is fantastic, virtually eliminating flare and reflections. For post-production, use non-linear editing and digital color grading. That should achieve the effect you want. These are all industry-recognized high-quality technologies. As for the rental cost, it's roughly over a million, calculated for two months."

After Zeng Jian finished speaking haltingly, he looked at Yang Che and found him to be very calm. He breathed a sigh of relief. Unprofessional as he may be, as long as he has money, that's all that matters.

Yang Che handed Zeng Jian a piece of paper, asking him to write down in detail what equipment was needed for filming an urban romance movie like "My Sassy Girl," as well as the rental costs...

Seeing Zeng Jian's constipated expression, Yang Che grinned and said, "Who told you to be the first one here? Help me out, and I'll give you an extra chicken leg for lunch."

No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock on the door, and Cheng Er arrived carrying a video camera.

Yang Che was very happy. After welcoming him in, he was about to introduce Zeng Jian to him when he realized that the two knew each other.

"Huh? Cheng Er?"

"Holy crap! What's going on?"

"..."

Okay, they're a year apart, one's a director and the other a cinematographer, both quite well-known at the Beijing Film Academy. Given the small number of students at the Beijing Film Academy, it would be strange if they didn't know each other.

As a result, Cheng Er and Zeng Jian both felt like they had met an old friend in a foreign land. Zeng Jian, in particular, felt that ever since he met Yang Che today, his brain had stopped working and he was like a toad, jumping around when poked.

"Alright, perfect. You two take care of this and give me your opinion."

Ten minutes later, Ning Hao arrived and said he had already contacted a real estate agent to find an apartment, most likely in the Huangtingzi residential area next to the Beijing Film Academy.

He was about to say hello and leave, but Yang Che stopped him: "No rush, help me with a personnel budget first, how many people are in each group, how much pay is for each position, calculated on a monthly basis. The salary level should be based on the 'Spicy Love Soup' group."

So Cheng Er and Zeng Jian sat at the desk, listing the equipment and quotations.

Ning Hao and Yang Che sat on the sofa, working on a personnel budget. After discussing it for about 20 minutes, the results were as follows:

导演组：导演10万、执行导演1万、副导演两人1万、统筹0.8万、场记0.3万，小计12.1万；

製片组：製片主任3万、现场製片1万、外联製片1万、生活製片0.4万，小计5.4万；

摄影组：摄影指导5万、掌机两人3万、摄影大助（焦点员）0.8万、摄助三人1.2万，小计10万；

Lighting team: Lighting director 1.5, two chief lighting assistants 1.2, six lighting assistants 1.8, subtotal 4.5;

Recording team: Recording engineer 1, two microphone operators 0.8 each, subtotal 1.8;

美术组：美术指导3万、执行美术1万、道具师两人1万、置景工6人0.9万，小计5.9万；

服化组：服装师0.5万、化妆师0.5万、助理4人0.8万，小计1.8万；

Event Management Team: Event Management Team Leader 0.3 million, Event Management Staff 10 people 0.7 million, Subtotal 1;

Post-production team: Editor 2, Assistant 0.3, Subtotal 4.3;

The total actor fees amounted to 20 yuan.

Total personnel compensation: 66.8 yuan.