Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Yu Wenhao was too excited just now, and for a moment he really felt that being able to negotiate an 80 GG fee was due to his connections and his own abilities.

At this moment, Yu Wenhao's admiration for Yang Che had reached its peak. Recalling the phone call just now, Yang Che kept praising him, saying that this showed his magnanimity, not taking credit from his subordinates, even though he was the one who proposed the plan; and that his ability to quickly calm down from excitement showed that he had extremely high mental fortitude.

As the saying goes, those who are impatient and restless will accomplish nothing; those who are calm and composed will naturally attract good fortune.

How could Wenhao not admire him? He couldn't help but shout in his heart, "Brother Che, you're awesome!"

...........

Back in the studio, Yang Che clapped his hands as soon as he entered: "Stop playing around, let's talk about shooting the GG sample photos."

Zeng Jian, who was watching from around the computer, was the first to respond: "Did they secure sponsorship?"

Yang Che's expression was calm, and his tone was indifferent: "Nokia, 80."

Zeng Jian nodded: "Oh."

Ning Hao, who was playing Road Rash, suddenly jerked his hand and dropped the mouse: "Huh?"

Cheng Er plucked a few strands of his beard: "How many?"

Song Xiaofei, who had just come out of the bathroom and was pulling up his pants, exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

Zeng Jian then realized what was happening, his face filled with disbelief.

"Look at you all, so pathetic. It's only 80. Alright, shut down the computer. Just so you know, Wu Shih-hsien was in charge of the GG sample videos, where are they?"

Ning Hao: "You took that guy and left, huh? If you hadn't come back, we were all planning to go to the internet cafe."

Yang Che pulled over the whiteboard: "You can pass this on to him later. I was going to suggest using a long take and multiple Hitchcockian sequences for the scene where the protagonist goes home for the first time and his parents are on the phone. Xiaofei, Zeng Jian, are you sure you're okay with that?"

"No problem!"

Zeng Jian said, "If the actors are fine, then there's no problem."

Cheng Er added, "Find Brother Ding and ask him to introduce two male actors."

"clear."

Yang Che nodded: "Next item, I want the lighting to be very flat..."

Cheng Er interrupted, "Won't Da Pingguang become a GG (gay/adult) film? What if brands don't recognize it after seeing the movie?"

Ning Hao: "Hey, the camera angles are the same, what can they possibly see? Besides, the flat lighting looks 'better'."

"It lacks quality."

"Yes, it lacks quality."

"....."

Yang Che was somewhat embarrassed because...

"Hey guys, not just the GG demo, I want the whole movie to have a flat gloss."

The studio fell silent. Everyone looked at Yang Che, some with puzzled expressions, others with thoughtful expressions, but no one showed disdain.

This flat lighting refers to a large area of ​​soft light shining directly in front of the actor, so that there is no contrast between light and shadow on the actor's face, and no blemishes, wrinkles or anything like that are visible.

Yes... that's right, it's similar to the beauty filter function on modern mobile phones.

So how can these "golden boys" of the film industry understand that dramatic lighting requires both light and shadow... and nowadays, no one in domestic films really uses flat lighting.

If Yang Che hadn't gained some prestige recently, these people would have been cursing him outright.

Yang Che looked around at everyone, regained his composure, and said earnestly, "I know what you're thinking. A few days ago, when we were talking about GG integration, I said that artistic works serve the public, but I won't say that today."

Today I want to say that this is how to make movies that will be box office hits, and this is how I'll make money. The market will also recognize us behind the scenes. Do you understand?

After a few seconds of silence, Song Xiaofei was the first to respond: "We were originally using a Kodak 50D, which has a low ISO. Flat lighting would make the image lack depth, and post-processing color grading would be very troublesome."

Cheng Er echoed, "The most difficult part is not color correction, but reconstructing visual logic."

Yang Che was pleased that they didn't directly oppose him or walk away, but instead pointed out specific difficulties, which were at the post-production level. However, Yang Che didn't trust them, not because they had ulterior motives, but because they weren't editors.

Besides, Yang Che isn't some clueless newbie; he knows what outcome he wants. He's not filming a scenic movie.

"Spend money to hire top talent."

These words left the group feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Ning Hao scratched his head: "Guys, the boss is right. China has been implementing a market economy for so many years, if the movies can't keep up, our minds can't."

"That's true. After Feng Xiaogang's film 'The Dream Factory,' he had plenty of people investing in his films, and all the scripts he and Wang Shuo had previously banned were allowed to be filmed."

"Yes, Chen Kaige's 'Farewell My Concubine' alone is enough to make him rich for the rest of his life."

"That's nonsense. Chen Kaige is China's number one director with profound insights. 'Yellow Earth' is fantastic!"

"They got carried away. The film 'Temptress Moon' was poorly made; it's obvious that they got cocky after winning awards for 'Farewell My Concubine'."

"And they're still sucking up to them? If it weren't for their group, would Chinese cinema be in this state?"

"........."

Yang Che watched as they started arguing about off-topic topics again, but he didn't stop them. They were all creative people, so why did they always have to be so rigid about rules and regulations?

However, Yang Che could understand their deep resentment towards the fifth generation of directors, or rather, the fifth generation of film industry practitioners.

Currently, the relevant positions in various film studios and cultural sectors are controlled by the fifth generation of filmmakers. Given the relatively tight funding, it is natural that favoritism and special treatment exist between them.

The narrative backgrounds of the sixth generation or these new generation are mostly "urban marginals", "individual experiences" and "real-world dilemmas". This is regarded by some fifth generation practitioners as a departure from the "mainstream narrative" and is subject to extremely strict censorship.

Marginalized by the domestic mainstream, the sixth generation and new generation lack funding, face extremely strict censorship, and have no distribution channels. What can they do under the dual pressure of the system and the market? They will eventually rise to the top.

The second generation is alright; they have someone to back them up.

Others can only be exploited by the West's "othering".

In the end, it all comes down to poverty.

Just a few measly coins.

So Yang Che swindled 400 million yuan and easily recruited a group of talented young people...

After chatting for a while, the topic finally returned to gay porn, which wasn't a waste of time, since people no longer had any objections to the "flat-faced" thing.

This is called shifting the blame, cough... It can be used by any organization or group when it is in crisis.

After Yang Che explained the requirements, the rest of the work fell to Wu Shixian: drawing storyboards, renting equipment, taking Song Xiaofei and others to the Beijing Film Studio to shoot the sample footage, with Ning Hao in charge of conveying the instructions, an editor named Liu Jun, and Yang Che and Yu Wenhao in charge of reviewing it.

The same process was followed for the subsequent GG sample photos.

This wasn't Wu Shixian's dereliction of duty; after all, it was the weekend and he was supposed to rest, so this was considered overtime... After all, the two-day weekend had been implemented since May Day in 1995.

After discussing these matters, Yang Che stopped everyone from continuing their discussion about scouting locations.

"We'll talk about it later. Let's go now, let's go drink and sing karaoke."