To be honest, Li Tang prefers Ning Hao's "Incense" to "Uniform" by Diao Yinan, which the company invested 500,000 yuan in.
how to say?
Both depict small characters, but Diao Yinan's "Uniform" is more in the style of Chief Jia, and the characters depicted are more marginal. In contrast, Ning Hao's "Incense" is more universal, absurd and humorous, and more enjoyable to watch.
"The film was shot well! If the post-production is more detailed, I think the color can be adjusted if necessary."
Whether it is "Xiao Wu" by Chief Jia or "Uniform" by Diao Yinan, these depictions of the living conditions of small people in China's lower society are generally gray. There may be a cost factor here, or it may be intentional.
It's just that Li Tang doesn't like this style very much. With the same theme, Lou Ye's "Suzhou River", including "The Crying Woman" directed by Liu Bingjian, which he watched at last year's Cannes Film Festival, is very colorful, but It does not affect the quality of the movie itself or the connotation it wants to express.
"I'm afraid I don't have enough money if I want to adjust colors." Ning Hao looked embarrassed, and at the same time said embarrassedly: "There is not much left of the 200,000 yuan given by the company before."
Compared with the stubborn Diao Yinan, Ning Hao is obviously more diplomatic. To put it bluntly, Ning Hao knew very well who the benefactor's father was, so he listened to his advice.
Li Tang smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. If you don't have enough money, you can still apply to the company."
In fact, if he had known that "Incense" could be shot in this quality, Li Tang would have invested hundreds of thousands more and directly made it into a film film.
Ning Hao was overjoyed when he heard it. Who doesn't want to strive for excellence in his own work? He quickly said: "Thank you, Teacher Li."
Li Tang smiled and patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay. I'm still counting on your movie to debut at this year's Cannes Film Festival."
Although Ning Hao had already heard the news from Zeng Jia, it was the first time he heard this from Li Tang. Ning Hao could not hide his excitement and said: "Don't worry, Teacher Li, I will do a good job."
"We must also hurry up on time. It is best to complete it before the end of next month." Li Tang said again.
The Cannes International Film Festival basically opens in mid-May every year, and most of the shortlisted films are determined in mid-to-late April. In addition to film review, MK2 Company must be allowed some time to operate.
After seeing off the excited Ning Hao, Li Tang returned to the office to think about it and made a call to Zeng Jia through the company's internal line.
"Jiajia, come up here."
"Okay, brother, I have something to talk to you about."
Not long after, Zeng Jia walked in holding a folder.
"Brother, what do you want from me?"
Li Tang, who was sitting on the sofa, looked up at her and pointed to the sofa opposite: "Sit down, let's talk about you first."
"okay!"
Zeng Jia opened the folder and handed it over: "This is the shooting arrangement for the two advertisements. I have contacted the manufacturer and the shooting team. The first advertisement will be shot the day after tomorrow. It will take about two days. The second advertisement is scheduled On next Monday, their scene construction will be a little more troublesome, and..."
Li Tang was confused when he heard this, and quickly interrupted: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, didn't I say it will be scheduled for next month?"
"Hehe, isn't it because I'm worried that I can't miss it on my schedule?"
Looking at Zeng Jia's smile, Li Tang finally understood. As soon as he promised to think about it in the morning, Zeng Jia had already put all the work in advance and made it clear that he was ready to take on the drama "Jasmine Blooms".
It seemed that this matter could no longer be considered by himself. He could only smile bitterly and said: "Okay, since you have made arrangements, let's leave it at that."
"Sorry, brother." Zeng Jia stuck out her tongue playfully.
Since the establishment of the company, although Zeng Jia still looks like a glamorous beauty outside, she seems to be letting herself go more and more in front of Li Tang. In other words, being happy and lively is her true face, and the so-called aloofness is just her protective color.
"Brother, I've finished my report. If you have any questions, please give me instructions."
Ce Na, do you call this a report? It is clearly a notification, okay?
Li Tang secretly cursed, and then said: "Two things. I just watched the rough cut version of "Incense" and also talked with Ning Hao. The film was well shot. After cutting the film, I suggested that he adjust it. In addition, other post-production work such as music and so on should be done as carefully as possible. He didn't have enough money, so I asked him to apply to the company when needed. Everything within 100,000 is OK. If it exceeds 100,000... uh, you see Go ahead and try your best to satisfy him."
"The second thing is also about Ning Hao. I think he is a very thoughtful director. Talk to him later and sign him."
"I know." Zeng Jia nodded.
Ever since Li Tang agreed to invest 200,000 yuan in Ning Hao's graduation film at the end of last year, Zeng Jia knew that her boss admired the fledgling director, so she was not surprised at all by the follow-up financial support and the decision to sign Ning Hao. .
But she couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake her head: "Originally, the company established the agency department to sign a few potential actors, but unexpectedly, it has signed a lot of directors and screenwriters now."
That's right, now the company has signed four screenwriters and directors, Cheng Er, Zhang Baibai, Liu Fendou and Diao Yinan, and together with Ning Hao, there are five. And except for Liu Fendou, the other four people all have a common characteristic, that is, they are both screenwriters and directors, and they all bear the label of the so-called sixth generation directors.
"Isn't this bad? Movies are the director's art, and actors are just the icing on the cake. If you look at a company as big as Huayi Brothers, one Feng Xiaogang can take over half of the country. Not to mention new pictures, director Zhang Yimou is everything to this company. Cheng Er is a good guy, but you can't expect him to make a movie every few years." Li Tang spread his hands and said.
Speaking of Cheng Er, after filming "The Third Man", he seemed to have run out of inspiration. Years ago, he went to Yunnan to collect stories, saying that he was going to write a script with an anti-drug theme. But Li Tang called him during the Spring Festival holiday and wanted to ask him how the script was going while he was celebrating the New Year. The answer was that the first draft was not satisfactory and had been scrapped, and he planned to re-conceive it.
"Brother, do you think Ning Hao is a good prospect?"
Zeng Jia is very clear that of the four people currently signed by the company, Cheng Er is the most special one. It can be said that from the establishment of Li Tang Studio to the current Shengtang Film and Television Company, it all started because of cooperation with Cheng Er. Of course, a more accurate statement is that Li Tang discovered and promoted Cheng Er, a new director.
The signings of Zhang Baibai, Liu Fendou and Diao Yinan can only be said to have happened at the right time, and their agency contracts are relatively loose. Perhaps from their perspective, they would rather see the company as a sponsor dad who is willing to spend real money to help them realize their so-called artistic ideals.
Li Tang's attitude towards Ning Hao made Zeng Jia seem to see the shadow of his boss's relationship with Cheng Er again.
Hearing Zeng Jia's question, Li Tang couldn't help but laugh and said: "You have won the Best Director Award in the DV Competition of the College Student Film Festival, how can you not be considered a good talent?"
As he spoke, he mused: "I just think he has great ideas and understands photography. He can be regarded as a talent reserve and supplement."
Although Ning Hao's "Incense" was well shot, he did not dare to compare Ning Hao and Cheng Er.
Because in his eyes, Cheng Er has super high artistic accomplishment, and his future may be a director like Martin Scott or Woody Allen.
Ning Hao can't see clearly yet, but he can vaguely see the shadow of Quentin in his "Incense". I hope his future will be as unconstrained as Quentin.
On the other hand, it is also because Ning Hao understands technology, otherwise Zhang Baibai, Diao Yinan, and Liu Fendou, who is about to make a move, are all scriptwriters, and none of them understand technology.
…
We originally made an appointment with Hou Yong to give a reply within three days, but just two days later, Hou Yong took the initiative to call.
Li Tang hesitated for a moment when he saw the caller's number. Although he was still a little reluctant, Zeng Jiaming's hints in the past two days, coupled with Xiaopang's pillow breeze every night, finally made him sigh secretly. , the call was answered.
"Hello, Teacher Hou!"
"Xiao Li, I'm sorry, something happened on the set. I have to rush back to Shanghai immediately to say hello to you in advance, so that you don't have to look for me later. I'm not in the capital." Hou Yong apologized on the phone. road.
"Oh, it doesn't matter, right?"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. There is just a technical problem. I couldn't explain it clearly on the phone, so I had no choice but to rush back."
Although Hou Yong was saying hello on the surface, there was clearly a hint of urging behind his words.
Li Tang pondered for a moment and asked, "Then when will you leave?"
The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became excited: "Flight at five o'clock in the afternoon."
Li Tang looked at the electronic clock on his desk. It was only one o'clock in the afternoon, and said, "If it's convenient for you, please drop by my company. My company is in the 798 factory area next to the airport expressway."
Hou Yong kept saying on the phone: "I know, I know. I'll be over in a moment. Let's meet and talk."
In less than half an hour, Hou Yong hurried over in a taxi, carrying a suitcase with him. He obviously went straight to the airport as soon as he finished talking about the matter here.
Since Li Tang asked him to come over, it was enough to show that he had agreed to take on the drama.
After receiving the notice from the front desk, Li Tang and Zeng Jia hurried downstairs.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Hou, for keeping you waiting. This is my agent and the general manager of our company, Zeng Jia."
"Hello, Mr. Zeng!"
"Don't take it seriously, hello, Teacher Hou!" Zeng Jia quickly stretched out her hands to shake Hou Yong's hand.
Li Tang asked Hou Yong to come over. In addition to telling him that he was willing to take on the play and play the role of Zou Jie, which he disliked very much, he also had many issues about the characters and the script that needed to be discussed with the director. After all, according to Hou Yong, the film will start shooting on March 8th, and it will take less than half a month to complete the filming. The preparations are very hasty.
The script of "Jasmine Blooms" is divided into three stories, namely the emotional experiences of Mo and Boss Meng, Li and Zou Jie, and Hua and Xiao Du.
Li Tang has not been idle these two days, and has read the script several times carefully, not only the story of Zou Jie and Li, which he is going to star in, but also the two stories above and below. Because the three stories are all connected, especially the second story of Li, it serves as a link between the previous and the following.
Moreover, he wrote several pieces of A4 paper regarding the problems in the script and his own understanding, and also included some preliminary characterizations of the character Zou Jie.
Hou Yong was greatly impressed when he saw this. In his words, he had two Jiang Wen in his crew. Jiang Wen was the same at the beginning. After reading the script, he not only carefully studied the history of Shanghai in the 1930s, but also wrote a biography of the character Boss Meng that was thicker than the script.
After answering the questions listed by Li Tang, seeing that it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon, Hou Yong couldn't sit down anymore and stood up and said: "Xiao Li, can you join the group a week in advance? Will we discuss it then?"
Li Tang looked at Zeng Jia. His schedule was also very tight during this period, and he still had two commercials to shoot.
Zeng Jia thought about it and said, "Teacher Hou, there may be a problem a week in advance. We should report to the set on March 4th at the latest. Do you think that's okay?"
"no problem."
Hou Yong readily agreed, and then added: "In addition, regarding contract matters, I will ask the producer to contact you directly."
In the past, when Li Tang took over a film, he would often contact the director immediately about contract and remuneration issues, but Hou Yong seemed to be a little bit hands-off, and his tone sounded a little rich.
"Okay, Teacher Hou. You are too anxious. I will ask the driver to take you to the airport." Zeng Jia said quickly with a hint of joy in his eyes.
"Oh, that's the best. Xiao Li, Mr. Zeng, thank you."
The two put Hou Yong into the Buick business car that Li Tang used before, waved goodbye to Hou Yong, and watched the business car drive out of the company yard.
Zeng Jia then turned around and smiled at Li Tang: "Brother, this Director Hou seems to be a boss who is not short of money."
The producer of the movie "Jasmine Blooms", apart from China Film and Dong Ping's huge profits Huayi, the largest investment came from a capital investment company.
There are not many examples of domestic capital investment companies investing in movies this year. However, in view of Li Tang's previous life experience, sometimes capital investment companies invest in movies not only for the simple purpose of investing in movies, but may also have a deeper purpose.
Of course, it is a new thing, especially in an era when financial regulations were imperfect, and it is reasonable for all kinds of barbaric growth to occur.
…
There were mirrors everywhere in the studio. Li Tang was wearing a white shirt with the buttons unbuttoned. The strong muscles of his upper body were looming. He was holding a red wine glass filled with ice cubes and took out an ice cube. Chewing heavily in his mouth, he then turned to look at the camera and said coolly: "Does it matter what you drink?"
"Cut!"
A boy with a baby face wearing a pair of half-rimmed glasses shouted stop, and at the same time gave Li Tang a thumbs up and praised: "Teacher Li, very good!"
Li Tang was not very satisfied. He wrapped himself in the down coat that his assistant Xiao Zhao put on him in time. He frowned and said to the baby-faced guy: "Director Shen, was the shot just taken a little too greasy?"
"Greasy?" Director Shen looked at Li Tang confused.
"It's the kind of greasy man who deliberately tries to be handsome and shows off his coquettishness."
"..."
This guy's name is Shen Yan. Although he has a baby face, he looks like he is only in his twenties, eighties or thirties, but his actual age is almost four years old. The 1987 graduates of the Nortel Directing Department are only one class below those of Lou Ye and Wang Xiaoshuai, and they are classmates with Guan Fu.
It's just that when he graduated, he had few opportunities to make movies and TV shows. So he went south to Guangdong and became a director of commercials. In more than ten years, he became famous in the advertising circle. Not long ago, I just directed and filmed an advertisement for Lilang trench coat endorsed by Mr. Chen Daoming, and the effect was very good. This time, the manufacturer paid a lot of money to hire him to plan and direct this suit advertisement endorsed by Li Tang.
Although Shen Yan has been very successful in the advertising industry as a director, he is still a low-level worker in the entertainment industry. Although he is almost ten years older than Li Tang, after being stunned for a moment, he still humbly asked for advice: "Teacher Li, what about you?" How do you take this shot?"
Ask for a guaranteed monthly ticket in a low voice! There’s a lot going on today, two updates tomorrow!
(End of chapter)
