1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The crew took a break, but Zhou Yan couldn't.

The next morning, Zhou Yan led several members of the directing team to a small meeting in the crew office to summarize the filming during this period.

Although the progress was relatively slow during this period and not many shots were taken, some problems were also exposed on the scene.

Hu Ke's problem is the biggest problem, but besides Hu Ke, there are also some minor problems, such as the coordination between the various groups is not harmonious, and some staff who have not worked with Zhou Yan before have not adapted to Zhou Yan's rhythm for a while.

Especially during this period of time, the schedule is quite full, and many people did not expect to be so tired.

But these are all minor problems, and after getting used to them over this period of time, they have become much better.

The meeting was not long, just over an hour from beginning to end. After the meeting ended, Zhou Yan went home.

The reason why we have a rest today is that many people are tired and let them rest, and also because Zhou Yan has to meet a guest today.

After the remake of The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly was finalized, director Olivier Dahan said he would come to China to meet Zhou Yan.

Olivier arrived this morning, and Jiang Xia had already gone to the airport to pick him up.

Zhou Yan waited at home for more than an hour, and Jiang Xia came with Olivier.

Zhou Yan was a little surprised when he saw Olivier, because Olivier's image was completely different from what Zhou Yan had thought before.

Xu Feng said that Olivier was a new director, only in his twenties, and what came to Zhou Yan's mind was that of a newly graduated college student.

But the Olivier in front of him looked very mature. He was not tall, just reaching Zhou Yan's chin. He had short hair, a round face, and a bit of stubble. He looked unkempt, as if he was in his thirties.

Zhou Yan looked at the translator next to him again, and he was even more surprised, because he had seen this translator before. He was the boy who played music when he and Wang Zuxian went to Badaling some time ago.

The translator was hired by Jiang Xia. This boy should be working part-time during the holidays. As soon as the boy met, he stared at Zhou Yan with a little excitement in his eyes.

Hello, Mr. Dahan, welcome to China. Zhou Yan smiled and shook hands with Olivier.

Zhou, I am very happy to come to China and very happy to meet you.

Although the boy in charge of translation was very excited, his work did not fall behind. He translated very quickly and expressed fluently.

Zhou Yan admired the boy's strong business ability. This boy was proficient in at least three foreign languages, Dutch, English and French.

Before, Zhou Yan thought that boys specialized in Dutch, but he didn't expect that French was so good.

Inviting them into the courtyard, Zhou Yan personally poured tea for Olivier, and also poured a cup for the boy.

Thank you, Teacher Zhou.

The young man has good French skills. Is he from the School of Foreign Languages?

Well, I'm a French major at the School of Foreign Languages.

What is your name?

Li Dakai.

Zhou Yan nodded and sat down opposite Olivier, Mr. Daang, I am very happy to hear that Mr. Xu said that you are coming to Yanjing. Mr. Xu praises you very much.

I am even more happy to come to Yanjing to meet you. In fact, I was originally preparing a script of my own, but after watching The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly, I decided to put down my own script first and remake The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly. The Piano Boy. This story is very good, but because of the differences in language and culture, most French people are unwilling to go into the cinema to watch this movie, which makes me feel very regretful, Olivier said.

Zhou Yan's mentality is very calm, Actually, the results of The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly in France have met my expectations.

I believe that after the adaptation, the situation will be better.

Seeing Olivier so confident, Zhou Yan was also curious, Mr. Dahan, I heard that this is your first movie?

Well, this is my first movie. I have been making documentaries for TV stations for the past few years.

Zhou Yan nodded. It turned out that Olivier had a background in making documentaries, so he was not a newcomer. However, documentaries and movies are two different paths. Olivier's documentary experience may not be able to be used when he makes movies.

Of course, being able to keep filming documentaries for TV stations also proves that he still has business capabilities. Perhaps Olivier is quite famous in France. France attaches much higher importance to documentaries than China does.

I heard from Mr. Xu that the filming of this movie will start in more than two months. Has the script been finalized now?

I came here this time to talk to you about this matter. Olivier took out a script from his bag, This is a script that has been written. Take a look.

Zhou Yan nodded and took the script over. Then he didn't say anything and read the script carefully.

Olivier was well prepared, and the script he produced had been translated into Chinese, making it easier for Zhou Yan to read.

Zhou Yan read the first part of the script very quickly, because the previous part was basically the same plot as his previous version, and Olivier did not make many changes here.

When the plot reached one-third of the way, the plot changed a lot. In the version shot by Zhou Yan, the young male protagonist's sister next door actually didn't have much interaction with the young male protagonist.

But in this version written by Olivier, the young male protagonist and the female protagonist have interacted a lot since childhood. They often listen to music together.

In Zhou Yan's version, there is no detailed explanation of why the heroine moved, but in Olivier's version, this section is explained in detail.

They lived in a wealthy area, and the heroine's family was originally well off. However, the heroine's father had business problems and had to sell the family house and move to other cities.

In other words, the new version of The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly has added a lot of emotional scenes.

In addition to the emotional scenes, more plots of the young male protagonist making money were added later, making the story more enjoyable.

Of course, because the conditions were sufficient, Zhou Yan's version of the paraglider was also changed back to a small plane.

Also, in Olivier's version, some soundtracks have been added.

For example, when the male protagonist's grandfather passed away, the male protagonist looked at the plane in the distance through the glass window and played a song, which was full of sorrow.

After reading the script, Zhou Yan pointed to this section and asked Olivier, Is there a new song to be added here?

Olivier nodded and said, I was just about to tell you this. I wonder if you could compose another song and put it here? In this way, the musical elements in the movie will be richer and it will impress the audience more. .”

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, No problem.

Hearing Zhou Yan's agreement, Olivier said happily, Thank you so much. Please rest assured that this piece of music is outside the scope of the previous soundtrack, and additional fees will be paid.

Zhou Yan nodded slightly, Olivier was still a sensible person and took the initiative to raise the money.

The plot has been changed a lot. Let me also make some changes to the overall soundtrack. The soundtrack should still follow the rhythm of the movie. Your script has included a lot of interaction scenes between the male and female protagonists, and I will also add some love-related scenes. Soundtrack. Zhou Yan said.

Olivier said excitedly, That's really great. I was actually thinking about this on the way here. The soundtrack in the original version is very good, but it doesn't completely fit the new story. If changes can be made, then that will be solved. I asked this question. In fact, I mentioned to Mr. Xu that I would package the film’s soundtrack for you, and she meant to let me communicate with you.”

Would you like to pack it up for me?

Yes, I will leave all the music production for this movie to you. At this point, Olivier was a little embarrassed, But we have to spend a lot of money elsewhere, so the price we can give you may not be too high. high.

How much is that? Zhou Yan asked.

Four percent of the total production cost, which is US$320,000, but this is minus the US$100,000 that has been paid to you before.

Zhou Yan smiled. Four percent is certainly not high in Europe and the United States. Generally speaking, music production costs account for between four and ten percent of the total production costs.

The overall package does not mean just writing a few songs, but also taking over all the music production, finding musicians and recording studios, which is equivalent to recording a music album, and the costs are not low.

However, this is actually relatively cost-effective for Zhou Yan, because he has already completed the soundtrack for this film, so the workload behind it will be much smaller.

He already had the band on hand, and all that was left was recording and production.

Looking at Olivier's expectant eyes, Zhou Yan was also very emotional. There was still a big difference in the emphasis on soundtracks between China and foreign countries. Olivier felt that it was embarrassing to spend 4% of the production cost on music production. But now in China, when making music, you just get a salary.

Some producers have no money and are unable to spend money on music production, but some producers simply don’t think they should spend so much money on music.

However, Zhou Yan did not agree immediately, I'll let my agent talk to you about this later.

Olivier was slightly disappointed when he didn't get a positive answer. He nodded and said, Okay, then I'll talk to your agent later. Let's continue talking about the script. I didn't make any changes to the first part of the story... …”

Over the next hour or so, Olivier and Zhou Yan began to discuss the changed plot.

Zhou Yan felt that the overall changes to the script were acceptable, but there were also some aspects that were not very good. When talking about these bad aspects, he also put forward his ideas very tactfully.

It was time for lunch, and Zhou Yan invited them to have dinner again and continued chatting in the afternoon.

Olivier finally came to see Zhou Yan, so he didn't want to waste time. He finished his lunch very quickly, and then took Zhou Yan to discuss the script.

Zhou Yan admired this guy's high energy, after all, he took a long-distance flight here.

Zhou Yan didn't take them out to eat in the evening, but ordered meals to eat at home.

It wasn't until about eight o'clock in the evening that Olivier finally couldn't stand it anymore and yawned.

Seeing him yawning, Zhou Yan said quickly, Mr. Daang, go back to bed early. We will talk tomorrow.

This time Olivier didn't insist, Okay, I'll bother you again tomorrow.

After Olivier left, Zhou Yan took a shower, then fell into bed and went to sleep.

Not only Hu Ke and the others were tired during this period, but Zhou Yan was also very tired. Today he was busy from morning to night again.

After a comfortable sleep, Olivier came again with Li Dakai early the next morning.

…

After the holiday, the crew resumed work on the first morning. Everyone in the crew was full of energy, except for the director who looked tired.

Wang Xiaoshuai looked at Zhou Yan's listless look and was a little surprised. Zhou Yan was not the kind of person who was very energetic, but Zhou Yan definitely had enough energy and could survive better than the average person. This was the first time Wang Xiaoshuai had seen Zhou Yan so tired.

Have you not rested in the past two days?

Zhou Yan rubbed his forehead, Don't mention it. I've been pestered by that French director for the past two days and I didn't get any rest at all. He didn't leave until around 11 o'clock last night. I lay in bed until midnight after taking a shower.

The shooting was relatively early this morning, so Zhou Yan got up very early.

Wang Xiaoshuai and others had heard about the adaptation of The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly, so they also knew who the French director Zhou Yan was talking about was.

This French director is so powerful that even you can endure it.

He won without force. I've been spinning around for a week or two. Zhou Yan curled his lips and looked around the set, Where are Hu Ke and the others?

Li Hong is holding a regular meeting for them. Wang Xiaoshuai said.

The crew has a short regular meeting every morning, which is not long, usually five to ten minutes. The content of the regular meeting is very simple, which is to sort out the shots to be shot today.

Shot lists, shooting schedules and other things are sent out in advance, and everyone knows the process. However, this kind of regular meeting is still necessary to allow each team member and actor to get into work faster.

Zhou Yan rarely holds regular meetings like this. Wang Xiaoshuai or Li Hong usually do it. For this regular meeting, he usually has to be the first to arrive at the filming site.

The regular meeting ended quickly. Li Hong walked up to Zhou Yan with the shot list and storyboard and told Zhou Yan the general situation of today's regular meeting.

I think everyone is in pretty good condition. Today's shot may be able to push us forward.

Zhou Yan smiled and patted Li Hong on the shoulder, Don't have too much hope in advance, otherwise the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Li Hong bared his teeth and said with a smile, I still think there is some hope.

Zhou Yan nodded and said nothing more about whether he hoped or not, Let's get them ready to start rehearsing.

OK.

What we filmed this morning was the scene where the young male protagonist returned home after going to the hospital, and the male protagonist went to his house to tell him a bedtime story.

The rehearsal started, Hu Ke was nestled in bed, and Liang Jiahui was also ready.

Start. Wang Xiaoshuai shouted.

After shouting, Liang Jiahui began to speak his lines.

A long time ago, there was a general who wanted to go for a ride and told his men...

This is a boring story. At the end, the male protagonist couldn't go on. At this time, Hu Ke said: Dr. Ma, you have never told a bedtime story before.

Well, I really didn't say much.

“You need to add a twist.”

Add a twist... okay. Liang Jiahui took advantage of the situation and sat beside the bed, What kind of twist, why don't you give me an example.

When the play reaches this point, Zhou Yan has been staring at Hu Ke's expression, because the change in Hu Ke's expression is very important here.

Hu Ke looked down slightly, then raised his eyes to Liang Jiahui, Maybe we ran out of gasoline?

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes. Hu Ke's performance was good, his state was very relaxed, and his grasp of the role was quite good.

Okay, because they're driving, right? Okay...

Before Liang Jiahui finished speaking, Hu Ke said, Why are you so sad?

Hearing this, Liang Jiahui paused and said, Do you think I'm sad?

…

In this section, the male protagonist told his story and also explained why he wanted to find Xiaotian.

When we arrived here, Hu Ke was put to the greatest test.

Although the phone was not turned on, Zhou Yan held his breath and stared closely at Hu Ke who was lying on the bed.

Not only Zhou Yan, but also the rest of the crew looked at Hu Ke expectantly.

Hu Ke performed very well today. The game has come this far and he has not made any mistakes yet.

At this time, sympathy appeared on Hu Ke's face first, then moved, and then mixed with a little fear and expectation, and finally made up his mind.

At the end, Hu Ke closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and looked at the hero, I want to tell you my secret.

Seeing Hu Ke's look, Zhou Yan clenched his fists with a smile in his eyes. He knew that this boy's Ren and Du veins had been opened. Compared with the previous ten days, Hu Ke's performance has undergone a qualitative change.

Sure enough, two days of rest was useful. The nutrients Hu Ke had absorbed in the previous ten days were digested in these two days.

Hu Ke's foundation is not bad, otherwise he would not be selected into the Little Red Stars. Moreover, he participated in the training camp last year and received a lot of training.

It's just that there is a layer of paper in Hu Ke's mind that cuts off his train of thought. Now that the paper is broken, many things will suddenly become clear to him.

The test for Hu Ke after this scene was also very big, but once he understood it, all these were not a problem, so the subsequent rehearsals also went smoothly.

Can you wait until I fall asleep before leaving?

certainly.

When the last line of the scene was finished, Zhou Yan was the first to applaud, Good performance, Hu Ke.

Everyone else also applauded and congratulated Hu Ke. It was not easy to complete this scene from beginning to end without any stumbles.

I thought that Hu Ke would be very happy to receive Zhou Yan's praise, but what everyone didn't expect was that this kid actually cried. Almost at the moment when everyone applauded, two lines of tears flowed out at once.

Zhou Yan was also stunned. In the past, every scene was repeated so many times, and he always criticized Hu Ke and put pressure on Hu Ke. This kid didn't even cry. Why did he cry after just a compliment today?

The actors will rest for a while, and then the next scene will start.

Hearing Zhou Yan say to rest, Hu Yicai wanted to wipe his son's tears, but Lin Juan from the makeup team had already led someone to Hu Ke first.

Xiao Ke, don't cry. You should be happy because Director Zhou praised you. This scene was so well arranged.

Lin Juan first wiped Hu Ke's tears, and then started to touch up his makeup.

Hu Ke's makeup is relatively simple, but tears can also stain it.

Seeing Lin Juan and the others touching up his makeup, Hu Ke wanted to stop his tears, but the more he tried to stop his tears, the more he couldn't. He cried and said, Sister Juan, I can't control it...

Lin Juan was also amused by him, touched his head and comforted him, Then just cry, dry up your tears, and let's touch up your makeup.

Seeing Lin Juan and the others laughing, Hu Ke also cried and laughed.

After a while, Hu Ke finally calmed down.

After Lin Juan and the others put on his makeup, the scene was ready and they turned on the camera.

…

This scene was rehearsed very quickly, but when it came to filming, it became very slow. Many sets of shots had to be shot for the same section, and the actors had to perform many times.

However, Hu Ke performed very well today and could pass many shots in one or two passes.

Sometimes, Zhou Yan will keep one after finishing it all at once, not only to prevent accidents, but also to take advantage of Hu Ke to find a good state and let him walk in this good state for a while, which will be conducive to his growth.

Gao Jinwen watched from the side, smiling from ear to ear. This feeling of bringing out the little actor was really wonderful for him as a teacher.

He knew that Hu Ke had talent, but his understanding of acting was a bit poor. If he didn't correct it early, there might be problems with his acting career in the future.

Now it seems that Hu Ke has embarked on the right path. If he continues to develop like this, this kid's future will be unlimited.

…

During the lunch break, Zhou Yan pulled several people from the directing team aside and said, After we finish work tonight, we will have a meeting to discuss adjustments to the shooting plan.

Adjust the shooting plan?

Well, adjust Hu Ke's play.

Should we move his play to the front row again? Li Hong asked.

Zhou Yan shook his head and said, Pull out his scenes and shoot them in between.

Li Hong was a little confused, Why, director? He is in good condition now, isn't he going to seize this opportunity and finish filming his scenes ahead of schedule?

Gao Jinwen smiled and said, What Director Zhou means is that Hu Ke is on the path now and does not need to be pressed as hard as before. Just give him some time to grow up slowly. In his current state, he will not retreat.

Li Hong nodded thoughtfully, The scenes between the male and female protagonists will be interspersed in the filming.

Well, don't make any changes for the next three days. We will start adjusting from the scene in three days. We will discuss the details at the meeting in the evening.

clear.

Wang Xiaoshuai glanced at Hu Ke, who was still eating not far away, and sighed, This boy has really met a noble person. With the guidance of Director Zhou and Director Gao, his acting skills will be good in the future.

Gao Jinwen waved his hand, Director Zhou is still patient. As for Hu Ke's future acting career, it also depends on his own destiny. Being famous at a young age may not be a good thing sometimes. I hope he can stabilize.

Since Hu Ke's awakening, the filming progress of The Sixth Sense has been much faster. More shots were completed in the next day than in the previous two or three days. This was even because Zhou Yan slowed down the pace.

At the end of July, Zhou Yan received a call from Zhang Youan. The soundtrack for the new version of The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly had been negotiated, and they agreed to increase the quota from the original four percent to five percent.

Don’t underestimate the extra one percent, that’s $80,000.

Of course, Zhang Youan's work was not in vain. Zhou Yan gave Tomson 10% of the 400,000 US dollars for the soundtrack this time, which is 40,000 US dollars. As for how much of the 40,000 US dollars Zhang Youan could share, Zhou Yan didn't know, but The ratio is certainly not low.

After this matter is settled, Zhou Yan will speed up the construction of the recording studio.

Get the electronics factory warehouse down early, this time the soundtrack of the new version of The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly can be used.

Therefore, Zhou Yan also asked Jiang Xia to talk quickly and finalize the matter as soon as possible.

Zhou Hong also called him and said that the entertainment company had already done it. The name was very rough, and it was called Zhou Entertainment Co., Ltd.

…

Chen Hong was very surprised when she received a call from Zhou. The other person told her in Mandarin with a strong flavor of Hong Kong that he hoped to sign a contract with her.

She had never heard of Zhou Entertainment Co., Ltd.

But when it comes to signing contracts, she is really interested. In the past two years, many mainland actors have signed contracts with Hong Kong companies to develop in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

As for her, she has acted in a few Qiong Yao dramas, but she still hasn't found a suitable company to sign with. If it's a small company, he might as well not sign.

Chen Hong had heard in the crew before that there were many entertainment companies in Xiangjiang that specialized in signing new people to deceive people, so Chen Hong was more wary when she heard what the other party said.

Excuse me, who has your company signed? Chen Hong asked.

Our company is developing at a rapid pace. In addition to you, our next contract targets include international stars such as Leslie Cheung and Gong Li. If you can sign a contract with our company, we guarantee that your resources will not be lacking.

Hearing this, Chen Hong almost laughed out loud. This person really dared to brag.

Whenever he talks about some second- and third-tier actors, Chen Hong will not be convinced that he is a liar. Gong Li, Leslie Cheung, this guy really picked on those who have been popular recently.

Sorry, I already have a contract with a company. You can find someone else.

Uh... The other party's voice sounded confused, Which company did you sign with...

Before the other party finished speaking, Chen Hong hung up the phone.

…

At the Pengcheng office of Zhoushi Entertainment Co., Ltd., Xu Junrong looked at the phone that kept sending busy signals, with a look of confusion on his face. What is going on?

Didn’t the boss say that this Chen Hong didn’t sign with the company?

Is the boss's information wrong?

After thinking for a while, he walked out of the company and went to Huaichang Foreign Trade downstairs.

Huaichang Foreign Trade was Zhou Hong's previous company. After establishing Zhou Entertainment this time, he bought the upstairs floor and used it as the Pengcheng office of Zhou Entertainment.

When he arrived at the boss's office, Xu Junrong knocked on the door. Zhou Hong was reading the report. When he saw Xu Junrong coming, he put down the report and said, Manager Xu, what do you want from me?

Boss, I just contacted Chen Hong, but she said that she had already signed a contract with the company.

Really? Which company did she sign with? Zhou Hong asked.

Xu Junrong sighed, She hung up the phone as soon as I asked.

Zhou Hong said in deep thought, It's okay. You can finalize the signing of the Piano Youth Band first. Chen Hong will leave it alone for the time being.

I understand. Xu Junrong nodded, and then asked, Boss, how do you feel about the list of potential newcomers I gave you before?

“Let’s put things aside for potential newcomers first.”

boss……

Zhou Hong waved his hand, Go ahead.

…

Zhou Yan went home that night and received a call from Zhou Hong. He learned that Chen Hong had signed with the company. Zhou Yan was a little surprised, but he didn't say anything. Signing Chen Hong was a casual matter, and it didn't matter if he couldn't sign.

However, he was also curious about what company Chen Hong had signed, and thought about asking her the next time they met.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan took a shower and then went to bed early. The crew had two days off tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so Zhou Yan planned to take this time to visit the set of Alive.

Alive has been filmed for a while, and he, the soundtrack director, has not been to the set yet. During this period, Zhang Yimou called him twice. He didn't say anything about letting him go to the set, but he hinted that he should be allowed to go to the set. Take a trip.

The next morning, Jiang Xia drove and picked up Wang Zuxian.

Zhou Yan is not the only one who is going to visit the class this time. In addition to Wang Zuxian, Wang Xiaoshuai and Li Hong are also going there.

On the set, knowing that Zhou Yan was going to visit the crew of Alive, Wang Xiaoshuai and Li Hong volunteered to go with them. Zhou Yan felt that this was also a good opportunity to learn, so he agreed.

When Wang Zuxian saw that Wang Xiaoshuai and Li Hong were both there, he thought it was quite reasonable for her to visit the crew with the crew of The Sixth Sense, so he raised his hand to express his intention to go. Zhou Yan originally disagreed because To Live was filmed in It is not easy to drive over 400 kilometers to Shandong Province.

But Wang Zuxian insisted on going, so Zhou Yan had no choice but to agree.

It was too crowded for five people to sit in one car, so Zhou Yan asked Wang Xiaoshuai and Li Hong to drive there by themselves, and they went separately.

Zhou Yan and the others picked up Wang Zuxian at 5:30 in the morning, and got off the car to rest twice on the way, for a total of more than half an hour. When they arrived at the filming location of Alive, it was already close to 2 pm.

Li Hong and Wang Xiaoshuai drove faster and arrived half an hour earlier than Zhou Yan and the others.

It has to be said that Li Hong is good at interpersonal relationships. He didn't know anyone on the set of Alive, so he gave a circle of cigarettes to the crew when he went up.

When Zhou Yan and the others arrived, Li Hong was already mingling with the crew.

In fact, it was relatively easy for Li Hong to establish a relationship with them, because most of the crew of Alive were from Yanjing Studio. Li Hong went up to identify himself to them, and then used Liu Qing's and others' names to get in touch with them. Set is close.

The crew of Alive heard that Li Hong and Wang Xiaoshuai were members of the directing team of Zhou Yan's new movie. In addition, the two of them were familiar with Liu Qing and Hong Xin, which was very helpful.

But when it comes to making connections, it has to be Zhou Yan.

As soon as Zhou Yan arrived at the scene, the crew greeted him warmly.

Screenwriter Lu Wei greeted Zhou Yan, Hey, Zhou Yan is here.

The art designer Cao Jiuping next to him laughed and said, I want to call him Director Zhou.

That's right, now I have to call Director Zhou.

Director Zhou, when will you summon us?

Everyone joked for a while, and then Wang Zuxian and Jiang Xia also caught up from behind.

They looked at Wang Zuxian from a distance and wondered why Zhou Yan brought two women over. When they got closer, someone recognized Wang Zuxian.

But Wang Zuxian was wearing sunglasses, and they were not sure that this was Wang Zuxian. (End of chapter)