If a TV drama director wants to make a movie, it is still difficult to find investment even if he already has representative Yanhe had heard of this director a long time ago, but, probably because he had watched "The Gold Rush", in Lu Yanhe's mind, this director Wu Zhouyou was a director who could make TV series with the texture of movies. He was very capable and talented.
Lu Yanhe subconsciously believed that director Wu Zhouyou was different from other TV drama directors and that he was capable of making movies.
His directing style, narrative rhythm and grasp of quality are actually much better than many film directors.
And because of this preconceived impression, he also subconsciously believed that the industry should be able to "discern" such a director.
This is purely because Lu Yanhe really doesn't know how difficult it is to find investment for a project.
He really has never experienced difficulty in finding investment.
Even for "Lost on Journey", because all the pressure was on Jia Long at the time, although it was quite difficult to find investment for this film, Lu Yanhe did not experience it personally.
Lu Yanhe asked: "How much investment does Director Wu want for this play?"
"He said it would cost at least 30 million to film it," Yan Liang said.
For a movie, excluding the publicity and promotion costs, a movie that costs 30 million is actually not a high-cost movie, but a medium-cost movie.
Lu Yanhe was not sure what to say at this time. He had already read the movie script. After all, Huang Kairen showed it to him privately.
"Have you read the script?" Lu Yanhe asked, "I quite like the style of Director Wu's 'Gold Rush'. If his new play needs investment, I would like to see what the project is. If possible, I am willing to invest a little and help him find investors."
It’s not that Lu Yanhe dislikes the movie script of "Yesterday Again", but it is slightly inferior to "Hit the Bullet".
Lu Yanhe actually really hopes to see scripts of various types and themes emerge, so that the market will not be filled with cookie-cutter films.
To be honest, Chinese-language films nowadays are just like TV series, with serious homogeneity, and can basically be covered by two genres: crime and comedy.
It's hard to come up with something new.
Yan Liang said, "Then I'll talk to Director Wu. He will definitely be very happy."
-
Long Fei frowned a little at Huang Kairen's final decision to accept the script of "Hit the Bullet".
Of course, he did not try his best to stop Huang Kairen.
In this matter, Long Fei still had a good sense of propriety and did not act as an agent who interfered too much with Huang Kairen's decision.
He doesn't have the confidence to do so for the time being.
“Although the script is not bad, it is a group play, so we may need to do a good job of promoting it when the time comes,” Long Fei said.
In fact, Long Fei’s worry is not groundless.
In the time and space before Lu Yanhe traveled through, there were many such situations. For example, in "The Unknown", you will remember the paralyzed Ren Suxi and notice the "bigger and stronger" Zhang Yu, but many people have forgotten that the leading actor of this dark horse movie is actually Chen Jianbin.
Is it because he didn't act well enough? No, it's just that in this movie, the more outstanding role is not him as the leading actor.
So, why do many actors tend to choose the dramas with male or female protagonists? Putting aside those old-fashioned things, there are also these very practical considerations.
Long Fei didn't want Huang Kairen to be used as a sedan chair or ladder by other actors.
Huang Kairen also knew Long Fei’s concerns.
He said to Long Fei, "Brother Fei, I finally took on "The Blood of the Dragon" because I considered that I had already filmed a workplace drama and a comedy "Wulin Waijia" to be broadcast. I wanted to take on a drama that was very different in style from these two dramas to avoid making the impression of me in the minds of the audience the same."
Huang Kairen took the initiative to tell him his considerations.
When Long Fei heard Huang Kairen's considerations, he knew that he was not the kind of artist who would arbitrarily make choices based on "I like it", so he was relatively relieved.
Huang Kairen’s considerations certainly make sense.
Long Fei said, "Now that you have won the Best Actor Award, you should take on more movies. My Own Swordsman will have three to five seasons. Before this series is finished, you don't need to take on any more TV series. You should take on more movies."
"I want to, but there aren't that many good scripts." Huang Kairen said, "If possible, I would like to take both "The Needle and Yesterday". You know, except for "Rouge", these two are the best scripts I have received."
Long Fei said, "Don't worry. Yesterday Again has funding issues right now, so it might not be able to start filming normally. It's scheduled to start filming in September this year because Wu Zhouyou has to film the second season of The Gold Rush at the beginning of next year, so he has to take this time. If he doesn't make it, then this movie can only be filmed after he finishes filming the second season of The Gold Rush, and then your schedule will be available."
A flash of surprise appeared in Huang Kairen's eyes.
"really?"
Long Fei said, "If you are willing to act in Yesterday Again, I can talk to Director Wu. Maybe he will take the initiative to wait for your time after knowing that you are willing to act in this movie. In fact, as far as I know, there are not many male actors of the right age who are as optimistic about this script as we are. Shang Yongzhou directly refused. He usually doesn't act in movies of this theme, so it's not surprising that he refused. However, Zeng Qiao also refused, which I didn't expect."
"Zeng Qiao refused?" Huang Kairen was very surprised, "Why? Is his schedule not suitable?"
"That shouldn't be the reason. Zeng Qiao doesn't have any other projects except the second season of River of Silence." Long Fei said, "Besides, he has always been in the drama industry and has never been in the film industry. I'm really surprised that he would refuse."
Huang Kairen hesitated for a moment, "Then he must have been involved in a confidential project, so he looked down on "Yesterday Again"."
Long Fei: "Then I'll go and ask around."
-
Shortly after the news that "The Gold Rush" was bought by HP came out.
Tom White asked Lu Yanhe to record a video to introduce "The Gold Rush" to HP users.
Tom White said: "There are not many Chinese actors known internationally, and they don't have the habit of clicking on Chinese dramas. Now you have broken this barrier, allowing people to recognize you, see your name and your face, and be willing to try to open it and take a look. The biggest problem that "The Gold Rush" needs to solve is that most foreign audiences may never have the habit of watching Chinese dramas. We want to recommend this drama to everyone by inviting several Chinese actors, directors and producers who are known to many foreign audiences. In this way, they may be able to see you and remember the Chinese TV dramas they have watched before, so they are willing to try to click on "The Gold Rush" to take a look."
Lu Yanhe nodded and agreed to help Tom White record the video without saying a word.
In fact, Tom White doesn't need to explain so much.
Because it was he who recommended "The Gold Rush" to Tom White. Now that the show has been bought by HP, it has the opportunity to meet global audiences on streaming media. Moreover, it was carefully designed and promoted by Tom White instead of being quietly put on the shelves. This shows that HP has indeed seen the value of "The Gold Rush" and values it.
Lu Yanhe thought about it seriously before recording this video. He did not simply say a few nonsense words, but seriously talked about why he recommended this drama.
HP did a lot of publicity and promotion for "The Gold Rush". Not only did it invite internationally renowned Chinese film and television professionals such as Lu Yanhe and Wang Zhong to recommend the film, it also held offline interviews and exchanges in several countries such as Japan and Thailand.
"The Gold Rush" has no popularity base overseas. The only character who has some foundation is Yan Liang, but that is just a drop in the bucket for this drama.
Yan Liang followed director Wu Zhouyou and others to talk shows on Japanese and Thai TV stations, accepted interviews from the media, and attended offline meet-and-greets, etc. Basically, HP mobilized their resources.
The day before "The Gold Rush" was broadcast online, the six leading actors of "Friends" released information about the broadcast of the show together, and asked everyone to continue to pay attention and support.
It can be said that the publicity resources HP provided to "The Gold Rush" far exceeded what it could have obtained in the market itself.
However, as Lu Yanhe said, the biggest attraction of "The Gold Rush" is its subject matter and creativity, and all the publicity methods are not really intended to attract their fans to watch the show - the number of fans of any star cannot support the popularity of a popular show. The role of star publicity is to let more people know about the show and discover that, oh, a show about treasure hunting adventure is going to be broadcast.
Are you interested? If you are interested, come and have a look.
Therefore, "The Gold Rush" was launched on HP on May 5th, and immediately ranked 14th on the Asian chart and 7th in the world.
Once again, a Chinese drama has made it into the top ten of the international top streaming media's Asian list.
Besides, this is only the first day.
"The Gold Rush" is available in its entirety at once.
International streaming media does this with many dramas, releasing the entire series at once so that everyone can watch them to their heart's content.
Lu Yanhe has posted news about "The Gold Rush" three times on his overseas social media. Some fans said that he has never promoted his own dramas so actively.
Lu Yanhe replied: Nonsense, I have promoted my own drama at least ten times.
He is not a person who does not go online on a regular basis, nor is he the kind of celebrity who would reduce the amount of publicity to maintain his status in order to protect his reputation.
As long as it is the promotion period and as long as he is free, he will basically cooperate, not to mention promotional methods such as social media.
You know, whenever Lu Yanhe's drama is in the promotion period, he is not the only one involved. There are press conferences, previews, live broadcasts... Lu Yanhe will basically grab seven or eight friends to do the promotion together.
He strongly believes in the power of publicity, and believes that a successful publicity is a direct multiplication of good works.
On the one hand, Yan Liang starred in "The Gold Rush", and on the other hand, it was broadcast on HP through his arrangement. Even though it actually had nothing to do with his interests, Lu Yanhe hoped that it would achieve good results.
I won’t say anything else, at least it proves that his vision is correct and his judgment is correct.
On the third day after the release of "The Gold Rush", it entered the top three on the Asian charts.
HP saw the popularity of the show and took advantage of the success to increase publicity resources and expand the scope of publicity.
Yan Liang is one of the two protagonists of "The Gold Rush" and the one with a higher popularity base. In conjunction with HP's promotion, he went to several places to promote the show and appeared on TV shows, which greatly increased his popularity in the media.
So, why do actors have to participate in big productions?
Because actors participate in big productions, not only will the big productions have the potential to generate bigger box office revenues and allow them to be seen by more audiences, but also the various supporting publicity in the early stages of the big productions can actually make an actor go from being unknown to suddenly appearing out of nowhere and becoming an instant hit.
For a drama like "The Gold Rush" that is well-received and promoted by the platform, it means that Yan Liang can be the lead actor in the drama and get resources that he might not be able to get.
For example, his presence has appeared on TV talk shows in seven or eight countries, and he has been reported by media outlets that HP is friendly with, which has led to a surge in exposure.
Yan Liang said in the group: I am really glad now that I was accepted by Yan Hejuan and learned English. Although I am not very proficient in it, at least I can communicate with others.
Lu Yanhe: Keep studying hard. Maybe you will act in English in the future.
-
It can't really be said that The Gold Rush was a huge success.
Obviously, it did not create a global viewing craze like "Squidward Fever".
It won more praise from the media and critics, who were surprised by the production quality of such a Chinese-language drama.
The dramas they knew before, such as Friends, The Seventeenth Floor, River of Silence, and Squidward, were not difficult to produce. The Gold Rush was shot on location, which meant that there were many challenges during the filming process.
The texture of on-site shooting brings the most authentic Southeast Asian adventure experience.
But even if "The Gold Rush" didn't become as popular as "Squidward", as Lu Yanhe told Tom White before, the show has its audience. Moreover, the broadcast data is very impressive. Compared with the purchase cost of $1200 million, "The Gold Rush" undoubtedly brought HP several times the return.
The second season of "The Gold Rush" will be filmed early next year.
This is a series.
Yan Liang once again enjoyed the beauty of "flowers blooming inside the wall and smelling fragrant outside the wall".
As an artist, his biggest shortcoming is that his commercial value has always been low. Brands believe that he does not have enough star charm, does not have many sticky fans, and has not formed the "star power" like Li Zhibai or Lu Yanhe.
Therefore, even though Yan Liang is the second most popular character in "Friends" and is also an idol artist with a fixed stage, he has very few or almost no high-end endorsements.
Among the few that remain, most were grabbed by Zhou Pingan from Ma Zhiyuan’s resources after Ma Zhiyuan’s collapse.
However, now that "The Gold Rush" has become a hit both at home and abroad, people in and outside the industry have seen Yan Liang's potential as an actor for the first time.
That’s right, although “Friends” was very popular, it was limited by the fact that it did not require high performance from the actors. No one thought that Yan Liang had the potential to be an actor. His acting was indeed average. In other dramas, without the filter of the role in this hit drama, he could hardly make any splash.
But "The Gold Rush" reversed everyone's evaluation of him.
Entertainment critic Guan Suchen wrote: Yan Liang can be regarded as a benchmark for young actors. To be honest, his talent as an actor is not outstanding (not to say he doesn't have it, but compared with others of the same period, don't argue), but under such circumstances, he chose a path that almost all young idol actors would not choose, a path that requires suffering and loneliness that ordinary people cannot bear. Looking at this photo, and then looking at his reborn performance in "Gold Rush", I want to say that for all actors, Yan Liang's standard for accepting roles is a smooth road, but how many people dare to embark on this road?
The photo that Guan Suchen attached was of Yan Liang just after he returned from filming "The Gold Rush". He looked dark and thin, like a completely different person.
Lin Yu said in her comment column: "The success of "The Gold Rush" and the success of the lead actor Yan Liang complement each other to some extent and echo each other. They both chose a road that is not often traveled and full of thorns. The subject matter that few people are willing to shoot, the extremely difficult real-life shooting, and the uncompromising artistic pursuit are all combined to achieve the current success. Similarly, it is particularly worth mentioning that when the drama "The Gold Rush" was launched on HP, it was because of the mutual recommendation of a group of domestic film and television practitioners that it had the foundation to be seen at the beginning. It was this kind of mutual help that made a good drama like "The Gold Rush" have the opportunity to be seen by more audiences. I hope that there will be more and more good dramas like "The Gold Rush" in the future, and "Film and Television Critics" will continue to pay attention to every outstanding Chinese film and television drama."
-
Zhou Ping'an was very nervous.
Because "The Gold Rush" is popular again.
At the beginning, Zhou Pingan was not optimistic about "The Gold Rush".
However, his focus was not on Yan Liang at the time, so if Yan Liang wanted to act, he just acted.
Now, "The Gold Rush" has become popular both domestically and abroad. Yan Liang's popularity, popularity and commercial value have quadrupled in the first half of the year, all thanks to this drama.
Seeing Yan Liang firmly stepping into the first echelon of the front line, with two popular series in hand and the road to long-term success in the future already paved, Zhou Pingan deeply realized that Yan Liang had embarked on a path that was beyond his experience and ability.
Especially when action superstar Cheng Shiyan sent Yan Liang an invitation, asking him to star in his next action movie, Zhou Pingan was silent for a long time.
How long can Yan Liang stay in his hands?
When the day Yan Liang left, he lost the last trump card in his hand. What cards did he have left to play?
Why didn’t you treat Yan better back then?
No one can share or understand the bitterness in Zhou Ping'an's heart.
In the eyes of others, everyone just thinks that he is really lucky.
Even though Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai were gone from his hands, and Ma Zhiyuan was defeated, Yan Liang would rise up again immediately.
How come agent Zhou Ping'an has such good luck?
Unbelievable.
Others are envious, jealous and resentful of Zhou Ping'an.
Only Zhou Ping'an himself knew how precarious his situation was.
We must quickly train new people, or... poach them?
Zhou Ping'an's mind was working rapidly.
No matter what, he had to maintain his position.
At this time, Cheng Hai suddenly came.
"Brother Ping An."
Seeing Cheng Hai coming in, Zhou Pingan put away his thoughts and sighed softly.
This idol, who was once ranked in the second tier in popularity among youth clubs, has been declining in popularity since he went solo. He has put in a lot of effort, but has not made any splash. Until now, four years have passed, and he has been labeled as "unpopular" by the industry. Not many people are willing to give him the chance to appear on variety shows.
Zhou Ping'an nodded to him and said, "Sit down."
Cheng Hai sat down somewhat awkwardly.
Every time he came to see Zhou Ping'an, Cheng Hai was actually a little nervous.
Especially in recent years, he has become less and less popular and has disappeared from the entertainment circle. He has become less and less confident in front of Zhou Ping'an.
Zhou Pingan said: "Cheng Hai, how are you doing recently?"
"Pretty...pretty good." Cheng Hai couldn't utter the three words "pretty idle" at all.
Zhou Pingan said, "I've got a play for you. It has about 20 scenes. Go back and prepare well."
He took the script out of the drawer.
Cheng Hai looked at Zhou Ping'an with some surprise.
When Zhou Ping'an called him over today, Cheng Hai was still worried, not knowing what Zhou Ping'an wanted to talk to him about.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Ping'an actually got him a job.
Zhou Pingan said: "We may only be able to take these small jobs for a while in the future. Don't be discouraged. No matter how small the job is, it will be exposed and may become your chance to turn things around. As long as you don't give up, you will have a chance to turn things around in the future."
Cheng Hai looked at Zhou Ping'an in surprise and even disbelief, his eyes gradually turning red.
Normally, Zhou Ping'an would never say such things to him.
Cheng Hai was surprised and touched, but also stunned. He didn't know what was wrong with Zhou Pingan.
-
"What do you think about the fact that The Gold Rush is a hit on HP?"
In the Northern Lights video, Lin Desheng asked Zheng Huairen.
Zheng Huairen said: "The popularity of this drama was unexpected, but I think what is more noteworthy is that this drama was able to be released on HP. The relationship between Lu Yanhe and HP seems to be closer than we know. Even a drama that he is not the lead actor or screenwriter of, HP is willing to spend more than 10 million US dollars to buy it, which shows that they fully trust his vision."
Lin Desheng said: "If Lu Yanhe recommended a drama to you and asked you to spend hundreds of millions to buy it, would you buy it just because of his recommendation?" Zheng Huairen hesitated and shook his head.
"For a project of this amount, no matter how much I trust his vision, I can't buy it just because of his recommendation," Zheng Huairen said. "The risk is too great. A professional evaluation is necessary."
"HP is the same. HP will not buy the drama "The Gold Rush" just because of Lu Yanhe's recommendation." Lin Desheng said, "However, Lu Yanhe's move must have made many people eager to buy it. There are so many dramas that have been broadcast in China, and 80 to 90% of them have never been broadcast overseas. The copyrights are in our hands, but they cannot generate any value, which is useless. The overseas distribution rights of "The Gold Rush" were sold for more than 10 million US dollars, and the net profit was more than 70 million RMB. Just think about it, this is the income that many dramas cannot achieve in China. How many people will set their sights on this piece of fat meat."
Zheng Huairen said: "But if they could sell it, they would have sold it long ago. Isn't it impossible to sell it?"
Lin Desheng said: "Isn't there a salesman now?"
Zheng Huairen was stunned.
Lin Desheng: "Looking for Lu Yanhe to cooperate, writing the script, acting, and broadcasting, after all the twists and turns, you may not see any returns for two or three years, but in their eyes, as long as Lu Yanhe recommends it, you may directly make a net profit of tens of millions. Even if it is a little less, as a second choice, you can make a few million from a play. Just imagine those companies that have copyrights of dozens or hundreds of films in their hands."
"It's impossible for people to buy so much at once."
"But as long as we sell it, it's a net profit. At this point, it's a risk-free business." Lin Desheng smiled, "I think Lu Yanhe is going to be annoyed to death during this period."
Zheng Huairen smiled knowingly.
Lin Desheng: "Huairen, we should also be more proactive."
"Ok?"
"We at Northern Lights also have a large number of self-produced dramas. We don't necessarily have to contact overseas streaming media through Lu Yanhe. We have contacted them before and have smooth channels. We take the initiative to introduce good dramas ourselves. Don't always be complacent and only think about the domestic market. The domestic market is large, but if you keep eating meat in one pool, the meat will be limited after all." Lin Desheng said, "It's time to increase our efforts overseas."
Zheng Huairen suddenly realized what Lin Desheng meant by what he said.
"I understand, Mr. Lin," he said.
Lin Desheng said: "When we prepare for future dramas at Northern Lights, we will consciously plan one or two dramas every year in accordance with the internationally popular formats, themes and standards. These dramas can be broadcast not only domestically but also overseas, which is in line with everyone's viewing habits."
Zheng Huairen: "Okay."
Lin Desheng sighed, "Look, so many of us in the industry can't beat a young man. Why are Lu Yanhe's dramas so popular with overseas audiences? Is he the only actor with a reputation overseas? Many people only focus on Lu Yanhe, but forget that any drama that is popular with the audience must be attractive. Who can stare at one person's face for seven or eight episodes? Lu Yanhe's live broadcast room usually has so few people, so we still have to analyze the drama itself."
-
Lu Yanhe's phone was turned off.
Too noisy and annoying.
In the past two days, suddenly the bosses, producers, directors, etc. of various film and television companies contacted him one after another and called him, as if they had made an appointment. Their words were trying to recommend a certain drama they had in their hands and wanted him to make a recommendation.
Lu Yanhe was speechless.
Recommending a book like "The Gold Rush" has caused me so much trouble.
However, Lu Yanhe did not answer the phone, and some people came to the crew of "Burning Fire" to look for him.
It's called visiting the set.
As a result, Lu Yanhe would hide in the RV whenever he finished filming his scenes.
The benefits are exciting.
Lu Yanhe actually understood this truth very well, but... a gentleman loves money, but he gets it in a proper way! Don't make such a fuss!
Everyone was teasing Lu Yanhe.
"You are now the most popular person in the film and television industry, no one else." Wanrenhai said to Lu Yanhe, "If anyone wants to sell their movies abroad, they have to find you. You are the one who can help."
Lu Yanhe: "...I beg you, please don't give me this kind of character setting. It will collapse, and it will annoy me to death before it collapses."
Wanrenhai: "There's really no other way. You can only endure it like this for now, endure this intense period, and wait for everyone to slowly calm down."
Lu Yanhe: "In fact, if everyone has established their own channels, there is no need for me to introduce them."
Wanrenhai: "Do you think people don't want to build channels? It's the same as when a store buys goods. If the goods you put on their shelves don't sell or don't sell well, they will naturally stop buying from you. If your goods are popular, then you don't have to say anything, people will come to you on their own initiative, just like they have been keeping an eye on your play for a long time now."
"In fact, I can't recommend enough by myself."
"Yes, that's true, that's why everyone is so anxious, afraid that others will get there first." Wanrenhai said.
"It would be great if we could have a big market like the top international film festivals that can attract film producers from all over the world," Lu Yanhe said. "In this way, we don't have to promote our products one by one."
"Don't even think about it in the short term," Wanrenhai said. "Before Chinese dramas achieve sufficient, phenomenal success, even if you build up such a market, others won't be really interested. At most, they will show their support and make a presence. Those foreigners are just as savvy."
"Yeah." Lu Yanhe nodded.
Wanrenhai suddenly remembered something, smiled, and said, "But if you put your scripts on this market for sale, or put your TV series on this market, others will definitely come."
When Lu Yanhe heard what Wanrenhai said, he seemed to be thinking about something.
-
At the end of May, many actors of "Burning Fire" finished filming and left one after another.
Including Li Yuefeng.
Before Li Yuefeng left the crew, he even invited Lu Yanhe to have a drink with him.
"Yan He, when you finish filming, let's meet again in Yuming." Li Yuefeng said, "Don't forget to contact me."
Lu Yanhe smiled and nodded, "I'll definitely remember it. Let's make an appointment later."
The farewell in "Burning Fire" was also the one when Lu Yanhe felt the least sad about parting.
Maybe it’s because the cast of this movie is so large. Basically, there are people joining and leaving the crew every week, and the personnel are constantly changing. In fact, the only two people who really stayed in the crew from beginning to end were Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou.
Besides, we are all mature actors now. We have been separated from each other so many times that we are used to it.
People who really get along well with each other, even if they are separated in the crew, will still get together often in private. People who don’t get along so well with each other may feel a little sad when they leave because of their emotions, but the sadness will soon dissipate.
After filming for more than two months, Lu Yanhe felt that he had never stayed in a crew for so long.
However, he had never found filming so easy before.
There are basically only one or two scenes every day, so I have plenty of time to prepare thoroughly and present my best self.
A blockbuster is a blockbuster. It costs money and gives everyone time to shoot it slowly.
Because he was in the crew, he couldn't do anything else and had plenty of time to read books and write scripts. Lu Yanhe first finished the script for the first season of "Friends" in the "Burning Fire" crew, and then wrote the script for the rest of "Wulin Waijia".
Many people were surprised to see him often typing on a notebook on the set.
"Don't you need a particularly quiet environment to write a script?"
The film set is not a quiet environment.
Lu Yanhe: "It's OK, not really necessary."
When other screenwriters write scripts, they have to think about the development of the plot and the character creation. But for Lu Yanhe, these are all ready-made. All he needs to do is write it out and write it in a good way.
Therefore, whether it is a noisy environment or a quiet environment, it does not affect his concentration on writing the script.
Wanrenhai: "You are truly a genius. Few people have this kind of determination to ignore the world around you."
You know, on the set, there are even actors who check their phones as soon as they finish a scene.
You ask them to think about the script and the characters, which seems natural and something that every actor should do. But in fact, it is just like students studying. There are still situations where they know what they should do but cannot do it.
Lu Yanhe smiled.
Wanrenhai asked: "I'm also very curious, how do you write scripts so quickly? You usually have to act, go to school, and have a lot of work as an artist. Now I know that you basically seize every opportunity to write."
Lu Yanhe: "Because I have already thought of the story, I will hurry up and write it down."
"Can you help me look at the script for my next play?" Wanrenhai said, "Actually, I'm still thinking about the script. I wrote this script myself."
Lu Yanhe said: "Okay, I also like reading scripts written by others. I can learn a lot from them."
The next play by Wanrenhai is called "The Palace of Impermanence", which is also a fantasy story.
A young man named "Wang" accidentally saved a dream bird that was being hunted by a hellhound. He was captured by the hellhound and taken to the Impermanence Hall. The dream bird followed him to save him, but it happened to coincide with the turmoil of the change of soul masters in the Impermanence Hall. The man and the bird were involved in it and were mistaken for members of the resistance army of the old soul master. They experienced all kinds of strange and bizarre fights, traps and wars.
Lu Yanhe was quite shocked when he saw such a story, because it was too animated——
Wanrenhai is preparing to make a real-life movie.
"This investment should be quite big, right?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Just by looking at the big scenes and special effects involved in the script, you can tell how much money it will cost.
Everyone nodded, "It would cost million just to produce it."
With such a production cost, plus the additional publicity and promotion, this movie will only barely make back its investment by earning 10 billion at the box office.
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but feel curious, "Is 'The Palace of Impermanence' also invested by Long Yan?"
Wanrenhai nodded and said, "Yes, but half of the investment came from other film companies."
Lu Yanhe said: "The script is already very mature and it is already a very complete story."
The symbolism and allegory of this story are very obvious.
However, its story structure is not very marketable——
Although the surface shell is a story of a young man's adventure and growth, its main plot is still too unclear. The closer it gets to the middle, the more it feels like a ghostly "Three Mountains".
For a commercial film with such a high investment, you can have some philosophical and symbolic elements in it, but if the main line is not direct and clear enough, the audience will be confused.
At least, Lu Yanhe felt that in the current script, the main plot of "Wang" and the dream bird escaping from the Impermanence Palace was not so clear.
It has completely become an introduction. Just by reading the script, you can tell that Wanrenhai actually wants to describe the bizarre world in the Palace of Impermanence, rather than telling the story of a young man's adventure in a strange place.
The emphasis is different, and the viewing experience is also very different.
Wanrenhai asked Lu Yanhe for his opinion.
Lu Yanhe thought about it for a while and expressed his opinion implicitly.
"After reading the script, I was quite shocked. There are many things that I need to digest carefully," Lu Yanhe said. "There are many symbolic and traditional Chinese cultural elements in it."
Wanrenhai nodded and said, "This is actually a subject I have always wanted to do."
Lu Yanhe asked: "But this movie has such a huge investment, so the expected box office is also very high, right?"
Wanrenhai suddenly revealed a helpless smile of "As expected".
"Do you also think that the current scripts won't sell particularly well at the box office?"
Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment and said, "The main thing is that we all know that the higher the threshold of understanding, the fewer people can step through this door."
Wanrenhai: "Do you like this story?"
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "In fact, I am very much looking forward to the presentation of the world view of Impermanence Hall on the big screen. Director, you have always been particularly good at constructing novel and unprecedented world views. The visual effect is beyond doubt, but the main storyline of Impermanence Hall is relatively not as clear as Burning Fire. The entire story of Burning Fire revolves around Wei Yang's revenge. Therefore, everyone will be very clear about the significance and role of each character's appearance and the changes in the plot."
Ten thousand people were silent.
Lu Yanhe didn't know if what he said made Wanrenhai angry.
But Wanrenhai asked after a while: "If it were you, how would you change it?"
Wanrenhai added: "On the premise that it does not affect all the scenes I want to present at present."
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "I will design a task for this boy named Wang."
"Huh?" Wanrenhai looked at him puzzledly.
"Now, Wang and Rumeng Bird are escaping from the Impermanence Palace without any motivation. They are just running around in a dream. If we give them a motivation, their behavior of exploring the Impermanence Palace will have practical significance." Lu Yanhe said, "For example, if Wang and Rumeng Bird want to leave the Impermanence Palace, they must meet certain conditions. To meet these conditions, they must go to certain places and obtain certain things. Or, we can simply use the setting of the hellhound. The hellhound brought Wang into the Impermanence Palace to achieve a certain purpose, but the process was unsuccessful. They were disturbed by the dream bird and were chased by the hellhound all the way--"
As Lu Yanhe spoke, a clearer story line emerged in his mind.
“The hellhound can’t let anyone find out that he brought a human to the Impermanence Palace, so he can only chase them by himself. In order to get rid of the hellhound’s pursuit and find a way to leave the Impermanence Palace, Wang and Rumeng Bird can only follow a little clue and keep changing maps. In the process of changing maps, the Impermanence Palace world that the director wants to present emerges one by one. In each small map, the climax is when the hellhound finds them and starts a chase and fight. In this way, the main plot from beginning to end is that the hellhound is chasing Wang and Rumeng Bird, while Wang and Rumeng Bird are looking for a way to leave the Impermanence Palace. In this way, there is no need to make major changes to the script. It is enough to make some adjustments according to this main plot and string them together.”
Wanrenhai looked at Lu Yanhe in surprise.
"You just finished reading the script and that's what you thought of?"
"Isn't this setting a bit tacky? " Lu Yanhe scratched his head. "Maybe it's a bit tacky. I think that the design of every piece of content and every NPC character in your script, from the Forgotten River to the Purgatory Tower, is very clever. But if you work a little harder on the entry point, the audience will feel more immersed."
Ten thousand people were thoughtful.
“Your suggestions are very inspiring to me.”
Lu Yanhe originally thought that Wanrenhai was just being polite and did not quite accept his opinion.
Unexpectedly, Wanrenhai's next sentence was "Yan He, come and be a consultant for our film."
"Ah?" Lu Yanhe was stunned.
Wanrenhai said: "I find that you completely understand my script and what I want to say. You can also propose revisions that I can accept while preserving what I want to say."
Lu Yanhe was stunned, "Huh?"
"The problems you mentioned have actually been mentioned by others, but they can only raise questions but cannot provide solutions. They blame me for cramming too many elements into the script and say that I wrote it too profoundly and not simple enough." Wanrenhai said, "I need your help."
"Director, this is too sudden. Let me react first." Lu Yanhe said.
Wanrenhai patted Lu Yanhe on the shoulder.
"Okay, give me some feedback, and I'll ask you again tomorrow."
-
"Go ahead. You're just a consultant. You're not asked to change the script or do anything specific. A consultant is there to give you advice."
On the phone, Chen Ziyan was very supportive of Lu Yanhe becoming a consultant.
"'The Palace of Impermanence' is also a large production. You can learn a lot by participating in it as a consultant. Besides, you can also get to know more people in the production department. For such a large production, all the workers in each field must be first-line or even top practitioners in the industry."
Chen Ziyan's words convinced Lu Yanhe.
So, the next day, when Wanrenhai found him again, he nodded and agreed.
Wanrenhai immediately sent someone to prepare the agreement.
"You have to sign the agreement if you need to, otherwise you will regret it." Wanrenhai said.
Script consultant: Lu Yanhe.
A new identity was unlocked inexplicably.
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I recommend the old book "I Became the Scandal Heroine Overnight". From the first order of 7 to the average order of over , it is still worth reading. (End of this chapter)
