Chapter 324 Beautiful Storyboard

Facts have proved that Zhang Youan's guess was correct. After he called Xu Feng and told him about it in the evening, Xu Feng told him to maximize his investment share in "Two Smoking Barrels".

The cost of this movie is not high, only one to two million pounds at most. Even if it is all taken, for Tomson, although it is not a small investment, it can only be regarded as a medium investment.

After talking about "Two Smoking Barrels", Zhang Youan told Xu Feng about New Balance's invitation to sing and how Zhou Yan wrote "We Are Young".

After listening to it, Xu Feng couldn't help but sigh, "On the road of music, people walk on their feet, but he seems to be running on a horse."

"He is not too slow on the road to movies." Zhang Youan continued.

Xu Feng agreed with this. Although Zhou Yan has only made three movies in recent years, this speed is beyond the reach of most directors. After all, it is very rare for a prolific director like Zhang Yimou to make one movie a year.

Moreover, in addition to being a director, Zhou Yan also engages in film soundtracks. If Zhou Yan's soundtrack works are also included, the number will suddenly increase.

"How is the discussion about "Shutter Island" going?" Xu Feng asked about the situation of "Shutter Island" again.

"The progress is going well. Warner is very sincere. I heard from Chris that they are already trying to contact Martin Scorsese." Zhang Youan said.

"Well, you should worry more about this hard work. What's the situation on "Titanic"? Has Zhou Yan been in contact with Cameron?"

"Not yet, we have an appointment to meet tomorrow morning."

"This project needs to be taken seriously. Cameron is a very capable director and has a high reputation in Hollywood. No matter whether the film "Titanic" is good or bad, it will definitely attract more attention."

"Well, I think Zhou Yan also attaches great importance to this project. But there is not much we can do, we can only rely on Zhou Yan himself."

"Indeed, we can only help with publicity and promotion. I hope that the final film will achieve good results."

Xu Feng knows very well that no matter how strong Zhou Yan's soundtrack is, it can be the icing on the cake. If the film itself does not perform well, no matter how good the soundtrack is, it will not matter.

This is especially obvious in the movie "Westward Journey". The soundtrack of "Westward Journey" is very well done, especially "Journey to the West". Among the soundtracks Zhou Yan has done for movies in recent years, they are all Relatively outstanding.

However, because the performance of "Westward Journey" itself was not ideal, the response to the film's soundtrack was not particularly good, at least compared to the soundtracks of Zhou Yan's other films.

On the road, you can often hear the soundtracks from Zhou Yan's other movies, but the soundtrack of "Westward Journey" is rarely heard.

Therefore, only if the movie responds well can Zhou Yan's soundtrack get more attention.

Zhou Yan was able to win the Oscar for Best Score this year because of the strength of "Sense and Sensibility" itself.

Although "Sense and Sensibility" did not win any major awards at this Oscar, it is definitely a film that has attracted more attention. Otherwise, the soundtrack would not have any hope of winning an award.

…

The next morning, Zhou Yan went to the headquarters of 20th Century Fox.

Sebastian Silva, the assistant director of the "Titanic" crew, came to pick up Zhou Yan. Sebastian is a young man about thirty years old. He has a very honest face, but he has trouble communicating. I can feel that he is very sophisticated. The two of them spoke less than ten sentences, and Sebastian had three sentences to praise Zhou Yan.

He also explained why James Cameron did not come to pick you up in person, "Mr. Cameron was very busy at work today. He originally wanted to pick you up in person, but something suddenly happened and he couldn't leave, so he had to send me Come here, I hope you don’t mind.”

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "You are too polite. I didn't have to pick you up. I just went to the place you agreed on."

He is not so arrogant that he thinks that his status as a celebrity in the United States will allow James Cameron to come downstairs to pick him up in person.

And based on James Cameron's peeing ability, even if Spielberg and the others come, he may not come out to pick them up.

If he could do this, no one who had worked with him would say he was unreasonable.

The reasons Sebastian mentioned must have been made up by himself.

The two walked into the building chatting and laughing. As soon as they walked into the door, they met two people, one black and one white, both about the same height.

Zhou Yan recognized the black one at a glance, it was none other than superstar Will Smith.

Of course, Will Smith at this time cannot be considered a superstar, but can only be regarded as a slightly famous niche, and at this time, Will Smith's main identity is still a singer.

Seeing the two of them, Sebastian took the initiative to say hello, "Will, Mr. Emmerich, are you done?"

The two nodded. Roland Emmerich looked at Zhou Yan curiously, then said with a smile, "Are you Y?"

Zhou Yan responded politely, "Yes, hello."

Sebastian helped introduce, "Mr. Y, this is Roland Emmerich, the director of "Independence Day", and next to him is Will Smith, one of the leading actors."

Zhou Yan smiled. It turned out to be the director of "Independence Day", Roland Emmerich.

Roland Emmerich's fame is certainly not comparable to that of "super giant" directors like James Cameron, but he is famous for a series of disaster movies he directed, such as "Independence Day," which will be released early next month. There are also "The Day After Tomorrow", "2012", "Shocking", etc. that were filmed later.

Although fans have mixed reviews of his films, the films he made have performed well in the market.

Speaking of which, Zhou Yan is still a rival to them, because the biggest obstacle for "The Sixth Sense" to compete for the top spot on the box office list this year is "Independence Day."

Although "Independence Day" hasn't been released yet, it is huge and should not be underestimated.

"Nice to meet you." Zhou Yan smiled.

Roland was quite curious about Zhou Yan. After all, Zhou Yan had appeared in newspapers frequently since the beginning of this year, first at the Berlin Film Festival, then at the Academy Awards. Recently, "The Sixth Sense" has swept the market and become the darling of the media.

Although he didn't take the initiative to find out, Roland also knew some things about Zhou Yan.

He patted his head and said, "Oh, you should be here to see Director Cameron."

Seeing Sebastian standing with Zhou Yan, he remembered that Zhou Yan was the soundtrack director of "Titanic".

Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, let me talk to Director Cameron about the soundtrack."

Roland showed a meaningful smile and said, "The cooperation between you will definitely be very exciting. Maybe we can also cooperate if we have the opportunity."

His words were purely polite, and Zhou Yan also said politely, "Of course I also hope to cooperate with more excellent directors."

"We're leaving. See you again when we have a chance."

After saying goodbye, Roland took Will Smith and left. From the beginning to the end, Will Smith seemed to be out of state, and his whole person was in a daze.

Will Smith is a typical hip-hop kid. Although he is two years older than Zhou Yan, his dress still looks like a student, which is completely different from his image in "Independence Day".

In "Independence Day", Will Smith plays an Air Force pilot, a brave and militant, and a proper combat hero.

The real Will Smith is more like the image at the beginning of "Men in Black".

After the two left, Sebastian said with a smile, "Mr. Emmerich has also been under a lot of pressure recently. The cost of "Independence Day" is very high, and the company's expectations are also very high."

Zhou Yan glanced at Sebastian. He always felt that there was something in Sebastian's words.

The cost of "Independence Day" is indeed high, but when it comes to high cost, no movie is more expensive than "Titanic", which he is currently participating in.

Could it be that Sebastian means that James Cameron is also under a lot of pressure now?

But Zhou Yan didn't ask any more questions, just nodded and followed Sebastian upstairs.

Sebastian led Zhou Yan to the door of an office, reached out and knocked on the door, and a deep voice came from inside, "Come in."

The two pushed the door open and Sebastian said, "Mr. Cameron, Mr. Y is here."

"Well, okay." James Cameron was writing and drawing with his head down, without even raising his head.

Sebastian cast an apologetic look at Zhou Yan, and then whispered, "Mr. Y, I'm going out first."

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, "Well, you go out first, thank you for your hard work."

Sebastian withdrew and carefully closed the door.

Zhou Yan turned around and looked at James Cameron, who was concentrating on his desk work. He didn't feel dissatisfied and started looking around the office casually.

This is a small office, with a table, a bookcase, three chairs, and not even a sofa.

The desk was piled with various manuscripts, like a high school senior's desk. James Cameron was buried in it and could only see the top of his head.

After about two or three minutes, James Cameron raised his head and smiled, "Sorry, I was drawing something just now, so I couldn't stop."

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. James knew how to apologize, so it didn't seem to be difficult.

"It's okay, it's understandable."

"Want to see what I drew?"

Zhou Yan was quite surprised when he heard this. James Cameron's personality is indeed a bit special.

"Sure, if you can."

"I originally wanted to show it to you." James Cameron picked up a manuscript on the table and handed it to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan took a few steps forward, took the manuscript, and then showed a surprised expression.

What James Cameron just drew was actually a split shot of Jack hugging Rose from behind.

I have to say that James Cameron’s storyboard manuscript is amazing.

Having worked with so many directors, the two storyboards that surprised Zhou Yan the most were Tsui Hark's and James Cameron's.

Tsui Hark's storyboards are relatively freehand, focusing on a sense of atmosphere, with a feeling of old-fashioned comics. But James Cameron's storyboards not only have artistic aesthetics, but also have very solid basic skills, and handle the details much better than Tsui Hark.

Whether it's Tsui Hark's or James Cameron's, Zhou Yan can't learn it unless he spends a lot of time and energy studying art now.

And even if he took the time to study art, he probably wouldn't be able to reach the level of these two directors, because he doesn't have much talent in art.

Among the director's storyboards, the most suitable for Zhou Yanxue is Zhang Yimou's, which is precise and meticulous.

Most of the directors Zhou Yan has come into contact with have good storyboard drawings.

Although An Li is not good at drawing, his storyboards are very detailed. Often a set of empty shots can be detailed down to the equipment, entrance, time, shooting angle, etc. For example, An Li’s storyboard notes can only be handed over to a professional. The storyboard artist didn’t even need to communicate with An Li anymore and could easily come up with the storyboard draft.

Perhaps among the directors Zhou Yan came into contact with, the only one whose storyboarding was relatively poor was Zhou Xingchi.

When most people get Zhou Xingchi's storyboard notes, they can't understand what he wants to do at the first moment. He has to explain it carefully.

This is also Zhou Xingchi's shortcoming.

Stephen Chow and James Cameron are both known as tyrants on the set, but no one has ever questioned James Cameron's business ability, because James Cameron can indeed do a very good job in preparation.

As for Zhou Xingchi, his basic skills are indeed not very good, coupled with his weak communication skills, it is easy for problems to occur during on-site shooting.

If Zhou Xingchi's basic functions were better and the storyboards were done in advance, there would actually be less communication in the later stage. Anyway, after reading the storyboard, everyone would basically know what the director wants.

Looking at James Cameron's manuscript, Zhou Yan also noticed that the male and female protagonists were already drawn according to the appearance of DiCaprio and Kate.

"A very beautiful picture." Zhou Yan praised.

This compliment was a bit simple, and James Cameron was obviously not very satisfied. He asked, "Do you have any inspiration when you see this picture?"

Zhou Yan raised his eyes and looked at James Cameron and laughed, "Mr. Cameron, you may have some misunderstandings about our work. Normally, I would not write a soundtrack just because of a storyboard manuscript, especially when I have completed the whole story." I haven’t even seen the script yet.”

In fact, Zhou Yan could have written some music on the spot and told James Cameron that he was inspired by it after reading the manuscript, but this is completely unnecessary.

He wanted to let James Cameron know his working style, and at the same time reminded James Cameron that he had not yet received the complete script of "Titanic".

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, James Cameron patted his head, "By the way, I invite you here this time, and I also want to show you the script and the storyboards. I hope the script and these storyboards can give you You get some inspiration.”

Zhou Yan nodded with satisfaction, this was the purpose of his visit today. (End of chapter)