Chapter 338 Jing Ke Assassinates the King of Qin

After asking about the folk band, Zhou Yan had nothing else to talk about, so he said to Zhang Youan, "Okay, I'll hang up now and we'll talk later."

Zhang Youan said, "Don't worry, I just happened to call you. I have something else to tell you."

"Well, you say."

"We have already negotiated with Mr. and Mrs. Sting for the movie "Fight for It", and now our company has increased investment to 880,000 pounds. Seeing that we are willing to increase investment, Mr. and Mrs. Sting are very happy."

What Zhang Youan said about "fighting at all costs" was "two big smoking guns". Zhou Yan felt strange every time he heard him say "fighting at all costs".

"Eight hundred and eighty thousand pounds, the number is quite auspicious."

"It's considered a good fortune. I hope this investment will have good results."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Why, I'm worried that the money will be wasted."

"It would be a lie to say I'm not worried, but according to my experience, this movie still has potential. If Guy Ritchie can make what the script shows, even if it doesn't shine, as long as there are no big mistakes, it will be a success. Sell ​​it for some money.”

It sounds like Zhang Youan's plan for "Two Smoking Barrels" is to sell the film.

Zhou Yan didn't say anything about this. The movie hasn't even been shot yet, so it's useless to say more.

Let's wait until the movie is finished. If Zhang Youan and the Steen couple still want to sell the movie, it won't be too late for him to intervene.

As long as there are no big surprises during the filming, the film still needs to be released in theaters to realize its greatest value.

If they really want to sell the film by then, Zhou Yan can also buy the film himself. In short, the money cannot go to other people's fields.

"Guy Ritchie is a very good director and worth looking forward to."

"Listening to what you said, I quite admire him, but it's true that you two have similar experiences. I'm talking about your initial experience in the film industry. In fact, Guy Ritchie is quite happy to know that we invested in this movie. , after all, we are much more professional than the Stings."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I don't think so. From a director's point of view, I don't necessarily want investors to be professional. After all, the best investors are the ones who are stupid and have a lot of money. It's best to just pay. Don’t care about anything else.”

"Well……"

Zhang Youan was unable to refute Zhou Yan's words.

In fact, this is also Zhou Yan’s experience. He is a director himself. If he can’t meet an investor like Xu Feng who really loves movies and has unconditional trust in the director, then it’s better to meet someone who doesn’t know anything about movies. , investors who are willing to pay.

What I fear the most is the kind of person who, after spending money, has to dictate the filming of the film, which greatly affects the director's creation.

The reason why Zhou Yan has always said that he will not go to Hollywood to make movies in the short term is also due to this reason.

In Hollywood, unless you are a big director, you cannot break away from the producer-centered system. The company has to intervene in everything, and the director is completely reduced to a tool man.

He doesn't think that after just a few movies, he will be treated as a great director in Hollywood.

The two briefly chatted for a few more words, then Zhou Yan hung up the phone and concentrated on writing the "Shutter Island" novel.

…

For the next week, Zhou Yan's life was relatively simple. He would go to the studio at two o'clock every day. He would go to the studio early in the morning to have breakfast, practice with the orchestra for a while in the morning, and write "Shutter Island" in the afternoon and evening.

On the afternoon of July 10th, Zhou Yan was immersed in writing a novel when there was a sudden knock on the door.

Zhou Yan raised his head and responded, "Please come in."

When the door was pushed open and he saw the person coming, Zhou Yan was surprised and said, "Hey, it's a rare visitor."

Chen Kaige walked into the office with a smile and looked around, "Your office has always been so simple."

Zhou Yan stood up with a smile, went to pour water for Chen Kaige, pointed at the sofa and said, "Sit down."

Chen Kaige nodded, walked over and sat down, "What have you been busy with recently?"

"The orchestra is going out to perform soon and is busy rehearsing." Zhou Yan handed the tea cup to Chen Kaige and then sat down opposite him, "You are also a master who goes to the Three Treasures Hall for everything. What are you doing here today?"

In fact, Zhou Yan's studio is not far from the Yanjing Factory. If Chen Kaige wants to come over, it won't be troublesome, but for such a long time, he rarely comes over.

In addition to Xiao Can and Li Hong who worked with Zhou Yan, Han Sanping was the only one who came to the Yanjing factory. Sometimes Wang Junzheng and Senior Lu would also come.

Chen Kaige blew the hot air but did not drink, "Can't I come to your place for a visit?"

Zhou Yan shrugged and said, "Of course, I welcome you to come over at any time."

Chen Kaige smiled and put down the tea cup, "I won't follow you in circles anymore. Now I'm preparing for my next movie, and I want to invite you to score my music."

"The next movie? Or is it invested by Sister Feng?"

Chen Kaige shook his head unnaturally, "Not sure yet."

Looking at his expression, Zhou Yan knew that his cooperation with Xu Feng was not particularly smooth.

During this time period, if Zhou Yan's memory is correct, Chen Kaige should be filming "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin".

This is a movie with polarizing reviews, with people who like it thinking it's high-end, people who don't like it thinking it's trash, and very few in the middle.

However, Zhou Yan is one of the few in the middle. "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" is the film where Chen Kaige truly launched his "playing with flowers" artistic career. He especially wanted to express his artistic aesthetic in this film.

In fact, he was successful, at least partially. The movie did well in some aspects and was somewhat experimental.

But overall, it's definitely not a likable movie. First of all, Chen Kaige must have been out of touch with the public's aesthetic needs, and secondly, he also ignored the consideration of the story structure.

If you take out some individual clips of this movie, the audience will find that the movie is actually very good. At least in terms of visual expression, Chen Kaige has achieved some breakthroughs.

But when these fragments are put together to form a story, it always feels a bit broken. Even if it is viewed as an alternate history, it is sometimes unbearable.

In Zhou Yan's opinion, "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" is not a bad movie, but it is definitely not a miracle movie as some people say. However, the film aesthetic must be inclusive.

"What is the theme of the new movie?" Zhou Yan asked.

"It has something to do with Jing Ke's assassination of Qin."

Zhou Yan nodded. It seemed that he remembered correctly. This is Chen Kaige's new movie.

"Has the script been written?" Zhou Yan asked again.

Chen Kaige shook his head, "Not yet, Wang Peigong is writing."

Zhou Yan laughed, "The script is still being written, so you asked me to score the music for you. Isn't it a bit premature?"

Chen Kaige curled his lips and said, "I can't do it sooner. Every time I came to you before, I couldn't keep up with your schedule. Didn't I get a slot in advance?"

"The problem is that you don't know what position you're in. The script hasn't been written yet, so there's no definite time for filming to start."

"That's for sure. I've written two versions of the script, but I'm still not very satisfied. I'm still communicating with Wang Peigong and trying to finalize the script by the end of this year. In fact, I asked Wang Peigong to write this script a long time ago. Just after the filming of "Farewell My Concubine" was completed, it has not been completed until today. "

"Does it mean that you originally wanted to continue filming this, but because the script was not written well, you filmed "Feng Yue" first?"

"That's pretty much what it means, but I didn't expect that the script hasn't been completed yet. If it doesn't get completed, I will have to do it myself."

Hearing Chen Kaige say that he wanted to do it himself, Zhou Yan twitched his lips and said to himself that he should let Teacher Wang Peigong write it himself. You can make the movie well honestly.

Neither Chen Kaige nor Zhang Yimou actually has the ability to write their own scripts.

If there is a good script and the two of them are willing to shoot it honestly, there will definitely be no problem with the production.

However, it is very difficult for Chen Kaige to make movies honestly.

"Farewell My Concubine" made Chen Kaige famous and became an internationally renowned director. However, fame is a double-edged sword. Since "Farewell My Concubine", Chen Kaige has been drifting a lot, and he is always thinking about making breakthroughs.

Once a director is obsessed with breakthroughs, it is easy for him to run into problems.

Although "Feng Yue" was not successful, it is not particularly bad. It's just that people always like to compare "Feng Yue" with "Farewell My Concubine". Chen Kaige himself is obsessed with it and will compare his movies with "Farewell My Concubine". Farewell My Concubine" than.

Now he wants to film "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", but the situation is actually very wrong.

Of course, Zhou Yan would not say these words to Chen Kaige because he knew Chen Kaige too well. This guy was just a docile donkey. It was difficult for him to listen to other words except compliments.

After thinking about it, Zhou Yan said, "If you can confirm the time for your movie now, I can agree to it immediately, but in this state, it's hard to say. Do you think this will work? No matter what, the soundtrack of this movie, Our studio has accepted it.”

Chen Kaige raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you taking it in the name of the studio? Does it mean that if you don't have time, let Li Tao take over?"

Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, "If I don't have time, I will ask my senior brother Zhao Jiping to take over. Li Tao is not suitable for the theme of your new movie, so my senior brother is more suitable."

"Then Teacher Zhao can be sure that he has time?"

"uncertain."

"..."

Seeing Chen Kaige's speechless expression, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If Senior Brother Zhao doesn't have time, I'll ask Senior Brother Wang to do it for you."

Chen Kaige said blankly, "Who is your senior brother Wang?"

"Wang Liping, our senior fellow in the composition field, he is the one who composed the 87 Dream of Red Mansions. Are you satisfied with this?"

Chen Kaige looked surprised and said, "Mr. Wang is also in your studio?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said: "Is there anything strange? Wang Liping is my senior brother, and my teacher Shi Wanchun also taught him."

Shi Wanchun graduated from the composition department in 1961 and then stayed at the school to teach, while Wang Liping entered the composition department in 1960.

The two overlapped for a year when they were students. Later, Shi Wanchun stayed at the school and took Wang Liping's class for one year. The relationship was certainly not simple.

Zhou Yan's staff has signed many people, including Wang Liping, Zhao Jiping and Xu Jingqing. Of course, the contracts they signed with the studio are different from those of Li Tao and Zhao Gao, and they are considered "foreign aid".

If the studio receives a job and it suits them, they will contact them to do it.

In addition to being responsible for liaison work, the studio will also provide some necessary conditions, such as music production venues and tools. Wang Liping and the others only need to sit back and complete their creations.

In fact, the interest disputes in this model are not big, and both parties are very relaxed.

Chen Kaige exclaimed, "Your circle... is so innocent."

What he actually wanted to say was that the circle was really small. Many of the famous people in this industry were related to Yangyin, from this senior brother to that senior sister.

The main thing is that their alumni from the same school seem to be very united. As long as they are from the same school, they will help each other. This is very different from their film school.

There are so many directors from Yanjing Film Academy. Some of them stick together, but it is definitely not as obvious as that of the Central Conservatory of Music. Not to mention, there are many conflicts among their classmates.

Take him and Zhang Yimou for example. They are from the same school and should have a good relationship, but this is not the case.

Zhou Yan also roughly understood what Chen Kaige meant. He smiled and said, "The barriers of our profession should be stronger."

With the development of the times, the professional barriers between directors and actors are getting weaker and weaker. Now there are more and more non-professionals entering this industry, and they are performing well.

The barriers between the majors of Chen Kaige and his school are also weak. Actors can be directors, photographers can be directors, and screenwriters can be directors. As long as they are from their school, they can become directors.

But Zhou Yan's major rarely has cross-majors. If you don't study music since childhood, it will be difficult to enter this industry later.

In addition to professional barriers, there are also industry levels.

Let’s not talk about other majors. Just the composition major, CAFA is the best in China. Those who graduated from CAFA are basically the best.

Chen Kaige also agreed with Zhou Yan’s statement. Now more and more people who graduated from non-directing majors have become directors, and their performance is very good. Let’s not talk about the distant past. For example, director Jiang Wen, who just became popular because of "Sunny Days", graduated from the performance major of the Central Academy of Drama.

Chen Kaige did not dwell on this issue too much. He nodded and said, "Since you can guarantee this, I will leave the film soundtrack to you with peace of mind."

"Brothers should settle accounts clearly. I can make the soundtrack for your movie, but the money cannot be less."

Chen Kaige sat up immediately, "Didn’t you say before that as long as you have a schedule, you can not charge a penny for my movie?"

When the Oscars came out before, Zhou Yan did tell Chen Kaige that if he had a schedule, he could not charge a penny. Chen Kaige remembered this.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "I can refuse, are you embarrassed not to give it?"

"Then I am not embarrassed... I must pay you, but you have to be gentle. You have taken a lot of big jobs in Hollywood now, and the pay there is sky-high. I am afraid that your eyes are too high."

Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, "Well, not really, I will just take a symbolic one or two million for your movie."

Chen Kaige was shocked, "Wow, one or two million, how can you open your mouth."

"Why are you so excited? I am talking about RMB, not USD."

"Luckily you said RMB, if it was USD, I would give you the budget of this movie."

Zhou Yan laughed: "Just kidding, let's talk about the pay after you start shooting." (End of this chapter)