lovenovelstory Chapter 63: The First Sponsor Arrives! [Happy New Year!]
Chapter 63: The First Sponsor Arrives! [Happy New Year!]
……
On the three-meter-long incense table.
Offerings of meat, fruit, and other items were laid out, their fragrance rising gently like drifting clouds.
Fang Yi, holding three incense sticks, stood in the middle, leading the actors and crew in paying homage to the heavens and bowing in prayer.
May everything go smoothly and may your startup be auspicious!
May everything go smoothly and may your startup be auspicious!
"The ceremony is complete!"
A long promise.
Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhonglei, Chen Zhixi, Guo Fan, and a group of actors came down to the stage and personally handed out red envelopes to the guests, including the tourists present.
The reporters received a large package, costing 666 yuan.
After receiving the red envelopes, they were visibly happy and took the initiative to interview the actors and the Wang brothers.
Wang Zhongjun, beaming with pride, boasted to reporters that the Huayi Brothers were unparalleled.
"Huayi's future will inevitably be rapid growth, with a listing in three years, going abroad in five years, and striving to become a world-class film company in ten years."
Good guy!
Fang Yi's heart trembled as he listened, and he wished he could rush forward and cover Wang Zhongjun's mouth.
Go blow your own horn somewhere else, don't ruin the feng shui of the film crew.
Ten years later, a world-class film company, does Fish Leong give you the courage?
Fearing he would hear something even harsher, he beckoned Chen Ran, Li Bing, and Li Yang, the three co-producers, into the villa.
The group avoided the employees moving the machinery and went to a converted conference room on the second floor of the villa.
Fang Yi invited everyone to sit down and looked at Li Yang.
"The crew will film at the film studio for about ten days to get into character before flying to Hong Kong Island. Director Li, is everything arranged in Hong Kong?"
"Everything is settled. Director Chen Hui personally went to Hong Kong Island and got help from Sil-Metropole Organisation to negotiate five filming locations. We just need to wait for the crew to fly over so we can start filming."
Li Yang responded with a smile, showing no embarrassment at having his work taken away by the distribution department.
Huayi Brothers' distribution department has a better network of relationships in Hong Kong Island than their production department, due to its film distribution business.
As the deputy production manager, he was under the thumb of Wang Zhonglei, so he naturally couldn't compare to Chen Hui's prestige.
Fang Yi looked at the two female producers: "Do you two producers have any further suggestions?"
Suggestions should be raised early on; once filming begins, he, as the director, is the real boss.
Even though Chen Ran and Li Bing represent China Film Group and Poly Culture respectively, they cannot interfere with the filming process after it begins.
"Tomorrow, Poly Culture's finance manager will join the crew; everything else will be decided by Director Fang."
Li Bing smiled, indicating that he trusted Fang Yi enough.
As for appointing financial oversight, even Zhang Yimou's films are not immune to this practice.
"The same goes for China Film Group; the entire production team is handed over to Director Fang."
Chen Ran waved her hand, showing she was easy to talk to.
Although China Film Group is not as financially powerful as Poly Group, it is not a small company either, and it understands the principle of trusting those it employs and not employing those it doesn't trust.
After chatting about the daily life of filming, Chen Ran and Li Bing said their goodbyes.
Before leaving...
Chen Ran let Li Bing go first, then stopped in front of her car and said to Fang Yi, who was seeing her off, "The post-production of 'Crazy Stone' is almost finished. Director Ning Hao wants to release the film ahead of schedule. What does Director Fang think?"
"Oh, he wants to move it to which month, National Day?"
Fang Yi's eyes flashed, and he looked surprised.
You bastard, why are you in such a hurry!
"good."
Chen Ran got into the car, started the engine, turned on the air conditioning, and then climbed out again, smiling brightly: "Ning Hao said there's a seven-day holiday for National Day. Instead of fighting tooth and nail in the Lunar New Year film season, I might as well enjoy a meal all to myself during the National Day holiday."
She agreed with Ning Hao's point that since "The Promise" was released during the Lunar New Year holiday, there was no need for "Crazy Stone" to become a victim of violence.
During the National Day holiday, only one co-production film, "The Myth," is worth paying attention to, starring Jackie Chan and Kim Sun-seo from South Korea.
The film "The Myth" is scheduled to premiere on September 23rd. Chen Ran believes it will not pose a significant threat to "Crazy Stone".
"Let's put this off for a few days. I'll talk to Ning Hao about it later."
Fang Yi waved his hand, not giving an immediate response.
He knew in his heart that Chen Ran and Ning Hao, intimidated by Chen Kaige's box office appeal as a renowned director, would rather fight against Jackie Chan than compete with the period epic "The Promise".
well..
Why do you think "The Myth" is easy to bully? Or is it simply because you don't have high hopes for Jackie Chan's first period drama?
Fang Yi couldn't figure it out, so he shook his head and turned back to the villa.
.......
10:00 AM.
As the media and guests departed, tourists also urged them to turn back and leave.
The crew fenced off the villa and filmed the first scene.
The first game was relatively easy.
When his wife and daughter are kidnapped, the situation is extremely urgent. The male protagonist, Jiang Fang, remains calm and rational. He comforts his wife on the phone and tells her to remember the details of the kidnappers' appearance.
The scene depicts Jiang Fang flying to Hong Kong Island, finding the location where his wife was kidnapped, and climbing inside to investigate.
Let's start with reconnaissance and aim for a good start.
The main gate of the villa was tightly closed, the incense table had been removed, and the entrance area had been cleaned spotlessly.
Zhao Wenzhuo, with his hair disheveled, was doing stretching exercises before filming began.
The sun was high in the sky in August, and soon he was sweating profusely.
Behind the monitor, Fang Yi sat upright in the director's chair, picked up a megaphone, and gave instructions.
"Filming, props, get ready in twenty minutes!"
"Twenty minutes from now, we'll begin the first test shoot!"
"receive!"
"receive!"
At a single command, the film crew sprang into action.
Twenty minutes later.
Guo Fan, the newly appointed script supervisor, ran over to tell Fang Yi that everything was ready.
Fang Yi stood up and suddenly waved his hand at the camera.
"One minute countdown, get ready."
Guo Fan walked to the side of the camera and saw that the executive director, Liu Yukun, had also picked up a small megaphone. He couldn't help but say enviously, "Brother Kun, can I borrow this thing?"
"No, the crew only has two of these."
"One director, one me; we can't lose either."
Liu Yukun glanced at him, shook his head in refusal, and turned on the loudspeaker, shouting, "Ten seconds countdown!"
"Unrelated personnel, please leave. Silence is required!"
"Reception is normal!"
"Photography is working normally!"
"On your marks, actors, get ready!"
"Power on!"
Li Xiang, the head of the photography team, personally carried the camera and gave an OK sign.
"Start recording!"
Guo Fan, who had been waiting, darted out and stood in front of the camera to hold up the clapperboard.
"Six scenes, one shot, one take!"
The camera pans forward, showing Zhao Wenzhuo wearing a black leather coat, silently counting to three, and jogging into the frame from a street corner.
He jogged along, taking in his surroundings, until he finally arrived at the villa's gate.
The camera slowly zooms in, first showing his full body, then a close-up of his face.
Fang Yi carefully observed his performance details, his facial expressions, gait, eyes, and body movements.
Zhao Wenzhuo checked the house number, approached the gate to listen to the sounds inside, then stepped back a few steps and scanned the entire villa.
His movements were subtle, and his face carried a hint of solemnity.
Then, he followed the wall to the back of the villa, looking for a place to climb.
"That was a bit too hasty."
Fang Yi muttered something but did not interrupt the filming.
The crew fell silent; the director remained silent, and filming continued.
At this moment, Zhao Wenzhuo found an iron gate and casually used a needle to open it.
He stepped into the villa and looked up at the second-floor window.
The camera pans up, zooming back from the second-floor window until it finally focuses on a drainpipe as thick as a thigh.
Zhao Wenzhu closed the iron gate, stepped forward, and patted the drain pipe to check its sturdiness.
"Click!"
"One more time!"
Two minutes later, Fang Yi shouted "Cut!" again!
He stepped through the iron gate, grabbed the water pipe, and shook it vigorously, saying, "Brother Zhuo, should we use wires?"
"No need, just tie it with a rope."
Zhao Wenzhuo pointed to the villa's rooftop, where staff were already making preparations.
"be safe!"
"After one take, we'll officially begin filming!"
Fang Yi patted him on the shoulder and gave him a word of advice.
Compared to other actors, Zhao Wenzhuo has practiced martial arts. Since he said he wouldn't need to be suspended by wires, he should be confident in himself.
Immediately, Fang Yi instructed the props team to place a mat under the window as an extra layer of safety.
Zhao Wenzhuo saw this and did not refuse. He joked with everyone while tying the rope.
"Don't worry, director, it's alright."
"At that height, even a fall wouldn't break your legs!"
Guo Fan quickly interrupted, "Pah, ptooey, Brother Zhuo, don't talk."
The other employees all nodded in agreement, remaining very cautious about certain things on set, determined not to set a bad example!
……
An hour later.
After filming this scene, my luck was still on my side.
Fang Yi smiled and shouted, "That's a wrap! We'll continue filming this afternoon."
"Props team, prepare the villa scene in advance."
"Director, wait a minute."
Wang Cheng, the head of the props team, walked over with a wry smile: "I have a problem here. Director Chen Hui just told me that they have reached an agreement with Nokia Mobile."
Nokia Greater China agreed to sponsor the feature, allowing us to use their phones throughout the process.
"That's great!"
Fang Yi looked at him with a puzzled expression. Someone is sponsoring you, and you're doing such a miserable job.
"It was supposed to be a good thing, but the problem is that Nokia phones are too sturdy. If you drop them lightly, they won't break, but if you drop them too hard, I'm worried they'll be smashed to pieces."
"Director, we've got 300 million in sponsorship money! Don't let us lose it all by smashing it!"