Chapter 818 Chinese Blockbuster
In 1993, under the strong promotion of Tian Congming, the country embarked on the road of film reform. First, it loosened the restrictions on local film studios and distribution companies and decentralized the film distribution power that was once exclusively enjoyed by China Film.
Then in 1994, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television instructed China Film Corporation to introduce 10 so-called "blockbusters" to stimulate the domestic film market.
To be fair, foreign films, especially Hollywood films, are highly industrialized, but Hollywood also has bad films. The fact that domestic films have collapsed in the face of imported blockbusters over the past year or so cannot be entirely blamed on them.
The 10 blockbusters introduced into China were carefully selected from thousands of movies around the world. Even if we narrow the scope to Hollywood, can't they make 10 good movies in a year?
The reason why foreign monks can chant sutras is not because all foreign monks can chant sutras, but because the monk who came here can chant sutras!
However, the brutal reality and bleak market have broken down the psychological defenses of many domestic filmmakers. They are even unable to understand this survivor bias rationally, and are terrified of foreign films and even Hollywood blockbusters.
Many of them have been traumatized by the blow, and even developed a paranoid hostility towards commercial films, and they despise them.
As a leader in formulating policies and promoting reforms, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television is not just about giving orders from a high position. They have already thought of everything that film practitioners can think of.
Imported blockbusters can stimulate the market, but they may also cause panic.
Whether in terms of investment capacity, market grasp or internal management of the enterprise, domestic film studios are unable to compete with highly commercialized foreign production companies. How can they focus their hopes entirely on independent reform and innovation of the studios?
As early as March last year, the National Film Bureau Work Conference was held in Changsha, where discussions were held on the market prospects and development of domestic films.
At the meeting, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television clearly put forward the requirements of the quality strategy, which was to be quantified into the "9550 Project", that is, during the "9550" period, 10 quality films would be produced every year, and a total of 50 quality films would be produced in five years.
What are the specific standards for these high-quality films?
In fact, there is no fixed standard, but one thing is certain.
That is to be able to withstand the pressure from imported blockbusters. It does not mean that it must directly defeat imported blockbusters at the box office, but at least it should be able to fight back and maintain the reputation of domestic films.
Ideals are full, but reality is skinny.
Project 9550 did not become a turning point for the production of high-quality Chinese films, and the pressure from the Film Bureau on various studios did not translate into motivation for the production of high-quality films. Instead, it became a misunderstanding of creative concepts.
After the Changsha Conference ended in March last year, film studios across the country quickly adjusted their creative themes. A large number of biographical films depicting heroes and models of the times were hastily launched, becoming a popular subject that everyone was chasing after.
Because of the low production costs, many films are released after two or three months.
But this turned into a new disaster in the history of Chinese cinema. All the domestic films released during this period failed to achieve high box office, let alone good reputation.
It lost both box office and reputation, which was embarrassing and shameful.
Liu Jianzhong, the director of the Film Bureau, is now questioning his life, so he was so active in introducing this movie after hearing that "Life is Beautiful", adapted from Lin Weimin's novel, won several awards in Cannes some time ago.
Although it is foreign-funded and produced abroad, it is adapted from the work of a domestic writer after all. It is better to introduce this movie than other purely imported blockbusters, right?
Just in these few days, "Kong Fansen", jointly produced by Yanying Studio and Shanying Studio, has landed in major theaters across the country.
This film can be regarded as the last biographical film produced under the influence of last year's Changsha Conference. Many previous films have all failed. If "Kong Fansen" fails again, it will not only be a loss of face for the Film Bureau, but it will also be a heavy blow to the domestic film industry.
So after the release of "Kong Fansen", there were unit bookings and group tickets. The box office performance of "Kong Fansen" finally made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
But that's all, because when the two studios produced this film, they estimated that there would be 60 million viewers in the country, and now the average ticket price is 2 yuan per ticket, so at least this movie can get a box office of 120 million yuan.
However, the reality is that despite many domestic units booking theaters to watch movies, the box office still did not reach the ideal state, and finally closed with a box office of only 36 million.
Of course, at this time, "Kong Fansen" had just been released for a few days and the final box office figures had not yet been released.
However, Tian Congming and Liu Jianzhong of the Film Bureau have already made a rough assessment of the box office trend by collecting feedback from theaters across the country, and they are pessimistic.
"...From the current situation, we have overestimated the concepts and execution capabilities of local film studios. It is unrealistic to expect them to make the high-quality concept of the '9550 Project' a reality and expand it.
This situation is often no longer an individual problem, but a problem for the entire industry.”
When Tian Congming said this, his face was calm and revealed a sense of frustration. He looked up at Lin Weimin.
"The film Party A and Party B produced by your Guowenshe Film Company last year was quite good. In the past few years, the comedy films produced by Chen Peisi were also quite good. Comedy films are inherently commercial and have a certain competitiveness in the market."
Seeing that Lin Weimin didn't say anything, he continued, "I've also read the synopsis of 'See You There' that you filed for this year. It follows the same path as 'Party A, Party B'. This idea is correct. But you can't put all your energy on genre films. If you want to become bigger and stronger, you can't compete with imported blockbusters by relying solely on genre films."
Lin Weimin couldn't stand Tian Congming's brainwashing anymore and retorted, "Stop, stop, stop. We didn't say we wanted to compete with imported blockbusters."
"There are 10 imported blockbusters a year. You guys have made so many films. Can you avoid them?"
Tian Congming's words made Lin Weimin fall silent. He changed the subject and said, "Don't talk about this for now. Let's talk about how to make sure the filming is not in vain."
Tian Congming really suspected that Lin Weimin was born in the year of the dog. Once he smelled something, he refused to let it go. He had been talking for twenty minutes, but Lin Weimin still remembered what he had just mentioned.
He had no choice but to lean over to Lin Weimin's ear and whisper a few words.
As the two men distanced themselves from each other, Lin Weimin's expression finally softened, and he even smiled a little.
"Wouldn't it be over if you had said so earlier?"
When Tian Congming heard this, he felt a mouthful of blood sticking in his chest. You didn't even give me a chance!
"How's it going? Is it okay to make a big movie this time?"
Lin Weimin pondered for a moment and said, "The theme you set is fine, but we have to agree that the content may not be completely compatible."
"Why?" Tian Congming was puzzled.
"It's fine to use next year's big event as the theme. But for a movie, we should first consider the content, not the topic.
If we talk about "return" directly, it is likely that we will have to talk about the changes in the past half century. It is difficult to shoot a big scene with this kind of content, unless it is a war scene. But do you think that our war scenes can compare with those Hollywood blockbusters? "
After Lin Weimin said this, Tian Congming fell into deep thought.
The entry of imported blockbusters into the country has not only caused an impact on the film market and undermined the confidence of film practitioners, but most importantly, these films have spoiled the appetite of domestic moviegoers.
Some domestic war films are not bad, such as "The Decisive Battle", which is a classic among classics.
But compared to the "neutral and peaceful" Chinese war films, Hollywood blockbusters with a brisk pace and realistic special effects can better stimulate the adrenaline of the audience. After being accustomed to the various exciting scenes and shots of Hollywood blockbusters, it is inevitable that some discomfort will arise when watching the shot scheduling and special effects of many domestic war films.
The audience's appetite has been spoiled, which is indeed a problem.
"So what do you think?" Tian Congming asked.
Lin Weimin tapped the dining table lightly, causing Tian Congming's heart to beat fast. He looked at him with hope in his eyes.
"Let's shoot a costume movie! Distance creates beauty, and compared to the scene arrangement and special effects production of war scenes, the difficulty of costume war scenes is much lower, and the budget requirements are not that high."
"What about the content? What kind of content will be filmed?" Tian Congming asked.
"The six kingdoms are gone, and the four seas are one."
Lin Weimin uttered these six words.
Tian Congming immediately understood, "Qin Dynasty? Ying Zheng?"
Lin Weimin nodded.
After receiving a positive answer, Tian Congming pondered again and asked, "'Unification' seems to be a bit off topic."
"It depends on what you say. The Zhou emperor divided up the states, and to the First Emperor it can be considered a 'return'."
"It's far-fetched." Tian Congming commented.
"You're begging for food and you complain it's bad!" Lin Weimin couldn't help but sneer at him.
Tian Congming glared at him, but finally decided to swallow his pride and asked, "Is there nothing else that would be appropriate?"
"Yes, there are, for example, successive dynasties have recovered lost territories, which fits in with the theme of return." Lin Weimin had a subtle smile on his face.
Tian Congming immediately understood his meaning. What has always been emphasized is the united front and national unity. Where did they recover the lost territories in ancient times?
This subject matter is not acceptable.
While Tian Congming was thinking, Lin Weimin said, "The First Emperor unified the six kingdoms, standardized the writing system and the wheel gauge, and his momentum was unparalleled. It is difficult for other historical events to have such momentum."
Tian Congming couldn't help but nod his head when he heard this. This was indeed true.
"It's enough for a blockbuster movie to have a smooth and self-consistent story. What really needs to be worked on is the production quality."
Lin Weimin's words made Tian Congming frown. He wanted to refute, but then he thought of all the Hollywood blockbusters he had seen. Apart from the thrilling plots and realistic special effects, the story was indeed not that strong.
"The story is still important," Tian Congming emphasized.
"I didn't say it's not important, it's just not as important as the production quality. After all, in addition to watching the story, the audio-visual effect is more important when watching a blockbuster."
When Tian Congming heard this, he couldn't help but nodded. Unknowingly, he had been convinced by Lin Weimin.
After a moment, he frowned and looked at Lin Weimin, "Boy, I think you have already thought about filming this kind of thing, right?"
Lin Weimin flatly denied it, "Don't talk nonsense! I'm just trying to help you. Do you know what it means to be quick-witted? What does it mean to have a fountain of ideas?"
There was a hint of contempt in his eyes. A smart man like Tian Congming would definitely not believe Lin Weimin's lies.
But none of this matters to him. Let the kid make up stories as long as he can achieve his goal.
"To shoot a film of this scale, we need to find a good director." He looked at Lin Weimin, and his meaning was very clear.
"Yimou is just trying to make a transition right now. His current film, If You Are the One, is about to be finished, so we can hand this film over to him."
"Can he do it?"
"How about you pick a director?"
Lin Weimin shut Tian Congming's mouth with another sentence. He looked sullen. What a monkey!
"Okay, then let Zhang Yimou direct it. How big is the investment? Can your Guowen Press afford it on its own?"
Lin Weimin immediately followed suit and said, "How can we do this on our own? Don't we need your help in coordination?"
"Then let Yanying Studio and China Film Group participate? Of course, you guys should still be the main force."
"You've thought it through very carefully. I'll take care of this matter later."
Tian Congming also showed a somewhat relaxed smile on his face, "Then I'll leave this matter to you!"
"You're welcome, serving the leader!"
Lin Weimin was humble and smiling.
Seeing his confident expression, Tian Congming couldn't help but probe him: "It seems like you already have an idea of what kind of story to shoot, right?"
Anyway, the conditions have been discussed, so Lin Weimin has no qualms and said easily, "I have some ideas."
"Tell me about it?"
"Well..."
Lin Weimin started to keep people in suspense again. Tian Congming glared at him hatefully. He smiled slyly and said, "It's inconvenient to reveal the content, but I can tell you the title."
"Have you thought of the title of the film?" Tian Congming was very surprised and his face was full of surprise.
The titles of the films are all based on the content. As soon as these words were spoken, Lin Weimin's words about his "quick thinking" were refuted. This guy must have planned this in advance.
Tian Congming was too lazy to argue with him, "What's your name?"
"Hero!" Lin Weimin uttered these two words softly.
(End of this chapter)
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