Chapter 208:
An event like a 100 million-dollar "S+-level" web drama wedding, generally, apart from the parties involved, no one cares about the specific details.
In this regard, there is no difference between a 200 million wedding and a 20,000 wedding.
It may even be worse than a 20,000 wedding, at least the guests will stay to see how the dishes are.
After the wedding, Meng Bai had planned to chat with Teacher Li, go to second base or something.
But the girl told him that she had an itinerary outside and was not in Shanghai at all.
There was no other way, so he had to go back and pick those "greasy uncles".
It took him half a month to read the information of all the directors. After discussing with Tencent, he selected a few candidates.
Tencent recommended several directors who had previous works, such as Fei Zhenxiang, Jiang Jiajun and Deng Ke.
On the Arclight Film and Television side, because of his long-standing habit, Meng Bai still prefers to choose younger directors with less experience.
"Yi Zheng?"
Fang Fang looked at the information in his hand: "He used to shoot art films, so he has quite a lot of experience, right?"
Meng Bai was stunned for a moment, picked up another one and handed it over: "Sorry, I got the wrong one, this one is it."
After that, he took the information from Fang Fang's hand and put it in a folder beside him with the words "Arc Light Director Reserve".
The directors who can be selected, whether they have achievements or are newcomers, are more or less capable.
Arc Light Film and Television mainly produces online dramas, and some big-name directors cannot be invited, and they can't always rely on Wu Bai and Wang Wei.
So taking this opportunity, Meng Bai made a classified record of all the directors sent to him.
Even if they are not selected in the end, they can get in touch with them first.
When there are new projects in the future, they can just pick from this reserve, without having to pick them one by one.
Fang Fang took the information handed over by Meng Baixin and glanced at the name on it.
Li Muge?
She recalled that this person seemed to be the executive director following Gao Xixi. He had shot two urban dramas before, but the reputation and results were quite average.
"Is there anything special about him?" Fang Fang asked curiously.
Meng Bai clicked on the computer twice, and the screen was displayed on the screen that had been connected long ago.
He opened a video file and looked at Fang Fang and said, "This is the sample he sent over. You'll know after watching it."
Then he pressed the play button.
The video opens with a long shot, with the setting sun shining on the desolate and vast sea of sand, and the golden sand is stained with a little bit of residual red.
The center of the lens is the vast skyline, with the desert and the sky separated, forming a strong color conflict.
The desert under the setting sun, the grassland where the horse team walks, the azure lake and distant mountains, the deep and quiet canyon...
Whether it is the composition, color or soundtrack, it makes people immersed in the magnificent and fantastic scenery in a second.
"This director used to shoot documentaries on the National Geographic Channel!" Fang Fang exclaimed.
Meng Bai smiled, and he had the same idea after watching it.
"What do you think?"
"Very good, it really meets the requirements of this project." Fang Fang nodded.
With such excellent visual expression, she is already looking forward to the effect of the film.
...
Unlike most directors, Li Muge is not a graduate of a film and television school.
He was admitted to Peking University and studied computer information. He is a typical science and engineering man, but later he changed his career to become a director.
"Peking University? Computer?"
Meng Bai looked at Li Muge sitting opposite and asked curiously: "Why do you want to change your career to become a director?"
"Because I like it."
Li Muge's expression was full of yearning: "I like to shoot landscapes and portraits. I like the sunset, the strong visual contrast between the desert or grassland and the skyline."
"The reference samples you sent, are they what you shot before?"
"Some of them are materials I shot before." Li Muge said: "Some of them are temporary shots after I heard about our project."
Perhaps he was afraid that Meng Bai would not believe it, so he took out a USB flash drive and handed it over: "This is some of the original materials I shot, Mr. Meng, you can take a look."
It's hard to say who is the most capable among these candidates.
But if you want to say who is most eager for this project, it must be him.
Not only because this is a big IP, but more because it is what he has always wanted to shoot the most.
Meng Bai looked at the material in the USB flash drive. Although it was not processed and color-adjusted, the photographer's lens aesthetic level could be seen from the composition of the picture.
"I have something to tell you in advance." Meng Bai said, "I will be the chief producer and main screenwriter of this project. I will be the final decision on the plot. Can you accept it?"
"If you have any suggestions, can you make them?"
"Yes, but the final decision is mine."
"..." Li Muge thought about it and finally nodded, "I can accept it."
"Okay." Meng Bai stood up and stretched out his hand, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation."
"Ah, that's it?"
Li Muge was stunned. This was too straightforward.
"Otherwise, shall I hold another seminar for you?" Meng Bai smiled and said, "Hurry up, Director Li, our schedule is very tight."
Having directed works independently, it shows that his directing ability is qualified.
Meng Bai is here, so there is no need to worry about the plot.
Coupled with excellent picture aesthetics, these have already met the needs of the "Jingjue Ancient City" project.
Before this, Meng Bai had met with several other candidates.
However, there were some problems in terms of creative style, voice, or schedule.
Li Muge was the last one he met. While chatting, he compared him with the others in his mind.
After comprehensive consideration, I still think this person is the most suitable.
...
After the director was determined, the entire "Jing Jue Ancient City" project officially started.
The first thing to do is to set up the crew.
As the first project after the establishment of Penguin Pictures, Tencent hopes to make this drama a benchmark.
Penguin: We hope to produce it according to the level of movies.
Meng Bai: No problem, but it costs money.
Penguin: How much?
Meng Bai: The production cost of a single episode is at least 4 million.
Penguin: No problem, we will give you a budget of 5 million per episode, as long as the quality is guaranteed.
Meng Bai: ... Awesome!
According to the script adapted by Meng Bai, "Jing Jue Ancient City" has a total of 20 episodes.
5 million per episode, the total cost is 100 million! When
this number came out, even Meng Bai, a producer who looks for investors to make money every day, was surprised.
You know, "Mojin: The Lost Tomb", which is produced by Wanda, Guangguang and Huayi, was only 150 million when it was first planned.
Of course, the film was overspent during filming, so two additional investments were made, and the final total cost was 250 million.
An investment of 100 million is considered a medium-to-large project even in the film industry.
In a web drama, it is a proper "S+" project.
However, the money was not entirely paid by Penguin Pictures itself. The producer Arclight Pictures and the copyright holder New Dream Pictures also participated in the investment in the form of funds. Of
course, Penguin Pictures is still the largest investor, accounting for more than half of the investment.
Otherwise, it has to be Tencent's wealth!
This level of project naturally has to be matched with a production team of the same specifications.
The art design was found by Wu Ming, who is Zhang Guoshi's artist and has participated in "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Love of Hawthorn Tree".
Modeling and costume designer Chen Minzheng, a national first-class artist, is the chief designer of Shanying, and his representative works are "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "The Legend of Miyue", "The Revolution of 1911" and "Crossing Guandong".
Director of photography Zhang Chaoying is the main photographer of "The Qin Empire".
Lighting director Sun Hongliang has won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Lighting.
In addition to the crew members, another focus is the special effects team.
Although the tone of this project was set from the beginning to be based on real scenes, as a fantasy drama, special effects are definitely indispensable.
Considering that the special effects of the entire drama involve multiple aspects such as environment, monsters, and visual effects, a total of three special effects teams were found.
MoreVFX, Orange Vision, and PixoMonDO Jingbei are all top special effects teams in China.
Such a production team is basically the upper limit for a web drama project.
At the end of October, the crew of "The Ancient City of Jingjue" was formed and officially began project preparations.
Penguin Pictures also released a series trailer and project information as a warm-up.
As a popular IP, the news of the film and television adaptation of "Ghost Blowing the Light" attracted many viewers and fans.
There are many expectations, but there are more worries.
After all, the precedents of "Notes on Protecting Treasures" and "Nine-story Rotten Tower" are right in front of us, and fans can't help but sweat.
It was not until Tencent announced that the producer of this time was Arclight Films that everyone felt relieved.
Apart from anything else, with "Meng Bai Da Da" there, at least the plot is guaranteed.
And when fans saw the "100 million production cost", they were shocked.
"100 million production cost? This is a web drama!"
"I remember that the production cost of "Nine-story Demon Tower" was only 100 million, right?"
"The case is solved! Why is "Demon Tower" so bad? Can your movie and web drama not be bad if the standard is the same?" "
I don't ask for anything else, I just hope that those traffic-rich young actors will not play my "Commander Hu", please don't ruin it!"
"It shouldn't be, Arclight seems to have never used traffic actors."
"..."
The news on the Internet was discussed, but in general, fans were still relatively relieved about Arclight Films.
Many netizens have begun to discuss that this drama has almost locked in the "drama king" in the web drama market next year.
Obviously, the netizens' predictions were still too early.
Just a few days after Tencent Video announced the project of "Ghost Blowing Light: The Ancient City of Jingjue", Qiyi TV also released its own IP masterpiece "The Mystic Nine" for next year.
At the same time, the starring lineup was also released - Chen Weiting, Zhang Yixing, and Zhao Liying.
Like "Grave Robbers' Chronicles", it is a "big IP + high traffic" model.
Now netizens are interested.
Many people have learned about this year's "Forensic VS Tomb Robbers" battle. The two dramas fought from beginning to end, and the final results were only slightly different.
And this time, "The Ancient City of Jingjue" vs. "The Mystic Nine", except that the former's platform was changed from Leshi.com to Tencent Video, there was almost no change in the rest.
Obviously, whether the two dramas can collide with each other next year, it will become a new duel that the audience and fans will talk about with relish.
Netizens are arguing happily, and other companies and platforms in the industry are cursing.
After this year's limelight, it will continue next year. Are you two going to stop!
This kind of "envy, jealousy and hatred" emotion will naturally only make the platforms on both sides excited.
Especially Tencent, they suddenly realized that it was a great decision to find Arclight Films to be responsible for the production.
Just relying on this wave of gimmicks, it is worth millions of publicity expenses.
By the way, Fang Fang also asked Meng Bai about who to choose as the leading actor.
Meng Bai said that he was not in a hurry and would discuss it after he came back from Dunhuang after inspecting the filming location.
(End of this chapter)
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