Chapter 79
What does it mean to be a director?
Is it right to pursue fame and fortune, or should we remain loyal to art?
After the Golden Crane Awards, Qiao Yi Qiao returned home and thought for a long time.
In a sense, he seems to have reached a small peak, with all three of his works winning both awards and box office success.
Of course, there are always directors like this in the industry.
Almost every few years, one or two geniuses appear. Their first few works achieve excellent results, but then they produce something incomprehensible.
Even many foreign directors are not immune to this.
Quentin, one of Qiao Yiqiao's favorite directors, also has a similar life, but he just announced that he will stop after his tenth film.
But why did Qiao Yiqiao make the movie?
At first, it was just to give his subordinates a good future.
In the current situation, it seems that there is nothing to worry about anymore.
But Qiao Yi Qiao was still not satisfied and wanted to continue filming.
In fact, Qiao Yiqiao is already very satisfied with the result of "Six Masks".
Not only did it set a small record at the global box office, it also brought popularity to Nuo opera, an industry that is now booming at an astonishing rate.
Moreover, this film won so many awards, adding three major awards to his resume. Most importantly, it also allowed Li Wei to win the Best Supporting Actor award.
But he still has some regrets.
In the end, China did not send "Six Masks" to compete for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, but instead sent "Light and Shadow 7".
Generally speaking, the Academy Awards will select about 9 works to be "nominated" and then select 5 nominations.
Unfortunately, "Shadows of the Past" failed at the nomination stage. Almost all the films nominated that year were from the third world, and not all compilation films were as lucky as "Wild Tales" to be favored.
There are even many people who say that compilation films do not deserve to be nominated.
There is no way. The Oscar jury changes every year and it is difficult to understand their tastes.
As of the dismal ending of the Oscars, the battles of "Six Masks" and "Light and Shadow 7" have also come to an end.
This is an extremely rich year and a great year for Chinese-language films, but unfortunately, apart from "Six Masks" which won the three major and international box office performances, the rest
His works did not go abroad as the General Administration wished.
Many foreign media have commented on the performance of Chinese-language films this year.
Finally, they came to a conclusion: "Perhaps only Chinese filmmakers can demonstrate their strength when shooting historical themes."
This news was agreed by many foreign audiences.
Even many domestic audiences expressed their agreement.
But soon, Qiao Yi Qiao issued an announcement.
His next work will be a science fiction theme that no one has ever seen before.
As soon as the news came out, it quickly caused an uproar.
Science fiction movies are an extremely niche genre in China, and almost no one has ever made one. And Qiao Yiqiao even wants to make a science fiction movie that has never been seen before?
What type is that?
But in the face of public questioning, Qiao Yi Qiao remained tight-lipped and did not reveal anything.
He was still not used to publicizing things before they were done.
Not only the general public is curious, but even everyone in the Xi Cui Gang is very curious.
I don’t know what Qiao Yiqiao is up to.
During this period, they only saw Qiao Yi Qiao flying around the world, and heard that he was looking for members of the Xicui Gang around the world to chat.
But they didn't know exactly what they talked about.
At first they thought this state would only last for a while, but they didn't expect it to last for a whole year.
Later, Qiao Yi Qiao simply invited these people back from abroad, and had them live on the top floor of the dormitory on the Xicui campus, chatting and holding meetings with Qiao Yi Qiao every day.
No one knows what they are doing.
This is a group of members who are proficient in various disciplines, such as economics, monetary science, cryptography, physics, anthropology, etc.
Xiao He was the most curious one among them.
He had no idea what Qiao Yi Qiao's next film would be, and that he would need these people.
They were in meetings for a whole year.
The entire Xicui Gang gradually forgot about them and were busy with their own affairs.
They have now become a well-known filming team throughout Hengcheng, and almost every group can stand on their own.
This group of people went out as foreign aid to shoot four or five works this year, each of which was a big production by a big director.
Under their leadership, the entire Hengshi film and television industry has now entered the era of industrialized shooting.
When we were working on "Six Masks", there was also a team of nearly a thousand people who learned the skills.
The professional shooting process is radiating across the country.
I think this trend of specialization will soon become popular across the country.
By then, perhaps the entire system will be more scientific, complete, and more... Chinese.
But this is no longer something Qiao Yi Qiao needs to worry about.
After a year of secret discussions, just when he had whetted the appetite of the entire Xicui Gang to the extreme, Qiao Yiqiao finally called Xiao He to a meeting.
Xiao He knew that this was almost certain to be the next movie.
In fact, he really couldn't figure out Qiao Yi Qiao's thoughts. He felt that they were already very rich now, and had won two of the three major awards. Although they didn't win an Oscar, they were really rich and had made many investment projects. The money was still making money, so they didn't need to make any more movies.
He also shared these doubts with Qiao Yi Qiao.
Qiao Yiqiao smiled after hearing this: "I just want to challenge myself and see if we can do it."
Xiao He knew that his elder brother really liked to take on all kinds of challenges.
It made his blood boil.
"For the next one, I want to shoot science fiction, a genre that has never been shot in China before, a space opera," Qiao Yiqiao said, "I want to create a future world."
After hearing this, Xiao He was stunned.
Space Opera…
It is indeed a type of film that has never been made in China.
This type of movie is a legendary adventure story set in an interstellar background.
It needs to have a vast alien culture, and the storyline must be developed according to the knowledge of astronomy and astronautics, but it does not have to be strictly followed. For example, the most classic "Star Wars" and "Dune" are space opera themes, and they also incorporate various fantasy settings.
And this is the question Xiao He wants to ask.
"Although we in China have never produced a space opera, Hollywood has produced many big IPs. Brother, what work do you want to adapt?"
Qiao Yiqiao shook his head: "No, almost all science fiction works in our country are currently adapted, but this time, I want something original."
"Hiss..." Xiao He kept breathing in.
No wonder he held meetings with so many people for a whole year. Was he really going to create a new world?
"But Hollywood has made so many space operas," Xiao He asked again, "where is our innovation?"
After so many projects, and investing in so many projects, Xiao He has become a very successful
A well-known producer.
The question being asked now is what all investors will be concerned about.
"I want to incorporate a genre that is unique to China. It will definitely be distinctive and other countries will definitely not be able to film it," Qiao Yiqiao looked at Xiao He seriously, "Interstellar martial arts, how about going to Tingshan?"
Xiao He: “Ah?”
Very fresh indeed!
Moreover, although it sounds outrageous at first, it seems very reasonable when you think about it carefully.
The essence of martial arts is also an adventure story, and most space operas are also adventure stories. Since "Star Wars" can have the Force, why can't our space operas have internal forces?
Then, Qiao Yi Qiao showed Xiao He the key notes of everyone’s meetings over the past year.
From the interstellar fortress, the settings of each planet, and the types of martial arts they are good at using (of course, some countries do not develop martial arts, but rely on technology, etc.), to some armor driven by internal force, spaceships controlled by multiple people at the same time, etc....
Each one has detailed settings.
"It's not very complete yet," Qiao Yiqiao tapped on the computer, "We have been working on the world view content, and now there are more than 100,000 words. It is estimated that the entire world view document will be around 300,000 words."
Xiao He was completely surprised.
These are really fresh and interesting!
But as a mature producer, he still has to ask: "This worldview is interesting, but what story is it going to tell?"
Qiao Yiqiao smiled gently: "We need to tell our story."
Xiao He: “What?”
“I want to tell the story of a group of marginalized people from the bottom of society who gradually become powerful through martial arts and then rebel in the interstellar space. Of course, it’s not a real rebellion, but it’s a story that changes a lot of things.” Qiao Yiqiao said, “Of course, there will be various power changes, economic collapse, world destruction, great progress and regression in science and technology, the awakening of personal consciousness, and other elements…”
Xiao He listened and nodded continuously.
This taste is just right.
And, somehow, he believed his eldest brother could create such a story.
But he also anticipated that this would be a very long story.
"Brother, do you mean you want to shoot a series?" Xiao He keenly grasped the key point.
Qiao Yiqiao nodded: "Yes, it seems that we will have to shoot about five films."
"Okay," Xiao He asked again, "The first part mainly talks about
What? "
Qiao Yiqiao replied: "The first part mainly tells the story of this group of people who attend classes at school but secretly learn martial arts, and by the way, it lays the foundation for the world view. It is only at the end that the grand world view of the entire interstellar is opened up."
"I see," Xiao He thought for a moment, "Then I'll go for the big budget. Brother, you have bold ideas, money is not a problem."
Qiao Yiqiao also knew this, so he nodded: "Of course."
Qiao Yiqiao and his team were still holding the meeting.
Later, he even invited Teacher Shen Si to attend a meeting, and Teacher Shen Si was also very interested in this subject and decided to join immediately.
This kind of movie with heavy subject matter and large group portraits is the most difficult to write. Fortunately, Teacher Shen Si has very rich experience.
However, building the entire world view and writing the script were more difficult than they had imagined. The first draft of the script was not completed until the end of the second year. After nearly a year of revisions, it finally took shape.
Of course, it’s not just the first part that’s been completed, there’s also the second part.
The scripts for both films were written together, and Qiao Yiqiao also planned to shoot them together.
Soon, the two scripts were sent to major investors.
They got feedback almost immediately - "It's amazing! Can it be filmed?", "This is the first time I've been so fascinated by a script! I finally finished it after two nights! I have no opinion, but, can it really be filmed?", "I like it very much! But, can it be filmed?"
All investors praised the script highly.
But at the same time they also raised the question, can they shoot?
This time, Qiao Yi Qiao did not speak, but used his own money and spent more than three months to complete the pre-shooting.
Now, all investors had no problem and started to transfer money.
The project is called "Qiong Yu" and it set an investment record for Chinese-language films.
The investment in the first two films was as high as 2 billion.
After receiving the money, Qiao Yi Qiao also felt a lot of pressure.
But three years have been spent on the script and building the world view. The rest depends on him. He must make it a good movie.
As usual, the art and camera departments were the first to break down.
There are more than 50,000 characters in the two dramas (more than 49,000 of which are extras), but each person’s appearance is different, and their experiences and past must be constructed based on the world view documents.
At the same time, there are hundreds of scenes that need to be built.
It was then that everyone realized how important it was for Qiao Yiqiao to first work hard on a 300,000-word worldview, from a planet to a person's communicator.
All messages need to be designed by the art team based on the world view.
During the most exaggerated preparation stage, there were nearly a thousand people in the art team alone.
But they still completed the task.
The first two films were almost entirely studio shots, and the photography crew had a lot of work to do, including a large number of martial arts and sci-fi mecha shots. For this purpose, they rented two of the three Titan devices in the world. Only with the addition of such equipment can the lens effect be maximized.
As for the actors, Qiao Yiqiao chose the members of the Xi Cui Gang as the protagonists as usual, and Qi Siqi, Cheng Tiantian, Qin Duo, Qin Zhen and others also joined.
There were more than six months of martial arts training before filming began, and everyone was very dedicated, with no one letting down.
After that, the filming phase alone lasted for one year and three months.
But this time, because of the sufficient budget, everything seemed to be easy.
Qiao Yiqiao fully learned the lessons from the filming of "Six Masks" and must not let everyone ruin their health.
Therefore, all positions are operated in three shifts. Even in the entire park, you can see a rare scene: two cameramen meet while taking a walk, and one of them asks the other: "Just got off work? Are you scheduled for the morning shift or the night shift tomorrow?"
After the filming was completed, Qian You quickly completed the rough cut, which lasted three hours.
But Qiao Yi Qiao did not ask for a reduction in time; three hours was good enough.
After these are completed, it’s time for the highlight - special effects.
The amount of material they shot reached a terrifying 27T, and the material for the first film reached 14T. Xin Nan's company alone definitely could not handle such a large volume.
Fortunately, with the advancement of industrial processes and more and more special effects people like Xin Nan, many special effects companies have stopped borrowing materials. What's more, this movie is a type that China has never had before, so even if they want to borrow it, they can't.
In terms of special effects, the first part of "The Sky Language" took two full years to make.
The first six months were mainly spent on building a shared material platform, so that Xin Nan and his team, as the general contractor, could distribute suitable materials to more than a dozen different special effects companies.
After that, it’s time to start making it in earnest.
Qiao Yi Qiao didn't have any pressure to release the film on a certain date, so he didn't push anyone too hard. He just required quality, so everyone did their work very seriously.
The soundtrack and sound effects are also constantly being adjusted in an effort to achieve the best results.
It can be said that the filming of "The Sky Language" has pushed the level of China's film industrialization to a peak, directly on par with Hollywood.
By the time all the content was completed, Qiao Yiqiao took the main creators to watch the finished film for the first time. It was seven years after the completion of "Six Masks".
During these seven years, countless entertainment media outlets have been guessing what Qiao Yiqiao was doing, whether he had run out of ideas, or had made enough money and would no longer make films.
In fact, Qiao Yiqiao often doubts himself - when a project takes long enough, it will be like this, you will begin to lose track of whether what you are doing is good or not.
With this doubt in mind, Qiao Yi Qiao sat in the viewing room.
Chen Si, Qin Duo, Qi Siqi, Cheng Tiantian…even Zheng Ming and Wang Yige who came to help watch the movie were there.
Everyone stared at the screen intently, waiting for the first screening of "Qiong Yu".
The lights turned off and the show officially began.
A sea of stars appeared on the screen. !
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