"Overall, the filming was very good, but the actors' performances were a bit lacking. A good comedy film needs to evoke laughter from the audience through silence; that's the most authentic reaction. But in this film, Zheng Shiduo seems to rely on physical actions to make people laugh, which feels a bit artificial. Remember, the story itself is the source of comedy, not the actions."
Fang Yang expressed his opinion that not everyone can perform Stephen Chow's nonsensical comedic effect. Zheng Shi is a fat man, and nine out of ten fat men are comedic, so he naturally has comedic elements and doesn't need to rely on actions to make people laugh.
Fu Ming had filmed the first three seasons of "Loser Men and Women" and had some experience in comedy filmmaking. As soon as Fang Yang spoke, Fu Ming immediately understood the deeper meaning. Zheng Shi came from a stage background and was naturally used to emphasizing stage effects with actions. But now it was filming a movie, and the focus was on a look or a casual remark that needed to make the audience laugh. This undoubtedly required a higher level of skill.
"Mr. Fang, this is all my fault. I didn't figure out the key point."
"It's alright. You haven't made movies before, so you might not be clear on some of the key points. That's not your fault. Making movies is not like making TV series. To convey the plot in just a few tens of minutes, you have to rely on micro-expressions to express many aspects. So, relatively speaking, the requirements for the actors' acting skills are higher."
Fang Yang explained to Fu Ming that although he didn't know if Wang Jialiang had taught Fu Ming this when he was with Wang Jialiang, Fang Yang still wanted to explain to Fu Ming, "TV series move people with their plots, but movies move people more with their expressions. If you study those award-winning films carefully, which movie didn't move the judges with these details? So there is a difference between them."
Fu Ming pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Fang. I will pay attention to it in the future."
Fang Yang laughed and said, "Fortunately, your movie is just a commercial film, so the impact won't be too great, and the audience won't be able to tell the difference. You should hurry up and get it approved."
Fu Ming nodded and took the disc handed to him by the staff. The next thing was Jin Dahai's animated film "Ne Zha". Fu Ming wanted to learn about it, even though it was useless since the two were not on the same wavelength. But Fu Ming just wanted to watch it for some reason.
Compared to Fu Ming, Jin Dahai was much more confident. This makes sense, as animated films rely more on the animation production skills of the technical staff. The most difficult character models were designed by Fang Yang himself. As for the animation production skills, Jin Dahai's entire team was very skilled after producing "Frozen". Moreover, after nearly a year of meticulous work by a team of several hundred people, "Ne Zha" had already reached its peak.
Comparatively, "Ne Zha" is slightly longer, at 110 minutes. Unlike the legendary Ne Zha story, "Ne Zha" portrays two Ne Zha, one good and one evil, and a series of stories that arise from their mistakes.
However, Fang Yang had not seen the movie. He had heard that it created a box office miracle for domestic animated films, grossing more than 4 billion yuan in China alone, and was a huge success abroad, attracting great attention to domestic animated films. It was even praised by the central media and party newspapers, and attracted a lot of attention.
The previous "Ne Zha" took more than three years to produce. This time, with a blueprint and Jin Dahai's gathering of elite troops, it was produced in less than a year. It has to be said that standing on the shoulders of predecessors always makes things twice as efficient.
After watching "Ne Zha," the tense atmosphere in the screening room immediately dissipated. Fu Ming spoke first, "After watching 'Ne Zha,' I feel that all the movies I make are garbage and unwatchable."
Ma Wenhua laughed and said, "If all your movies are garbage, then aren't other people's movies that don't sell well at the box office even worse? Actually, I think we can't judge a movie by one perspective. 'Ne Zha' is suitable for the whole family to watch, while 'Five Ghosts Transporting Fortune' is suitable for couples to watch. Each has its own advantages, so our promotional focus should obviously be different. We should focus on their respective market positioning, create a profile of the target audience, and promote them in a targeted manner."
Jin Dahai laughed and said, "A leader is a leader. He sees things very clearly. Like Frozen, 'Ne Zha' is very suitable for the whole family, so we plan to release it during the Spring Festival to make the biggest profit."
Zhong Zhifeng considered for a moment, "Actually, there is a slight difference in market positioning between 'Ne Zha' and 'Frozen.' 'Frozen' focuses on little girls, while 'Ne Zha' focuses on little boys, and even has a certain market among older boys. So I estimate that 'Ne Zha's' box office should surpass 'Frozen'. However, I can't say for sure about the overseas market. After all, 'Ne Zha' has a strong Chinese style. Whether it can open up the overseas market depends on the acceptance of Chinese elements overseas."
Fang Yang was well aware of Zhong Zhifeng's opinion. "Ne Zha," which grossed 5 billion yuan in China, did indeed have a lukewarm reception overseas due to various factors. However, Fang Yang's current focus was on the domestic market and Southeast Asia, where there was a higher acceptance of Chinese elements. This region was also a key area for Yuewen Entertainment Media website to take its first step towards internationalization.
"We shouldn't worry too much about how much box office revenue we can get in overseas markets right now. That's something our partners should be concerned about. Our focus should be on doing well in the domestic market. There's still some time before the Spring Festival, so we shouldn't start promoting 'Ne Zha' for now. Let's solve the translation issues first. We need to be strong ourselves. I believe that as long as we ensure the quality of our film, the market will give it a fair review."
"As for 'Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth,' that's the issue we need to consider right now. There's only a little over a month until New Year's Day, and we still can't determine the screening schedule. So, we need to promote it aggressively. Minister Zhong will be in charge of online promotion, while Director Fu will lead the main cast to visit more cities offline. This way, we can promote 'Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth' to every corner of every city. Do you have any other ideas? Let's hear them!"
One must take things one step at a time. Fang Yang first determined the order of the advertising campaign. Otherwise, if several advertisements were launched at once, he would inadvertently dilute his appeal, not to mention there were a large number of competitors.
"That's true. Zheng Xiuli's album will be released in a few days, and with Director Fu's movie, the promotion of these two things should be prioritized. We can start promoting 'Ne Zha' after the movie is halfway through, so as not to cause confusion. Moreover, there will also be promotion for the TV series 'Princess Pearl' at that time. You know, both of them are released on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Fortunately, one is a movie and the other is a TV series, so they will not conflict with each other. Instead, they can complement each other and showcase the strength of our company!"
Following Fang Yang's line of thought, Yang Huajin also offered his own opinion.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com