He had only taken two steps when the girl walked up to him and whispered, "Come out with me."
Director Wang and screenwriter Li were also confused about the situation, and just watched as the girl called Xing Baohua out of the studio.
The two hadn't gone far from the door when, in the corridor, the girl asked sternly, "What department and class are you in? What's your name? Do you realize you're late? You're an intern now, understand?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Liang walked in, looking at the two of them with curiosity. But he was more curious about what Xing Baohua did. As a student council member, he knew everyone who came here for internships, but he didn't know Xing Baohua.
"You seem to have misunderstood something! And what do you do for a living?" Xing Baohua asked, as the things that had happened to him these past two days were quite bizarre.
"It's a misunderstanding, what's wrong with you? What department did you say you were in?" the girl asked again.
Chen Liang walked over and said, "Teacher Guo, he's not from our school."
Since the student council vice president said no, then it's not true. However, this teacher Guo asked again, "Which school are you from?"
Since Chen Liang addressed her as "teacher," she must be an instructor sent by the Academy of Arts and Crafts. Is she a bit too strict?
"Am I a homebody in the Department of Homeschooling?" After saying that, Xing Baohua ignored the teacher and there was no need to say anything more to her.
Of course, he really wanted to say, "I'm your boss," but he wouldn't dare say that during that period.
Seeing Xing Baohua return to the house, Guo Hongxia asked Chen Liang, "Is there a university for students who stay at home?"
"I think, there should be. If I remember correctly, it should be in America, which seems to be very close to Atlanta," Chen Liang said, scratching the back of his head, also looking curious.
"A returnee, and a physics major at that, what are you doing here?" Guo Hongxia was also confused. Wasn't this place recruiting artists?
Upon entering the room, I saw a dozen or so students inside, presumably graduating seniors who were not in class.
He walked up to Director Wang and said, "What happened yesterday is nothing to worry about."
It means the girl isn't going to pursue the matter; she can come to work as usual.
Director Wang nodded and said to Xing Baohua, "I've rented some equipment at the studio and I'm going to assemble a crew to prepare for filming."
"Okay." Xing Baohua nodded. He thought about calling Bian Xiujuan at noon and asking her to transfer more money.
Upon hearing Xing Baohua agree, Director Wang smiled. He quickly took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said to Xing Baohua, "Take a look at the budget I wrote down first."
Xing Baohua took it and opened it. Before he could see anything else, he saw several zeros after the number five. He counted them and there were at least four zeros.
fifty thousand?
Xing Baohua's eyes widened like a bull's; he was truly frightened.
A short animated film that's only a few minutes long costs 50,000 yuan. Is Director Wang trying to rip himself off? What did 50,000 yuan mean in the 1980s?!
"40 rolls of 35mm film, each roll costs 760 yuan." Xing Baohua thought to himself: The film alone costs more than 30,000 yuan.
There's also the cost of rented equipment and lighting, which is 10,000. Add to that labor costs, food expenses, etc., and that's another 5,000. Copying fees are another 5,000, and so on.
"Is film really that expensive? Can we even afford this much? Are there any cheaper films available?" Xing Baohua was internally cursing, wondering if it was too late to cut her losses.
“35mm film is the standard film. However, if you think it’s too expensive, you can switch to 16mm film. It will be much cheaper,” Director Wang said.
Without hesitation, Xing Baohua said, "Then let's use 16mm. Besides, how many photos can one book take?"
"If you're using 35mm, it'll take about four minutes. If you're using 16mm at 400 feet, it'll take about 11 minutes," Director Wang explained.
“We only have five or six minutes of footage. Even if each 35mm film roll is four minutes long, two rolls would be enough. But you need 40 rolls, which would be 160 minutes of footage. Are you trying to make a feature film?” Xing Baohua said with dissatisfaction.
"You wouldn't understand. There's no way to calculate it like that. Sometimes you have to shoot a few more takes. That wears out the film. It's the same with animation. You shoot it first, then quickly develop it and check the effect. If it's not good enough, you have to shoot it again. In short, if you don't have enough film, it will delay the shooting. We'll be all here soon, but if we don't have enough film, we'll all be stuck."
When Director Wang said to shoot a few more takes, Xing Baohua understood what he meant. He said helplessly, "We probably won't need 40 16mm reels, 20 will do. Save some for me."
"Okay, you should raise the money in the next couple of days so I can prepare to place the order," Director Wang said.
Xing Baohua now regrets it. He should never have gotten into animation. He thought labor was cheap, that 3,000 yuan would be enough—what a blunder!
That Director Wang is so mean! He didn't even warn me beforehand. Videotapes are so cheap!
Didn't Zhang Taoming's shipment arrive by less-than-truckload (LTL) train? If it arrives...
Thinking of this, Xing Baohua suddenly realized, how should he switch?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com