New Age Artists

Chapter 559: Bombardment! Redefine the movie! Open up a new track!

With the addition of the locomotive brand, there is no need for any frills, just get straight to the point.

After watching the movie, there was a post-screening exchange session where the creators shared their filming experiences with reporters and the audience.

Most movies pay more attention to media communication, but Shen Santong pays more attention to communication with the audience.

The questioner went straight to Shen Santong. It was always like this. When he was present, he was the focus.

Shen Santong joked: "I have received enough attention. Everyone should pay attention to our main creators. Our team is very young, and most of them are born in the 80s and are not very old."

Then he helped introduce them: "This is our director Wang Ran, my junior, a very capable young man."

The audience burst into laughter upon hearing this. Shen Santong sounded like an old man.

Wang Ran was very excited and bowed: "Thank you Director Shen for giving me the opportunity to be a director. I hope everyone likes Love Is Not Blind."

Bao Jingjing is more eloquent than Wang Ran: "My readers are here too. Thank you all first. The serialization of the novel has received your support. I will repay you all if it can be adapted to the screen. I am very happy."

"Well, this is an experience I had. I think everyone has experienced heartbreak."

Bao Jingjing knows her readership very well and has never told anyone that she and Wang Ran were a couple in college, and the film promotion department also thinks it is better not to mention it.

Wang Ran looked a little unnatural, still very young and not used to making up stories.

Wen Zhang talked about his own experience: "Back then, Director Shen had an idea for a movie and said I was suitable. I have been looking forward to this movie for many years."

"When I got the script, I was very excited after reading it. I said, I must play the role of Wang Xiaojian. I think this role is very challenging."

"I really like this character. It's a new look for me. This is a role I've never played before. It's very contrasting. It has a feminine side and a masculine side. I have to give it a try."

"The official start of filming went very smoothly. Director Wang Ran is very talented and I respect him very much. My scenes were finished in less than 20 days."

Bai Baihe said her own experience: "Huang Xiaoxian is a sarcastic and heartbroken young woman of advanced age. She is quite stubborn and knows that self-esteem is the dirtiest thing in the world, but she still wants to stay with it for the rest of her life."

"I have similarities with Huang Xiaoxian. I slowly found the feeling while acting. We both have sharp tongues but soft hearts. This should be a problem that every girl has."

"To give you a simple example, in the movie, Huang Xiaoxian clearly wanted to keep Lu Ran, but she said one thing and meant another, saying the most hurtful things. I think this is the same situation that all girls encounter when they are in love. We are all very stubborn."

The opportunity to ask questions was given to a male reporter, who stood up and asked, "Director Shen, what do you think of the box office?"

Shen Santong said frankly: "11 to million is not a problem. After all, we have the brand of Locomotive. The highlight of November is targeting Double Eleven."

"Whenever you make a movie, you have to consider the issue of empathy. You have to make the audience believe that the story exists, especially for urban themes. The characters must have a sense of life and worry about rent and work."

"I have confidence in my vision. This movie is very interesting, with a complete narrative, vivid characters and funny lines. It is definitely a high-quality work, and our market lacks such films."

The figure of 300 to 400 million is very modest and conservative.

Because of Shen Santong, the development of cinema chains is faster than the same period in the previous life. There are more than 8,000 screens. The box office in the previous life was more than 300 million, and this life will definitely be more than that.

The audience is fine. This year, Santong Entertainment has exploded across the board. From the summer vacation to now, there have been hot-selling movies every month.

But colleagues and the media have different thoughts. The media likes the topic and is very excited, while colleagues have complicated feelings.

Ning Hao, Yang Qing, Guo Fan, Wen Muye, Chen Sicheng, one after another, and now Wang Ran, a greenhorn who came out of nowhere, is about to enter the billion-dollar director club.

Not to mention the mainland, looking at the Chinese directors around the world, more than half of the list of billion-dollar directors are from Santong Entertainment.

Do you, Shen Santong, still want your colleagues to survive?
It's not easy to poach people either. Ning Hao will have a bad ending if he runs away, and many people are watching him.

Another reporter asked, "Director Shen, don't you think Love Is Not Blind is particularly unfilmic? I think TV movies are overrated. They are just text movies, and at most they are a skit gathering."

Shen Santong couldn't help but shake his head and said, "I don't want to define it. We are currently lacking genre films. The production cost of this film was less than 10 million yuan. I still gave it the Locomotive brand because we are lacking it."

"The audience's desire to watch a movie should be satisfied, and it should be satisfied. This is the responsibility of us filmmakers."

"Hollywood has studied this thoroughly, and they can even break it down into 'festivals', 'rituals', 'specific scenes', 'campus romance' and so on."

Shen Santong emphasized: "Our national conditions are different from Xiao Mi's. Women have a high status, so Love Is Not Blind is more of a light comedy."

One viewer asked a heart-wrenching question: "Why choose Bai Baihe instead of the more famous Wang Luodan?"

Bai Baihe's face turned black from the question.

Shen Santong smiled and pointed at Bai Baihe who was huddled in the corner: "Everyone, look, does she look like Huang Xiaoxian?"

Haha!

There was a burst of laughter at the scene. Bai Baihe couldn't hold it back and started laughing, giving Shen Santong a reproachful look.

Shen Santong said seriously: "Bai Baihe is suitable for the big screen."

"The big screen is very cruel. Some people have the natural ability to capture people. I think everyone has heard of director Zhang Yimou's casting. He just glances through thousands of photos."

"Some people have attractive qualities when put on the big screen. Bai Baihe is very suitable for female films, especially chick flicks."

"Bai Baihe's temperament has the ability to attract people, which means she is particularly pleasing to the eye. This is her personal gift."

I didn't belittle Wang Luodan, after all, we are good friends.

But Wang Luodan was a little lacking. It wasn't just a matter of luck, but he lacked a little bit of affinity, which made a world of difference on the big screen.

An audience member asked how they would evaluate the coat of arms.

Shen Santong laughed and said, "It may not be fair to say that. Guo Jingfei has been performing in dramas for many years and has passed the level. His acting skills are absolutely first-class."

"But in the wedding scene, you can clearly feel that the coat of arms is suppressing him."

Guo Jingfei shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Shen Santong made a metaphor: "Heraldry performance is like the suona among musical instruments. It has strong explosive power and can handle details well."

"In the movie, the character of Wang Xiaojian is difficult to grasp and can easily slide into the category of 'gay', meaning homosexual."

When it comes to the word "gay", it's Hui's turn to smile bitterly. He doesn't want to be labeled as such.

The audience recalled the movie and laughed out loud. The audience laughed again.

Shen Santong continued, "The emblem can capture a lot of details. Wang Xiaojian loves Huang Xiaoxian in his heart. He can't be gay, and he also has a very manly side."

"I said it was unfair, it's not that Guo Jingfei's acting is bad, but the performance of the emblem is very attractive to the camera, just like when the suona is played, the tone of other instruments is easily suppressed."

These words were high and public praise, and Emblem was almost unable to suppress his ecstasy. He subconsciously clenched his fists to control his expression.

Shen Santong's evaluation was of great help to his film career.

Many people in the industry have some thoughts. No matter what, Shen Santong is recognized to have a strong vision, and he is known as "Zhang Shen" together with Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yimou is good at discovering amateurs, and Shen Santong is good at discovering people in the industry.

Shen Santong is not being over praised. When it comes to acting skills and professional abilities, Wen Zhang is indeed top-notch.

The emblem even captures the borderline dimensions of nonsensical performance and envelops it.

This is something that Wang Baoqiang and Huang Bo cannot do, and even Stephen Chow himself cannot do it. A large part of the credit for Stephen Chow's films comes from dubbing.

Another reporter asked a difficult question: "At this year's Shanghai Film Festival, Director Wang Xiaoshuai said that art films were neglected. I wonder what Director Shen thinks?"

Shen Santong spread his hands and said, "I don't have any opinion."

The reporter seemed to have an artistic sentiment: "We don't support artistic works enough. Movies can't just be about the market."

Shen Santong frowned: "Movies are movies, art is time, and this situation of art films is normal now."

Reporter: “Normal?”

Shen Santong asked in return: "It is a marginal film in itself, so isn't it normal for it to be marginalized?"

"Wang Xiaoshuai's Rizhao Chongqing has a standard three-part script structure and is a suspense theme. It looks great when filmed." "The production cost is not low, about 2000 million yuan, but it was turned into a pseudo-documentary."

"The actors kept walking for the first ten minutes, fearing that the audience would feel uncomfortable watching the show."

"All the investors' money was thrown into the water, and after suffering a commercial failure, Director Wang himself said that he did not want to change his ways and would rather be a farmer reclaiming wasteland."

"I say, can we not insult farmers? Planting two mu of land can produce grain, vegetables, fruits and melons, and can contribute value."

“If a movie is badly made, it’s digital garbage. If it’s made on film, it’s even more physical garbage.”

"Manure can be used to fertilize the fields, but a rotten movie is useless. It's better to turn it into garbage. Garbage recycling also has value!"

"Of course, I am not targeting Director Wang and his films. I am reminding myself of this. I often say these words in meetings."

The creators were stunned!

Wang Ran couldn't help laughing out loud.

Shen Santong is his senior brother, and Wang Xiaoshuai is also his senior brother. He used to admire Wang Xiaoshuai very much, but he admired Shen Santong, the legend of Beijing Film Academy, even more.

Bao Jingjing kicked him and said, "Who is Shen Santong? He said that casually, but can you laugh?"
The emblem's eyes widened, and Bai Lily lowered her head and covered her mouth.

Colleagues and media in the audience were all shocked.

Shen Santong’s curse was too harsh, worse than excrement and garbage, too poisonous.

Poisonous?

Shen Santong thinks that he is not vicious at all. Wang Xiaoshuai has no shame at all under the guise of art!
Twenty million, what can’t you do with it?
Shen Santong has already said it, after all, they are from the same school, and he didn't mention washing rice.

It must be a scam. Who would invest in Wang Xiaoshuai if it was a normal investment?
There is no need to give Wang Xiaoshuai too much face. These six generations of directors, their masters, and their disciples have scolded him a lot.

Shen Santong said to himself: "I think some directors are very contradictory. On the one hand, they like to say that they don't care about fame and fortune, but on the other hand, they hate themselves for not having fame and fortune."

"Art films are still a niche genre all over the world. I think we should learn from Hollywood and learn how to market them."

"People call art films independent films. Independence means freedom. It means being free and leaving everything to fate. This is the best state."

“Play your own game and explore the diversity of movies, various non-mainstream and avant-garde techniques.”

“Of course, one can also explore the diversity of people.”

"As we all know, the independent film industry is the most chaotic, a chaos that challenges people's bottom line."

"If you seek benevolence, you will get it. Good! You have to move to the margins. Once you are marginalized, you have to admit it!"

“You can’t have it all.”

The reporter was shocked and immediately realized that this was explosive news: "You are succumbing to the mainstream, which only cares about money and box office. Movies are first and foremost art."

Shen Santong nodded: "Movies are art! I said movies belong to movies, and art belongs to time. As a director, I want both business and art!"

The reporter was in a daze for a moment: "You said before that movies don't want dualism, and you just said that you can't have both?"

"I'm not an art person, I'm a layman! I want it all! Business and art need to be unified, they can't be separated or opposed, but they should be both opposed and unified, with both particularity and universality."

Shen Santong's previous opposition to dualism was to dismantle the original narrative structure.

Now he has to rebuild the narrative, which is naturally different from before.

Business and art should not be separated.

The right to define business and art lies with outsiders, no!

If it is in the hands of others, especially in the hands of Shen Santong, it will definitely work!
Shen Santong was not speaking nonsense; the press conference relaxed the scope of questions allowed to reporters.

The main selling point of "Love Is Not Blind" is that he is listed as the producer, so it is bound to create some big news.

The premiere is over.

Chen Yufan went ahead as he needed to get something.

Bai Baihe came to find Shen Santong.

Married women are different, they just get straight to the point.

Fortunately, Shen Santong was a man of first-rate character and he immediately and firmly refused.

He didn't even attend the dinner and flew back to Qingdao to continue filming.

After the premiere, the popularity was like an airplane, soaring into the sky.

Upon hearing what Shen Santong said, Wang Xiaoshuai trembled all over.

On Weibo, people blasted Shen Santong: Shen Santong is obsessed with money! He has tarnished the film industry! He has tarnished art! He is not worthy of being a director!
The heat is coming.

When Shen Santong returned to the film and television base, he asked his assistant to buy some wonton. He had not even eaten yet, so he had to eat something.

Chen Chexi came out of nowhere and looked him up and down: "Boss, you went out to attend the premiere and made big news. I even got a call."

Shen Santong took a sip of the soup from the bowl and said bluntly, "We are fighting among ourselves at Beijing Film Academy, why would we care about your business at the Central Academy of Drama? You might even be gloating over your misfortune!"

Chen Chexi blushed, as if something had hit the nail on the head.

Some people at Beijing Film Academy have already accused Shen Santong of betraying his teacher and ancestors and disregarding human ethics, and they want to revoke his student status. It's really hilarious.

"What are you doing?" Chen Chexi saw Shen Santong on Weibo: "Are you going to curse back?"

"With your level, I have to doubt your ability." Shen Santong looked at her like she was mentally retarded and said, "Is quarreling the key? Now we need to convert popularity! If we really quarrel, I will just ask Weibo to limit the flow of traffic."

While the drama is still hot, Shen Santong posted a blog to promote "Love Is Not Blind".

The routine is relatively novel.

"Love Is Not Blind": The production cost was 33 million, and the publicity and promotion cost was million. The production cost has been recovered through product placement and patches."

“Recommendation reason: This is a successful genre film, suitable for urban men and women, and tends to be a light comedy. It is worth watching as a pastime, the actors’ acting skills are all online, and the story logic is also normal logic, without any logical flaws.”

“Reason for not recommending: If you want to watch movies to attend classes, study, or find the meaning of life, this movie is definitely not suitable. At the same time, because it is directed by a new director, it is inevitable that there are flaws and it has the texture of a TV movie.”

"Manage your expectations. If you want to watch a light urban comedy for entertainment or for a date, I think you can watch it several times without getting tired. It's definitely up to standard."

After reading it, Chen Chexi was stunned: "If you don't praise me, why are you pointing out my shortcomings?"

“I plan to start a pilot with the locomotive label.”

Shen Santong expressed his plan: "With the accumulation of many films, the Locomotive label has become a golden signboard. I plan to disclose the highlights and shortcomings of future films, the production costs and production intentions, as well as the actors' acting skills."

Chen Chexi grasped something: "So the Locomotive label doesn't rely on false marketing and hype to promote itself?"

"You are not stupid. You should change your propaganda mode."

Shen Santong pointed at the computer and said, "We need to break the traditional film marketing model, which is to hype through traditional media, place advertisements, hold premieres, hold celebrity meet-and-greets, new film promotions, and then promote online."

"In the future, the promotion method will gradually shift to the Internet. The audience who watch movies are mainly young people. The oldest post-90s are now 20 years old. They basically use the Internet, which can also break the media monopoly."

Today, the daily active users of Dongtian Weibo have reached about 30 million. Even if Xinlang, Sohu and Penguin are combined, they are not enough to beat Dongtian Weibo.

After Shen Santong posted on Weibo, a bunch of celebrities publicly congratulated the release of "Love Is Not Blind" on Weibo.

Chen Chexi is no novice and has some knowledge of the industry. He took a deep breath and said, "Just bypass the theater fan meeting and focus on the Internet. You are killing the media!"

"We still need to give the media a certain amount of tea money. The traditional film marketing model still has a role to play, but it must be gradually transformed." Shen Santong firmly said: "To improve the service quality of the film industry, the Locomotive label needs to open up a separate track."

"I hope others will follow suit, not relying on false hype and false marketing to defraud audiences of their money, and turn movies into a leisure product, a consumer product, and completely change the original film evaluation system, so that the evaluation of the quality of a movie will return to the hands of the audience."

(End of this chapter)