Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 348: Tomb Raid in Progress

Generally speaking, art design begins work after the script is finalized.

But many directors will let the art designer join the crew very early. For directors like Wes Anderson, the art designer can even interfere with the script writing.

Although Li Qiutang's films are not known for their distinctive artistic style, he often puts the artistic work first.

This is the case with "No One in My Heart", "In Time" and "Mojin: The Lost Tomb".

The art design work of "Mojin: The Last Dragon" was done by Hao Yi, who also worked on "Painted Skin II".

But Li Qiutang did not ask Hao Yi to start working immediately, but invited him to inspect the ancient tomb together.

"We are shooting a tomb-raiding adventure movie. It would be a bit unreasonable if we don't go into the tomb ourselves," said Li Qiutang.

In addition to investigating the ancient tombs, Li Qiutang also went to "learn" how to rob tombs. He asked archaeological experts to explain in detail the methods and tools used by tomb robbers.

I really learned a lot.

"There is a rule among tomb robbers, which is that the father is on top and the son is on the bottom. That is, the father pulls the rope from above, and the son goes down into the tomb to steal treasures. After the treasures are brought up, the father pulls his son up. The rule is to prevent the son from being greedy for money and leaving his father to die in the tomb. Because generally speaking, even a tiger will not eat its own cubs, and a father will not ignore his sons." A researcher from the Institute of Archaeology explained to Li Qiutang and others.

Before showing the tomb-robbing tools, the researcher said: "Ghost Blows Out the Light and Grave Robbers' Chronicles are also very popular in our archaeological community. I have also read them. Some of the tomb-robbing tools I will see next are very different from what is described in the books."

First is the Luoyang shovel.

"The Luoyang shovel was indeed a tool for tomb robbers in the beginning, but after Professor Wei Juxian saw tomb robbers using the Luoyang shovel in 1928, he began to apply the Luoyang shovel to our professional archaeological drilling. Now, being proficient in using the Luoyang shovel has become a compulsory course for every archaeological worker."

Next came some very common tools, shovels, axes, etc.

In modern times, tomb robbers have more tools, including outdoor lighting headlamps, geological radars, metal detectors, thermal imagers, laser rangefinders, etc.

The main feature is a high-tech tomb robbery.

"When Sun Dianying robbed the Eastern Tomb, he used explosives directly, which was simple and crude. Tomb robbers don't care about the integrity of the ancient tombs, they just want to steal the treasures buried with the dead as quickly as possible."

Li Qiutang and Hao Yi actually went to the Eastern Tombs, and then returned to Yanjing to inspect and visit the Ming Tombs, especially the Dingling Tomb.

After hearing the story of the excavation of Dingling, even an outsider like Li Qiutang, who had done a little research, felt it was a pity and hateful.

After two inspections, I brought back a box of study materials, enough for the crew to digest for a while.

Most of the story of "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" will take place in the underground palace, so Li Qiutang asked Hao Yi to make a preliminary concept design first.

On the other hand, at the company level, Wan Da and Qiu Tian each took a step back. Wan Da promised to pay Li Qiutang a deposit of 300 million first in order to obtain Li Qiutang's contract. Later, based on the crew's preparations, they would sign a supplementary agreement to discuss the subsequent remuneration amount and payment method. Ye Ning personally promised that Li Qiutang's personal remuneration would not be less than 3000 million.

At the same time, Wan Da and Qiu Tian reached a preliminary agreement on corporate cooperation. Qiu Tian will participate in the crew work as an investor of "Mojin: The Lost Tomb". The specific investment amount will be discussed after the subsequent budget is determined.

The fall will not be a director in vain.

…………

In previous years, Li Qiutang would always meet Mr. Han four or five times throughout the year.

To put it nicely, Mr. Han is open and generous in what he does, but to put it bluntly, he is a bit of a gangster. However, working with such a leader can sometimes be very comfortable because he really dares to gamble with you, even more so than you do, and he will support you in taking risks; but it can sometimes be very uncomfortable because he does not play by the rules.

But for some reason, Li Qiutang didn't meet Mr. Han this year.

Today was even stranger. La Peikang actually came on behalf of China Film Group to meet with Li Qiutang to discuss the film.

La Peikang's arrival reminded Li Qiutang that Director Han was going to retire and the deputy director of the Film Bureau would be his successor. He was so busy that he forgot such important information.

If someone wants to find out this kind of personnel information, it is not difficult to find out that the two of them had previously participated in the negotiation of the "Sino-US Film Memorandum of Understanding" together and they are all acquaintances. La Peikang would not pretend to be confused with Li Qiutang.

"I will take office next year and give you the first play."

But Li Qiutang was too busy to talk about next year or the year after. Just as he was about to refuse, La Peikang continued, "Listen to me first. The group has bought the copyright of four volumes of "Ghost Blowing the Light".

Li Qiutang's temple twitched.

"I want you to make it into a movie. As long as you don't really film ghosts, you can do whatever you want. The group won't interfere, and the budget will be enough. What do you think?"

Li Qiutang smiled bitterly and said, "But I have already signed Wan Da's contract."

Lapekang really didn't expect this: "When did they find you?"

"At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, I was still preparing for "The Invisible Guest" and they approached me to say they wanted to shoot "Ghost Blows Out the Light". You're late, hehe."

Lapekang shook his head: "They acted too quickly."

"Our company also wanted to buy the copyright at that time, but we couldn't compete with you two companies. I didn't expect that it would fall into my hands in the end." Li Qiutang smiled and said, "Fate is really amazing."

It's a pity for La Peikang, as he also thought Li Qiutang was the best director for "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

It’s not a pity for Li Qiutang. Given the size of China Film, there is no way to avoid it when making movies in China. There will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation in the future.

Talking about the film "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" that he is currently preparing, Li Qiutang generously shared his thoughts with La Peikang.

Li Qiutang sent the more than 20,000-word summary paper he wrote after watching all the adventure films to La Peikang on the spot.

There is no need to cherish this thing. Li Qiutang will not be stingy if it can help others make better adventure movies.

La Pekang's greatest expertise in the film industry is overseas business. He has been in Europe for many years and has a very deep study of European and American films.

Since the collaboration on "Ghost Blows Out the Light" failed, he wanted to cooperate with Li Qiutang on overseas business.

China Film Group wants to participate in Lantern Entertainment’s production business in North America.

But Lantern Entertainment can’t make many films a year, so how can it give China Film Group Corporation any decent projects?

This is because Li Qiutang is not evil enough. If Michael Linn were to take his place, this old man would have no baggage and it would not be a problem for him to make 10 or 20 million dollars from China Film using the Hollywood business.

In fact, Li Qiutang didn't want to start this kind of cooperation with China Film. It would be fine if it made money, as everyone in China Film would remember his kindness. But if the project lost money, would Li Qiutang die?
You said that making movies is a risky investment and it is normal to lose money, but in the eyes of some people, it is possible that you, Li Qiutang, deliberately cheated China Film.

Li Qiutang couldn't explain it even if he had eight hundred mouths.

But Li Qiutang has no psychological burden when cooperating with private companies.

"Pacific Rim" had an estimated box office of 8 million yuan, and half of the share was sold to Huayi. When this box office was set, Li Qiutang was actually worried that it would not be achieved.

But I didn’t expect that Liu Yifei could carry the entire film alone.

After La Peikang and Li Qiutang parted ways, they called Wuershan, the first candidate for the director of "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

(End of this chapter)