The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 145 Madness

Huairou Film and Television Base.

The soundstage at the China Film Digital Production Base.

Most of the filming for the movie "The Great Wall" will be done here.

The main filming location for Zhang Yimou's version of "The Great Wall" was the Oriental Movie Metropolis in Qingdao, which Wanda hadn't even started building yet.

In front of the monitor, Hu Jun wore a double-eaved hat with pheasant tails, a black iron-colored armor with bamboo sleeves, a purple ribbon and seal around his waist, and held a talisman, looking majestic and imposing.

Shen Qing, dressed in ordinary red Han Dynasty military uniform, patted Hu Jun on the shoulder, causing the armor plates to rustle. Shen Qing smiled and said, "Not bad, you have the air of an ancient general."

Hu Jun plays Ma Fang, the leader of the Great Wall Army and General of Chariots and Cavalry, in the film.

"Director, you look handsome even in that armor!"

"He's even more handsome!"

"Yes, yes, even more handsome!"

The assistant directors and department heads around Shen Qing began to flatter her.

Shen Qing plays the male lead Shen in "The Great Wall". His character is weak from childhood and cannot wear heavy armor and wield a spear to fight monsters in close combat. Therefore, he is just a "Thunder Hand" who is responsible for setting off firecrackers in a large iron barrel. He uses the monster's fear of sound and shock waves to slow down the monster's attack. He eventually gets inspiration from this and invents a cannon. So in the early part of the film, he does not wear armor and only wears the most ordinary military uniform.

"Even in armor, I'm not as imposing as Hu Jun; I'm only slightly better than those young heartthrobs."

"Director, what's a 'little fresh meat' (young, handsome male celebrity)?"

"A 'little fresh meat' is a male actor who is young, handsome, and can make female fans scream wildly."

"Isn't this you?"

Shen Qing looked at the last person to speak. Liu Yifei was wearing a plain black silk headscarf, and a dark black linen military uniform, slightly fitted at the shoulders and waist, looking neat and tidy. Although she was dressed as a man, anyone with eyes could recognize her as a beautiful woman at a glance.

The character Mo Ying, whom she plays, disguises herself as a man only for the convenience of moving around in the army, not to hide her female identity, so there is no need for her to actually make herself look androgynous.

"I haven't finished yet. Young male idols usually have elaborate makeup, a soft and feminine style, and a heavy use of cosmetics, catering to some women's desire for male attractiveness. Their style is androgynous, they're often not formally trained, have no acting skills, only popularity," Shen Qing said, looking at Liu Yifei. "How can I be a young male idol?"

Liu Yifei thought about it seriously, then spoke again: "Indeed, you're over thirty, not a young heartthrob anymore."

Jing Tian, ​​also dressed in a black military uniform, noticed that after Liu Yifei joked about the director's age, the entire crew fell silent. Whether it was the male supporting actors Hu Jun, Chen Xiao, and Zhu Yilong, or the staff, assistant director, production manager, cinematographer, and lighting technicians, everyone pretended not to hear it.

Liu Yifei can tease the director, but can you join in? Liu Yifei sleeps in the director's room at night. Even if she really upsets the director, she can easily appease him later that night. Isn't it suicidal for others to join in?

"Even if I were ten years younger, I'd only be a pretty boy at best, how could I possibly become a heartthrob?" Shen Qing said.

Liu Yifei asked curiously, "Is there a difference?"

Shen Qing said, "Yes, someone with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a heroic and extraordinary appearance can be a pretty boy, but not a 'little fresh meat' (young, handsome man). 'Little fresh meat' is more gender-neutral."

Jing Tian watched Shen Qing and Liu Yifei's interaction and became engrossed in it without realizing it. She was actually quite envious of this kind of relationship.

"Jing Tian".

"what?"

When Shen Qing called Jing Tian's name, Jing Tian was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening and hurriedly responded.

Are you confident in playing Mo Jue well?

Mo Kuai was a character that Shen Qing specially added to Jing Tian's script. Wanda owns 2% of the Greater China rights to "The Great Wall" and 2.5% of the global rights (excluding Greater China). They suggested adding a female supporting character, and Shen Qing was willing to grant this small request.

In the original script, Shen Qing played Shen Sui, a master craftsman who conceived the idea of ​​building cannons and persuaded some of his comrades to help him handcraft them. Liu Yifei played Mo Ying, a genius of the Mo family. As the number and speed of the monsters evolving into flying demons (Qiongqi) increased, she was invited by General of Chariots and Cavalry and commander of the Great Wall Legion, Ma Fang, to modify the giant crossbow. Upon arriving at the Great Wall front, although she had abundant resources, she discovered that even if the giant crossbow was successfully modified, it would not be enough to deal with the ever-increasing number of flying demons (Qiongqi). Just when she was in despair, she accidentally discovered Shen Sui building cannons.

In order to add a suitable second female lead role for Jing Tian, ​​Shen Qing revised the original script and added the character of Mo Kuai.

Mo Jue is the junior sister of the female protagonist Mo Ying in the Mo family. After her senior sister Mo Ying was ordered to go to the front line of the Great Wall to modify the giant crossbow, Mo Jue secretly followed her senior sister to the front line of the Great Wall.

Mo Ying devoted herself entirely to modifying the giant crossbow. The Qiongqi was evolving faster and faster, and a single Qiongqi flying over the Great Wall could devour thousands of people. What if ten thousand flew over the Great Wall? Mo Ying was focused on modifying the giant crossbow, so she could not easily run into Shen Sui, who was secretly researching cannons.

Mo Jue, who was idle in the army all day, finally discovered Shen Sui and his primitive cannon during a casual stroll. Although Mo Jue was not as talented as his senior sister Mo Ying, he was still a disciple of the Mo family and was influenced by what he saw and heard. He was indeed a great help. In the end, it was Mo Jue who told his senior sister Mo Ying about Shen Sui building the cannon, which was highly valued by Mo Ying.

Compared to the female protagonist Mo Ying, who is a genius, aloof, reserved, a tech geek, and takes the world as her responsibility, Mo Kuan is more self-centered, more lively, more reckless, and more prone to causing trouble.

The more Shen Qing wrote, the more likable the character Mo Jue became. He even considered casting Liu Shishi as Mo Jue. Of course, he would go after his woman first for a good role, but this thought only crossed his mind for a moment. He had agreed to give the role to Jing Tian before he started writing, but then he changed his mind halfway through—Shen Qing had already achieved great success and was a world-class director. He couldn't afford to lose face like that!

However, Shen Qing was genuinely worried about Jing Tian's acting skills.

"Yes, Director, I'm confident!"

Jing Tian walked up to Shen Qing, puffed out his chest, and said confidently, "Director, I can give 300% effort to play the role well. Everyone online says that you are particularly good at training actors. I think with your guidance and my hard work, I will definitely be able to play Mo Jue well."

Shen Qing nodded and didn't say anything more.

Jing Tian then secretly glanced at Shen Qing.

She knew that the character of Mo Kuai was not originally in the script of "The Great Wall". The director made temporary changes to the script for her. The opportunity was obtained for her by Wanda, but the role was written by the director who may have stayed up all night for her. At this moment, the person she was most grateful to was actually the director.

The cameo role in "Little Girl's Kung Fu Uncle" is the best-received role of all she has ever played. So many people online criticize her for her terrible acting skills despite having acted in so many blockbusters, and the few people who speak up for her in the comments are almost all doing so because of that cameo role in "Little Girl's Kung Fu Uncle".

She used to be too afraid to look at the comments about her online. It was only after seeing that there were people who would actually speak up for her that she dared to look at a little bit. All these netizens who were willing to speak up for her did so because of Shen Qing's work.

Shen Qing then communicated with Matt Damon and other foreign actors in English for a while. Before long, all the preparations were completed. Shen Qing nodded, and the assistant director notified each group to start filming immediately.

The crew continued filming in the afternoon, and then Chen Zhixi arrived with a contract from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, seeking Chairman Shen Qing's signature. After Shen Qing's signature, the deal was finalized.

华纳兄弟和传奇影业以7500万美元保底、20%全球先期总票房分红、20%全球DVD碟片分红、15%全球电视网络分红的代价，买下了《飓风营救3》的海外版权。

A guaranteed minimum of $7500 million translates to nearly 5 million RMB!

That's absolutely insane!

This 5 million is not from box office revenue, so it won't be like box office revenue sharing where you only get one-third. After taxes, the remaining portion belongs entirely to Magic Films. Moreover, there will be subsequent dividends and box office revenue from the Greater China region.

Watching Shen Qing quickly sign his name on the director's chair, Chen Zhixi couldn't help but want to straddle him, climb on his waist, and kiss him passionately.

She admired Shen Qing more and more.

But she can't.

She wasn't just some insignificant girlfriend to Shen Qing; she was the executive vice president of Shenqi Films, Jumei Entertainment, and Maoyan Movies, Shen Qing's right-hand woman, someone who helped him build his empire. She wasn't the kind of woman who used her looks to amuse others.

Furthermore, Liu Yifei was right there. Liu Yifei is now an artist under Jumei Entertainment, and is an artist under Chen Zhixi's name. How can an agent and an artist under her name compete for a man?

Chen Zhixi glanced at Shen Qing a few more times quietly, then bid farewell to Shen Qing.

"Mr. Shen, I'll head back now."

"Um.

""

Shen Qing nodded.

Chen Zhixi left the film set with the contract in hand. Halfway there, her phone rang. It was a text message from Shen Qing.

"Is tonight convenient?"

Chen Zhixi's face flushed slightly as she looked at the five short words in the text message. Shen Qing was so good; no woman who had ever tried her could forget her.

"It's convenient, my relatives just left a few days ago."

Her hands were even trembling slightly as she typed.

A short while later, another text message arrived, which read: "I wanted to talk to you about work. What are you thinking about your relationship with your relatives?"

Chen Zhixi's heart burned even brighter as she read the latest text message. She replied to Shen Qing, "Even cows and horses need to eat grass. You haven't posted anything about 'grass' in a long time, so I don't want to talk about work."

Sitting in the director's chair, Shen Qing stared at the latest text message she had received, scrutinizing it for a long time.

Even cows and horses need to eat grass, that makes sense. She replied to Chen Zhixi, "Book a room and send me the room number."

Shen Qing would not let his cattle and horses work on an empty stomach; he would make sure to distribute all the fodder they were entitled to.

After the film crew finished work that day, Shen Qing drove to the hotel according to the address she received. When she arrived, a meal had already been set out in the room, and the two ate and chatted.

Some time ago, the company sold the online rights to two TV series: "Scarlet Heart" to iQiyi and "Palace" to Tencent Video.

Both dramas cost 150 million yuan per episode and have 35 episodes each, with a total contract value of 1.05 million yuan.

Last year, when Gong Yu from iQiyi approached them, the highest price they were willing to pay was only 40 yuan per episode. In just one year, the online rights to hit TV series have risen to 150 million yuan per episode. This year, the highest price iQiyi has offered for a TV series has exceeded 200 million yuan per episode.

at night.

After the passion subsided.

With the hotel lights off, Shen Qing and Chen Zhixi chatted casually like an ordinary couple.

"The technical team has been assembled, and the Maoyan Movies app will be launched before the end of the year."

"Okay, let's test it with 'Sewing Machine Band' after it goes live."

"You didn't direct or star in 'Sewing Machine Band,' will exclusive screenings be a successful trial for audiences?"

"That's why I asked you to set up a ground promotion team targeting college students, as the online seat selection feature is still very attractive to them."

"After 'Sewing Machine Band,' we continued testing with 'Breakup Buddies,' and after 'Breakup Buddies,' we continued testing, finally..."

"The Great Wall" continues.

That's about right.

"Transformers 3 is scheduled for release on July 21."

"Then our 'Taken 3' will be released on August 12th."

At the end of March, "Lost in Thailand" officially ended its run, with a final box office of 15.7 billion yuan.

With Magic Pictures holding an 85% stake, and including the revenue from product placement in GG, it is roughly estimated that the company can recoup 450 million yuan.

-

Wang Baoqiang and Huang Bo each received a 2.5% share, which would amount to about 1300 million each. Baoqiang invested all of his 200 million yuan salary, while Huang Bo invested 300 million yuan of his 200 million yuan salary. The result was a return of 1300 million yuan, which was undoubtedly a huge surprise for both of them.

Once the revenue from "Lost in Thailand" arrives, the company will have 700 to 800 million yuan in cash, which will be enough to develop Maoyan's movie business.

The company still needs to continue producing TV dramas. Now that Gao Yuanyuan has been hired, the drama "Let's Get Married" can be arranged. The male lead will still be Huang Haibo. I don't know if it was an accident or someone plotted against him when he was arrested for prostitution in his previous life. Can we help him out? Huang Haibo is one of the artists who was banned in his previous life that Shen Qing sympathizes with. If we can help him, we will.

After Gao Yuanyuan finishes filming "Breakup Buddies", she will film "Let's Get Married".

In early April, the crew continued filming at the China Film Digital Studio in Huairou Film and Television Base.

Jing Tian secretly approached Shen Qing with the character biographies from the Mo Jue series.

"Director, I have some ideas that might seem naive. Can I talk to you about them?" Jing Tian looked quite nervous.

She is known nationwide as the queen of bad movies. No matter how big the investment or how big the supporting actors are, any movie with her in it can generally be judged as a terrible movie. Shen Qing, on the other hand, is a world-renowned director.

It was hilarious that she gave Shen Qing feedback.

"Speak."

"I think we should add some romance between Mo Jue and Shen Sui," Jing Tian hurriedly explained. "I swear to you, I'm not suggesting this just to add more scenes for myself; I genuinely think Mo Jue and Shen Sui should have some romance."

"Tell me your reasons," Shen Qing asked.

Jing Tian held the biography tightly, her fingers turning white from the force. She said, "Mo Kuai, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, secretly ran away to the border army, which was full of men. Why did she come? Maybe it wasn't just to help her senior sister, maybe it wasn't just for fun, maybe she also longed to do great things like her senior sister, longed to be seen. Then she discovered a lowly soldier who was not valued, but had amazing focus and stubbornness. Her talent and skills were far inferior to her senior sister's, but she was able to help Shen Sui a lot, and work with him to improve the cannon until her level could no longer help him. I think Mo Kuai will definitely develop feelings for Shen Sui."

"And then what? Will you film it as a love triangle?" Shen Qing asked.

Jing Tian waved his hands repeatedly: "That's not what I meant. Anyway, I don't know how to arrange things next. I just think that Mo Jue will definitely fall in love with Shen Sui."

Shen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "After Mo Jue recommended Shen Sui to Senior Sister Mo Ying, Shen and Mo Ying often argued about the cannon-building plan at first. At this time, Mo Kuai often had to smooth things over between the two. But as time went on, Mo Ying and Shen Sui became more and more in sync and more and more in sync. Mo Kuai, who saw all of this, was disappointed for a while, but then recovered quickly and was full of energy again. This hazy feeling naturally came to an end. What do you think?"

Jing Tian snapped out of his daze and quickly said, "The revision is excellent! I can already picture Mo Jue silently taking a step back and leaving after seeing his senior sister and Shen Sui's unspoken understanding."

Shen Qing asked, "Why do you think Mo Jue will definitely like Shen Sui?"

Jing Tian looked up at Shen Qing's face and said in a very soft voice, "Because—because—I can't really say for sure. If I had to say, I think I might have gotten too into character. I can't tell whether it's Mo Kuai who fell in love with Shen Sui, or whether it's me—I fell in love with you, the director who plays Shen Sui. I can't tell anymore."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Shen Qing with her big, watery eyes.

Shen Qing coughed twice and said, "This is what it means to get into character. Congratulations, your acting has improved."

As Shen Qing turned to leave, Jing Tian muttered "coward" under his breath.

In the afternoon, Shen Qing and Jing Tian had a scene together. Everything was normal at first. After Shen Qing's constant guidance and patient polishing, Jing Tian's performance was finally passable. However, after the scene was finished, before the assistant director could even yell "cut," Jing Tian suddenly kissed Shen Qing on the cheek.

Shen Qing, who plays Shen Sui, is adding an iron hoop to a cannon he's handcrafting to prevent it from exploding when Jing Tian suddenly kisses him and then looks at Shen Qing with a half-smile.

It felt like an eternity before Shen Qing finally bypassed the assistant director and called "cut" himself.

Just as Shen Qing was about to say something, the crew members started clapping.

"That improvisational part was well done."

"Mo Jue's lively, cheerful, and brave image was immediately established."

Jing Tian lowered his head, not daring to look Shen Qing in the eye.

She herself never expected that she would do such a thing involuntarily during filming. She thought she must be possessed, otherwise why would she do such a thing? Something that wasn't in the script, why did she have to show it to the director?

"Jing Tian, ​​Jing Tian, ​​what on earth are you thinking?! You've gone completely mad!"

Shen Qing walked to the monitor to check the playback, and after a moment said, "This one is approved, but we'll keep one as a backup."

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