One of the exciting things about Hong Kong films is that they are full of energy and passion, and brainstorming scenes can be seen everywhere. Xiao Ran did not want the characteristics of Hong Kong films to be destroyed in his own hands, so he did not use the Hollywood-like assembly line.
script production method.
Just like when Gan Xingfan was supplementing the script, if he had any inspiration, he could naturally add it to the script, but he was absolutely not allowed to make independent deletions. Xiao Ran did this to ensure that the screenwriters' energy and talent would not be worn away.
edges and corners.
Gan Xingfan is the oldest of the screenwriters signed by Phantom, at 40 years old. However, he can be regarded as an example of living and learning. Although his previous academic qualifications were not very good, he often went to night school, and as a result, he was
As I get older, I have accumulated more and more talents.
Gan Xingfan was just an ordinary stage manager before, but now he can become a contract screenwriter of Phantom, which is a leap in status and income. He and other companions are very grateful to Xiao Ran. If Xiao Ran hadn't promoted them single-handedly, they would have lost their talent.
It may not be known that it has been buried.
In the past, he was a neglected stage manager, running around behind the producers like a handyman all day long. But now, whoever disrespects him among the screenwriters is not because he has no works published yet.
, but for the title of Phantom’s contracted screenwriter.
Therefore, Gan Xingfan was very grateful to Xiao Ran. He had only been at Phantom Film for three or four months and had already submitted three scripts. After Wei Jiahui reviewed them, he showed two of them to Xiao Ran. After Xiao Ran read them, he went to talk to Gan Xingfan.
One of the screenwriting dogmas that Gan Xingfan regarded as his motto is: "Creation is not about speed. It takes ten years to perfect a script. I will not only spend nine years."
Xiao Ran said this at the time, just to tell Gan Xingfan that speed does not matter, the key is the quality of the script. Gan Xingfan understood what Xiao Ran meant, and regarded this sentence as a motto in his screenwriting career. Currently, Gan Xingfan is writing a science fiction-themed script.
He wanted to show his gratitude to the best of his ability.
Now Xiao Ran, the number one screenwriter in Hong Kong, has taken a fancy to him and wanted him to supplement it. Thinking of this, Gan Xingfan couldn't help but get excited. He took the thick book from Xiao Ran's hand, and there were two big words written on the cover.
——"Spy".
He flipped through it a little, and the more he read, the more frightened he became. He couldn't imagine how Xiao Ran could come up with such an idea. But thinking carefully about Xiao Ran being the number one screenwriter in Hong Kong, this gave him an explanation. He firmly asked Xiao Ran
Nodding: "Brother Ran, don't worry, I will definitely be able to hand over an episode in a month!"
Xiao Ran immediately felt relieved. The other gradual revisions didn't matter. This first episode must be released this year. Therefore, it was the best choice to be able to make it as soon as possible and prepare it for release during the summer vacation.
When Gan Xingfan went out, Xiao Ran waved to Wei Jiahui, and they sat together on the long and oval conference table. His movements were very skillful, as if he had been doing this all the time. Xiao Ran showed a relaxed smile, Wei Jiahui was definitely a screenwriter.
He is half a master and is now a good friend, so of course he can laugh and talk freely: "Xiaobao, when will your book come out?"
Wei Jiahui suddenly became famous. Xiao Ran had said some time ago that he could give them a chance to direct. But after thinking about it, he always felt that there were too many ideas and he didn't know what theme to choose. He hesitated for a moment before saying:
"I did write a script, but are you sure you want me to direct it?"
"What's wrong with that?" Xiao Ran suddenly laughed out loud. It would be a pity if Wei Jiahui didn't become a director. He took the script from Wei Jiahui and Xiao Ran's eyes froze as soon as he touched the content. This script
Amazingly it is "Peace Hotel".
Some history really cannot be changed! Xiao Ran secretly lamented that "Peace Hotel" can be regarded as a classic, but it is a pity that it finally failed at the box office. Wei Jiahui was very depressed because of the failure of this film.
I met Du Qifeng, a good friend from his early years in the TV station, and it happened that Adu was also in a period of self-thinking. The two talked about their film ideals, hit it off, and attracted investment to establish the famous Galaxy.
Seeing Xiao Ran's expression freeze, Wei Jiahui immediately thought of something not so good. In fact, he was very confident in his script, but he still felt that only a script that was affirmed by Xiao Ran was a good one. Speaking of which, he and Xiao Ran were the first to
The screenwriter, who had become good friends, knew Xiao Ran's "talent" best, and naturally he admired this unfathomable guy more and more.
Of course Xiao Ran had no objections to this script, but the problem was that he knew very well how dismal the film's box office performance was, and it failed to win any awards. These two opinions were entangled in his head whether the film should be filmed or not.
.
He thought he really understood why movie companies always only pursue box office. Now that he is the boss, he knows better than anyone that box office means the company's profit. In Hollywood, even if two blockbusters are made in a year,
Even a blockbuster film may not be able to make up for five such films that are losing money.
However, this kind of worry obviously does not exist in Hong Kong. The investment is low, but the return is big, and even the loss is only small. Thinking of this, Xiao Ran was suddenly surprised. Didn't he want to support Hong Kong films? Now is obviously a good opportunity
, giving the audience more opportunities to choose.
Even if you lose money, as long as it can pave the way for the development of Hong Kong films, it will definitely be worth it. Just like the success of "Infernal Affairs" is not only because of the good filming, but also because Galaxy Image has opened a road a few years ago.
, this made people pay attention to the importance of the script, and it achieved great success that year.
Thinking of this, Xiao Ran made up his mind. It failed miserably due to publicity and various reasons. Now Phantom has a marketing department. Although it is not very powerful, it can still exert a great effect if it works together. He raised his head and looked at Wei Jiahui
, smiled and hung him up for a long time before saying: "When do you want the show to start?"
"Damn, you're kidding me again!" Wei Jiahui didn't know when he learned this super-era catchphrase from Xiao Ran, and gave Xiao Ran a hard blow: "I thought the script wouldn't pass!"
Xiao Ran laughed, but in his mind he was thinking about what to do about this matter. He must be a producer, otherwise he would be worried that Wei Jiahui would lose control when filming his debut film so many years in advance: "Who do you want to star?"
"It doesn't matter!" Wei Jiahui shrugged. He didn't think that he, a "director" with no name, could get any big stars: "Anyway, just treat it as an experimental work, practice yourself first, as long as you are not afraid of losing money."
Xiao Ran smiled. It was not his idea to be afraid of losing money. It was not built. As long as the company can produce five blockbusters like "God of Gamblers" every year, it will be enough to help many newcomers get into the position, and it can also make a huge profit: "Yes
Okay, have you found someone to write the script for "Academy of Ghosts"?"
Wei Jiahui nodded heavily. He is now the script reviewer and the head of the screenwriting team. He has a good understanding of the team members' abilities. Therefore, it is obviously not difficult to arrange such a thing: "Zou Jingcai will do it this time.
He is better at this, and I think this style should be more unified!"
While they were chatting, Yu Jiayu pushed the door open and almost laughed when he saw Xiao Ran and Wei Jiahui acting so unruly. Fortunately, he tried to restrain his emotions and came to Xiao Ran and said: "Mr. Xiao, "Dark Flower" has been released.
It’s ready, when will the construction start?”
Taking over the team chosen by Yu Jiayu, the more Xiao Ran looked at it, the more he nodded and praised Yu Jiayu's ability to do things. He is a qualified and outstanding producer. This time, the starring role is still Zhou Runfa, but the other protagonist made Xiao Ran hesitate for a long time.
Should I choose Yam Dahua or Su Renyao?
Simon Yam is an outstanding actor. He became famous because of his starring role in "Hong Kong Gigolo". Since then, he has been starring in some third-level films. Some of the relatively famous ones are "Naked Lamb" and "Doctor Lamb", etc. Xiao Ran has always been
I have always felt that Yam Tat-hwa wasted the most youthful part of his life on tertiary films. Now that he has such a good opportunity, he really wants Yam Tat-hwa to play the role of Yiu Dong.
But after hesitating for a long time, Xiao Ran decided to team up with Su Yanyao and Fa Ge. It's not that Simon Yam has no roles, because he has the company's permission and often performs in other production companies' films.
In fact, Simon Yam has been involved in the film industry as early as the 1980s. For example, his early films such as "Butterfly Lovers" and "Nightmare" were both good films, but it's a pity that they never became popular. As for Simon Yam, Xiao Ran
It's not that he didn't have any arrangements, he planned to let Ren Lai star in a film about mercenaries. Now it seems that he may not be able to star in "The Spy".
In any case, Phantom will start shooting in 1988 and invest in many films, otherwise it will not be able to satisfy the many filmmakers signed by the company. In these films, there will definitely be a place for Simon Yam.
His thoughts were distracted for a while, and Wei Jiahui, who was familiar with Xiao Ran, poked him angrily a few times. Xiao Ran returned to his previous thoughts and continued to browse the team behind the scenes. The director, producer and screenwriter were all Xiao Ran, and the starring roles were Zhou Runfa and Su Renyao.
There is also a supporting actress named Feng Feier.
As for some other supporting roles in the film, such as Brother Ji and Brother George, Xiao Ran had considered before choosing two unknown middle-aged actors. The advantage of these two middle-aged actors is that they can be remembered at a glance.
Actors such as Qicheng Guan and Huang Guangliang, who are easily seen as evil at first glance, are a bit more reserved.
Regarding the editor, Xiao Ran had considered Mai Zishan, who is especially good at action scenes. However, the editor and the director must have a tacit understanding to produce the effect the director wants. This is recognized in the film industry.
"Dark Flower" is a bit like a CultMovie. The so-called CULT can be translated as the word cult. When used in movies, it refers to a movie that is very weird and alternative, and has a very dictatorial charm, with a small number of die-hard fans.
admirer.
In fact, "Dark Flower" is not even a CULT film, but rather a style film, showing something intense and alternative. To achieve such an effect, Xiao Ran could only achieve such an effect by working with an editor who has some tacit understanding with him.
to achieve the best results. Therefore, he chose Zhang Yaozong.
In terms of soundtrack composers, Xiao Ran has the most choices. Huang Zhan and Dai Le composed the soundtracks for "A Chinese Ghost Story" for Phantom, while Lu Guanting composed the soundtracks for "Autumn Fairy Tale" and "Prison Story" for Phantom. However,
Xiao Ran still chose Lin Yundao. He wanted to give this talented young man more opportunities.
In terms of action guidance, Xiao Ran found Guan Xin very insidiously. He thought that with Guan Xin's ability, it would be no problem to fill this position. However, Xiao Ran still found a few assistants for Guan Xin. They were not so much assistants as they were assistants.
The guy who stole the teacher.
Naturally, the photographer is Huang Yongheng, a top figure who is especially good at action films. If it is for other films that do not pay much attention to photography, Xiao Ran will definitely find Huang Letai. Through Huang Letai, he can get to know his disciple Ao Zhijun, and through Ao Zai, he can get to know his disciple - "
Liu Weiqiang, director of "Infernal Affairs".
For styling design and art direction, Xiao Ran found Zhang Shuping. Xiao Ran did not dare to say that this was the strongest behind-the-scenes lineup in Hong Kong, but it was already the strongest lineup of Phantom. The only regret was that the budget was not too high, only 500 yuan.
Wan, it is difficult for Xiao Ran to promote it in the name of production.
Xiao Ran knew very well that although the two films he directed before had achieved great success, they were still considered by most industry insiders to be just because the script was good enough. He needed such a completely stylized film to establish himself in the industry.
He is well-known in the director world and wants to be a real director. At least he can take charge until Phantom currently lacks a director role.
At least Wei Dongling holds the same view as Xiao Ran on this point. Now he is complaining to Xiao Ran: "When you leave, you don't know how long you will be leaving, and you always leave all the affairs to me. I am beginning to suspect that you are
You're not being lazy. By the way, what will happen to your finances once you leave?"
The finances Wei Dongling was referring to were expenditures. Every expenditure of more than 10 million yuan required Xiao Ran's signature. Xiao Ran chuckled. He had wanted to visit the King of Macau, Mr. He, for a long time, but he never had the chance: "What's wrong with the finances? Oh,
I remembered. You are referring to the magazine purchase plan proposed by Tang Yan, right? Just give me a call when you need my signature."
Movies are a form of cultural entertainment that will never lack the support of other similar industries. Under Wei Dongling's suggestion, Xiao Ran agreed to the proposal to acquire a magazine. Sometimes just making movies is not enough, you also need to control enough publicity channels.
OK.
If Phantom had a TV station and an online platform, then the prototype of an entertainment empire would be basically formed. However, Xiao Ran could not imagine the speed at which Phantom Company would develop. If it continued at this speed, it would be able to dominate the Hong Kong film industry in at most three years.
When the time comes to stabilize and gradually expand the Asian market and simultaneously attack the European and American markets, then I'm afraid everything can be realized.
*****
Novel title——Mai Zishan
Real name——Mai Zishan
Mak Chi-shan is one of the four most famous scissor hands in Hong Kong, that is, one of the four major editors. He collaborated a lot with Tsui Hark in the 1980s and 1990s. He has a sharp style, is good at martial arts films and action films, and almost
It can be called a classic, and has won the Academy Award for Best Editing. In recent years, Mai Zishan
Disappointed with the market, he found it difficult to receive works that suited his liking, so he often acted as director himself. However, he obviously did not have the talent to be a director. On the contrary, the editing in "Black and White Battlefield", especially the climax chase scene, seemed
Extraordinarily fluent and enjoyable! Worthy of being one of the four scissorhands!
Recommended: Shi Octopus's new work, "Seventy-two Concubines in Three Palaces and Six Courtyards", http:///showbook.asp?Bl_id=42289