On this day, a very big-name visitor suddenly came to the crew of "Love Letter".Wintour Robbe, artistic director of the Jose Film Festival.
He didn't come here on his own, but was brought here by director Wang Zhong.
Lu Yanhe was very surprised when he received the news from Director Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong used his personal connections to invite Wintour Robbe to China to attend the Yuming International Film Festival in July. Before the festival even started, Wang Zhong brought Wintour Robbe to Jiangzhi.
Wintour Robbe is a typical person who is not well-known among the general public but is well-known in the film industry.
The artistic directors of the four major international film festivals are actually such people.
They control which films can enter the main competition unit, which films can be shortlisted for other units, and which films will be rejected.
This is not just a matter of honor; it involves interests for any film company.
Once shortlisted for a film festival, OK, your film will have bargaining power - this is especially true for low-budget independent films.
At first, the crew members didn’t know the identity of this foreigner.
Later, when the news slowly spread, a question mark of surprise popped up in everyone's mind.
A thought popped up in their minds without anyone reminding them: Is it possible that the movie "Love Letter" has a chance to be shortlisted for the Jose-La-Hilton Film Festival?
Before Wintour Robe came, no one dared to think so.
Because many of them think that the script of "Love Letter" is very ordinary and a clichéd youth love story.
Many of them also felt that since Lu Yanhe was a director for the first time, even if he had a certain degree of international fame, it would be impossible for him to directly attend the top international film festivals. At most, he could appear at some other ordinary film festivals, such as the Yuming International Film Festival which was about to be held.
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Lu Yanhe briefly told Wintour Robbe about the movie he was shooting and introduced Chen Bige and Zhang Ruozhi to him.
In fact, Chen Bige has known Wintour Robe for a long time. This time, Chen Bige won the Best Actress Award at the Jose-La Film Festival for her role in Rouge, which further consolidated her position in the Chinese film industry. Before this, Chen Bige was already a representative filmmaker in Chinese films.
Lu Yanhe’s introduction is that Chen Bige is also the protagonist of this movie.
Looking at the entertainment industry around the world, there are many people who have transformed from actors to directors.
Wintour Robe was not surprised that Lu Yanhe wrote, directed and starred in a movie.
After all, Rouge and Lost on Journey, both of which were shortlisted for the Jose-Cebu International Film Festival, were written by Lu Yanhe. He is obviously a young man with ideas and creative talent.
Wintour Robbe herself actually really admires Lu Yanhe.
As a new filmmaker in Chinese films, Lu Yanhe has appeared a lot in the international film scene in recent years. As an artistic director, Wintour Robbe is eager for new filmmakers who have the potential to become masters of the generation, although many people are eager to get his favor.
If a film festival wants to maintain its influence and status in the world film circle, it is crucial to constantly discover fresh blood and cultivate its own filmmakers.
Wintour Robe went with Lu Yanhe to see the recently shot footage.
The part I was watching was the one with Lu Yanhe and Zhang Ruozhi in the library.
Zhang Ruozhi's deer-like eyes were as bright as if painted with a layer of light in the dimly lit reading room.
The glances she cast towards the window from time to time did not require any lines at all.
Just one picture, one shot, is enough to explain everything.
Film is the art of the lens.
And when I followed her gaze, by the window, next to the white, translucent curtains, I saw a handsome and silent boy leaning against the window, looking at the book in his hand with an expressionless face.
This is the most original shot, without any post-production adjustment of light, color or filter.
However, because the lighting requirements were very high during filming, this was selected from several hours of material, so even the original footage is very beautiful.
A very cinematic, subtle beauty.
Wintour Robey showed a surprised expression and said, "These shots are so beautiful."
Wintour Robbe has too many films to watch every year. He is the artistic director of the Jose-La Roche Film Festival, so he must have a very high aesthetic taste for films. When he said this, Lu Yanhe believed that in addition to his goodwill, he must have some sincerity. In fact, Lu Yanhe was very satisfied with the shots of the movie "Love Letter", which completely met Lu Yanhe's imagination.
The two photographers Liu Bige borrowed, Bao Wenliang and Wu Zhou, were one strong and one young, and their skills were really good. They were able to meet Lu Yanhe's requirements. Liu Bige had little time to take pictures himself.
Wintour Robe was surprised when she learned that Liu Bige, the director of "Late Spring", would personally serve as the photography director for Lu Yanhe's new film.
He didn't seem to have expected that a director of Liu Bige's level would come and be someone else's director of photography at the peak of his career.
Wintour Robey was on set for four hours.
When Lu Yanhe was filming, Wintour Robbe was also there, chatting with Wang Zhong, Liu Bige and Chen Bige while watching with curiosity.
Coincidentally, this scene was filmed when the female Aoi Tree was on duty in the library, and another girl on duty with her fell in love with the male Aoi Tree and wanted to confess her love to him.
This girl is an actress who came through audition.
A girl from Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, a freshman, her name is Ivan, a very artistic name.
Lu Yanhe didn't know whether she changed the name she gave herself later or whether her parents gave her this name when she was born.
According to Lu Yanhe's idea, this girl was also very beautiful, but in a different kind of beauty, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and lush hair that was made from a wig.
At first the hairstylist thought Lu Yanhe wanted to make the girl look uglier, but Lu Yanhe knew at a glance that the hairstylist had misunderstood his intention.
"She still has to be good-looking, but she has to be a little bit homely, a little bit paranoid, a little bit reckless and straightforward."
Ivan was surprised to hear Lu Yanhe's positioning of the role she played.
“So my character has such a setting?”
After she got the script, she originally thought that this was just a typical supporting role.
She just wanted to play the role very much, even if it was just a supporting role, as long as she had the opportunity to make a movie with lots of scenes and lines.
Even the teachers at the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts agreed to let her take acting jobs - normally, students at the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts are not allowed to take acting jobs during their freshman and sophomore years.
This also shows that the teachers at Beijing Academy of Fine Arts have great confidence that their students will not suffer any loss by acting in Lu Yanhe's crew.
Another point is that Lu Yanhe’s teacher is Luo Yuzhong.
Luo Yuzhong is from the Beijing Art Circle.
The teachers at Beijing Art Institute will naturally take good care of Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe said to Yifan: "Every character, as long as he appears in the script, must have his meaning of existence. Otherwise, why write more such a person?"
Ivan nodded thoughtfully.
"You see, our film "Love Letter" actually focuses a lot on the ambiguity and feelings between boys and girls, right?" Lu Yanhe said, "The male and female Huai Jingshu didn't express their feelings to each other, missed each other, and it became an irreparable regret, but you dared to confess and express your feelings directly, even if you were rejected in the end and cried undignifiedly, but it didn't become a regret for you. In a movie world, there are secret crushes, confessions, and those naughty students who tease and play tricks on them. For the female Huai Jingshu, your failed confession is a memory of her about the male Huai Jingshu, but for you, in your world, the female Huai Jingshu is the supporting role, and you are your protagonist. You must first understand this character from your perspective."
Ivan took a deep breath and said, "I feel like I understand, but I don't quite understand."
Zhang Ruozhi was listening nearby, also thoughtful.
Lu Yanhe said: "It's okay, it doesn't matter if you don't understand, we can just shoot it a few more times."
On the set, Lu Yanhe is a director who is very slow to rush.
Because it was his first time as a director, Zhao Yuheng made a shooting plan for him in the summer, which gave him plenty of time, so Lu Yanhe had enough time to shoot slowly.
Because the actors who shoot in the summer are basically young actors, and basically they have no experience in filming. They must spend more time to familiarize themselves with and train themselves when shooting in this situation.
The filming pressure was greater in winter, as there were more scenes and more scheduling, including various scenes, studio shooting, outdoor shooting, and some scenes with a lot of people. However, the actors at that time were all very mature and very good actors, such as Chen Bi Ge, Wan Xin, Li Song Fan... all of them were very good actors, which meant that there were fewer NGs during filming and the efficiency was much higher.
Wintour Robe was shocked as she watched Lu Yanhe directing the actors on the spot and instructing various departments to make adjustments according to his requirements. He remained very stable and not irritable throughout the whole process.
After all, Wintour Robbe is well aware that nine out of ten directors have bad tempers.
There is no way around it. The shooting scene is an extremely stressful environment and few directors will not be driven crazy by this environment.
Lu Yanhe was not driven crazy, only because he had done a lot of preparatory work from the beginning, and all departments were managed so that they dared not make any chaos in public. Xin Zixing managed the logistics and finance, Luo Yuzhong went over the plans of each department several times to prevent Lu Yanhe from making any mistakes, and Liu Bige was in charge of the scene. When Lu Yanhe could not express his instructions clearly, he was often the bridge for further communication. And Zhao Yuheng, the experienced executive producer, helped Lu Yanhe solve all the problems and troubles. Lu Yanhe only had to make requests, and then someone would help him realize them. Lu Yanhe did not feel stressed and that the movie could not be finished.
Liu Bige told Wintour Robey: "If you ask people in our Chinese film industry, you will know what people think of him. In the eyes of many people, he is a genius who will succeed in everything he does."
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The news of Wintour and Roberto's visit to the set of "Love Letter" was not concealed. They were happy to make public their itinerary in China, which also helped to enhance the influence of the Jose Antonio-La Mancha Film Festival.
So, the official account of the movie "Love Letter" posted a group photo of everyone.
Wintour Robbe, artistic director of the Jose-Jean Film Festival, visited the filming site of "Love Letter" and had close exchanges with Lu Yanhe, Liu Bige and Chen Bige.
This scene was also called by some media as: Lu Yanhe's international philatelic influence increased by one.
In fact, this is not Lu Yanhe’s influence, he was brought here by Wang Zhong.
Lu Yanhe himself did not expect that, somehow, many things became his influence and his credit.
After this news came out, people from several film companies, including Longyan Film and Ruyi Film, came to inquire whether "Love Letter" would participate in the Jose-La Film Festival.
Lu Yanhe could only laugh and reply that the film hasn't been finished yet and he didn't know whether he would be able to attend the film festival in the future.
In fact, Wintour Robe did invite him, hoping that Lu Yanhe would send him a copy after finishing the film, and he hoped that the film could have its world premiere at the Jose-La Roche Film Festival.
However, Lu Yanhe has not decided whether to do so, because it is not so simple for a film to participate in an overseas film festival, and it is also a financial account.
If the film is not shortlisted for the relevant categories and is just going to hold the premiere, then all things added up, this trip may mean a cost of several million or even tens of millions of dollars.
"Flowers on the Stars" premiered at the Joseon Film Festival, which cost a lot of money.
Can "Love Letter" be shortlisted for the official unit?
Wintour Robe didn't say anything, and Lu Yanhe himself was unsure.
If the purpose is just to go there for a premiere and get some media coverage, Lu Yanhe feels that the effort and reward may not be proportional.
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At this time, the summer season has entered its full swing.
New films continue to enter the market, but most of them fail. Many films that took years of hard work to make are sentenced to death in theaters in just two days.
The high risks and cruelty of the film market are like a slap in the face to every practitioner.
The dark horse performances in the previous few films have made many people feel optimistic.
Reality pours cold water on us.
Entering its third week of release, "City Raiders" has basically lost its box office momentum, lingering around at close to 300 million yuan.
"Nine Yins" also had no follow-up, and a little dark horse seemed to have seen the end.
Currently, the only two movies still running in the market are "The Angry Crows" and "Lost on Journey", and the long-tail effects of these two movies are beyond normal rules.
Especially the former, it was the summer vacation, a bunch of kids were on vacation, and they came to watch this animated film with their families, and they bought tickets for two or three people at a time. At the same time, many adults also came because of its reputation.
"Lost on Journey" is running a little slower, but very steadily, and the box office on weekdays can maintain a decline within 10%. Entering the third week, the box office on weekdays has not fallen below million.
Jia Long said that this was mainly due to the fact that there were no new competitors among the new films released in the third week, which gave "Lost on Journey" a new window to enjoy the dividends of the market.
At this time, "Lost on Journey" also announced that the movie will be released in five Asian countries including South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, etc. on August 8, and will be released later in Japan due to convention.
In fact, it is basically difficult for the movie "Lost on Journey" to get a good box office overseas, because the jokes, gags and social environment contained in it can only be empathized with in the context of Chinese society.
The announcement of the overseas release at this time is mainly to carry out a new round of publicity for the domestic release and to stimulate its market potential that has not yet been tapped - you see, this movie is already so popular that it is going to be released overseas, why don’t you come and see it?
After more than three weeks of filming, "Love Letter" finally finished its summer shooting.
July is coming to an end.
Lu Yanhe had a meal with all the crew members, and expressed his gratitude to each of them with great gestures.
I won't say any more.
It's not the end yet, we have to continue shooting.
Lu Yanhe invited He Yunlan over as well.
This time, when filming this movie in Jiangzhi, especially at Jiangzhi Middle School, He Yunlan coordinated and helped a lot.
He Yunlan It’s just a pity that the winter part of the movie was not filmed here.
It may not snow in Jiangzhi in winter.
They had to find another place.
Lu Yanhe said to He Yunlan, "I have another drama on hand, a fairy-tale drama, which I will continue to shoot in Jiangzhi. When the time comes, I will need your help again, Brother He."
He Yunlan said, "Why should we be so polite to each other? If you are willing to bring a crew to our place to film, I know what I am doing. If there is anything I can do, I will definitely do it 100%."
Lu Yanhe and He Yunlan each filled a glass with rice wine brewed by the local people and drank it all.
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The box office of "Lost on Journey" reached million.
A crime thriller movie called "The Pop-Up Needle" was released and became a huge hit. It also earned 80 million on the first day of its release on Wednesday.
The leading actor Li Yuefeng almost destroyed his own image, playing the role of a persecuted, skinny man who escaped from a criminal organization.
The heroine Zhang Lan plays a charming proprietress who picks up the man who fainted on the ground at her doorstep.
In order to escape danger, the man played by Li Yuefeng pretended to fall in love with her and asked her to help him out of trouble, but she really fell into it and thus fell into the crisis brought by him.
The screening schedule of "Lost on Journey" suddenly lost half of its original schedule.
Lu Yanhe discussed it with Jia Long and had a live broadcast to chat about the interesting things behind the production of the movie. At the same time, he also revealed that there might be plans for a second part of "Lost on Journey".
As a niche comedy film with excellent reputation, no one expected that the film could achieve such box office results.
It can be said that this movie made the two main creators, Jia Long and Lu Yanhe, earn a fortune.
In the long run, this movie may bring tens of millions of dollars in dividends to both of them.
It is actually reasonable for them to develop a sequel at this time.
They announced this news in order to further stimulate the box office performance of "Lost on Journey".
However, the film's producer and distributor, Yannian Film and Television, became anxious.
what?
sequel?
A highly acclaimed comedy movie that could potentially gross 700 million yuan is going to develop a sequel, but they weren't told?
What do Lu Yanhe and Jia Long mean?
Do you want to develop by bypassing them?
Yannian Films really didn't expect that the box office performance of the movie "Lost on Journey" would be so outstanding.
Many people in the industry also said that this movie was released in the wrong time period. If it had been released during the Spring Festival, based on the theme and reputation of the movie, it would have grossed at least 1 billion yuan.
This is the compatibility between the subject matter and the release date.
During the summer vacation, people's interest in watching movies with this kind of background theme is greatly reduced.
Just like in Hollywood, the time period around Halloween is reserved for horror movies.
There will be absolutely no other movies trying to compete for the Halloween time slot.
Because the audience will not choose movies of other themes at this time.
Yannian Film and Television immediately contacted Lu Yanhe and Jia Long.
Why didn't you invite us to make the sequel?
We are the company that reached out to you when you couldn't find anyone willing to give you the conditions you wanted for your film.
The emotional card is played vigorously.
Jia Long simply said: "We don't want to experience the situation again where a movie originally scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival is suddenly notified to make way for other movies."
The reason why Lost on Journey was released in the summer is because Yannian Films wanted to use all their publicity resources during the Spring Festival to Cheng Shiyan's The Beatles 2. (End of this chapter)
