Li Yan is filming the scene of the Lawrence City Massacre in Partonsburg, Missouri, USA.

There were six cameras on the scene and hundreds of soldiers riding horses. This scene was a bit messy when a large group of people rushed into the city to burn, kill and loot.

This kind of scene is not easy to shoot. Horses cannot run too fast, otherwise it will be easy to run out of the camera. In order to show the degree of the horse, you can only rely on shaking the camera left and right to show the sense of degree.

How to put the head of a horse into the camera to look good, how to take pictures of two or three people riding a horse, how many times the horse's physical strength is enough to run, whether it can stand firm, what are the concerns after the gunfight begins, etc.

These are all issues that directors need to consider.

In order to prevent the horse from slipping and fear that the actors would be stepped on by the horse, the crew laid a new layer of soil on the ground.

Only when the people, horses, machines are familiar with each other, and all aspects are prepared and planned, can the shooting be carried out.

Filming in Hollywood, film companies attach great importance to safety because the actors have signed contracts and will have to compensate them if something happens. It is very troublesome. This is an additional expense.

They would rather make sufficient preparations in advance than business accidents.

The preparation for a video is particularly important, and the actual shooting time is not very long.

The town in front of you is a small town that was newly built in four months in the early stage, recreating the original appearance of that year.

After filming the scene of the city massacre, it will set fire.

In this process, how to set fire is a science. It not only needs to be burned, but also needs to be beautiful.

When setting fires, you must arrange the location of smoke, fog, fire, light, wherever it really burns, and how to control it, and have an overall plan.

Sometimes, in order to look good, diesel is added to promote the fire, dozens of people need to work together.

In Hollywood, whether it is setting fires, horses, cavalry, or arms, they are all professionals.

The staff in charge of safety insurance in the film company will stare at the scene and carefully investigate every fire point.

Lin Zixuan and his group arrived in the United States the day before yesterday. They arrived in Kansas yesterday and visited the set at the filming site today.

This time I came here to see the filming process of Hollywood blockbusters.

There were hundreds of extras who played soldiers on the scene, and everything was managed in a militarized manner. The daily pay for these extras was 150 US dollars, and the daily pay for them was over 100,000 US dollars.

So, blockbusters only need to burn money.

The on-site shooting progress is not fast. The preparation work takes up most of the day in one day. The actual shooting time is less than three hours. A scene has to be repeated several times.

This is how you shoot outdoor scenes. You will always encounter all kinds of unexpected troubles, and you will get the time when you get to the studio.

The crew finished work at around 9 o'clock in the evening, and Li An finally got off the ease and met Lin Zixuan and others.

The town built by the crew is three kilometers away from Partonsburg, and it was already ten o'clock when they returned to the hotel in Partonsburg.

Had a simple Western meal in the hotel, and everyone went back to their room to chat.

Li An congratulated "Spring in the Small Town" on winning the Golden Lion Award. It is a pleasure for Chinese-language films to win the grand prize in the international film industry.

This time, Lin Zixuan brought videotapes of the TV series "Spring in a Small Town" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to Li An, which gave Li An a more intuitive understanding of the actor's acting skills and the production level of the Big 6 film industry.

Lin Zixuan came with sincerity in the open and honest conversation between the two sides.

"In addition to copyright, Director Li has the right to create freely. Whether it is script or filming, including post-production and final editing rights, you have the final say. We can write this into the contract." Lin Zixuan promised, "I only have two opinions here. One is to place the filming location in the Big 6, and try to use Big 6 actors as much as possible."

Lin Zixuan has very good reasons. Da6 has beautiful natural scenery and profound cultural heritage.

Whether it is the wind and sand in the desert or the lush bamboo sea, there are everything, from royal gardens to century-old ancient towns, they can be shot in real scenes. The Big 6 and the well-equipped film and television city are used to shoot literary dramas.

Let’s talk about actors, if you ask a top star in Hong Kong, you will have a pay of about one million US dollars. If you use the 6 actors, the pay of all actors may be only one million US dollars.

For example, Director Chen’s salary for filming a movie in the country is less than 700,000 yuan, equivalent to 80,000 US dollars.

When Yu Feihong didn't get the Venetian Best Actress, his salary was only 200,000 yuan. Now, he got the Venetian Best Actress, his salary was up to 500,000 yuan, equivalent to 60,000 US dollars.

Xu Jinglei's pay is even lower, and it would be great if she could get 30,000 US dollars.

This is the price of mainland actors. In comparison, the pay of Xiangjiang actors is generally inflated, mainly because they are worth the price and whether they can bring actual benefits to the film.

"We invest the saved paychecks in film production and make the film more excellent." Lin Zixuan persuaded.

"The Xiangjiang film industry has rich experience in making martial arts films. They know how to make martial arts good. Moreover, there are martial arts stars in Xiangjiang and are well-known in Hollywood." Li An said carefully, "My idea is that since you want to make martial arts films, the team of Xiangjiang needs to join in. The salary you mentioned can be found in some Xiangjiang actors with low pay."

Li An still wants to use an actor who has an international appearance and can take on the role of the leading actor, that is, an international star.

He is making movies in Hollywood and is increasingly convinced of the role of big stars. Movies rely on appearances. The faces of ordinary actors cannot attract audiences. Only big stars can arouse the audience's excitement.

I have to say that this statement makes sense.

Audiences are often blind and irrational. Regardless of whether the film is good or bad, they only choose to watch movies with big stars participating.

Xiangjiang has a tradition of martial arts films, and has produced several generations of martial arts stars. If you find out those outdated martial arts stars to participate, the pay is not high and you can take the opportunity to promote it, this is acceptable.

"If this film wants to achieve good results in North America, it is necessary to find a capable Hollywood film company to cooperate with it. It must promote it in North America from the film preparation stage, so that it can have an effect. Without the cooperation of local film manufacturers, it will be difficult to open up the market." Li An said.

After receiving a call from Lin Zixuan, Li An was thinking about how to promote the project "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

These are two requirements he made, one is to have the participation of the team from Hong Kong, and the other is to have the franchise of Hollywood film manufacturers.

The team in Hong Kong can ensure the martial arts effect of the film, and Hollywood filmmakers know how to make a movie in North America.

In Hollywood, the promotion of a large-scale film will begin from the beginning of the project. Film companies will conduct market research, select the audience of the film, arrange various media activities, and promote it in communities and towns.

It can be said that promotion is as important as making movies.

Li An believes that as long as an agreement is reached on these two points, other shooting locations and actor choices can be discussed. (To be continued.)8
Chapter completed!