A great director who grew up happily

Chapter 499: Japan is the backyard of celebrities

The entire advertisement involves a cast of more than 500 people, which is more than the actors in an ordinary crew.

Condensing such a large and complex cast into just a few tens of seconds using three cameras in one shot was a disaster of scheduling.

Chen Jinnian took the cameramen and walked back and forth dozens of times in the building where the filming was taking place, ensuring that the three cameramen could set off at the same time and enter the center of the hall at the same time before the preparations were completed.

"We've identified six marked locations along the way before entering the hall. I'll give you reminders when filming. Please pay attention to the time in your headphones and confirm when you pass a marked point. If you're slow, walk faster. If you're too fast, slow down."

He called several cameramen together and gave them careful instructions.

It is impossible for actors to wear headphones, so the timing of the entire advertisement requires Chen Jinnian to control the actors' movement speed in disguise by directing the cameraman.

"Also, there's the final shot in the lobby. We've already rehearsed it in advance. As long as the three of you find the right positions and don't get each other in the shot, it'll be fine."

After Chen Jinnian finished his explanation, one of the cameramen looked worried.

"Boss, there's no problem with the camera. The key is the actual filming process. On the day of the filming, there will be many people on the scene. If there is a problem with just one person, the entire shoot will be ruined."

The one-shot shooting method is a bit too showy and will cause great trouble to the actual shooting.

For example, "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "Youth", and "Tom Yum Goong", as long as there are long shots, shooting is very tiring. Even a strong man like Tony Jaa showed obvious physical exhaustion when shooting the long shots that went down in film history.

The cameraman was very worried. If there were too many mistakes during the actual filming and repeated reshoots were needed, he didn't know if he had the physical strength to persevere.

"There's no other way, we can only take it slow. However, there will be rehearsals before the actual filming, and with the three-day filming period, there's still plenty of time."

Chen Jinnian's words made the cameramen feel a little relieved.

Just don't rush it like you would when shooting other commercials. The shooting period of a normal commercial rarely exceeds one day. Most of the shooting time is not even as long as the time it takes for a star to put on makeup. It only requires showing your face.

The only advertisement in China that was truly dedicated to its work was the Beauty in China series of advertisements led by CCTV, including Love in Langzhong, Love in Lijiang, Love in Jiangnan, Love in Caiyun, and so on.

The entire series of commercials was shot using the same standards as movies, so many viewers thought they were movie trailers after watching them on TV and didn't realize they were advertisements at all.

Pocari Sweat's advertising concept is the same now. Rather than spending a lot of effort on making an advertisement, it would be more accurate to say that they are making a sports promotional video.

After Chen Jinnian read the shooting script they handed over, he didn't see any place where the product appeared.

It’s true that the more effort you put into making an advertisement, the further it strays from the path of advertising.

Since the filming could not be completed in a short time, Chen Jinnian and Wang Yidi could only travel at public expense, strolling around the Ginza district of Tokyo and buying some gifts to take home.

I don’t know if it’s because everyone has free time after the New Year, or if Japan is just too small.

During the two days, he met many celebrities, mostly from Hong Kong and Taiwan. What made Chen Jinnian most happy was that he met Brother Xiao Qi while having dinner.

Brother Xiao Qi is undoubtedly a superstar.

You don't need to know how popular he was in the past. You just need to know that he played the roles of Yang Guo, Linghu Chong and Chu Liuxiang despite his not-so-outstanding looks in the entertainment industry. Then you will know how popular Brother Xiao Qi was back then.

Even today's top stars are just younger brothers in front of Brother Xiao Qi. As the person who personally ended the Four Heavenly Kings and was then buried by the peak Jay Chou, his value is self-evident.

When Chen Jinnian and Wang Yidi met other celebrities, they pretended not to see them and did not disturb their private lives, but when they met Brother Xiao Qi, they couldn't help but approach him and strike up a conversation.

The two have almost no influence in Hong Kong and Taiwan, so Brother Xiao Qi initially thought they were fans, chatted with them out of concern, and gave them an autographed photo.

After the assistant's whispered reminder, he realized that the two people in front of him were of great importance.

In recent years, Brother Xiao Qi tried to enter the film industry as a director himself, but soon found that he had no talent in directing, so he turned to join the Hong Kong film industry and developed in the Hong Kong circle for a long time.

Brother Xiao Qi has thought about returning to the mainland to develop his career, but his influence has been cut off and it is difficult for him to have deeper cooperation with mainland directors, so it is a very happy thing for him to meet Chen Jinnian by chance.

Several people chatted enthusiastically for a long time in a small restaurant in a foreign country. Finally, they left after exchanging contact information with each other.

Wang Yidi put away the autographed photos given by the other party's assistant, then took Chen Jinnian's arm and asked, "Do you have any plans to cooperate with Brother Xiao Qi?"

"Indeed." Chen Jinnian admitted that he had such thoughts. "Brother Xiao Qi has acting skills. You still remember the movie 'Wishing a Star' that we saw? That was his first movie as the male lead. The movie won the Best Picture Award at the Academy Awards the following year."

He then felt it was inappropriate and added: "Although it was the 2000 Hong Kong Film Awards and didn't have much value, it was still more reliable than our current Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards."

Chen Jinnian is not an award-only person and has no interest in today's awards, but to be honest, Brother Xiao Qi's acting skills are indeed good and not something that today's traffic actors can copy.

"Do you want to invite him to join the crew?" Wang Yidi knew that he had two more dramas planned this year, one of which was set in Taiwan. It was normal to invite Brother Xiao Qi, who was from Taiwan Province.

"I just had this thought."

Chen Jinnian brushed his long hair with his hands and said, "Let me grow my hair longer first. I have only decided on Nazha as the actress for now, and I haven't found anyone else yet."

He planned to give the role of Cheng Xiaomei to Nazha, as a way of repaying the favor he had done her some time ago.

"Why did you invite her?" Wang Yidi had some opinions after hearing Nazha's name. It was true that Nazha left a very bad impression on her before the last award ceremony.

"None of the roles in the drama are suitable for you. Don't worry, the female lead in the next drama will still be yours." Chen Jinnian put his arm around Wang Yidi's shoulders.

"That's not necessary. We've already done this on screen so many times that the audience is already tired of it."

Wang Yidi cares more about outside voices. He knows that many people are complaining about their couple and does not really want to act in it.

I was just a little jealous that my boyfriend was too close to other beautiful women.

"Nonsense! Brother Teng and Sister Li, Brother Bo and Xu Zheng, Principal Gu and Citizen Liu have all partnered up many times and are still working together." Chen Jinnian was dismissive of Wang Yidi's statement.

It is the majority who actually pay for votes, not a few opinion leaders who give advice every day. Who among the good people would listen to them?

"Oh, right." He suddenly remembered, "I remember Brother Bo is also in Japan."