Chapter 839 Beautiful Scenery in April (Part 1)

Huajing City in April is really a grand scene of spring.

Because of the different regions, Jiangnan has unique scenery in March.

Huajing in 1981 was far less stormy than in 2020, and still had the smell of clear water and blue sky.

Coupled with the atmosphere of an ancient capital here for thousands of years, walking in the majestic Forbidden City will give you a very wonderful feeling.

This feeling made Li Hanxiang very comfortable.

Standing in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he looked at the tall plaque and said with a smile: "What do you think we will get from this shooting?"

Li Hanxiang did not come here alone, there were seven or eight people around him.

There were several writers from the mainland, assistants from Xiangjiang, and two cultural officials.

From the end of November last year, after receiving a cash check of 10 million US dollars from Yin Jun, Li Hanxiang did not return to the mainland. Instead, he accepted the care arrangements of Liao Zhuxing, a master of traditional Chinese medicine around Yin Jun, and took good care of his body for two or three months. Then he returned to the mainland.

As soon as he returned to the mainland, another Chinese medicine practitioner hired by Yin Jun came to his side and was responsible for taking care of her body during the past few years of filming.

Li Hanxiang was deeply moved by Yin Jun's concern. He had never seen a boss care so much about his subordinates.

What's more, the relationship between him and Yin Jun is not a superior-subordinate relationship, it can only be regarded as cooperation at best.

Thinking about Yin Jun's words to him, asking him to take more care and make better and more outstanding movies, Li Hanxiang made up his mind and began to pay attention to maintenance and conditioning himself.

When Li Hanxiang was recuperating in Xiangjiang, it was not that he did nothing.

He has actively communicated with mainland cultural institutions and China Film Company through film companies such as Great Wall and Phoenix.

He also seriously discussed the plot of "The Legend of Cixi" he was going to film with several of his screenwriter friends.

For this reason, he specifically requested the leaders above to let these screenwriters go to museums and palaces where materials are stored to conduct further research and search for information, so as to be closer to historical facts when making movies.

There was no way, what Yin Jun told him before really frightened him.

Thinking that what Yin Jun knew was so different from what they knew, Li Hanxiang felt a little unbearable. He would not be reconciled until he could figure out who was right and who was wrong.

In this era, these cultural workers in the mainland are actually very responsible and serious.

After listening to Li Hanxiang's opinions, they all went into the historical materials museum without being urged by others to carefully read the history of the late Qing Dynasty, and then discussed and studied with each other.

The manuscript that was originally written has undergone many changes, and many paragraphs have even been deleted directly.

After more than two months of hard work, the drafts of the five parts were completed when Li Hanxiang came to the mainland, and the first part, "The Burning of Old Summer Palace", was completed.

Li Hanxiang took a dozen members of the film crew who usually followed him and set foot on the mainland again in early April.

Of course he didn't just come over and shoot "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", but he did the preliminary preparations first.

At this time in 1981, the mainland was very supportive of international-level directors like Li Hanxiang returning to the mainland to make historical dramas.

In fact, the degree of openness of Chinese films during this period was even higher than 40 years later. There were not many restrictions on subject matter, and history was restored to the maximum extent.

Li Hanxiang originally found a partner two years ago, which was Jichun Film Studio.

However, the production cost of up to 10 million yuan listed by Li Hanxiang directly scared Changying Studio away, which delayed a lot of time. Finally, he found Yin Juncai and got more surprises.

Now Li Hanxiang is completely on his own, cooperating with China Film Group in name only.

Of course, this time for the five-part "Ci Xi Biography", not only have all the manuscripts been approved by the cultural management unit, but they have also been supervised throughout the process, and mainland actors and production staff have been used as much as possible.

The assistants he brought were only responsible for the main planning, shooting, editing, etc., and more would be left to people from China Film to handle it - well, China Film also wanted to receive Li Hanxiang's salary.

Li Hanxiang is not stupid.

Before he came to the mainland, he had already revealed that he had brought 2 million US dollars to film "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", but the exchange rate in the mainland was too deceptive. He planned to change it into Hong Kong dollars first, and then talk about changing it into RMB.

This made the people at China Film Group feel itchy. They quickly contacted Li Hanxiang secretly and said that you don’t want to exchange Hong Kong dollars, but give it to us directly. Although we can’t give you a discount on the exchange rate, we will cover all your expenses in the mainland. It’s half price for you!

Li Hanxiang immediately agreed.

For example, the extras here originally cost 2 yuan a day, so he only had to pay China Film at the exchange rate of 1 yuan.

But remembering what Yin Jun said to him, Li Hanxiang also made a rule. He would watch China Film give the actors and staff the money - if I don't turn around, you would take out the show and take half of it. It's quite a lot. Nothing is lost to you, the loss is directly passed on to these people.

The people at China Film Academy couldn't laugh or cry.

They really have a discount, but it's not half price, but 70% to 80%.

In fact, this is already higher than the salary of these extras, actors and staff!

Since Li Hanxiang insists, they can only comply. After all, one movie is worth 2 million U.S. dollars, and five movies is worth 10 million U.S. dollars! Such a large amount of foreign exchange must be won for sure! There can’t be any mistakes!

Li Hanxiang is also very satisfied with this, which is equivalent to doubling the production funds.

When talking to Yin Jun last year, Yin Jun asked him to recuperate for a year before making a movie. Li Hanxiang felt that this time was too long and he couldn't do nothing.

If you use this time to do a good job in the preliminary work, and after seven or eight months of self-recuperation, your mental and physical conditions have adapted, and you have adjusted well with the crew, then you can start filming "The Burning of Old Summer Palace", that would be very good. of.

When I came to the Forbidden City today, he came just to check out the places.

Accompanying him were several of his old friends, including Su Chengshou, Shen Ji, and Yang Chunbin.

Faced with Li Hanxiang's soliloquy-like inquiry, Su Chengshou first replied: "I don't know how good it can be, but if we do it seriously, we can always leave something worth watching for future generations. This is the contribution of our generation of filmmakers.”

"Haha, I think that if so many elites come to work together this time, we will definitely be able to produce very good results." Shen Ji squinted and smiled, "If nothing else, we in the mainland currently have 6 million yuan to shoot a photo. A movie? How much does the salary count? We spend all the money wisely and try to restore the original appearance of that era, and we can do a good job."

Nowadays, filmmakers in mainland China are really paid to perform. No matter how many performances you perform or how much box office you get, it belongs to the film studio, not you.

At most, at the end of the year, your employer will tell you that it will give you dozens or hundreds of dollars more, or it will consider you more in various rations, and that will be excellent treatment.

As for extras, it's easier. They are usually found by various schools, not just Beijing Film, Chinese Opera, China Film and Television, etc., but also other unrelated universities.

As for the base of the largest number of extras, it is natural to find them in the Getting food money - you really don't need to pay for food. When people bring their own dry food, it will have to be when the economy is rich and their budget is sufficient.

"Let's not mention these things. Lao Tu, have you sent out the standards for the actors I want? How about it?" Li Hanxiang turned to ask another man in his forties.

This man is called Tu Pingsen, and he is the deputy director of China Film Studio. He is the person most directly responsible for the cooperation between China Film and Li Hanxiang. Basically, he is responsible for the overall arrangement of all the affairs of the crew in the mainland.

He had known Li Hanxiang five years ago. After several contacts, he had been helping contact and plan Li Hanxiang's visit to the mainland two years ago.

Although he was unsuccessful in the end, Li Hanxiang felt that Tu Pingsen was down-to-earth and not slick, so he asked him by name this time to come and help him.

Tu Pingsen was naturally very happy to be named by an internationally renowned director like Li Hanxiang.

At the same time, he also knew that this was a rare opportunity for him.

If he can complete these five masterpieces, he will have enough qualifications both as a director and in a position.

Therefore, Tu Pingsen started busy before the Chinese New Year. On the one hand, he actively contacted Li Hanxiang, and on the other hand, he traveled around the country to find the talents Li Hanxiang needed.

"Well, I've made an agreement with them. They will live in our factory during this period, and you can interview them when you come over." Tupinson said unequivocally, "If it doesn't work, I will look for them again immediately. "

"They are all here?" Li Hanxiang said in surprise, "They are here so early, and my crew can't open for a while!"

"If they can't open it, let them learn while waiting." Tu Pingsen said, "Now they are actually reading a lot of historical information about Cixi, and they are acting in such a series of movies. They don't know the ins and outs of it, so what is it like? talk?"

Li Hanxiang broke into sweat after hearing this.

Doesn't this embarrass me?

The actors in Xiangjiang and Baodao only read scripts, so where do they have time to read historical books and information?

However, the hard work of these spare actors made Li Hanxiang very happy.

What director doesn’t want his actors to be professional?