"Knock on the Door of Heaven" and "Riding the Wind and Waves" have certain commonalities and are full of literary atmosphere.

A director with such temperament around the world is Woody Allen.

However, Xiaobai definitely doesn’t want to be Woody Allen!

Although the movie "The Old Man" has a bad audience, it is still a niche in the final analysis.

So far, his most popular work is "Midnight Paris", which has a box office of over 40 million US dollars...

As for the best "Ferris Wheel" that is considered by a group of intellectuals in 2017, it is even worse, with a box office of less than 16 million US dollars...

Art films are niches all over the world, and this is the premise.

It is impossible for Xiaobai to make a niche movie!

"Ride the Wind and Waves" won 1.8 billion yuan in box office. Are you surprised by this result?"

Xiaobai thought for a while and replied: "... Fortunately, when he knew this result, he was too surprised. On the first day of the release, the box office was 140 million, which was enough to surprise me. I can only say that the market is becoming more and more prosperous now!"

"I heard that "Ride the Wind and Waves" is an episode?"

"Yes, this year's plan does not have this movie. I only prepared a TV series and the preparation for "The God of Medicine". However, something happened in the middle. In addition, the preparation period for "The God of Medicine" is quite long, so I simply spent this time filming "Riding the Wind and Waves"!"

"The God of Medicine?"

"Yes, this is a project that Senior Brother Ning Hao asked me to do. I read the script and it was very good, so I decided to direct it."

"…You just said that the preparation period is very long. What does it mean? Isn't "The God of Medicine" a realistic movie?"

Fang Cunliang keenly grasped the "loopholes" in the vernacular and raised questions.

“…The subject matter reason, it’s very difficult to pass the script…”

Xiaobai didn't want to talk much about this: "Generally speaking, a director will prepare two or three movies at the same time, and then choose the most mature one to shoot. After filming "Knocking on the Gate of Heaven", the projects I have in my hands include "Wulin Waizai" and two other projects, and "Riding the Wind and Waves" belongs to one of them."

“So how long has this project been prepared?”

"From the prototype of the script to the smallest group building, the preparation time is about three months. Then we spent two and a half months to three months shooting. If we included the AB group division mode of shooting empty mirrors and car scenes, the actual shooting time is about 90 working days, which is considered a relatively long time among domestic movies. But we left the time for the later stage very short, and the later stage is pre-set!"

"That is to say, the entire cycle is less than half a year?"

“…Yes, it’s not been half a year!”

Regarding "Riding the Wind and Waves", Fang Cunliang seems to understand Bai Xiaofei's mental journey...

So, he changed the question: "I guess two years ago, have you changed anything?"

Xiaobai thought carefully for a few seconds and replied: "...For me, there is not much change. The thing I am most interested in is creation itself. During a period of time, new stories and images were created, and the actors gave these characters the most vivid life. Hundreds of people in the crew fought side by side for this work and finally presented them to everyone. This is the most interesting thing. To talk about changes, it should be the industry's view of me."

"Before, when filming "Knocking on the Door of Heaven", it was very difficult to invest. Fortunately, my uncle invested 20 million yuan. After the budget was made, the company made the funding without saying a word, and even overspending in the end, so it did not ask much, indicating that everyone still has some confidence in my movie!"

“Yes, the industry’s pursuit of successful people is born.”

"The most important thing is that my movie cost is not high. It is enough to have an 80 million budget. There is a high possibility of recovering costs through the box office..."

He picked up the coffee and took a sip.

“…I’m curious, where did your accumulation of movies come from?”

"I think the most important thing about movies is stories and pictures. I am very good at telling stories. Picture scheduling depends on personal aesthetics. In fact, I want to learn photography now. It is actually very simple to get started. Although this kind of thing will attract the enthusiasm of many photographers, it is the fact that, especially in the digital age, through observation of a person and aesthetic perception of a person, everyone can take photos."

"You need to show off and remember two points, with a large aperture and a black and white. Just like when I took photos of actors in "Knocking on the Gate of Heaven", it is really basic, but the effect is good."

"You just told the story is important to the movie?"

"Of course, the movie itself is a continuation of the story. This is the most basic thing. For any movie that promotes the screen, special effects or feelings before it is released, I'm sorry, in the industry, this is a movie that is not well told. Sometimes I really don't understand some of our colleagues. You can't even tell a complete story. Why are you in a hurry to smash the special effects?"

"But many people think that special effects are the direction of the future..."

"Most of the people who say this are beginners. The movie is basically a story. This is innate. Otherwise, no matter how powerful the special effects are, it will be useless!"

...

After talking for a long time, both of them were a little hungry, so they ordered some food and chatted casually.

The topic naturally turned to IP.

All year last year, the IP movie that was originally tried and tested suddenly stopped working...

"Why don't those investors want to make good movies? So many good IPs have become powerful tools for making money..."

"It's normal. Please ask some young and handsome guys to add IP. No matter what you shoot, you can still fool a bunch of tragic fans into buying it. If that's the case, why do you still need to take good photos?"

"But, if this continues, it will be detrimental to Chinese films!"

"Don't worry, it will definitely bottom out and rebound in the second half of this year. Audiences like to read masterpieces, so those investors will naturally rush to make some good movies!"

He said while chewing the sandwich.

The sandwiches in this coffee shop are very good, and Xiaobai has been here often before.

“…Why is the second half of the year?”

"Because the movies in the first half of the year were all made last year, alas, I just hope that the audience will not lose confidence in domestic movies!"

Xiaobai suddenly smiled: "I want to make a bet with you now. In two years, at most three years, no one will tell you the word IP. IP will become a joke in the Chinese language and film industry in China, and will remain in the contemporary Chinese film history!"

“…”

Fang Cunliang refused to comment.

"I really can't understand a little bit. How could you go film "The God of Medicine"? Are you going to give up comedy?"

"…How is it possible? "The God of Medicine" was really an accident. Didn't I say that, I didn't want to film it at the beginning. I decided to take it after reading the script. The two subsequent dramas are all pure comedy!"

"Pure comedy? Have you finally decided to do pure comedy? What's the name?"
Chapter completed!