It has been in preparation for so long, and it has been five months since the filming of "Six Finger Piano Demon" was confirmed in October last year. Today, "Six Finger Piano Demon" officially started filming.

The opening ceremony was held at the Shaw Brothers Studio. After the ceremony, Cheng Xiaodong began to direct the crew to set up the scenery. The first thing to shoot was the scene where Lu Lin and Tan Yuehua met in the inn and all the forces competed for the Tianmo Qin.

"Is the release date in North America confirmed?"

Cai Zhiliang did not interfere with the director's filming. He stood aside and talked to Zhang Wanting about the release of "Autumn Fairy Tale" in North America.

Years later, Jiang Zhiqiang negotiated with many parties, transferred most of the interests, and finally decided on the release time of the film in North America.

"It will be released in the middle of next month, but there are only fifty theaters." Zhang Wanting smiled and nodded, but there was some regret in her words.

Cai Zhiliang said: "Hong Kong films are not adapted to the local environment in North America. It would be great if they could be screened in 50 theaters."

The audience for Hong Kong movies in North America is mainly Chinese. This time, "An Autumn Fairy Tale" was mainly shown in theaters around Chinese areas, or more precisely, mainly around New York's Chinatown.

Zhang Wanting herself is a returnee from studying in the United States, and she also knows something about this, and said: "Thanks to Mr. Jiang this time, otherwise, I don't know how long it would have been delayed. Do you want to go to the premiere of the movie in North America?"

"

"I won't go there." Cai Zhiliang shook his head. Even if he went there in person, it would be of no avail. He said: "I have to keep an eye on this movie until it is finished. Anle Pictures has already completed the translation of the script. We will review it together another day.

"

"Okay." Zhang Wanting was already very familiar with "Autumn Fairy Tale" from translation to dubbing, and asked: "Are you planning to release this martial arts movie in North America?"

"Yes, he is facing not just Chinese Americans, but all of North America." Cai Zhiliang nodded affirmatively and asked, "What do you think?"

Zhang Wanting smiled and shook her head, saying: "North American audiences like Bruce Lee's hard-hitting kung fu movies, like Stallone's "First Blood" series. The fighting scenes in such martial arts movies may be more elegant, but there is no market in North America.

."

Cai Zhiliang said: "The positioning of "Six Finger Piano Demon" does not necessarily have to be a kung fu film, it can be a science fiction film."

"Science fiction movie?" Zhang Wanting was stunned for a moment and said, "This is a good idea. I think "A Chinese Ghost Story" is more suitable."

Cai Zhiliang said: "You can also try it, but the fighting scenes in "A Chinese Ghost Story" are not exciting, and the Eastern and Western ways of thinking are very different. I think "The Six-Finger Piano Demon" is more suitable."

While the two were talking, the actors had already finished their makeup and started filming today. The film industry in Hong Kong is very mature, and Cheng Xiaodong is an experienced director. As long as the filming is completed according to the script, it will be done.

Perhaps it was because the camera had just been turned on and the actors had not yet entered the state, so it was not very smooth. I tried ng several times but could not solve the performance problem.

Cai Zhiliang stood aside and did not interfere. He carefully observed every detail of the filming process. This will be his important work for some time in the future. With the success of Cai's Pictures last year, any film he intends to participate in investment will be

He got the attention of the production company and turned him away. Fortunately, he has completed the accumulation of capital. In the future, most of the profits of Cai's Pictures will come from self-produced movies. What he needs to do is to compress it as much as possible

cost.

Until the end of the night, there was not much progress, so we had to continue filming the next day. For several days, Cai Zhiliang was on the set, supervising the progress of the filming and the expenditure of every expense.

At lunch that day, Cheng Xiaodong handed over a few storyboards. Cai Zhiliang glanced through them briefly, but he didn't quite understand and asked uncertainly: "Is this a special effects shot?"

Cheng Xiaodong explained: "Yes, this was Brand's suggestion. The original lens needs to be improved, otherwise it will be more troublesome in post-production."

Brand White was the special effects artist hired by Xu Ke from North America to be responsible for the special effects work of "A Chinese Ghost Story". He was invited by Cai Zhiliang to direct the special effects of "The Six-Fingered Piano Demon".

"According to what he said, how much budget needs to be increased?" The use of funds is the issue that Cai Zhiliang is most concerned about.

"Fifty thousand is not much." Cheng Xiaodong had obviously calculated accurately and given a relatively accurate budget.

Is it more than 50,000? It is indeed not much, but if many 50,000 are added up, it is a huge number. This is also the biggest problem Cai Zhiliang encounters these days. Most of the time it is overspending, and there is no time to save.

A considerable part of the reason is that Cai Zhiliang is not familiar with the business, even with Zhang Wanting assisting him.

Of course, part of the reason is that Cai Zhiliang wanted to strive for excellence and produce a classic work, so that the cost control was not ideal.

Now we are going to overspend again, what should we do?

Cai Zhiliang thought for a moment and said: "We will discuss whether to add special effects when shooting two sets of shots during post-production."

That's a bit ambiguous, and ultimately it all depends on the overall cost.

Cheng Xiaodong didn't say anything else. This was just a suggestion.

Cai Zhiliang then asked: "Has Brand read the script translated by Anle Pictures?"

Anle Pictures is very fast. In about a week, the translation work has been completed, and the dubbing can begin only after the film is finished.

"I've seen it." Cheng Xiaodong nodded and said, "Due to the special effects shooting, I have discussed the relevant content with him before."

Cai Zhiliang then asked: "Does he understand it from an American perspective?"

Compared with the experience of Hollywood blockbusters here, the experience of Hong Kong films in North America is even worse. Except for Bruce Lee who set off a craze for kung fu movies ten years ago, Hong Kong films have never made any waves in North America.

When it comes to opening up the North American market, among the film companies in Hong Kong, the most ambitious one is undoubtedly Golden Harvest. In the past ten years, Golden Harvest has invested hundreds of millions in funds and produced more than a dozen movies with the intention of opening up the North American market. By the way, Cheng Long was promoted to

To Hollywood.

However, successful movies are all Hollywood movies through and through, and it is difficult for Cheng Long to play in them, while pure Hong Kong movies still have no market in North America.

Cheng Xiaodong said: "Brand believes that the idea of ​​facial makeup in the movie is very good."

"Facialization?" Cai Zhiliang didn't react for a while.

Cheng Xiaodong explained: "It's just the appearance of the characters, like the Ghost Saint and the Fire Ancestor, one is white and the other is red, which is easy to distinguish. In the past, Hong Kong films were given a cold reception in North America. A large part of the reason was that North American audiences thought that Asians all had long hair.

A pair of similar faces makes it difficult to distinguish the relationship between the characters."

Cai Zhiliang then pulled out a script, which showed an unusually plump woman, and asked: "Is it like this look?"

Cheng Xiaodong said: "This is the shape of Heqinghua painted by Brand."

Just like Chinese people look at European and American people, when European and American audiences look at Chinese people, they also feel that they are printed in the same mold and cannot be distinguished.

Cheng Xiaodong continued: "The three female characters, Huang Xuemei's heroism, Tan Yuehua's agility, and He Qinghua's sexiness, each has its own merits."

"It's been a week since we started shooting. Do we have to scrap the films we shot before?" Cai Zhiliang felt a little sick thinking about this being another expense. Of course, he could also refuse.

Cheng Xiaodong obviously anticipated Cai Zhiliang's reaction and was well prepared, saying: "We only need to reshoot a few scenes in the later stage. The problem can be completely solved by editing in the later stage."

After all, Cai Zhiliang hesitated and did not reply immediately.

The biggest market for Hong Kong films is still Hong Kong, followed by Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and occasionally Japan and South Korea. They are all Asians, and there is no indistinguishable character phenomenon like in North America.

The local market is relatively small, so costs must be controlled, so special effects seem a bit outdated. Low-cost comedies are very popular in Hong Kong, and the audience has little demand for special effects. Unlike North America, which has been spoiled by special effects blockbusters such as "Star Wars"

.

Distributing the movie to North America is just an attempt, and it is far from the need to invest huge sums of money to cater to the North American market.

The profit, even just biting off a small piece, is enough for Cai Zhiliang to make a lot of money.

Cai Zhiliang is now very conflicted, falling into the embarrassing situation of wanting to get benefits but not wanting to pay. So in the afternoon, Cai Zhiliang left the crew and summoned Zhang Wanting and Zhao Shuo to discuss it in the company.

The two people have the same opinion. The character modeling can be coordinated, but the special effects are completely unnecessary. It should be filmed according to the original plan without increasing the cost. Compared with Shaw Brothers' martial arts movies two years ago, "The Six-Fingered Piano Demon" is already seriously

Overspending, even if Shaw Brothers helps distribute it in Southeast Asia, it is still unknown whether the cost can be recovered.

Zhao Shuo, in particular, believes that martial arts and kung fu movies have declined in Hong Kong, and this movie is just a test of the waters and not worth investing more capital in.
Chapter completed!