"Cold" is an art-biased movie, which was already agreed upon when Xu Wangqiu and Truffaut made an appointment to shoot this theme. However, this does not mean that "Cold" is a small-budget movie. In fact, the investment of "Cold" is 10 million Hong Kong dollars, which is higher than the cost of many commercial films.

There are many big scenes in the movie "Cold", such as the opening scene of the movie is the June Seven riots, there are Xiangjiang citizens holding red books to the Hong Kong Governor's Mansion to protest, and the scenes of Xiangjiang citizens clashing with the police; These scenes require the use of a large number of extras and the production of a large number of costumes, so the production cost of the film is quite high.

Xia Meng's "Running to the Angry Sea" is a very good movie, but because the subject matter is relatively sensitive, it failed to pass the censorship and failed to meet the mainland audience. "Cold" is more sensitive than "Running to the Angry Sea", and the content is more violent and bloody, and it is unlikely to pass censorship, and the possibility of being released in China is almost zero.

Since they could not enter the mainland market, they could only hope for Hong Kong and overseas markets. For Xia Meng, there is still some pressure. Therefore, the publicity work of "Cold" is very important. In order to attract attention from the beginning, Xia Meng specially held a launching ceremony for "Cold" and invited the media to attend.

When the time pointed to nine o'clock in the morning, Xu Wangqiu, Xia Meng and the main creator of the movie appeared on the scene. Xia Meng as a filmmaker, Xu Wangqiu as a director, and Jiang David and Wang Mingquan as the male and female protagonists took the rostrum. Xu Wangqiu and Xia Meng stood in the middle, and Jiang David and Wang Mingquan stood on both sides. Behind them hung a big red banner that read: "The movie "Cold" is on the ground."

Seeing the appearance of the main creators, the reporters at the scene immediately picked up their cameras and took photos of them.

The master of ceremonies stood in the center of the stage and introduced the media and guests present: "Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, thank you for coming to the opening ceremony of the movie "Cold" filmed by Jade Bird. "Cold" is directed by the famous director Xu Wangqiu, who just won the Golden Bear Award in West Berlin this year, and co-written by Xu Wangqiu and Qiu Gangjian, the screenwriter of "Running to the Angry Sea", which mainly tells the story of the policeman Zheng Yi who uncovers the truth about the murder of his parents 30 years ago and triggers a series of conflicts. ”

Speaking of this, the master of ceremonies raised his voice and said, "Next, I would like to invite Ms. Xia Meng, the film producer and general manager of Jade Bird Company, to speak. ”

There was warm applause at the scene, and Liu Jialing applauded the hardest among everyone.

Liu Jialing's experience is a bit similar to Xia Meng's, both came to Xiangjiang from the mainland in their teens, and both joined Zuopai Film Company, so she regards Xia Meng as an idol and hopes to become a filmmaker like Xia Meng.

Xia Meng took the microphone handed by the staff and said with a smile: "Thank you to the leaders of Yindu and media friends for your support." It's the height of summer, and my heart is also on fire at this time. Here, on behalf of Jade Bird Company, the producer of the movie "Cold", I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the leaders and friends who have come here!

"Cold" is our third film and the first film shot by Wangqiu in Xiangjiang, and we are all looking forward to it. "Cold" is a film about the past of Xiangjiang and the future of Xiangjiang. The launch of "Cold" is a happy event for Hong Kong Films, and it is also a major event for our Jade Bird Company. As a filmmaker, I have the responsibility and obligation to join hands with more film artists to make more and better films, and make a modest contribution to the reunification of the motherland and the prosperity of the Chinese film industry.

The crew of "Cold" is led by director Xu Wangqiu, and it is a young team with superb art and excellent level. I am convinced that with the joint efforts of everyone, the film "Cold" will definitely be made into a high-level art film. Finally, I wish the movie "Cold" a good start and a complete success in filming! Thank you!"

After Xia Meng finished speaking, the audience burst into warm applause.

The master of ceremonies smiled and said, "Next, I would like to invite the film director Mr. Xu Wangqiu to speak." ”

Xu Wangqiu looked at the guests present, although "Cold" is a movie invested by Jade Bird, and Yindu did not participate, but Yindu still regards this movie as his own movie, and the senior management of Yindu came. Xu Wangqiu looked at the actors on the scene again, Liang Chaowei, Zhou Xingchi, Liu Jialing, they all came, all of them were beaming, their eyes were shining.

Xu Wangqiu took a breath lightly and said, "Leaders, guests, and media friends, good morning. You may not know that it has been two years since the movie "Cold" was conceived and officially launched today. The idea for this story came from an agreement I made with Truffaut and Polanski. Two years ago in Cannes, I went to the screening with the film "Falcon", met Truffaut and them, and we talked quite speculatively. At that time, someone came up with a particularly interesting idea, each of us has our own style, we all have our own ideas, why not come up with a theme, we can make a movie with this theme? See who makes it better, who makes it more interesting. At that time, I conceived the outline of the story "Cold" based on the theme they chose. ”

The media here were stunned when they heard this, no one expected that the movie "Cold" would have such a background, it turned out to be a movie that Truffaut and they agreed to make. Almost all reporters couldn't help but think to themselves, Xu Wangqiu is really not an ordinary person!

The actors and staff present were also stunned, even David Jiang and Wang Mingquan. Their eyes lit up one by one, as if they had seen a rare treasure, and they felt honored to be part of such a movie.

Xu Wangqiu smiled and said: "Later, I went to Xiangjiang to promote "Falcon", and Sister Xia Meng said to me, Wangqiu, you can help me make a movie." I suddenly realized that the story "Cold" was very suitable in Xiangjiang, so I agreed to Sister Xia Meng's invitation. Since I don't know much about Xiangjiang society, I can't write about the details of Xiangjiang society. Sister Xia Meng found Qiu Gangjian, the screenwriter of "Running to the Angry Sea", and made drastic changes to the script, which led to the current "Cold".

I love the story of "Cold", I think it's the best script I've ever written in the film, and I believe that if this film is made, it will be a masterpiece. However, movies are the product of collective creation, and in order to make a first-class movie, there must be first-class screenwriters, first-class cinematography, first-class actors, etc., in short, every link must be first-class.

It was my first time filming in Hong Kong, and it was the first time I had worked with most of the crew, including the venue staff and actors. But I believe in your abilities, and I believe that you are the best. I am very happy to work with all of you, and I hope you will work hard with me to make this film a good one. I believe that in a few months, when the movie is officially released, when you see this movie, you will definitely be proud and proud because you participated in a great movie. That's all I have to say, thank you. ”

After Xu Wangqiu finished speaking, the next step was the boot ceremony.

In the Chinese film industry in later generations, whenever a new film starts shooting, there must be a start-up ceremony, and it is necessary to choose a good day and an auspicious day to carry out the start-up worship ceremony. Generally speaking, at the opening ceremony, the table used for worship is covered with red velvet cloth, and the table is dedicated to Emperor Guan, flanked by incense burners and roast suckling pig and delicious fruits. Usually, the camera is covered with a red cloth, and then the main creator of the crew worships God in turn, and finally lifts the red cloth of the machine to announce the start-up.

This set of procedures was brought to the mainland by Hong Kong filmmakers, and it first came from the fear of "scribing". The so-called "scribing" refers to the early days of film, when the film in the camera was accidentally scratched by the parts inside during shooting. If "scribing" occurs, it will cause immeasurable losses to the crew, but the machine scribing is unpredictable and difficult to prevent - the only thing that can be done is to cover the camera with a red cloth to "suppress evil". At the same time, the crew will also carry out worship ceremonies, and the gods worshipped are not of high level, probably Master Guan, Wong Tai Sin and the like.

Xia Meng is a filmmaker of the Zuo School, many of whom went to the mainland to receive revolutionary education, and they are all staunch materialists, who do not believe in ghosts and gods at all, and in their opinion, worshipping God is to engage in feudal superstition. In the past, Changfengxin's movies were launched, and there was no start-up worship ceremony, not even a start-up ceremony, and they all started filming directly with preparations.

In the past two years, Zuopai filmmakers have also begun to pay attention to the market, began to pay attention to film publicity, and also started the opening ceremony, after all, there will be a large number of media present at the opening ceremony, which is a good publicity. However, they only engage in boot ceremonies, not worship ceremonies.

Under everyone's attention, Xu Wangqiu and Xia Meng came to the camera, grabbed a corner of the red cloth, and then gently lifted it, revealing the Alai camera inside.

The red cloth was unveiled, and the boot-up ceremony was over. The leaders of Yindu and Liang Chaowei all went back to the company, the crew was led by producer Yang Zhiguo to prepare for the next shooting, and Xu Wangqiu and the four of them got down from the rostrum and began to be interviewed by the media.

Whether it is pro-mainland media, pro-Taiwan media, or neutral media, they are undoubtedly most interested in Xu Wangqiu, not Xia Meng, Jiang Dawei and Wang Mingquan. After all, there are many opportunities to interview Xia Meng, but there are very few opportunities to interview Xu Wangqiu. Moreover, Xu Wangqiu himself is famous enough, and he often makes big news, so the media present directly ignored others and threw questions to Xu Wangqiu.

However, the Xiangjiang media all know that Xu Wangqiu is not easy to mess with, he is the kind of master who dares to make you unable to get off the stage if you dare to target him, and he doesn't dare to ask any out-of-the-ordinary questions. The atmosphere of the whole interview was relatively relaxed, and it ended in laughter.

After the media interview, Xu Wangqiu immediately came to the shooting site to prepare for the next shooting. The crew members are all old men of Changfengxin, who have been in the film for many years, and they are all very professional; with Yang Zhiguo, the producer who is busy before and after the production, Xu Wangqiu doesn't need to worry about it at all, he only needs to arrange the actors' positions, and give the actors a lecture.

Today's shooting is to shoot the young Zheng Yi and shoot him going home with his parents. Zheng Yi's parents love him very much, and Zheng Yi is also a very sensible child. This was originally a very perfect family, but the next tragedy ruined the family and completely changed Zheng Yi's life. Zheng Yi didn't have much content when he was a child, but it was very important.

Half an hour later, the assistant director came over to inform Xu Wangqiu that all the preparations were done and filming could officially start. Everyone in the crew stared at Xu Wangqiu, waiting for him to give an order.

Xu Wangqiu picked up the horn and said with a smile: "Each group prepares." Let's start shooting!"

The scene began to be cleared, and people unrelated to filming exited the filming area.

Xu Wangqiu took a deep breath and began to give instructions to the various groups. After receiving the instructions, each team immediately entered the relevant process, starting the tape recorder, starting the camera, and playing the slate board...... After the extras began to move around, Xu Wangqiu shouted the last command: "Go!"