After sending Tong Liyu away, the work of Cheng Peng's new film was in full swing, and the main creators of the crew were convened to discuss the relevant work.

The name of the new film is "Invasion of Darkness", which tells the story of Chen Ran, a female surname who likes outdoor adventures and is also a member of the mountaineering club. During a trip, Chen Ran was in a car accident, and Chen Ran lost her husband and daughter, and has been in a trance.

In order to cheer her up, five friends from the mountaineering club, Zhu Zhu, Li Weiran, Zhao Xue, Zhao Fei and Su Su, invited Chen Ran to participate in an outdoor adventure, hoping to inspire her courage and make her cheer up again.

The destination of their expedition is a cave in Shennongjia, but they do not want to enter a cave that has never been explored. Soon after entering the cave, the cave collapsed and blocked the loop, so they had to continue on to find a way out.

However, in the depths of the cave lives a terrifying monster that has never been seen before, and they appear in front of the six girls, and a fight between man and monster begins.

There are special effects considerations for choosing this story, as well as story considerations, because cave adventures are available in many countries, not to mention anything else, Jin Yong's novels basically have a large number of cave adventures; And monsters also have common surnames, such as Shennongjia, China, where there are wild people, this story works all over the world, and there will be no strong cultural differences.

Cheng Peng originally wanted to put the story in Shennongjia, so that it could be associated with the legendary savage, and it was even more gimmicky, but after it was submitted for review, the review committee pointed out that there could be no real place names in the movie, and Shennongjia had to be removed, so Cheng Peng could only make up a new place name.

Wang Qinian spoke first: "Let me talk about my problem first, this film is a particularly big test for lighting, if it is an ordinary scene, the lighting is insufficient, we can first brighten the scene with lights, and then dim the light when the light is distributed in the later stage, ordinary night scenes are filmed like this, but many shots in this scene cannot be lit at all, such as this scene stuck in a narrow passage, you have to make a cave-like pipe, people are acting in the pipe, at this time you can't light, the camera has limited sensitivity, and the shooting effect will be very bad!" ”

Photographer Chen Shaoping agrees with this view: "I also have concerns about this, this drama can't be lit normally Many times, the cave can only rely on flares as a light source, and the light sensitivity is a big problem, and the picture will be relatively dark, and the effect will be very poor." ”

Cheng Peng nodded, Wang Qinian had already told him about this problem, and he had been thinking about it: "Lighting is indeed a big problem, and it may be problematic to shoot with a film camera, so I suggest that film be used for scenes outside the cave, and digital cameras for scenes inside the cave." ”

Chen Shaoping felt that Cheng Peng was a layman: "The digital camera picture lacks texture, the key is that the sensitivity of the digital camera is not stronger than that of the film camera, and there is no difference between the two, which is the same thing!" ”

Cheng Peng laughs: "A normal digital camera may not work, but I know there is a new machine that can do this." ”

Chen Shaoping was a little surprised, he, the photographer, didn't know that there was such a machine, Cheng Peng actually knew, a little skeptical: "What new machine?" ”

Cheng Peng said: "Thomson Grass Valley's ViperFilmStream camera can, this one uses a completely different method to record colors, especially orange, yellow and red, which is especially suitable for shooting night scenes, and even shooting things that are not visible to the human eye. ”

General Chen Shaoping asked suspiciously: "Is the effect of this machine really so good?" ”

Cheng Peng is very confident in this: "When Michael Mann and Tom Cruise were filming "Murder with a Knife" last year, they needed to shoot a lot of night scenes, because the 35mm camera could not capture the vivid night scenes, and he used Thomson Grass Valley's ViperfilmStream digital camera to shoot it, and there would be no mistake. ”

Michael Mann is a big director, Tom Cruise is a big star, since it is the machine they use, there will definitely be no mistake, Chen Shaoping nodded and said: "That's okay, but this kind of machine is definitely not available in China, we can't buy one!" ”

Cheng Peng explained with a smile: "In fact, this kind of camera is not particularly expensive, and it is relatively easy to get, Thomson is the company that jointly ventured with TCL last year, and is exploring the Chinese market. ”

Chen Shaoping said with a smile: "Great, let me play with the machine first, this advanced machine should be good if it is used to play candid photography!" ”

Everyone showed a look of contempt in their eyes, and gave him the word "**", of course, some people really despise it, and some people are thinking that it is not bad to wait for him to take a picture and borrow it.

Cheng Peng valued the special effects the most, so he set his eyes on Lian Kai: "Lian Kai, how are you over there?" ”

Lian Kai has always been relatively quiet, and when he heard Cheng Peng ask himself, he nodded with a smile and said: "It's very smooth, I invited eleven makeup artists from the United States, and recruited twenty-five college students from China to learn makeup and sculpture, and there must be no problem with makeup." The eight people who model will come over soon, but how to build the model, those scenes, and how to arrange them all need to communicate with you, and you must first make relevant images before you can model. ”

Cheng Peng knew that there were many things that had to be considered when modeling, such as how to place the camera, where the actors were standing, etc., otherwise there might be problems during filming, so he nodded and said, "I know, there are other problems." ”

Lian Kai said: "Monsters need professional actors, and the monster's mask must be made by the actors, the process is relatively long, it takes more than a month, and the actors' skills are better to be flexible." ”

Cheng Peng is more interested in the role of monsters, there are fewer roles in this movie, and if you want to show your face, you can only play a monster: "Okay, I remember, but it seems to be fun to play a monster, I just want to experience special effects makeup, I'll play one!" ”

Lian Kai couldn't help laughing: "Of course you can, but it's very hard, don't regret it when the time comes!" ”

Next, it came to the most important casting issue, and Cheng Peng first talked about his opinion: "The target of our film is the overseas market, and we must find an actress who has influence overseas." There are only three people who meet this requirement, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Yang Ziqiong, Yang Ziqiong and Gong Li are too old, and the only candidate is Zhang Ziyi. What do you guys think? ”

Zhang Meng agreed: "I think it's quite suitable, Zhang Ziyi looks more delicate, but there is a strength in her bones, in fact, Mou girls basically have this characteristic, they all have such energy." This is very close to the heroine, the heroine is weaker at first, but in the end she becomes a monster and a fierce woman, this force is particularly important, and this role can't come out without this strength. ”

Everyone else also agrees with this very much, Zhang Ziyi is indeed the most suitable candidate, she is set as the first choice for the heroine.

Cheng Peng continued: "I am going to choose Xu Jinglei for the second female lead, there are several considerations for choosing Xu Jinglei, first of all, Xu Jinglei is one of the four little flowers, if she plays opposite Zhang Ziyi, it will be more eye-catching; Secondly, Xu Jinglei has played the role of a junior, and she can grasp the mentality of the character; Third, Xu Jinglei looks more delicate, but she is actually quite strong, and she is thirty years old, and her image age is more appropriate! ”

Hearing Cheng Peng's third reason, everyone laughed, if Xu Jinglei heard someone describe herself as strong, she would probably vomit blood.

Wang Qinian objected: "I don't think Xu Jinglei is good, the contrast in temperament is too great, the character of Zhu Zhu is stubborn and bold, aggressive, with a kind of adventurous atmosphere of a wild surname, and attaches great importance to love and righteousness." belongs to a woman who is strong on the outside and gentle on the inside, which is just the opposite of Xu Jinglei. ”

Zhang Meng also has this opinion: "Zhu Zhu is rigid on the outside and soft on the inside, while Xu Jinglei looks too delicate on the outside, the contrast is really a bit big, and her acting skills are relatively mediocre, I'm afraid it will be difficult to act well." ”

Cheng Peng also thinks that what they said makes sense, if you only consider it from the role, Yu Nan who met at the Berlin Film Festival is a particularly good choice, he has a wild surname, and his acting skills are quite good, but Yu Nan's fame is too small to play any role in the promotion of the movie.

However, he did not give up Xu Jinglei's plan: "I think Xu Jinglei has a side with a surname, just because the roles she plays are more similar, which leaves us with this impression, I think she can try it, if not, change to someone else." For a few other roles, I don't have a particularly good candidate for the time being, so let's talk about your opinions! ”

Chen Shaoping said: "I think Li Binbin can play Li Weiran, Li Binbin is quite suitable." ”

Zhang Meng nodded and said: "I think it's okay, Li Weiran is full of the warmth of the surname Li, since she is also very calm in a sinister environment, and at the same time she is the kindest person, Li Binbin is in her thirties, more mature, and looks more gentle, so she is a good candidate." ”

Everyone else also felt that it was suitable, and Li Binbin was set as the first choice for the female No. 3.

Chen Shaoping, the ** photographer, naturally thinks that the more beauties, the better: "Since Li Binbin is here, simply call Fan Binbin too, and have a double ice competition, double ice plus two Hua Dan, this lineup is definitely eye-catching!" ”

Cheng Peng laughed: "Ou Rong brought together eight top French actresses from old, middle and young people to shoot "Eight Beauties", it seems that I have the opportunity to pay tribute to him and gather six of our Chinese actresses to shoot a "Six Beauties"!" ”

Wang Qinian nodded and said: "This is a very good idea, if there are six actresses co-starring, it will definitely be a sensation, no one in China can do this, we are the only one!" ”

Everyone else thinks this is a good idea, the more female stars, the better, a group of female stars are chased by monsters everywhere, and the scene of crazy screaming, as long as you think about it, the blood of the beast is boiling!

Zhao Linlin saw a few men mentioning beautiful women, and she was so excited that she forgot what her surname was, and poured a basin of cold water on it: "Everyone, have you considered the budget?" We invested 20 million in this film, but we have to take 10 million for special effects, that is to say, the cost for shooting and post-production is only 10 million, Zhang Ziyi's salary is 4 million, Xu Jinglei's salary is 1.2 million, both Binbin are 700,000, and the salary is 7 million, gentlemen, don't be hot-headed when you think of beauties, do you want to rely on this 3 million for filming and post-production? ”

Cheng Peng also felt that the budget was relatively tight, so he groaned for a while, and said: "The actor's salary must be compressed within 5 million." Linlin, we have increased our funds by another 2 million, just in case we need it. ”

Generally speaking, the actual funds prepared for the film are 10% more than the budget, and this part of the funds is used to deal with emergencies in the filming process, otherwise once the funds are insufficient, the filming of the film may come to a standstill, Cheng Peng's film budget is 20 million, but in fact, the funds prepared are 22 million, and now he is asking for an increase of 2 million, which means that the actual funds have reached 24 million.

Zhao Linlin nodded and said, "I know." However, the salary is only 5 million, and Zhang Ziyi alone will need 4 million, Zhang Ziyi must not be replaced, so he can only replace others. ”

Cheng Peng shook his head and said: "No, these people are very suitable, if possible, it is better to use them as much as possible." ”

Chen Shaoping said with a smile: "Linlin, don't forget that our Director Cheng is a big celebrity now, and he looks so handsome, as long as he goes out and doesn't say that he will reduce his salary, it is possible to let them take off their clothes!" ”

Cheng Peng rolled his eyes and said: "I'm not as ** as you, but seriously, I can only let them compress their salaries, they are smart people to the extent that they know the severity, and they won't just look at the little benefits in front of them, if they can't change people!" ”

Zhao Linlin said: "The salary of the four of them must be controlled within 4 million, we have other actors, and other staff, and it will definitely not work without one million." ”

Cheng Peng nodded and said: "Okay, I'll talk to them one by one, the other two characters, one is relatively young, the other is a college student, I found it in the film academy, if it is suitable, you can sign it, our company now only has Yaya as an artist, she went back to prepare for the college entrance examination, which means that there is no artist." ”

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