sovbooks Chapter 94 Fat Ice's Desperate Efforts
Chapter 94 Fat Ice's Desperate Efforts
Chapter 93 Fat Ice's Desperate Efforts
"How come you had time to come over?"
"I just came to see you!"
Yang Mi watched curiously as Zhang Ziyi and Andy Lau rehearsed their scenes. Her gaze towards Zhang Ziyi was filled with envy; after all, Zhang Ziyi was the leading lady of the movie.
She herself is still playing supporting roles in TV dramas, while others are playing leading roles in movies and earning tens of millions of yuan for a single film.
Zhang Jun noticed Yang Mi's gaze: "Envious?"
"Um!"
Yang Mi honestly admitted, "Tell me, when can I be like her?"
Zhang Jun said, "Impossible. She won't have that kind of opportunity again. The next era will be one of great development for the country."
My suggestion is to explore the domestic market thoroughly first before considering anything else.
You can work on both TV dramas and movies; trust me, you'll have a bright future.
Yang Mi looked intently at Zhang Jun: "If I want to act in movies, what suggestions do you have?"
"Just a suggestion!"
Zhang Jun, resting his chin on his hand, said, "Study hard and hone your acting skills. Movies are different from television; everything is clearly visible on the big screen. You can't rely on just good looks and a great figure."
Yang Mi was taken aback, thinking: Is he praising my beauty and figure?
To be honest, Yang Mi was secretly a little pleased.
"Oh, right."
Zhang Jun added, "Hong Kong films have declined; the future of the film market belongs to the mainland. Don't bother going to Hong Kong anymore; those days are over."
"What do you mean?" Yang Mi asked, puzzled.
Zhang Jun didn't explain, but instead took advantage of his tendency to take advantage of others.
"Would you be interested in a cameo role?"
Yang Mi's attention was immediately diverted: "Of course I'm interested."
So Yang Mi was pulled into playing a small role with only two or three lines and a little over a minute of screen time.
Even so, Yang Mi was happy enough.
Before leaving, Yang Mi boldly kissed Zhang Jun on the cheek as a way of thanking him.
While Zhang Jun was still savoring the moment, her voice drifted through the air.
"Zhang Jun, I want to be your friend."
Zhang Jun raised an eyebrow. It seemed that his lack of initiative had pushed the other party to their limit, forcing them to take action themselves. There was no way around it; his charm was too great, and quite a few people wanted to be his friend.
Yang Mi is neither the first nor the last.
After the Lunar New Year, "Sherlock on the Plains" officially ended its theatrical run, but failed to break the 50 million yuan box office mark before it was taken off the screens, ultimately settling at 4938 million yuan.
This income will be approximately 4.1 million after deducting 5% for the film special fund and 3.3% for business tax.
This leaves 4528 million. The theaters take another 2580 million from this, leaving the production company with 1948 million.
Million.
As the distributor, China Film Group Corporation (CFGC) took a 10% cut of the distribution agency fee and the cost of agency publicity and distribution, which amounted to approximately 495 million yuan.
So the production company was left with only 1453 million.
Guanzhi Pictures, Benshan Media, and Zhang Jun's personal director studio invested equally, and each investor can receive a share of the money, which is a little over 479 million yuan.
Compared to the investment of one million each, the return on this share is not very high; the majority of the profits are taken by the distributors and cinemas.
This is an irregular phenomenon in the Chinese film market. As content producers, film studios invest a lot of money in production, but they don't earn as much as theaters.
This is one of the reasons why many ambitious large companies adopt a three-pronged strategy, controlling all aspects from production and distribution to theaters.
However, this also makes it extremely easy for monopolistic practices to emerge, as exemplified by Maoyan, which later became a monopoly.
In an era when the industry is booming, everyone is making money, and naturally, few people object. But when the industry begins to decline, the drawbacks of monopoly become apparent.
During his conversation with He Xuan, Zhang Jun clearly pointed out that Guanzhi Pictures would definitely be responsible for its own distribution business in the future.
We can't negotiate with the theaters, but we must at least keep the money from distribution in our own hands.
Moreover, Chengxin Group itself is operating a cinema chain. During its golden development period of more than a decade, Zhang Jun's films do not have to worry about being squeezed out of screenings and resources by cinema chains.
As for other matters, let the higher-ups worry about them!
"Sherlock on the Plains" ranked eleventh in the 2005 mainland Chinese film market box office chart, following "A Chinese Tall Story" and preceding "Seoul Raiders".
The champion is undoubtedly Chen Gezi's "The Promise". Despite receiving widespread negative reviews, the film still grossed 1.75 million yuan, making it one of only two films to gross over 100 million yuan last year.
Second is the Hollywood film "King Kong," which barely surpassed 100 million at the box office. It seems the "beauty and the beast" formula is indeed quite novel, and audiences love it.
The third is Jackie Chan's "The Myth," which grossed 9700 million, which is not bad.
Fourth is another film directed by Zhang Jun, "About Time," which grossed 9510 million yuan.
If the success of "Little Miss Sunshine" brought Zhang Jun to the public's attention for the first time, then the success of "About Time" propelled Zhang Jun into the ranks of top-tier directors.
Although he can't compare to veteran directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Gezi in terms of fame, his commercial achievements have already attracted attention both inside and outside the industry.
At the beginning of the year, a magazine listed him as the second most anticipated new generation director, second only to Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan was able to surpass him because Lu Chuan had won too many awards, but Zhang Jun's business achievements were far superior to Lu Chuan's.
However, Lu Chuan was not convinced by Zhang Jun's commercial achievements. He was preparing a film with the support of China Film Group and planned to make a story about a special historical period.
When interviewed by the media, Lu Chuan made outrageous remarks, saying that he wanted to make a Chinese version of "Schindler's List".
Fan Bingbing showed this interview to Zhang Jun, who immediately laughed.
"Next time you see Lu Chuan, you can ask him if he knows what happened to Schindler."
Fan Bingbing asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"Just look it up yourself."
Zhang Jun snorted, "This outcome is anything but ordinary!"
Last year, the total box office revenue of the mainland film market exceeded 22 billion yuan, a significant increase compared to the previous year. Zhang Jun knew that what followed was an era of continuous growth.
How big a slice of the pie Zhang Jun can snatch from this carnival feast depends on his personal abilities and skills.
Filming for "Reign of Assassins" is still ongoing, and all the actors are working very hard. The pairing of Zhang Ziyi and Andy Lau has created a fantastic chemistry.
However, it's worth mentioning Fan Bingbing's performance; she worked incredibly hard, which seems to be typical of actresses from the early 2000s.
Knowing that the opportunity was rare, they all cherished it and worked very hard.
The filming location is outside the mass grave on the outskirts of Hengdian.
The soil was freshly turned, and in the early spring weather, it had a raw, fishy smell.
The props team dug a pit chest-deep, surrounded by damp soil. A surveillance camera was set up about three meters away, and Zhang Jun, wearing his signature trench coat, squatted by the pit.
He grabbed a handful of soil, rubbed it between his fingers, and frowned. "Isn't this soil too wet? It's too compacted to breathe."
It rained a little last night.
The on-set producer came over to explain, "How about we use dry soil instead? We can bring two truckloads over; it'll only take half an hour."
"Need not."
The speaker was Fan Pangbing. She walked over wearing a light green gauze dress, the hem of which swept across the wet ground and was already covered in mud.
She peered into the pit, her expression calm: "Wet soil is good; it makes the texture look realistic in photos. Even a thin layer can give a sense of weight."
Zhang Jun stood up and patted the dirt off his hands: "Have you thought this through? This scene originally only required Teacher Wang to do a few burying actions, and the camera would just cut to a close-up of your face."
There's no need to bury it that tightly.
"If you're going to bury someone, bury them alive."
Fan Bingbing spoke frankly, then turned to ask the makeup artist.
"Is my makeup for injuries staying put? I don't want it to smudge and come off in a minute."
"Specially made, waterproof."
The makeup artist gave an OK sign: "But Sister Qing, are you really going to bury your head in the rubble? It's a bit dangerous—"
Who is Ye Zhanqing?
Fan Pangbing countered with a strange sense of excitement in his voice.
"She's insane, she's not afraid of death, she might even enjoy the suffocation."
If it's just burying her face in the dirt, the intensity in her eyes won't come through. She has to be truly covered in dirt, truly unable to breathe, to convey that feeling of "dying yet still smiling" on camera.
Her eyes lit up as she said this, causing several staff members around her to exchange glances; she was getting a little too into character.
Wang Xueqi arrived at this moment, dressed in the black robe of the Wheel King and wearing the specially made mask on his face.
He glanced at the pit, then at Fan Bingbing: "Girl, are you really coming?"
"Teacher King of Reincarnation, please don't hold back later."
Fan Bingbing laughed and said, "Just play it with the ruthlessness the character should have. King Yama has already gone mad at this point."
He buried Ye Zhanqing not to kill, but to vent his anger and destroy a disobedient work.
Zhang Jun stared at Fan Bingbing for a few seconds, then finally nodded: "Okay, security team!"
Several safety officers immediately stepped forward.
Listen carefully.
Zhang Jun spoke quickly: "First, the thickness of the soil should be controlled at three to five centimeters. I want that feeling of 'covering' it up, not actually burying someone alive."
Second, the burying time should be controlled within ten seconds. I shouted "Stop!" and immediately started digging.
Third, prepare three sets of cleaning equipment: clean water, towels, and straws, so that the actors' mouths and noses can be cleaned immediately as soon as they come out.
clear?"
"clear!"
"Actors in position."
Fan Bingbing lay down in the pit.
Staff placed a specially made soft cushion behind her head and slightly raised her head as a safety measure.
In case of suffocation, it can ensure that the airway is not completely blocked.
After she lay down, she closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing. A few seconds later, she opened them again, and her eyes had changed.
It wasn't fear or resistance, but rather an almost fanatical anticipation, as if what was about to happen wasn't suffocation, but some kind of ultimate experience.
Wang Xueqi stood at the edge of the pit and picked up the first handful of soil.
Zhang Jun sat behind the monitor, holding his breath. The camera zoomed in, giving Fan Bingbing a close-up of her face.
"Scene 97, Shot 3 of 'Reign of Assassins,' Action!"
Wang Xueqi suddenly raised his hand, and wet soil came crashing down on him.
The first handful of soil was placed on Fan Bingbing's chest, instantly turning her gauze skirt a dark brown; the second handful was placed on her lower abdomen.
Wang Xueqi's movements became faster and more ruthless; the handful of soil in his hands didn't seem like mud, but rather like a tool for venting anger.
Fan Pangbing remained motionless in the pit, her eyes wide open, staring straight at the falling soil above, a strange smile even playing on her lips.
The third and fourth times—the soil reached the collarbone and then the chin.
Wang Xueqi got into character, or rather, Fan Bingbing's gaze provoked him. He grabbed a handful of damp soil and, without hesitation, smeared it on her face.
"puff-
—
With a dull thud, the dirt was firmly smeared all over Fan Pangbing's face.
On the monitor, that beautiful face was instantly covered by dark brown, damp soil. Eyes, nose, mouth—all gone.
All that remained was a patch of uneven soil.
But Zhang Jun did not call a halt.
Because in the close-up shot he saw that in the frame before the body was covered by soil, Fan Bingbing's eyes erupted with an extreme frenzy.
It wasn't fear, it wasn't pain, but a kind of euphoria that "it's finally here."
Three or five seconds passed!
Fan Pangbing in the pit began to convulse instinctively. The damp soil had completely blocked his mouth and nose, and the tiny gaps were not enough for him to breathe.
"Stop! Recruit people!" Zhang Jun suddenly stood up.
Several safety officers practically pounced on him, frantically digging the dirt off Fan Pangbing's face with their hands. Wang Xueqi also reacted quickly and squatted down to help.
The soil was dug up, revealing Fan Bingbing's face.
It was covered in mud, its eyes were tightly closed, and its mouth was open as it gasped for breath, but it couldn't inhale much air because its nasal cavity was also filled with mud.
"Straw! Water!"
An assistant rushed over and carefully inserted a specially made thin tube into her nostrils to gently suck out the clogging mud.
Another person rinsed her eyes and mouth with clean water.
Fan Pangbing coughed violently, each cough bringing up muddy water.
She tried to sit up, but the soil on her body was too heavy, so two stagehands quickly helped her out of the pit.
"Cough cough ————·————"
She was panting like a broken bellows, her makeup was completely ruined and mixed with muddy water, making her look extremely disheveled.
But her eyes were frighteningly bright.
Zhang Jun strode over and squatted down in front of her: "How are you? Should we call for medical help?"
Fan Pangbing waved his hand, coughed a few times, and then squeezed out a voice: "No—it's nothing, just now—that feeling was right."
Her voice was hoarse, but her tone was excited: "When the soil came up, I really couldn't see or hear anything, and I couldn't breathe—"
In that instant, I felt as if I had truly become Ye.
She didn't care about dying; she just thought it was fun.
Zhang Jun stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly laughed: "You're crazy."
"The director taught me that."
Fan Bingbing also smiled, revealing a set of teeth stained brown by mud.
"Strive for perfection."
"This one is approved."
Zhang Jun stood up and announced to the audience: "Keep one, but don't actually bury it. Just add a few close-up shots."
The actors will have a half-hour break.
Fan Bingbing was helped by her assistant to walk towards the temporary rest area, dropping dirt as she went. She sat down on a chair, took a towel to wipe her face, but the more she wiped, the dirtier her face became.
"Sister Bing, why don't you go to the car and change your clothes?" the assistant whispered.
"etc."
Fan Bingbing touched her ear: "It feels like it's full of stuff inside."
The makeup artist came over to check and shone a flashlight inside: "It really went in. The ear canal is full of fine mud; we'll have to use professional tools to clean it."
Don't move now, lest you push it deeper.
Fan Bingbing waved her hand dismissively: "We'll talk about it tonight."
After finishing the close-up shots in the afternoon, it was already dark when filming wrapped. The first thing Fan Bingbing did upon returning to the hotel was rush into the bathroom.
She stood under the shower for a full twenty minutes before the remaining mud in her hair was barely rinsed away.
But the feeling of something in my ear is still there.
She carefully cleaned it with a cotton swab, but all she pulled out was dark brown grime. She took a second shower and tried again, but it was still there.
Even after the third pass, there were still small bits of dirt.
"That's a ghost."
Fan Bingbing muttered to herself while looking in the mirror, "Did this dirt get into my ear?"
For the next few days, she made a point of cleaning her ears every time she showered. By the fourth day, she could still pick up a tiny bit of yellowish-brown residue with a cotton swab.
During a meal on set, she told Zhang Jun about it as a joke: "Now I believe those archaeologists. People buried in the ground for thousands of years can have soil components detected in the crevices of their bones."
My ears are old enough to be unearthed artifacts.
Zhang Jun poured her a cup of hot water: "Don't push yourself so hard next time, safety first."
"But it worked, didn't it?"
Fan Bingbing blinked: "That scene—it's very impactful; the audience will remember it."
Zhang Jun did not deny it.
The footage shot that day was truly shocking. A beautiful woman was buried face-to-face, but there was no fear in her eyes, only a maniacal laugh.
This extreme contrast will create a strong memory in the movie theater.
He looked at Fan Bingbing; this woman was sometimes truly unpredictable. She could be charming and coquettish in everyday life, but on set, she'd give it her all.
"You will bring the character of Ye Zhanqing to life," he said.
Fan Bingbing smiled, a genuine sense of satisfaction in her smile: "Then it was worth it."
After finishing work that evening, Zhang Jun returned to the studio converted from the hotel and pulled up the rough cut of the scene he had buried.
In the scene where Fan Bingbing's face is covered in mud, the light in her eyes is truly unforgettable.
He poured himself a cup of tea and leaned back in his chair.
There are many hardworking actors in the entertainment industry, and he didn't initially feel anything special. But Fan Bingbing's performance this time has exceeded his expectations.
With Fan Bingbing's looks, even a decade or two from now, those young actresses simply won't be able to compete with her.
But even such a beautiful woman is still conscientious and dedicated to playing a role, to the point of risking her life.
But this is the norm in the film and television industry today. Jackie Chan's incredible jump and Jet Li's descent from the building barehanded are amazing. But there are many more actors who silently work hard to get opportunities and screen time.
As a director, Zhang Jun naturally admired this quality. However, this quality has been almost completely lost more than a decade later.
As he was marveling at the moment, his computer vibrated. It was a message from Ye Xiaoyi in the United States, inquiring about the filming progress of "Reign of Assassins".
Zhang Jun gave a brief reply, along with several behind-the-scenes photos, one of which showed Fan Bingbing being pulled out of a pit with her face covered in mud.
Ye Xiaoyi quickly replied: "She's working that hard?"
Zhang Jun replied: "It's an actor's duty."
A little while later, Ye Xiaoyi replied: "You're lucky, you've met people who are willing to risk their lives."
Zhang Jun smiled and replied, "In this day and age, no one is immune to the dangers, and beautiful women are no exception."
Besides the burial scene, Fan Bingbing also sacrificed her "sex appeal" with two rather erotic scenes, namely seducing King Zhuanlun and seducing Jiang Asheng.
Compared to the burial scene, these two scenes are actually where Fan Bingbing felt embarrassed.
It wasn't that she was embarrassed to film it; after all, which actor hasn't done similar scenes? It's just that she had turned down a script called "Apple" back then.
She worried that Zhang Jun was the kind of man with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and might feel uncomfortable seeing her filming intimate scenes.
Therefore, before filming, Fan Bingbing boldly persuaded Zhang Jun through a verbal argument inside the trailer.
Watching Fan Pangbing rinse her mouth, Zhang Jun stroked her hair as if he were petting a kitten.
"Are you doing this because you're worried I'll have reservations?"
Fan Bingbing spat it out and replied, "I just wanted to say that even without such a role, I would still be willing to do this for you."
She blinked. "How about it? Am I better?"
Fan Bingbing asked who had better kung fu, hers or Gao Yuanyuan.
Zhang Jun replied, "Your talent is better—"
As for intimate scenes, to be honest, Zhang Jun isn't particularly fastidious. Besides, it's not like he's going to a small-time movie theater to film that kind of thing; anything that gets released in theaters can't be too outrageous.
However, since Fan Bingbing was willing to do such a thing to eliminate Zhang Jun's resentment, especially inside a trailer where she could be discovered at any moment.
This proves that Fan Bingbing has no intention of ending her relationship with Zhang Jun in the short term.