"Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" is an online movie created by Huang Xiaoming as a producer and comparable to the behind-the-scenes team of cinema movies, and was launched on Tencent Video on January 10, with more than 30 million views in four days. In the film, the classic collocation and familiar nostalgic style of shusheng and the demon girl remind many viewers of Xu Ke's "Ghost of Qiannu"; and the special effects of the giant snake are far more sophisticated than the "net level" in everyone's impression, even if it is screened on the big screen, it can withstand the test.
Stills from "Pick the Lamp and Cut the Snake"
Why can an online movie attract Huang Xiaoming as a producer? How to improve the texture at a limited cost? What is the deep-seated reason why the traditional film and television creation team has entered the big network? The Beijing News interviewed Sun Linlin, producer of "Picking the Lamp and Cutting snakes", director Liu Wenpu, and Wei Junzi, who has served as the producer of many online movies.
A snake and a tiger special effect as a selling point
——Low-cost, fast-paced learning old Hong Kong films
"Picking the Lamp and Chopping the Snake" is Liu Wenpu's feature film debut, and his more widely known identity in the industry is the boss of Liuhe Century, specializing in film materials and special effects production. In his own words, "Who in this industry doesn't have the dream of being a film director?" "NetU gave him the opportunity to shine his dream into reality.
The background of his past work makes Liu Wenpu completely free of the jerkiness of a newcomer director, and in some aspects can even be called an expert. After reading the script, he understood that as a network that pays attention to sensory stimulation, the special effects of snakes and tigers must be done well. With limited funds, he avoided the difficult actions in the production of special effects and focused on making the big moves vivid and smooth. "The special effects of snakes and people interacting are the most difficult, and we didn't do such shots. Some details, such as the fact that the tiger's claw will have wrinkles in people's clothes, and the special effects shot will be very expensive, we use real tiger claw props to represent. "Compared with the giant snake, the special effect of the tiger is more difficult to do, and from the final effect, the snake is better than the tiger."
Director Liu Wenpu said, "The effect of the giant snake on the big screen is better than looking at the computer screen, but the tiger's sense of weight still has room to improve." ”
In "Picking a Lamp and Cutting a Snake", the scholar Chen Guan (Liu Zhaohong) encounters a fierce tiger on the way to the exam, meets Miss Feng Jia (Fang Chutong) when fleeing for his life, and then deals with the undead giant snake with the lone swordsman Cui Zhiyu (Shangbai) ... Some viewers commented that the style of the film is very similar to the Hong Kong films of the 1980s and 1990s, especially Xu Ke's "Ghost of Qiannu". Liu Wenpu admitted that he is a Hong Kong film lover and likes "Ghost of Qiannu" very much. "Before shooting, I told myself that I must not shoot it to make the audience feel like Xu Ke! The result is still like, no way, the impact is too deep. ”
In addition, the filming method of "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" also coincides with the Hong Kong films of that year. "At that time, Hong Kong films were low budget and fast-paced, and on this basis, they formed their own style, which was very suitable for shooting the big net." Including their love of smoking on the spot, it is because the scenery is not exquisite enough, and the use of smoke can set off the atmosphere. The scene of "Picking the Lights", there is nothing else, there are many smoke cakes. ”
The actual shooting was 24 days and a half and 9 months later
——The cinema team shoots a cost-effective network
Since the birth of the network movie in 2014, it has always given people the impression of barbaric growth and mud and sand, and most of the creative team is a "grass platform team". "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" has the first prize script of the Beijing University Student Film Festival Youth Script Competition, Huang Xiaoming is the producer, and the behind-the-scenes production team is comparable to the cinema film - director of photography Zheng Jiansong has served as the cinematographer of "The Sun Also Rises", "Night Shanghai", "Curious to Kill the Cat" and other films; action director Qin Pengfei is the action design of the action film "The Sword of the Three Young Masters" directed by Er Dongsheng; music director Dai Wei has been nominated for the Best Original Film Music at the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards for "Peerless"... Such a behind-the-scenes configuration, the production cost of the entire film is only more than 8 million, plus the total investment in publicity is only 10 million, which is super cost-effective. It is worth mentioning that the actual shooting of "Pick the Lamp and Snake" took only 24 and a half days, but the post-production was as long as 9 months, of which the special effects production took five months, which was almost the same as the post-production time of a theatrical movie.
According to producer Sun Linlin, the preparatory stage of "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" did think about making it into a theatrical movie. However, considering that the investment amount of the same type of cinema film is hundreds of millions, coupled with the fact that there are not many successful box office successes in the same type of film before, it was finally decided to make a cost-effective network.
"Picking the Lamp and Slashing the Snake" tells the story of shusheng and swordsman working together to deal with the undead giant snake.
Sun Linlin said that as early as the beginning of the preparation, the main creative team reached a consensus, and the investment of 10 million yuan in "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" was first used to ensure the production, and then talked about other things on this basis. Therefore, the team decided to give up the use of traffic or familiar face actors, chose a more cost-effective young actor, and finally selected Shangbai, Liu Zhaohong, Fang Chutong as the main actors, from the current audience evaluation, the performance of the three young actors has also been greatly recognized.
【Voices in the industry】
NetDa is good for cultivating new directors
——The earlier a traditional film and television company enters the game, the better
For the internet industry, the Notice on the Upgrade of the Information Filing System for Online Audio-visual Programs issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in February 2019 is a watershed moment. According to the contents of the Notice, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television began to implement the management of "double filing and double publicity" for key online film and television dramas. The introduction of this policy has deprived a large number of large online movies with three customs and inferior productions, and has also forced the transformation of the internet industry and the pursuit of higher quality content. "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" is undoubtedly the product of this transformation.
Wei Junzi has supervised the production of many big online movies. In his view, the current network movie has passed the period of barbaric growth and begun to enter the stage of content and quality, but the user habits cultivated at that time are still there. "For example, the audience prefers more masculine content, pays attention to sensory stimulation, and in layman's terms, likes 'a surprise at first glance', and will turn off without stimulation in 5 minutes." The theme of "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" is what the internet users like to decide - action, fantasy, monsters, has always been the favorite theme of the network users.
"Picking the Lamp and Slaying the Snake" covers various elements such as action, fantasy, monsters and so on.
Wei Junzi believes that the real value of the university to the industry lies in cultivating new directors. "The academic school cultivates author-type directors and pays more attention to personal expression. And the market needs to have a group of directors who know how to survive, who know how to attract the audience and resonate with the audience. The University of Net is the cradle for cultivating such newcomer directors, which may begin by learning to imitate, and then gradually develop their own style, first survive, and then talk about art. ”
With the growth of Internet users and the decline of capital in the film and television market, online movies with low investment, short cycle and fast return on capital are becoming a new choice for traditional cinema film directors and production companies.
When the offline screening of "Picking the Lamp and Cutting the Snake" was held, the producer Huang Xiaoming said: "This time we are just a test of the water, we can accumulate a lot of experience on this basis, and we will do better and better." ”
Wei Junzi believes that sooner or later traditional film and television production companies will enter online movies in a big way, and the sooner they enter the game, the more advantageous they will have. Entering the game requires understanding the rules, not only to understand how the audience is cultivated, but also to understand the changes in the audience. "Many of the big works in 2019 are upgraded on the basis of the 2018 blockbusters, and it turns out that users do not pay for it." The maturity and evolution of the audience is far higher and faster than the creator. ”
Beijing News reporter Yang Lianjie
Edited by Wu Dongni Proofreader Zhai Yongjun