independent filmmaker

On the phone, Nathan's voice was full of excitement: "Thank you, director! Good news! No, it's not good news. It's the good news among the bad news, and the good news among the misfortunes."

"Huh?" Xie Lansheng gasped for breath and asked, "What news?"

"I checked all the films, and found that only three film films were damaged by x-ray, and the rest were good! I contacted the carrier here, asked him to confirm with customs, and just got some feedback The equipment used by the Australian Customs is similar to the medical CAT, which first scans with low-energy X-rays, and then uses high-energy X-rays to scan specific areas. Director Xie, probably, the sensitivity of the Lucky film you used is lower than claimed, which is 500 , the actual number may be 400, and the six books that were not scanned by the high-energy rays feel fine."

Xie Lansheng didn't care about the misery of being taken to X-ray at all, he was ecstatic: "There are only three copies? Are there really only three copies?!"

"Yes," Nathan said, "I read them all in the darkroom, and the rest were not fogged, thankgod."

From great sorrow to great joy, Xie Lansheng felt like he was alive after a catastrophe.All the 35mm films he bought are 1000 inches, almost 25 meters, and can be shot for 10 minutes.The movie is under 90 minutes, and the three books are only a third.In other words, they can make up one-third of the shot.

After a pause, Xie Lansheng: "Then, which ones were damaged?"

Nathan obviously checked it out, and read slowly into his notebook: "Fifty-first game, 51nd game...the last one is the 52th game."

Hearing the number of games, Xie Lansheng was more happy: "These are relatively easy."

"Yeah, I didn't see a very complicated shooting scene." Nathan said, "Director Xie, finally all our previous efforts have not been wasted, we can continue to do it."

"Well," Xie Lansheng was also very happy, "Thank you for calling right away. I've been in a state of confusion all day. So how about Nathan, ABCLAB cuts other content first, is it okay? We will send it over as soon as we finish shooting. I have applied for several film festivals, and now the time is a bit tight."

"OK." After a pause, Nathan continued to use, "Also, Director Xie, there are still some weird problems. For example, in the fifth book, the image is reversed for 2 minutes, so it can't be used."

Xie Lansheng was quite confused: "Reverse?"

"Well, the perforation is correct, but the image is reversed. This part is definitely not usable, and I have to retake it."

"..." How could there be such a problem?

"Also," Nathan's voice was cold and heartless, "the film at the end of the fourth book suddenly cracked, and it needs to be repaired."

Xie Lansheng didn't say anything.

"Director Xie," at the end, Nathan taught him very seriously, "Don't think that the director can know everything and control everything. There are many accidents during filming, so we must be cautious and careful. This is the first time we have seen the problem of 'reversed image'. However, our company is always experiencing the 'first meet' phenomenon."

"I see, thank you, Nathan." Xie Lansheng also became serious.He has learned a lesson this time, and knows that he is too big.In the future, no matter how much money he has, he must send while shooting, check immediately, and reshoot at any time.

Xie Lansheng was very happy to say goodbye to Nathan.He called his assistant Xiaohong and Xiaolu to explain the situation, and wrote letters to Nannan and other actors to invite them back. Finally, he contacted the cameraman Qi Yong who had returned to Los Angeles.

As soon as Xie Lansheng explained the situation, Qi Yong scolded him on the spot: "What the fuck is going on?!"

"That's, that's it." Xie Lansheng also stuttered, "Now we have to reshoot 40 scenes because of this accident. Qi Dashe, are you coming back?"

"Is there any other choice?!" Qi Yong was visibly irritable, and cursed again, "My name is on the main creation! Now that time is so tight, you will definitely smash me if you drag a bad photographer. People think that the signboard was taken by me! Can I explain it clearly to others?!" He had already been tricked into boarding a pirate ship, and it was impossible for him to jump off.

Xie Lansheng continued, "I can't explain it clearly. It's absolutely inexplicable."

"You still know!" Qi Yong went crazy, and he seemed to be flipping through the calendar on the table, "Fortunately, I haven't accepted the job yet... In this way, you will pay for the air ticket and accommodation, and the weekly salary will also be paid as usual. I'll take it as a way to make some more money and go over there."

Xie Lansheng said, "Thank you Qi Dashe."

Qi Yong complained again: "You are too memorized. I will never deal with you again in the future."

"Oh..." Xie Lansheng was also powerless to defend himself.

…………

After hanging up the phone, Xie Lansheng began to think about "money" again.

With the previous idea in mind, he hurried to Baoding without even waiting for Xin Ye, and found the person in charge of Lucky, saying that their independent film will go to Europe and the United States to participate in film festivals, hoping to get sponsorship, four films That's enough, he will write "Lucky" into the acknowledgment at that time, help it "go to sea", and let people know that the film film produced in China is not that bad.

To the person in charge, Xie Lansheng said: "Lucky has made a few movies, but the industry said that the quality is not good, the color is wrong, and everything is wrong..."

"Well," said the person in charge, "we admit it. It is not made for movies, and Lucky's expertise is not here. We plan to stop producing films for making movies, and only make films for civilian use."

"Well...don't give up...try again?" Xie Lansheng said, "Movies made by major studios will definitely use Kodak film, and this is the only chance for Lucky to go abroad. Lucky is indeed a bit biased. color, but it may not be unusable. Yes, it is low saturated, a little gray, and the color difference is small, but it may be more suitable for some subjects. My work is a rural background, and this tone is more impressive. Do you think, if " "Rooting" can win awards, and everyone can pay attention to Lucky. It is also good for the film produced by Lucky to be discovered, so there is no need to stop production."

For "Rooting", he used Lucky film, domestically produced, and the price is half of Kodak.Xie Lansheng didn't consider Kodak, firstly because it was too expensive, which would increase the budget by [-] yuan, and secondly, because it was too fine and it would lose its taste.

After thinking about it, the person in charge of Lucky felt that the four books didn't matter, so he gave Lan Sheng a 2% discount, and only recovered the production cost.Therefore, the film that originally cost 1 yuan only cost [-] yuan.

Xie Lansheng felt that he had been forced by the situation to become more and more like a businessman.

After leaving Lucky Factory, in order to earn another [-] yuan for the film, as well as transportation, accommodation, food, and water and electricity bills on the set, Xie Lansheng once again started the game of brain teasers.

Nathan had communicated with the Australian Customs about compensation before.The other party clearly made a mistake but was still very arrogant.The information he got was that he could get some compensation, but not much, and it was simply unrealistic for the other party to pay for everything including Qi Yong's round-trip air ticket.

"Well, a friend said to resell electrical appliances—" Xie Lansheng calculated in his heart, no, no, pass.

"Flip the ancient coins?" Still no, pass.In order to accumulate original funds, he worked with friends at the beginning of the year, and his eggs were worn out because of riding a bicycle for a long time, and he only earned seven or eight hundred.

Sell ​​the stamps you have saved for ten years?That can't handle [-].

Moreover, thinking about it again, [-] yuan is actually not insurance.Money, money, money, always money, the sudden need for a sum of money is endless, Xie Lansheng really can't guarantee that there will be no problems in the future.

Xie Lansheng knew in his heart that if he accepted Xinye's help, the 2 yuan would not be a problem.Previously, Xin Ye had offered to give him some money to tide over the difficulties first, with 0 interest rate, but Xie Lansheng refused first.As always, he didn't want to take the actor's money.These things are what the director should worry about, not the actors.If the film can't be sold, he doesn't know that the 2 yuan can only be repaid in the year of the monkey, which is too awkward.The money from relatives is investment money, which is different from borrowed money.He promised to split the income, and he didn't want to bring in another investor because of his own mistakes and reduce the relative's share.

Ok.

Xie Lansheng was in a daze while holding the film on the train.

How to do it?

Can you save money later?

Normally, film printing needs to go through five steps: negative film development, negative film editing, light distribution, printing, and positive film development.The printing factory uses a negative film processor to make the original dark negatives show a negative image, and then uses these negatives to edit, and then adjusts the light, and then uses the negative image negative to print the positive image film according to the printing requirements of the light colorist. transfer), and finally develop these positives with a positive film processor, develop them, and make distribution copies.

He began to think step by step.

Negative development...no; negative editing...no; lighting...no; printing...no; positive processing...

"!!!" Xie Lansheng suddenly sat up straight.

Positive developing...positive developing...positive developing...! ! !

He carefully recalled the film developed in school.The college needs to save costs, so naturally it won't change the potion every time it is washed.The 9 students in their class were divided into three groups to shoot works, and they shared a developing tank. You developed the film and I developed it, and I developed the film and he developed it. It was not very formal, so the film developed by the last group was a little dark. It is gray and not developed enough, which is not the same as the one in the cinema.All of them shoot short films, one every 60 minutes. Therefore, the same potion can produce at least 180 minutes of film, but the back will turn gray.

However, Xie Lansheng thought, for the content of "Rooting", this tone is not bad.

It can even be said that it is more perfect!

Yes, he can use other people's washing leftovers!

Thinking of this is a little exciting.

For the steps that require caution and superb technology, such as developing negatives, editing negatives, grading, printing, etc., I asked ABCLAB to do it as planned. Now that the negatives have been washed and cut, the last step is "positive film processing". It's okay to make a mistake, just rinse again.At the same time, because others use the leftovers, the quality of the potion formula and potion must be fine.

Then, how can we get the glory of others and use other people's leftover potion to wash the film?

Xie Lansheng knew that ABCLAB would not agree to this request, even if it paid for it, because it was too informal and everyone had a working process.Moreover, as a company, ABCLAB will add the name of the post-production company of "Rooting" in the end credits, including editing, light distribution, printing, etc. If the color is too wrong, it will smash its own signboard, and ABCLAB will never Agree to do it for the money.

Then there are only... domestic factories.

Xie Lansheng pondered for two hours on the train, and then, when he got off the train, he couldn't wait to go home first, so he used the leftover phone card at Beijing Station to call his old classmates in Beiying.Among them are students from the directing department and photography department. These students will come into contact with the printing workers in the studio, and many of them will even stand aside during the printing process, waiting for the film to be finished.

In the end, one of Xie Lansheng's roommates mentioned a master printer and thought he was very easy to talk to.

Xie Lansheng hurriedly asked him to connect, and his roommate agreed.

The roommate was quick and neat, and when Xie Lansheng first arrived home, he called and said that he would have dinner tonight.

"Thank you!" Xie Lansheng hurriedly said, "Brother, it's interesting, thank you!"

"Hey, you're welcome, thank you for what you say. We are all buddies in the dormitory, and you took good care of us at that time."

"Haha," Xie Lansheng said, "you'd better remember it forever." Xie Lansheng is a local student, and he often invites his roommates to his home to eat, drink and watch TV.Because of the single-tub washing machine, he occasionally helps with laundry.

"Fuck some eggs." The roommate asked, "But what's the matter? I just told Master Zhang that a friend had something to ask him, but I didn't say anything specific."

"You don't need to be specific." Xie Lansheng replied with a smile, "You can listen to it at night too. I feel tired of saying it twice now."

Roommate: "Look at your virtue!!!"

…………

In the evening, Xie Lansheng told his parents that if a person named Xin Ye called and said that he had returned to Beijing, he should tell the other party that he had to go out because of important matters.Li Jingrou didn't speak, and gave Lan Sheng several big eyes.Xie Lansheng just touched his nose, and ran out in despair.

Arriving at "Donglaishun", Xie Lansheng found his roommate and a stocky man already sitting in the corner.

"Hi!" Xie Lansheng held cigarettes and alcohol in his hand—it was Hongtashan and Wuliangye again, and walked through the hot pot steam, sat down on the opposite side of the table, handed the menu to the stranger first, and said, "Come here, order casually, I will eat this meal for you." Please! Eat more meat!" This time it's not a crime, you don't need to be a "good friend" first, and you can open up the sky with the other party directly.

After a while, the mutton came up, and Xie Lansheng was busy again.Donglaishun is a halal hot pot with a "chimney" in the middle of the pot. He puts the mutton around and sticks it on the "chimney". He is very enthusiastic.

While talking, he talked to the printing workers about his visit to the factory when he was studying, and asked if the editing table was here, and if the light distribution table was there, so as to get closer.

When the atmosphere was almost over, Xie Lansheng put down his chopsticks, supported his knees nervously with both hands, and said, "Actually, I invited my eldest brother to come here today. There is such a thing..."

The printing worker stopped eating and looked at Lan Sheng.

"You eat, you eat!" Xie Lansheng quickly helped to put down another plate, put down his chopsticks again, and lifted all Hongtashan and Moutai to the edge of the table, saying, "I am making a movie. But there is no money for printing. We have finished the editing, and we will start the light matching and printing immediately. The printed film will be the color of the film determined by the light matching. Now there is only the last step of "positive film development" that has not been settled. Brother Let's see... can you use the potion left over from the day after work? That is to say, don't pour out the left over from the day, and wash out my film as well." Xie Lansheng knew that the development of the positive film does not take time, and it can be done in one or two hours. Finish.

The photo lab worker hesitated.

Xie Lansheng pushed things again: "Brother, please, I really can't do anything here."

Everyone is a worker in a state-owned enterprise, with an iron job, almost regardless of the rules and regulations. They just order this from the factory today and order that from the factory tomorrow. This big brother is no exception. He clapped his hands and asked, "When?"

"November."

The printing worker bowed his head and thought about it, and said, "Okay."

"Thank you bro!"

"It's really a coincidence for you." The printing worker resumed eating meat, and made a "sucking" sound, "At that time, there happened to be a film that was going to be developed in the factory, and now it is going to be graded."

"Huh?" Xie Lansheng continued to chat, "From Beijing Film Studio?"

"No," the other party replied, "It's from the Xiaoxiang factory, and the director's name is Chi Zhonghe. The Xiaoxiang factory takes it very seriously, and specially sent it to Beijing to do it."

Hearing this long-lost name suddenly, Xie Lansheng was stunned.

The past came up again.

He thought of how Chi Zhonghe mocked him when he decided to take on "Children in Troubled Times" last year: "Do you still pick up the rotten bones we lost???" (Chapter 2)

What else did he say at the time?

By the way, he put a meat bun in his hand on his rice bowl, and said, "You are going to the cafeteria, right? The buns in the cafeteria have been robbed. I just have one left. Since Director Xie likes it so much, I will pick the rest." Take what you put down, then take it too!"

This is simply a prophecy.

Chi Zhonghe was really right.

But I lost the determination to throw away the meat bun.

He and Chi Zhonghe, one in the sky and the other in the ground.

Xie Lansheng is very clear that although big-name old directors and new directors who have graduated from a bachelor's degree after 82 and are valued have blocked the opportunity to make films, if they are willing to stay in the factory, then in five years, ten years, or 20 years, he I can always be the chief director, but myself, one is because I think the current review system is too strict, and the other is because I hope to shoot my own story a few years earlier, and at the same time direct as soon as possible and improve as soon as possible instead of just selecting actors. Such a difficult road.

It is conceivable that if Chi Zhonghe learned that he was using the leftover potion to make films, he would inevitably be insulted.

On the opposite side, the printing worker saw that Xie Lansheng had suddenly become silent, and asked puzzledly, "What's the matter? Are you still working on it?"

"Ah," Xie Lansheng came to his senses, and quickly smiled again, "Come on! Sorry to trouble you...I'll use Chi Dao to charge the rest."

The author has something to say: Director Xie: I am wronged... Fortunately, Lao Gong is coming back!

As stated on Kodak's official website, there are two types of x-rays for checking luggage and packages. One uses low-energy rays first and then high-energy rays, and the other uses high-energy rays throughout the entire process. High-energy rays can destroy all films, and low-energy films generally only destroy more than 400 Sensitivity, there should be no bugs in this section, but there is no guarantee that there will be no bugs...

When Jia Zhangke made "Xiao Wu" (1997), he begged someone to use the leftover potion, so the picture was rather gray.The cost is 20.

Wang Xiaoshuai made "Winter and Spring Days" (1993) at a cost of 10,000+. He asked Lucy, who had stopped developing film at that time, to dig out the long-abandoned film processing tank to help him develop it.As a result, there were two power outages... Wang Xiaoshuai pounced on the film processing tank and tried his best to pull it out, but he couldn't pull it out. He was very desperate and had no money to reshoot, so he had to use the leftover materials for editing.His second film was Guan Shuqi who borrowed money, and only went to Hong Kong to do post production.

They all cut it by themselves, or asked friends to cut it. Director Xie went to Australia in the later stage, and it is already quite modern... quite high-end!

"Blind Well" directed by Li Yang was produced in Australia in the later stage, and all editing and light matching refer to his narration!