Chapter 2041 2043【Inception】
In April, the filming of "Taken" officially started.
This movie will be shot in the United States and France, with a total investment of US$50 million.
The reason why there is so little investment is mainly because it is difficult for pure action movies to sell well now.
Special effects blockbusters are now the mainstream of action movies. Because of the blessing of special effects, visual wonders can be created at will.
Previously, in "Red Zone", Jackie Chan jumped from the top of a building, spanning a distance of more than eight meters, which amazed American audiences.
But now with special effects technology, it is easy to jump 800 meters, let alone 8 meters.
?Hence, action actors can no longer compete with computers.
??No matter how beautifully they perform kung fu, and no matter how dedicated they are to risking their lives, they can''t compare to the special effects produced by computers.
?Just like chess, checkers, and Go players, they all fell to the computer one after another. No matter how superb their chess skills are, they are still not as fast as a computer''s brain.
?Of course, pure action movies will never die.
After all, no matter how realistic and sophisticated the computer special effects are, it is difficult to achieve the thrill of a pure action movie, where punches hit the flesh and swords penetrate the bones, giving the audience a thrill of hormone explosion.
Because as soon as the audience sees the special effects, they will know that it is fake, so it is naturally difficult to imagine it. Therefore, pure action movies will still have a group of fixed fans, and with the proliferation of special effects technology in the future, pure action movies will usher in a period of recovery.
It’s just that manpower is sometimes poor. Human beings'' physical ability, speed, and reactions all have limits. Not as good as a computer, the performance is almost endless.
As technology advances, they will create more realistic and detailed images. By then, the profession of action actors will basically cease to exist. Without qualified action actors, naturally there would be no pure action scenes.
…
After the filming of "Taken" started, it went very smoothly.
Making action movies has long been a natural for Xiang Nan.
??And he and Cong Shan have been married for many years, so they naturally have a good rapport when filming.
??The only trouble is Zhou Dongyu. Her acting skills are pretty good and she can express the necessary expressions, but her English is not standard enough.
Because she only graduated from high school, and her academic performance was average, and English was not her strong point. But she plays a Chinese girl who grew up in the United States.
??It can be forgiven if Xiang Nan and Cong Shan''s English is not good. After all, many immigrants of the first generation do not speak English well, have strong accents, and like to combine native and foreign languages. But the English of the second-generation immigrants is no different from that of the locals.
So Zhou Dongyu still needs to improve her English. At least she needs standard pronunciation for those lines, so as not to make people feel like they are in a drama.
Zhou Dongyu also knew this, so he specially asked an English teacher to help him make up for it. However, he had to eat one bite at a time, and it was not possible to achieve accurate pronunciation and fluent conversation in a short time.
?So Xiang Nan had to skip her scenes and choose to film other scenes so that she could have more time to hone her accent.
…
During the filming period, in April, Universal Pictures released the movie "Inception" directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, John Gordon, etc. 》. This movie tells the story of a team of magical dreamers who sneak into other people''s dreams, steal the core secrets from their subconscious, and modify other people''s subconscious.
In fact, the story of "Tomb Robbery" is very easy to understand. It is the story of a group of people passing through levels and finally successfully completing the mission.
In terms of context, this is no different from "Dungeons and Dragons", where adventurers form a team, go on adventure after adventure, and finally win the treasure.
??The biggest charm of this movie is that it fictionalizes the profession of a dream maker, who can actually enter people''s subconscious through their dreams.
?Dreams are ever-changing and omnipotent. Nothing or anything will not be surprising when they appear in a dream. Any laws, rules, morality, and logic are completely ineffective here.
So the director can be as creative as he wants and weave any story or shot he wants without worrying about anything. Naturally, the audience can also see more incredible, wonderful and stunning pictures.
This is the biggest charm of this movie. The director has always been called a "dream maker". The movies he makes allow the audience to enjoy two hours of wonderful dreams. And Nolan really became a dream maker this time.
…
After "Inception" was released, the box office response was very good.
On the one hand, Nolan has become one of the most outstanding directors in Hollywood with the blockbusters of "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" and has cultivated a large number of loyal fans, so it is natural that the film will be followed ;
On the one hand, Leonardo has made many good-looking movies in recent years, such as "The Aviator", "Blood Diamond", "The Departed", "Revolutionary Road", "Shutter Island"...all of them have been box-office hits. A win-win situation with word-of-mouth, gaining more and more support from fans and recognition in the industry.
?Hence, the collaboration between the two of them already represents box office appeal. What''s more, the script was written by Xiang Nan himself. As the so-called strong alliance is, it is naturally very attractive to the audience.
So in the end, the North American box office was US$290 million and the global box office was US$890 million. Compared with the cost of US$160 million, this result is quite good.
The birth of this movie once made mainland filmmakers feel downcast.
?The hit release of "Avatar" last year has made mainland filmmakers realize how far behind they are in terms of technology compared to Hollywood. Now this "Inception" has let them know how far they are from Hollywood screenwriters.
From hardware to software, no one can compare, so they naturally lose confidence.
?However, Xiang Nan knows that mainland movies actually have great potential, but mainland filmmakers now only know how to blindly follow the pace of Hollywood.
When Hollywood makes kung fu movies, he also makes kung fu movies; when Hollywood makes special effects blockbusters, he also makes special effects blockbusters; when Hollywood makes IMAX3D, mainland China is launching a swarm of 3D movies...
They have never considered what advantages, strengths and characteristics mainland films have compared to Hollywood films. Therefore, they naturally fall behind step by step and are defeated.
In 2010, five of the top ten box office hits in the country were Hollywood blockbusters. Moreover, if there is no domestic film protection month and there are quota restrictions on the introduction of foreign films, the gap will be even more obvious.
…
In June, the movie released was "Captain America", which tells the story of the birth of Captain America Steve Rogers.
??The story of this movie is actually very cliche. A kind-hearted poor boy succeeds in passing a test even though he is not favored.
There are really too many such stories. There are many among Chinese people, and they are certainly not uncommon in Hollywood.
??It’s just that although the story is cliché, the pace is smooth and the special effects are pretty good. Therefore, after its release, the box office in North America was US$170 million and the global box office was US$370 million, which is pretty good.
(End of this chapter)