Chapter 210

Following the address given by Jiang Xiaoyan, Tian Hongshan arrived at a hutong south of Xiushuijie and saw a sign hanging at the entrance of a courtyard: "Pengcheng Seventh Factory Beijing Liaison Office."

After knocking and entering, he was first met by two sharp-eyed young men who looked him up and down, making him feel as serious as if he were visiting some important government department.

Then, after entering the reception room in the main building, he saw Jin Peng and a young man who looked vaguely familiar.

He said in surprise, "Aren't you that student from Beijing University studying economics? Do you know Manager Jin and the others?"

Li Ye had not expected Tian Hongshan to come today, so he simply said, "I am a fellow townsman of Manager Jin, and I sometimes come over to help them with ideas."

"Oh, giving ideas is good, giving ideas is good."

Tian Hongshan sat down sheepishly, but inwardly he was muttering to himself: when he first came to Xiushuijie to "steal techniques," had he already stepped into their trap?

However, Li Ye and Jin Peng had no time to explain to him right now; they were busy watching the commercial.

Because the trading company just established in Hong Kong had already agreed with Hao Jian from the beginning that they would lead the export matters,

and the Hong Kong entertainment industry had influence across East Asia and Southeast Asia, Hao Jian approved of Hong Kong filming the commercial, and then the mainland would use this commercial in the manner of "export-to-domestic sales."

Because of the influence of film and television works like "The Bund," "Chu Liuxiang," and "Shaolin Temple," Jin Peng, Hao Jian, and even Li Ye trusted the capabilities of Hong Kong at that time, fully expecting they could film a commercial that would be unforgettable for a long time.

But when the commercial was sent over, Hao Jian found it hard to accept. After continuous communication failed to resolve the issues, he had to urgently send someone to deliver the videotape, leaving it to Li Ye, the "economic consultant," to make the final decision.

Seeing that Li Ye and Jin Peng had no intention of chasing him away, Tian Hongshan followed along to take a look.

As a videotape was put into the VCR, a commercial scene played on the color television.

First was the invincible seascape of Victoria Harbour, then a group of male and female actors stood by the railing looking out, their disdainful eyes ignoring everyone, their exaggerated expressions full of arrogance.

Then, these male and female models walked around in circles, feeling just like little ducks on a catwalk, waddling and quacking wildly.

At this moment, Mandarin with a heavy Cantonese accent sounded: "Fenghua Clothing, making you, who are in the prime of your life, peerless."

Then, a black screen, and it ended.

That was it, finished, finished, finished.

Where was Xu Wenqiang?

Where was Chu Liuxiang?

Where were Feng Chengcheng and the Jade Guanyin?

Li Ye was dumbfounded, because among these commercial actors, he didn't recognize a single one.

Not recognizing one didn't matter, but... they were uglier than the next.

【Do I recognize every beautiful and handsome Hong Kong star? Then to what extent was I obsessed with chasing stars back then?】

Besides, if you aren't good-looking, that's fine! Good acting would be okay too!

But they were all exaggerated and pretentious; that Fenghua... was truly damn peerless.

Li Ye gritted his teeth and asked, "How much did Hao Jian say this commercial cost?"

Jin Peng said, "200,000 Hong Kong dollars, no editing or trimming; editing is charged separately. And just because of this Mandarin dubbing, they temporarily added 50,000. In the end, it was waived out of respect for Brother Pei."

"Damn it!"

Li Ye almost dropped the videotape.

"This set of commercials absolutely cannot be used. The actors are poor, the cinematography is poor, the set design is poor—there isn't a single part that isn't poor. And they have the nerve to ask for 200,000 Hong Kong dollars? Do they really think people in the mainland are all suckers?"

Jin Peng said helplessly, "Hao Jian said the same thing to the Hong Kong side, but they said if they were to change to better actors and directors to film it, the cost would be several times higher,

and half of the payment had already been made. The actors and directors there also didn't agree to re-film, saying that filming twice means double the money."

"Don't agree to re-film?"

Li Ye's eyes were cold and sharp. After pondering for a few seconds, he said, "Then we will film it ourselves, using our own directors and our own actors. From now on, forever and ever... cut off any cooperation with those actors."

Jin Peng nodded and said, "Actually, I thought the same, but the filmmakers in Hong Kong said... we can't film an international-standard commercial, which will affect the export of the product, and the lost profit will be an astronomical figure."

"Hmph~, they probably still haven't figured out which side of the sky the God of Wealth lives on, right? Do they really think the God of Wealth has moved?"

Li Ye's cold words made Jin Peng glad that he and Hao Jian had not blindly followed that side, believing the moon outside was rounder.

"Xiao Ye, after I watched the videotape the day before yesterday, I immediately went to the Beijing Film Studio, the television station, and several other units to ask. As a result, I couldn't even get through the doors of some units. If we want to film it ourselves, I'm afraid it will take some trouble."

Filming a commercial in the mainland in '83 is not as casual and simple as in later generations. Let alone mobile phone recording or ultra-micro DVs, that kind of shoulder-mounted camera that requires two people to operate is a rare item; it won't be fully popularized until the mid-eighties!

Even if Li Ye asked Pei Wencong to get a portable camera, he wouldn't know how to operate it professionally!

"I have a way!"

An abrupt voice sounded, as if it reminded Li Ye of the feeling of accompanying his little niece to watch "PAW Patrol" in his previous life.

Tian Hongshan said affirmatively, "I can help you contact the Beijing Film Studio. My wife works there and is even a small team leader."

Jin Peng and Li Ye both laughed in realization. After receiving a hint from Li Ye's eyes, Jin Peng took the initiative to reach out to Tian Hongshan.

"Brother Tian, shouldn't you change the way you address us, changing 'you' to 'us'?"

Tian Hongshan was slightly stunned, then tightly gripped Jin Peng's hand and said emotionally, "I can help us contact the Beijing Film Studio to film our own commercial, even better than what others filmed."

Tian Hongshan wasn't bragging; his wife was indeed a small team leader at the Beijing Film Studio, but she specifically washed film.

But since someone led the way, things were easy to handle.

After learning that the formal process required project approval, discussion, actor selection, filming, and other troublesome links, Jin Peng found relevant people to study it and borrowed a filming team from it.

This included a camera, a cameraman, a videographer, and several bit-part actors.

But when Li Ye, who was worried, saw these actors, he immediately frowned.

"Brother Peng, why did you find all middle-aged people? Didn't you find a few young and beautiful ones?"

"No, Xiao Ye, didn't you say our brand is aimed at the general public? These people are the actors who best fit the temperament of the general public. Besides, young actors are timid and dare not come out to film private jobs."

"You this..."

Li Ye was also quite helpless. He didn't give instructions on a few small details, and as a result, this mistake happened.

It is true that Fenghua Clothing is aimed at the general public, but can the buyer's show and the seller's show be the same?

Besides, how many pieces of clothing do middle-aged women buy in a year? How many do young girls buy? Don't you even know the target group?

"This will also work. We will film two sets of shots, having both young beautiful girls and handsome boys, as well as middle-aged people close to the general public. Then we will intercut and edit them to see the effect."

Jin Peng first nodded, then said in a dilemma, "Xiao Ye, what you said is easy, but where can we find young girls who dare to film commercials in a short time?"

Li Ye thought for a while and said, "I'll try and see if I can contact a few."

The next day, Li Ye found Wen Leyu.

"Xiao Yu, are you still in contact with that Sister Qin recently? Can you ask her to help ask the members of that model team if they are willing to participate in an activity to film a commercial?"

When Li Ye first came to Beijing, he had some friction with a few descendants, and Wen Guohua helped him out.

Then that "Xiao Qin" took the Wen family siblings and Li Ye to watch a model team rehearse together.

Although the quality of those models was not top-notch, compared to ordinary people, they should be easier to photograph.

"Film a commercial? For whom? Pengcheng Seventh Factory?"

"Yes, Hong Kong filmed a set, but it didn't quite meet our requirements, so we want to film it ourselves, but we lack young girls and boys who dare to be on camera."

"A job for Pengcheng Seventh Factory!"

Wen Leyu rolled her eyes and said, "Then you can just find my brother. He is quite familiar with those models, and he has a lot of face. One word from him to Sister Qin is worth two from me."

Li Ye said with some difficulty, "Why don't you help me say it! I just bought your brother a pair of leather shoes, and now I'm begging him to do something; it's not easy to open my mouth~"

Wen Leyu said righteously, "Why is it not easy to open your mouth? Could it be that you want to let him get a free bargain?"

Li Ye pondered for a while. Now Wen Guohua is in the Xiushuijie renovation team and deals with Pengcheng Seventh Factory all day long. If he troubles him, he troubles him! It doesn't matter.

But when Li Ye got through to Wen Guohua's phone, the other side said strangely, "I can help you, but you have to ensure that my sister doesn't tell my mother about this."

"..."

Li Ye was dumbfounded.

What does that mean? On the wine table, aren't you, Big Guy Wen, bragging about walking sideways in the four-nine city? How are you still a good child who is afraid of his mother?

Wen Guohua's handling of things was still very reliable. When the agreed time arrived, he brought two men and four women, six models, all at once.

Li Ye took a rough look and saw that these four female models were the essence of that entire model team.

And after more than half a year of training, their temperament had undergone some changes, making them more suitable for commercial filming.

After Wen Guohua arrived, he saw Wen Leyu, who had followed Li Ye, at a glance, and immediately looked at Li Ye with great dissatisfaction.

His own sister was used to complaining. Just chatting with a few girls as friends could summon his mother's scolding or even a feather duster. Was it necessary?

But since he was already here, what else could he do?

So he asked Li Ye for the script very "professionally."

As a result, after one glance, he said with contempt, "It's this simple? There isn't even a line of dialogue, just walking back and forth?"

Li Ye said, "That's right! The simpler it is, the more difficult it is. Only professional people can meet the requirements!"

Wen Guohua laughed and said, "Then what about acting?"

Li Ye shook his head and said, "There is no professional director; just improvise freely."

"You are really thrifty."

Wen Guohua teased Li Ye and went to stay on the side.

Then the cameraman explained the specific matters to the actors and models. Actually, it was very simple: just walk from left to right and from right to left against the background of different buildings.

This was actually Li Ye's idea.

In commercials these days, the actors' movements and lines basically highlight exaggeration, which made Li Ye feel very awkward.

So he decided to transport the traffic password of later videos and film a few segments similar to street photography in Sanlitun.

The clothing styles are novel, the actors are handsome and beautiful, and then slow down the camera to highlight the clothes on the actors, as well as those beautiful faces.

What is the purpose of a commercial?

It is to deepen the impression in the audience's hearts. You are selling clothing. If you can't highlight the word "beauty," how can you arouse the audience's desire to buy?

If you say it aroused the male friends' desire to watch?

Come on, women buy clothes; who is the one who pays in the end? Is it a man or a woman?

After filming started, it was basically smooth, because these models had practiced on the catwalk for a long time, and they were just walking back and forth on a street with few people, so it wasn't too embarrassing.

But Li Ye always felt that something was missing, because whether it was the cameraman, the actors, or the models, none of them had been exposed to this kind of "simple" commercial, and their eyes and expressions were not in place.

In desperation, Li Ye activated his biological hard drive and carefully went through the classic Armani suit commercial of the handsome guy Hu in his mind twice.

Yes, that's the suit commercial that set off two foreign supermodels as bodyguards.

"That, everyone take a break. I'll walk a bit, please give me some suggestions."

Wen Guohua, who was uninterested, and Wen Leyu, who was squinting, immediately pricked up their ears and eyes like rabbits who heard a wolf howl.

Thanks to book friend "Doomsday Hermit" for the 500-coin tip, thanks to the book friend for the 733-coin tip, thanks to you dear ones.

(End of this chapter)