Chapter 404 Show off your skills

The reason why Zhang Yimou was able to see ARRI's movie cameras on the set of DreamWorks movies was not because this 65-year-old German brand had a large market share in the Hong Kong film industry, but purely because of the preference of the big boss Fang Hexuan.

The scale of the Hong Kong film market means that it is impossible for any film company to grow into a giant. So, how can the common workshop-style film production model be compared with Hollywood's industrial production model?

The most direct manifestation is in film equipment.

In fact, most of the film companies and even rental companies in Hong Kong will choose lower-cost neon products, such as those from Sony and Canon.

There are people who choose to use the two high-end brands, ARRI and Panavision, but they are very few.

Similarly, there are companies in Hollywood that use Sony's movie cameras. At least Sony Pictures, which later acquired Columbia, would definitely use its own products.

Since the day DreamWorks Films was founded, it has excluded Sony from the purchase of photographic equipment, such as movie cameras, at the request of Fang Hexuan, and only used ARRI.

Perhaps when DreamWorks enters Hollywood, it will also include Panavision as an option.

To be honest, if it's just a low-budget movie, it doesn't make much difference which brand is used.

But once an A-level or super A-level movie is produced, the difference between Sony and ARRI and Panavision can be clearly seen when comparing the image quality in subtle details.

For Hong Kong filmmakers, a movie that costs tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars to produce is already a big production, but if it were put in Hollywood, it wouldn't even be considered a B-level movie.

Therefore, Sony's equipment is indeed very suitable for current Hong Kong film companies in terms of cost and practical use.

But DreamWorks has been based on the international market and entered Hollywood since its inception.

Fang Hexuan would never allow his company's movies to become like the Hong Kong movies he watched in his previous life, with terrible picture quality, and a complete mess of lighting and post-production color grading.

This of course has a lot to do with the development and preservation of the film, but the quality of the camera is also an influencing factor.

Friends who have a lot of experience in watching movies should realize that even old Hollywood films from the 1930s and 1940s have better picture quality than many Hong Kong films from the 1980s and 1990s.

To put it bluntly, Hong Kong filmmakers in the 1980s, 1990s really had a mentality of making quick money. It didn't matter if the movie quality was poor or the plot was brainless and lacked logic. As long as the story was nonsensical enough and eye-catching enough, money would still flow into their pockets.

DreamWorks' films have been distributed throughout Asia and are currently exploring the European market. If even the most basic visuals of the film are not good, how can you make foreign film buyers and video tape sellers have the confidence to sell your film?

In addition, Fang Hexuan invested in ARRI when he went to West Germany for the first time, so this brand can also be considered as his own product.

The scale of the global film equipment market is not large in itself, and just like the later SLR equipment market, it is a niche market. Even if you sell your machines at a high price, your company's market value will only be so-so.

So, faced with a world-class billionaire who owns a film company and is extremely wealthy, ARRI did not resist at all, but instead enjoyed it very much.

Fang Hexuan invested in ARRI with the idea of ​​learning from it. It is possible that Maple Leaf will also enter the field of photographic equipment in the future, which will naturally include movie cameras.

Similarly, although all major film studios in the mainland are state-owned, their funding is limited. Although movie cameras are purchased from abroad, they are mainly domestic equipment.

Although Zhang Yimou has never used an ARRI camera, the world's mainstream film equipment brand was introduced in the Beijing Film Academy's general photography course, and he has admired it for a long time.

The camera crew is waiting for the lighting guy to set up the lights, so today's scenes of "Shushan" have not officially started shooting yet.

Zhang Yimou took this opportunity to try out the Arriflex III plus. Just as he was about to start the camera, the focus puller next to him saw him and yelled at him. "What are you doing? Stop it. Can you afford to pay for it if it breaks, you northerner!"

At that time, the difference in dress between Hong Kong people and mainlanders was still very obvious. The other party guessed that Zhang Yimou was from the mainland as soon as he saw him, and when he saw that he wanted to touch the machine, he stopped him rudely.

Zhang Yimou's dark, shriveled face turned visibly red. He felt embarrassed and ashamed. Not only did the other party's tone sound superior, but he also directly and arrogantly scolded him. But he was a person who didn't like to argue with others.

Officer Jiao's arrogance attracted the attention of others, including Huang Zhongbiao.

Although he was the boss of the entire photography crew, he knew how to protect himself. He did not help Zhang Yimou directly, but found Tsui Hark and whispered a few words to him.

Tsui Hark is busy now. If it is an ordinary person or a trivial matter, he would not care, but Zhang Yimou's identity is somewhat special.

He knew that the company was currently planning to expand into the mainland market, and he also knew that General Manager Liu had personally initiated this exchange visit.

So, whether he likes it or not, he has to take action.

"What's going on? What's the quarrel?"

Seeing that the biggest boss of the crew had arrived, Jiao Jiao became even more fearless and told Tsui Hark what had happened in rapid succession.

Xu Ke glanced at Zhang Yimou, who had been silent, and did not directly judge who was right or wrong. Instead, he asked gently:

"Mr. Zhang is interested in cameras?"

Zhang Yimou was stunned for a moment, then he came to his senses and nodded:
"I'm also a photographer, and I'm a little itchy when I see a camera I haven't used before. I'm sorry."

After hearing what the other party said, Tsui Hark nodded in his heart. He understood Zhang Yimou's mentality very well. As they were all filmmakers, he knew that there were many equipment-loving people in this circle, including himself as a director.

So he waved his hand and said with a smile:
"I understand. Let me make the decision. I'll let you be the first assistant photographer of the photography team today. Have fun."

Zhang Yimou's eyes lit up, his face flushed, and he said gratefully:
"Thank you, Director Xu. I will definitely not mess it up."

Although he had never filmed a movie in Hong Kong, he knew what the first assistant cameraman meant.

Abroad, the photographer of some large crews is also called the director of photography. He is responsible for the operation of the entire photography crew and does not operate the camera himself.

The first assistant photographer is responsible for performing specific shooting tasks on behalf of the director.

Since Tsui Hark agreed to let him be Huang Zhongbiao's first assistant for a day, it meant that he had many opportunities to operate the movie camera himself.

Having just been scolded and looked down upon by a focus follower, Zhang Yimou did not fight back or curse at anyone, but his anger had already risen in his heart.

That's just in Hong Kong. If it were in the mainland, if anyone dared to sneer at him, he would definitely kick the other person a few times.

Even a clay figure can get angry a little bit, let alone a living person?
So, he gritted his teeth and decided that when the filming started, he would show off his skills in front of these Hong Kong people who looked down on him.

(End of this chapter)