Chapter 112: Finally Able to Begin Post-Production

December 25th. According to reports from our newspaper, the low-budget film "Get on the Bus, Let's Go," produced by young director Wu Xiang and directed by Guan Hu, starring Gao Hu, Huang Bo, and Sun Yifei, has concluded its first week of release. In Beijing alone, the box office reached 790,000 yuan, leaving both the production team and the distributors very satisfied. The film depicts the story of two farmers who leave their mountain homes for the capital, detailing their struggles, daily lives, and romances, while reflecting on various contemporary social issues.

Indeed, on the whole, the 790,000 yuan box office figure achieved by "Get on the Bus, Let's Go" during its three-day opening in Beijing, while perhaps not outstanding, was certainly enough to justify Wu Xiang’s investment.

This was just for Beijing alone. Of course, the Beijing market is vital, but achieving these numbers in three days is acceptable, especially considering the modest budget, the lack of major stars, and the stiff competition from other films.

Regardless of what others think, Wu Xiang was satisfied. According to his original plan, a film like this—not particularly festive in nature—was unlikely to make much of a splash during the New Year's season. The only reason it was released then was that production had finished right on time; otherwise, it would have had to wait until next year, which was undesirable because Wu Xiang needed liquid cash to cover the overruns on his larger productions.

A bit of profit is better than none at all.

Wu Xiang had done all he could for this film. He would not be attending any further promotional events, not even the premiere. The reason was simple: he had to begin post-production on "Emperor Wu of Han."

He couldn't afford to be distracted by anything else; otherwise, he had no idea when his first major production would finally meet the audience. The first step of post-production for Wu Xiang was the editing.

This film, however, would not be so easy to cut. Wu Xiang felt he couldn't handle it alone and needed an assistant. The first person who came to mind was Teacher Zhou Xinxia.

Why insist on a partner? It wasn't a lack of confidence on Wu Xiang’s part, but rather that this film was fundamentally different from his previous work.

While both used 35mm film, the workload was vastly different. For his previous films, "The Great Flood" and "First Intimate Contact," Wu Xiang had spent only around 200,000 yuan on film stock. That was incredibly frugal. A single reel of 35mm film, which only captures four minutes of footage, costs 1,500 yuan. In other words, Wu Xiang’s savings on his first two films had been extreme; his final-cut ratio far exceeded the standard 1-to-8. This wasn't because Wu Xiang was a genius, but because those films were based on existing stories, essentially "copycat" works, and they were urban dramas with no special effects.

But for "Emperor Wu of Han," the cost of the film stock alone had already exceeded 2 million yuan!

That is correct, but don't be shocked. This 2 million yuan for film is merely the normal cost for an average-budget film, not even a major production. For big productions, it often exceeds 3 million or 4 million yuan. The final-cut ratio for major productions is typically lower than 1-to-15, making this film cost perfectly normal.

However, big-budget productions don't worry about the cost of film. To put it into perspective, the catering expenses alone for "Emperor Wu of Han"—the cost of boxed lunches—exceeded that amount, and that was even with Wu Xiang bringing in military personnel to participate, which saved a significant amount of money.

That is why people say filmmaking burns money—this was just Wu Xiang's first time doing the burning. Since the film costs were so high, it meant the amount of footage shot was ten times that of his previous films, and the workload for editing would increase exponentially, not just tenfold.

This is why Wu Xiang had delayed post-production; he needed a long, uninterrupted period to focus entirely on the task, as any distraction could lead to errors.

Currently, the industry still relies on traditional filming methods. In the future, with technological advancements and the development of digital high-definition cameras, editing will become much simpler—potentially allowing for editing to occur immediately after shooting—thereby reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Of course, new technology has its flaws, such as lower resolution, and digital technology is not cheap in this era. As a penny-pincher, Wu Xiang naturally wouldn't choose it.

"Teacher Zhou, I’m here to trouble you again." Finding Teacher Zhou was easy, and Wu Xiang naturally brought some gifts along. Being from the Northeast, this was a habit, and besides, it made him seem modest, didn't it?

"You have quite the ambition this time. The previous films were too easy to edit, but this one finally presents a real challenge." Teacher Zhou was excellent; she didn't fear trouble—or rather, she found the more troublesome and challenging tasks to be the most rewarding. Sometimes, when you love your work, you don't feel the fatigue; you feel the excitement.

"Teacher, this film is extremely important. I’ve brought the script; please take a look. I have no other intentions, please don't overthink it."

An editor must deeply understand the script, but for Wu Xiang to emphasize this to a first-class national editor like Teacher Zhou was perhaps a bit much.

However, Teacher Zhou didn't read too much into it. She knew her student well enough to know he had his reasons. She smiled and said, "Why don't you just work alongside me? You can watch from the side, and if there’s anything you’re unhappy with, just let me know, and we can discuss it."

"That wouldn't do, I am just..." Wu Xiang felt embarrassed. She was a master in the field, and he couldn't compare to her professionalism. But in reality, that was exactly what he wanted. He truly didn't want to let go of the editing process for this film.

"Teacher, I know. It's your first time shooting such a massive film, so it's natural to be anxious." Teacher Zhou was truly understanding, which moved Wu Xiang deeply.

A film at this stage is like an embryo; the editor is the midwife, and the director, like Wu Xiang, is the father. Only those who have experienced this process can truly understand the state of mind involved.

That said, this was already quite fortunate. Wu Xiang was able to participate in the editing because he was both the director and the investor; he had the final say. In the real world, not every director has this right. For example, in Hollywood, within that mature and highly specialized film-production assembly line, few directors have the power to cut their own films.

Wu Xiang’s nervousness and fixation were not due to being neurotic, but because he clearly remembered a major film in the future that failed at the box office precisely because of poor editing.

That film was "Kingdom of Heaven," a grand historical epic. It had a massive budget, was exquisitely shot, featured magnificent sets and grand scenes, and included famous stars like Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, and Edward Norton—all legendary names. Sadly, the film’s box office performance was dismal, to the point where almost no one watched it.

The reason? The version released in theaters was not edited by the director, Ridley Scott; he lacked the authority to do so. The distributors, in order to increase the number of screenings and maximize showtimes, compressed the plot, which caused the entire narrative to lose its coherence. The result was a tragedy. The great director was nearly driven to suicide, and it wasn't until the later Director’s Cut was released that the film finally received the acclaim it deserved.

What a vivid example. Wu Xiang, under no circumstances, wanted to become the second Ridley Scott.

Consequently, Wu Xiang dove headfirst into the editing work, turning a deaf ear to the world outside, focused solely on the film.

Wu Xiang wanted to ignore the outside world, but others still had to live their lives.

On December 31st, several high-profile films were released simultaneously. The most anticipated was naturally "Happy Times." The film had gone through every stage of preparation and was ready for release. Moreover, it was the first time Director Zhang Yimou had entered the New Year's box office race. He had never participated in this season before, as his films tended to perform well regardless of the schedule.

Of course, "Happy Times" arrived with great momentum, but the other films were not far behind. They all had their own gimmicks. "Defensive Counterattack" featured a big star from Hong Kong, making it hard to resist. Then there was "Examination Family," which starred the popular teacher Song Dandan—it also looked quite promising.

It was entirely predictable that this year's New Year's box office would be fiercely competitive. The most critical point was that the market share available for domestic films was not large to begin with. In competition with Hollywood and Hong Kong films, domestic productions were often at an absolute disadvantage. That was the current reality: the lion's share of the market was held by outsiders.