Do you think of Pancake Man when you pass by the roadside pancake stall recently? Director Dapeng's first film became a big dark horse in this summer's file, with a box office of 900 million yuan at present. It is estimated that the box office will break through the 65.438 billion yuan mark. In fact, the first day of the film's box office was nearly 65.438+0.3 billion yuan, and the investment cost was recovered on the first day.
It's hard for ordinary people to think that the behind-the-scenes pusher of this film is a beauty born in 1980s-it is producer Chen Zhixi who helped the birth of Pancake and won a full house.
Looking for opportunities to rub "star guests"
As the director of the online drama "Suspended Spring Man", Pancake Man directed by Dapeng can be said that it takes three years to shine again.
Dapeng once revealed that as early as 20 12, he was invited to star in the film version of Mr. Suspended Spring. Later, the online drama was filmed for two more seasons, and he gradually gained confidence in his director's level before proposing to make a big movie. But Dapeng wanted to make a movie, but the project was difficult to take shape, and many producers were not optimistic until they found Chen Zhixi. "Although the online drama" Sparrow "is small and complete, the process is the same as filming, but the technical requirements for the film are higher." Chen Zhixi said that he has more confidence in Dapeng's director transformation.
Chen Zhixi and Dapeng also reached an agreement on the idea of shooting. The online drama "Mr. Hanging Spring" is a hodgepodge of paragraphs, without a complete story, and the overall interest is not high. But "Pancake Man" abandoned the story structure and has a complete story, telling the inspirational story of the counter-attack of the suspension spring. Dapeng personally wrote the script, and Chen Zhixi invited Shu Huan, the screenwriter of Sorry for Thailand, to check and integrate the plot, and the script was solid.
A large number of stars were invited to make guest appearances in the film, and they played themselves, such as Deng Chao, Wu Junru, Han Han and Kenny Lin. At first, the agent didn't update Yilin's participation and felt that the scene was not funny enough. Dapeng quickly wrote several scenes at the shooting scene, allowing the agent to choose at will, and the other party agreed to make a guest appearance.
The crew also invited Stephen Chow to make a guest appearance, but he was turned down. Finally, four people, including "Young and Dangerous" Ekin Cheng, were invited and became a highlight in the film. And Hollywood action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme happened to come to Sohu to record the program, so the crew asked him to squeeze out a day to shoot. "It is sometimes hard to find a star to film everywhere." Chen Zhixi said with a smile, this is also very similar to the plot in the movie.
The team maxed out the "human card"
The investment cost of Pancake Man is about 50 million yuan, of which publicity expenses account for half. In today's hundreds of millions of movie projects, the production cost of Pancake Man is really not high. "This project is not difficult to find investment. Sohu will definitely invest in its own projects, but it is very troublesome for large companies to go through the process. The film is about to start shooting, and the funds are not yet in place. " Chen Zhixi said that the project he had decided would be promoted as soon as possible, so he paid 3 million yuan in advance, and Pancake Man didn't start until 45 days of preparation.
As Dapeng is the new director, Chen Zhixi found the best team to help him, such as the music team of Sorry. "People are very friendly, discounted, and I also maxed out my personal card." She admits that in order to make a good film, the production cost of about 25 million is still quite tight, and sometimes the budget has to be saved. But she still tries to satisfy the director's creative space. There is a bright spot in the film. Dapeng took a fancy to Xu Xianlou in Sanlitun as the shooting scene. "The cost of shooting Xu Xianlou is very high, and it is charged by the hour. It was said that it was filmed for two days. But unfortunately, when it rains, the camera can't reflect the surrounding scenes, and Dapeng feels that the picture is not beautiful. " In the end, Chen Zhixi gritted his teeth and asked the crew to shoot for two more days, which doubled the budget.
Anyone who has seen the film knows that the sneak shots of the five people in Pancake Man are taken almost every night, which also requires the film crew to shoot the night scene. The film was filmed for more than 60 days, of which more than 50 days were night performances, almost setting the highest proportion of domestic films. "Dapeng's endurance is particularly strong. He often doesn't sleep for more than 20 hours, and filming is particularly hard. " Chen Zhixi revealed that there was a scene where Dapeng and Sanger Fandun fought. Jean-Claude Van Damme's legs are so powerful that Dapeng's arms are swollen.
There are many paragraphs in the film, both the design of the script stage and the improvisation of the shooting scene. Comedy scenes like Yun-peng Yue and Wu Junru are all designed from the beginning. The "Northeast" composed of Xiao Shenyang and Liu is very funny in the film. The performances are all impromptu, with no lines.