Volume 1 Chapter 140: Turning Back at the Peak

  Since being enlightened by Steven Spielberg, telling Yee Feng-yang that as a director, some things can't be taken too seriously, and you can't do everything yourself. If you finish everything on your own, what's the point of having subordinates?

  Inspired by this, Yì Fēi Yáng decided to hand over the animation design and production to Mike and John, so he could have time to deal with other things, such as... writing scripts.

  Watching Yi Fei Yang's attitude was so resolute, others had nothing to say. Looking outside, the originally overcast sky suddenly poured down a torrential rain, and a loud thunderbolt struck, shaking everyone's eardrums.

  "Look, even heaven is angry!" said Bao Gaohai.

  "No, even God has given up on him!" said Rabbit Bill, shaking his head.

  "That script should be ours!"

  ……

  Knock knock knock, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

  It was late at night and raining outside when suddenly someone knocked on the door, which startled everyone.

  It's so late, who would come to the company?

  The door creaked open and a wet head poked out, asking: "Is Mr. Yi Feiyang in?"

  "Ah, yes, he's there, but who are you?"

  "I am... James Wen!"

  Yi Feiyang never thought that James Wen would suddenly run over in the middle of the night, and even more unexpected was that as soon as he saw himself, he said: "Dear Mr. Yi, I have terminated my cooperation with Shiming Film Studio, this script has always belonged to you!"

  Yi Feiyang was stunned, this matter is also too ups and downs.

  I thought it was okay to just send the script outline to James Wan and then ask for some script fees from Lionsgate, but unexpectedly James Wan suddenly killed the project, withdrew the script from Lionsgate, and even braved the heavy rain to return it to me personally, what's going on?!

  Then James Wen said very seriously to Yi Fei Yang, "Yi, I want to follow you!"

  This line... seems very familiar, like those clichéd scenes from Hong Kong gangster movies.

  "Give him a towel and let him wipe off the rain first," said Yì Fēi Yáng.

  In a moment, after James finished cleaning up, Yi Feiyang asked him what was wrong.

  Zhanmusi Wen then gave a detailed account of the reason under Yifeiyang's inquiry.

  After Yifei Yang left the Lion's Gate Film Company, James Wen felt more and more despicable and guilty. Although the story outline was something he had picked up himself, the script he wrote was completely based on it. Now that Yifei Yang not only didn't get angry but also encouraged him to keep going, James Wen's conscience was severely condemned.

  So James went ahead and told his boss Gusta about his thoughts, saying he couldn't do this, that such behavior was no different from a thief's.

  As the boss of Lion's Gate, Gus kept reassuring James not to think too much about it, what's past is past, and now he should focus on getting the script right.

  But James boldly asked to withdraw from the production of this play and also wanted to take back the script.

  Gusta was in a bit of trouble. It turned out that when James Wen came to Lion's Gate, Gusta didn't think much of him and therefore didn't sign him. It wasn't until he read the script that he thought this kid was pretty good, a real talent. Then he got busy taking the script over for approval and put the signing on the back burner. Now James Wen had every right to take the script back.

  Gustave regretted not being cautious enough for the first time, but there was no way to stop James from leaving Lion's Gate. Moreover, Gustave also admired James' spirit of correcting mistakes. Although Gustave liked to recruit talented people, he preferred those with noble character. Thieves were unwelcome anywhere.

  After a futile attempt to dissuade him, Gusta also had to give up on James' script and could only helplessly watch the plum role fly away again.

  ……

  After figuring out the truth of the matter, Yi Feiyang couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. He himself wasn't a good person either, if you could say that he was a thief, then in his past life, he had stolen three plays...

  No matter what, seeing James' sincerity, braving the heavy rain to come over, Yi Feiyang had no choice but to accept his joining, announcing that from now on, Dream Illusion Film would have an additional general.

  What a talent!

  Only Yifei Yang knew that this James Wen was so against the heavens in his past life, now he actively threw himself into her arms, how could she refuse him?!

  Poor Gusta, lost the script and ran away with talent, but now is not the time to worry about others. Yi Feiyang and his team are facing a very real problem - how to shoot this "Saw"?!

  ……

  In Hollywood, there is a classic saying: "Comedies and horror movies are the easiest to succeed with small bets."

  If you're short of money, make a comedy; if you're still short of money, make a horror film!

  Because Americans love horror just like Hong Kong people love Kung Fu, it has already become a habit in life.

  You can see a little kid in Hong Kong holding a kung fu comic book and reading it with great interest, or you can see an American kid's bedside table always piled up with vampire or werewolf magazines.

  This is two different cultural habits cultivated since childhood.

  Yi Feiyang, who has been in Hollywood for almost two years, certainly understands the meaning of this "classic saying", and also verifies the truth of it with his own horror movie.

  Now he is ready to lead his own team to create another horror miracle - "Saw".

  Saw is a 2004 horror film directed by James Wan. The film was shot in just eighteen days and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2004. It was released theatrically on October 29, 2004, and grossed $55 million in the United States. Due to its massive success, a sequel was released almost every year until the seventh installment.

  This exceptionally successful horror film is not only extremely popular among North American audiences, but also has a large number of fans in the distant China, where it was not even released. People are fascinated by the shocking and bloody scenes, as well as the reflection on life attitude after the self-torturing and crazy plot.

  "Most people live without ever knowing gratitude. But you won't, never again."

  "Life and death are in your hands!"

  This is the famous saying of Chainsaw Man, the founder of Chainsaw Man. In this play, the male protagonist "Tobin Bell" has an Oscar-worthy performance that makes the killer's heart-wrenching.

  An unexpected ending, an unreasonably crazy one!

  This bloody and gory killing game is different from previous horror movies, such as "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street", it has its own unique rules. All the dead, in the end, did not die at the hands of Jigsaw, but died because of their own fear of death. Jigsaw never "personally" killed a game participant.

  For this play, Yi Feiyang wrote a script, and James Wen, who had just joined the Dream Illusion Film Studio, also wrote a script. The two scripts were taken out for comparison, and their strengths and weaknesses were immediately apparent.

  Yi Feiyang is not a professional script editor, in his free and easy mind, the script emphasizes creativity rather than shooting details; on the other hand, James Wen himself is studying this profession, the scripts he writes are very close to the shooting requirements of the split-screen script, and the split-screen script is written very thoroughly, where to use long shots, where to use empty shots, where to perform attached vision shooting, where to rise and fall, where to swing and where to hang, where to reverse and where to change focus, even where to use subjective lenses, complete and meticulous, without a single segment missing.

  According to Bill the Rabbit and others, Yi Feiyang's script for "Saw" is on the "Dali" route, very abstract, and only if Yi Feiyang himself directs it personally will the filming be fast; James Wen's script is on the "Da Vinci" route, very practical, even an ordinary person can make a 8-9 out of 10 "Saw" after getting this script.

  Such an evaluation made Yi Feiyang feel very embarrassed, he who had always been praised as a Hollywood genius, encountered such a strong opponent for the first time. Fortunately, this guy was also Chinese and had even joined his own company. It's really unknown what terrible consequences would happen if he were to let him go to Liongate Films in the future.

  Yi Feiyang thought of this and couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

  Talents, ah, it's still safest to keep them in one's own hands!

  ……

  In the following days, Yi Feiyang led newcomer James Wen to start making a comprehensive effort, making personnel tables, actor tables, accompaniment, ideal machine position diagrams, shot-by-shot indication diagrams, and material lists, etc. Everything needed for a movie was prepared as much as possible.

  In terms of actors, Yi Feiyang did not choose beauties like Heather or Jessica to help out.

  The film is a bloody horror movie, and the beauty suddenly appearing would be bad. For this type of closed-room drama, the more ordinary and common-looking the actors are, the better. Therefore, Yi Feiyang easily selected several actors from the company's reserve who felt pretty good.

  However, the actor playing "Vertical Saw" has not been selected yet. Yifeng is considering whether to invite old actors from his previous life to perform...

  Apart from the male lead who has yet to be decided, the entire crew is actually still missing a few of the most important props, which are the "Seven Weapons" in this play.

  It is well-known that the brutal torture devices designed by Jigsaw in the previous "Saw" are absolutely the biggest highlights of the entire film, including the iron helmet with saw teeth that can cut off one's head into two halves, the guillotine that can chop a person into two segments, and the automatic lawn mower equipped with a timer...

  It can be said that this play relies on these exquisite props to create a bloody and gory scene.

  Yi Feiyang and James then went to several prop stores near Hollywood together, to see if they could customize or rent these "murder props".