Global Movie Emperor

Pushing open the bathroom door, water drops were still dripping from his hair. He took out a pure cotton half-sleeve from the suitcase and rubbed his head vigorously. The reason why he didn't use a towel was that the towels in Mickey's room were too big. It was dirty. You could smell the smell of rancidity and alcohol coming from the towels two miles away. The color... was also quite bright.

Seeing Mickey still sleeping soundly on the bed, Lu Ze glanced at the time. It was eight o'clock in the morning. He was not in a hurry to get him up. After all, the two of them went home last night and studied the script until midnight.

After coming out of the Lion Heart Bar last night, the two walked three kilometers back to the apartment where Mickey's father left him to stay temporarily. The most important thing was the word "borrow".

My father is not dead yet, and it is not time to divide the inheritance, and the family relationships in European and American countries are very different from those in China. After Mickey went bankrupt, as his father, he only left a place for Mickey to stay. Mickey wouldn't sleep on the street, and he wouldn't care about anything else. He didn't know if his father would be angry to death when he saw that Mickey had made his house look like this.

Putting on clean clothes, he went to the kitchen and washed the bowls first. He took a look at the refrigerator and saw that most of it was a variety of drinks. Lu Ze only found bread that had been squeezed out of shape in the innermost part. He opened the packaging bag and took a look. I took one look at it and threw it into the trash can. The green hair on the bread was almost as tall as an onion. If you eat it again, you will die.

Fortunately, I found a few steaks in the lower shelf of the refrigerator. After defrosting, I cut them into large pieces and slowly fried them in oil. I also found a few sprouted potatoes and cut them into pieces. The insides were still edible. I cut them into pieces and threw them into the pot. Add salt, ginger powder and pepper, and finally add some starch, wait until it is slightly sticky and then take it out of the pan.

To be honest, it doesn't taste that good. He doesn't know how to cook Western food. Chinese food is just a good home-cooked meal. Besides, it's hard for a skilled woman to cook without rice. The staple food is replaced by potatoes. If you ask the chef to do it, he won't be able to cook anything. Delicious stuff.

In other words, the potatoes were well cut into pieces, and the steak was very thick. It was barely full. After finishing the last spoonful of soup, picking up the plate and wanting to return to the kitchen, Mickey squinted his eyes and reached into his white vest. He kept scratching his chest.

"Morning, what did you do? It smells good, is there anything else? My stomach hurts from hunger."

"In the pot, but I suggest you take a shower first. You stink so much that I can smell it from so far away from you. I'm going to throw up."

Hearing Lu Ze's words, he pulled up his vest and smelled it. He didn't seem to notice any smell, but seeing the disgusted look in Lu Ze's eyes, he waved his hand helplessly and patted his thigh.

"Okay... But to be honest, at this point, you are no different from a woman, Mickey~ You really stink, just like a middle-aged old woman with mysophobia... Don't! Don't smash my TV! I apologize!"

He was caught by Lu Ze and had no choice but to rush into the bathroom. Five minutes later, he came out of the bathroom wet. He filled a bowl of beef stew with potatoes and sat on the sofa in the living room to eat. Lu Ze sat next to him and was serious. flipping through the script.

"Dong dong dong..."

"who?"

"I, Elena."

The bar owner's daughter came directly to the door without calling. Lu Ze looked at Mickey suspiciously. He really doubted that Mickey had brought Elena home, but when he saw Mickey eating a piece of beef, he narrowed his eyes in happiness. After blinking, he could only stand up, open the door, and say good morning to this girl whose body shape was completely different from her father's.

"I brought you breakfast, sandwiches, hot dogs, bread, bacon, and coffee. Have you had breakfast?"

The two bodies suddenly stiffened, and then Lu Ze watched Mickey dump the beef he had worked so hard to make all morning into the trash can, smiling brightly at Elena and shaking his head.

…

Compared to the tasteless beef stew with potatoes, Lu Ze suddenly felt that the English breakfast was actually quite delicious. Even though he had just eaten breakfast, he still put the food that Elena brought over into his mouth and asked Mickey.

"What do we need to do today?"

"Oh, first of all, let's sign a salary contract, and then go to Chrysler to rent movie props and shooting equipment. By the way, Elena, I also have to ask you to drive Depp's pickup truck. I believe Depp doesn't mind. , and finally I’m going to borrow some low-level actors and negotiate a business deal.”

"What about the filming location?"

"Ilcru Castle (fictional) is a village near Liverpool. It takes three hours to drive. I've eaten. There are a lot of things today. We have to act quickly. Elena, go and get Drew. The car will come over, I’ll change my clothes and we’ll meet downstairs in ten minutes.”

Without hesitation, Elena got up and went out quickly. It seemed that working in the bar had cultivated her execution skills well. Mickey leaned against the window and waited until Elena came downstairs and appeared on the street, then snapped his fingers and turned back. After entering his room, Lu Ze stuffed the script into a brown paper bag, pulled out the sofa, and put it into an old-fashioned safe with peeling paint behind the wall of the sofa.

Soon, Mickey came out of the room. His beard was trimmed cleanly and his long hair was draped behind his head. However, the blue suit he was wearing was unusually clean and tidy. He pointed to the back of the sofa and looked at Lu Ze. brow.

"I only have such a decent set of clothes, but I can't bear to wear them. What kind of life am I living... By the way, do you think my shirt is a bit tight? I feel like I'm a bit fat... Forget it, Don’t waste time, Elena is downstairs, let’s go.”

The two of them went downstairs, and a blue F150 parked at the door. Mickey pointed to the back seat of Elena, and after she sat in the back seat, he sat in the driver's seat and headed towards the suburbs of Liverpool.

Chinese movie props are usually set up by small props leasing and trading companies, and then rented out to earn some rent. Small items are made by the props department of the crew, and major film companies will not set up prop factories to provide them to their affiliates. The crew basically relies on money to provide whatever props they need.

In European and American countries, due to the more complete system of the film and television industry, most film companies will set up their own prop factories. They will save various props and equipment that may be used in the movie in this warehouse so that they do not need to be reused the next time. During the production, even some famous props will be rented by crews from other companies.

This has also led to the fact that many props of various film companies have a long history. Props from ten or twenty years can be seen everywhere. You can even find a musket, which may have been used in the filming of western films in the 1950s and 1960s. But you don’t have to worry about the quality. They all have dedicated maintenance personnel to perform regular maintenance. Apart from anything else, the environmental protection aspect is still OK.

As a veteran film company in Liverpool, although Chrysler Films has no real heritage, it barely survives on the low-cost film and video market.

In recent years, the company's financial burden has been exacerbated by the economic downturn in the UK. However, after all, the company has been established for more than 60 years, and its prop collection is still remarkable, at least for a small-budget movie like "The Effect" Still able to cope with it.

About an hour and a half later, the three of them arrived at the entrance of Klefler Film Company, which was actually a large courtyard. The surroundings of the company were very simple, with only two-way entry and exit railings, similar to the red and white ones in underground parking lots.

The greening of the yard is well done. Two big trees grow on the north and south walls respectively. Although the area of ​​the lawn and garden is not large, the vegetation is very lush. From time to time, bees land on the flowers, and are attracted by this blue raptor. Scared and left.

There are only three buildings in the entire courtyard, three three-story buildings arranged in a Z-shaped pattern. However, the courtyard occupies a large area and the lighting effect should be good.

"I haven't been here for... six or seven years. I can't believe that I feel nostalgic standing here. After graduating from film school, my first job was as an advertising director at Krefler, shooting that kind of After two years of working as an advertisement for third-rate products, I changed jobs and left. I thought I wouldn’t miss this place... but I didn’t expect that it would come full circle and I would come back again.”

Mickey took a breath of cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke from his nostrils, as if talking to the two of them, and as if reminiscing about the past. Lu Ze lifted his pants when he got out of the car, and followed Mickey into the small building at the front.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Who are you? Where's old Max?"

"It's been three years since I died of a heart attack. What are you doing here?"

"I want to... rent some props and discuss business with Mr. Saul. Please tell Saul that Mickey Taylor came to talk to him about something."

The black man wearing a white security uniform came out of the mail room. After chatting with Mickey for a while, he looked at the three of them up and down for a while, then stayed and waited for a while, then returned to the mail room and dialed the internal phone number. Maybe For him, this combination of one yellow, one white, and a string is indeed a bit strange.

It wasn't until the call was finished that he spoke to the three of them through the glass of the mailroom: "You can go up."

"Okay, thanks...old Max is a good guy, I mean it."

"I haven't seen him either, but... I feel the same way."

The black boy raised his eyebrows slightly, and finally a smile appeared on his originally serious face. He nodded to the three of them, and then started playing with his mobile phone again.

"OK, let's split up. I'll go upstairs and talk to Sol. You two go out and turn right. Go to the house on the right behind to pick out props. Remember to pick newer ones. If there is a guard, tell him. They're from Mickey's crew, here's the list, just take a photo of it."

A piece of white paper folded in half was handed over. Lu Ze opened it and took a look, expressing his understanding, waving to Elena, and taking her away.

Sure enough, when they entered the house at the back, an old man with a white beard stopped the two of them. After Lu Ze informed them, he did not stop them and just sold Lu Ze sticky notes.

"Fifty pence, do you need it?"

"No sir, I already have it."

He took out a stack of post-it notes from his pocket and shook it at the old man. This made the old man a little frustrated and slowly returned to his rest room. When Lu Ze saw the old man returning to the room, he opened the door. In an instant, a dazzling array of movie props appeared. When you first see it, it looks more like an old-fashioned antique store than a movie prop.

Needless to say, there are various kinds of clothing, such as old-fashioned film projectors, the kind that are particularly prone to catching fire, and medieval European armors, ranging from old-fashioned cars to bottles and cans, you can always find them if you want. get.

First, start searching for the big items on the list. Walk to an old Ford sedan from the 2000s, pick up a sticky note, write the address and date on it, tear it off and stick it on the car, and then look for the next item.

Although the things here are old, they are all usable, just like the car just now. You can drive away with gas. The date on the sticky note is the time the crew needs to use it, and the address is the filming location of the crew, like this For large items that you can't take with you, just put a sticky note on them and someone from the film company will deliver them to your door. Then pay the rent in full. Of course, it must be a short trip. For long distances, it is better to rent it from a company elsewhere.

If two crews want to use a prop at the same time, then it has to be decided on a first-come, first-served basis. Don’t worry that the other crew will tear off your sticky notes and replace them with theirs. Once discovered by the film company, the props will no longer be rented to the other party. It is equivalent to losing the qualification to rent, which is a general rule of all prop factories.

After renting a series of items such as old-fashioned beds and furniture, Lu Ze took Elena to the third floor to rent some shooting equipment. Just looking at the price... Lu Ze was a little bit gnashing his teeth.

Unlike props, shooting equipment has a clearly marked price, and there are various models before 20 years. You can even find the oldest cameras to shoot black and white silent films. However, for this kind of camera, you need to buy film, and the film needs to be purchased separately.

Lu Ze and Mickey tentatively need three cameras. They can use ordinary cameras and a few filters. However, the rent and deposit for these things are really outrageous. The monthly rent for one camera alone is five hundred pounds, and the deposit is It's three thousand pounds. The crew's funds are limited, so renting two is still a bit of a burden, but three... it's really unaffordable.

Lu Ze shuttled back and forth in front of various models of cameras, trying to find some cheap and easy-to-use cameras according to his budget, but the final price was much higher than the budget.

Finally, Lu Ze shifted his attention to the small grid in the second to last row, took out a Sony home handheld camera produced in 2017, and installed the battery under the camera. There was still half a battery. Turn on the switch and aim at Elena.

"Hey, look at me, OK, that's it. Let's go, the last few things."

After selecting two 4.5-meter-long tracks, plus microphones and lighting, all the props on the list have been selected.

After counting the props that needed to be taken away now, as well as one-time sales products such as plasma, Lu Ze took Elena and put these things in after paying more than 500 pounds in rent and deposit. In the car, that's why the Raptor is here today.

After everything was prepared, before Mickey came down, the two of them came to the mail room and started a boring home-cooking mode with the black guy just now.

Lu Ze didn't ask him why he chose the job of janitor in the mail room at such a young age. After all, this would be unpleasant. However, Lu Ze also learned that his family has five brothers and sisters, and there are two children from his aunt's family, because His father went to prison, and his mother remarried and was sent to his home to be raised.

Seven children... Except for those countries with huge childbirth subsidies, who else can be spared from poverty? As the eldest son, it is understandable that a black man would do this job to supplement the family income. After all, not every black man can become the male protagonist of "The Untouchables".

The three of them were having a good chat in the mail room until Mickey and another man came down from upstairs. The young man immediately kept a straight face and pretended to be working seriously. Lu Ze and Elena were really not easy to disturb, so they Come out of the mailroom.

"Lu Ze, let me introduce to you, Christian Sol, the boss of Klefler Company. Sol, this is Lu Ze. You should know it, right?"

"Of course I can watch "Alive" many times. Nice to meet you, Mr. Lu."

Lu Ze shook hands with this man who looked to be about fifty years old, and after chatting for a while, the topic disappeared. Although Sol seemed quite enthusiastic, he seemed to be somewhat disapproving of Lu Ze.

Mickey must have sensed Sol's attitude. He didn't want to say anything more, so he pulled Lu and Ze away. He just reminded Sol before leaving.

"The person I want will meet at Irkro Castle on Saturday. The most important thing is the little princess. I must see her!"

"Don't worry, I will arrange for them to go there."

After the three returned to the car, Mickey opened the brown paper bag and took out two contracts from it and handed them to Lu Ze and Elena. It seemed that Mickey had used Sol's printer in his office.

Lu Ze looked down one by one. It was no different from a common film contract. English was not too difficult for Lu Ze. There were no circles. On the contrary, the restrictions on Lu Ze were looser than ordinary film contracts. It was a lot. After reading all the terms, Lu Ze approved the contract. He picked up the pen and was about to sign, but was suddenly stopped by Mickey.

He drove the car without looking away, but couldn't help but sigh.

"Honestly, I have to tell you the results of my discussion with Saul, lest you think that I tricked you by signing this contract. I just talked with Saul and this movie... may not be released. .”

Lu Ze's hand that was about to sign paused momentarily. If this movie couldn't be released, there would be no need for him to shoot it. He came to the UK purely to clear his name. What's a movie that isn't released? Playing house?

"So what are you going to do? What's the point of giving us the contract if it can't be released?"

"Of course."

Mickey also looked very anxious. He lit a cigarette and took a big sip, but he only took one sip and threw the cigarette out the window.

"This is not China. Just because it can't be released doesn't mean it can't make money. It's just that the other way is more difficult."

"any solution?"

"The video tape market... this movie may have to be sold in video theaters in the form of discs."

"..."