Director Cai Yue Xun: Shooting Out of the Taiwanese Market, Monday June 29, 2009 Taiwan

Source: Liberty Times
Translation: xbunnylicious @ http://asianfanatics.net
Credit Thank : butterfly @ ThaiTv3 BoArD



In 2008, movie "Cape No. 7" embodied the dreams of many Taiwanese and even caused the cape in southern Taiwan to be flooded with tourists. In 2009, drama "Black and White" attracted millions of Taiwanese audience to sit in front of their television and wait for the broadcast of the drama. The ratings even broke PTS' decade old record.

"Is this a Taiwanese drama?" How are they willing to spend so much money?" "Is this Kaohsiung? Is Kaohsiung really that beautiful?" These similar praises were heard from the start of the drama. "Black and White" caused an increase in tourist to Kaosiung, including the suite of Lei Mu Sha's intense bed scene, the Tuntext Sky Tower, and the Taipei Neihu Technology Park. All of these became hot discussion topics online.

Willing to use money to make a dream

Q: PTS used to film literary dramas, but this time they invested on an action drama "Black and White" that set a new record for PTS. How do you view this change?

A: When PTS contacted me, they stressed that they wanted to attract young people. Now that we have record-breaking ratings and flooded message boards, this is definitely a good thing. Each country's national TV station has a great influence and Taiwan needs to catch up.

What I am concerned about is when you search for "Black and White" on the Yahoo portal, there were only about 6 million results back in April. Today, there are over 33 million search results, which means that everyone is discussing about "Black and White". This business model that is able to stimulate the enthusiam of the audience will be able to strengthen Taiwan's filming industry.


Q: But in the beginning, no one dared to invest in "Black and White". Why?

A: Because when everyone heard that I was going to film a police and villan drama, they said, "You're crazy. How can Taiwan film such a drama?" When they heard that I was going to film chasing scenes on the ocean and blow up McDonald's, they all criticized me as a madman.

When filming movies before, they always blamed it on external restrictions. Now movie creators are tied up in their mind and not daring to make a dream so that they have a conservative movie. Taiwanese dramas has always been confined with little love stories between a guy and a girl. No one was daring enough to film about police and robbers because it is too costly and didn't dare think of the slump in technology.


Q: Taiwanese drama production costs, on average, NTD 15,000 a minute. "Black and White" reached close to NTD 700,000 a minute. How did you dare film it?

A: I dared because there are celebrities and oversea markets. Filming "Meteor Garden" costs only NTD 670,000 each episode. When F4 became famous, they got to expand to overseas market. "The Hospital" cost NTD 2.8 million per episode. Because "Black and White" is a police drama, there are plenty of shooting and explosion scenes. For example, each pistol bullet costs $1.50 USD and a rifle bullet is $3.00 USD. If you're not willing to spend the money, then don't film it. If you want a large scene, you must spend the money. Because of this, it allowed everyone to see a different type of domestic drama.


Q: What motivated you to pay the high costs?

A: I often ask myself this. The answer is probably a type of instinct in which I want to challenge myself in things I've never done or things that I can't do. You only need to watch European, American, Japanese, and Korean movies and dramas to realize that many people can produce good films. Taiwanese films must be able to expand upon the Taiwanese market into Asia in order to increase in investments.


Creating an efficient marketing system

Q: "Black and White" was able to film Kaohsiung's beauty and progress. How did you do it?

A: If it wasn't for the support of Kaohsiung city and the enthusiuam of the people, "Black and White" could not be filmed. At first, I planned to just use a transit train in southern Kaohsiung to film a train-jacking scene. But after I arrived at Kaohsiung, I realized it is surrounded by tropical oceans, leaving me with different images compared to when I saw it as a kid. I also gained the support of the director of a news agency. He took the intiative to conduct meetings of the Kaohsiung City Official Board.


Q: Many cities in Taiwan want to be exposed through TV to create an effective marketing system. How do you do it effectively?

A: The Kaohsiung city government assigned two officials to help us with the filming. They know where to find the best scenes from capes to helicopter landings to transit trains.

Not only were the officials nice, the people were also very enthusiastic. The Kaohsiung Technology Park generously helped us find a place for our Southern District Office. I originally planned to film 40% of the scenes in Kaohsiung, but now it resulted in 90%. I am aware of the Kaohsiung government's determination to support the filming industry. Everytime "Black and White" goes overseas for promotions, we must promote Kaohsiung and invite fans to come visit Kaohsiung.


Q: There are bound to be failures in life. What are you proud of the most?

A: Quality is the most important element. For example, the production team wanted to find a house that is only 120 square meter since it seems big enough in the traditional concept. But I did not accept that. How could a bunch of wealthy men live in a mere 120 square meter house? After a handful of arguements and disagreements, we finally decided to use a luxury golf course as the center of attention. We also found a swimming pool and three luxury guest houses to create a sense of wealthiness.


Q: "Black and White" has shot to stardom Mark Zhao, Ivy Chen, Sonia Sui, and other newcomers. What do you think of that?

A: When we stand in Taiwan, we must create our own characteristics. I continue to film because we can continue to create stars. We got F4 hot in the Asian market. There must be stars in order for foreigners to notice Taiwanese dramas. The main focus is the stars. If the drama is good, the market will continue to expand.


Q: You successfully "created" Zai Zai, how did you do it?

A: Innovation is the key. My approach is to first find the absolute suitable candidate. For example, I found that Vic Zhou Zai Zai has the "ruffian" aura in him. I didn't deliberately tailor a script for him.

All of the investment in the drama are ultimately gained by the actors. Once there is a good movie, the audience will be moved and will start liking the role and then advance to accepting the star's performance. Although a television is only a small frame, everything is concerned and given attention to. The more sophisticated and refined it is, the more enthusiastic the audience will be. If the scene has over hundreds of flaws, the audience will see through it in an instant.

Creating Taiwanese characteristics in order to move the audience

Q: How do you sum up the work experience of "Black and White"?

A: Many people are curious how the scenes are filmed so beautifully. In fact, this is all because of Kaohsiung's rich sea views and new buildings. I originally had the idea of a 70-episode script, but the movie has to continue the story of the first part. In the future, I will have to leave all of the scenes for filming for future movies. That is my only thanks and reward for Kaohsiung.