Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 144: One Hundred Episodes Shooting Plan

They are not bragging. From 2010 to 2012, the "new wave storm" of American TV series brought by streaming media such as Netflix had not yet begun. In the generally standardized and conservative environment of TV drama production, the emergence of "The Walking Dead" was like a sharp "spoiler" that drew the boundary and set a new benchmark for the selection and shooting of American TV series in the future (upon closer thought, AMC's "Breaking Bad" also has a similar meaning).

Things change with time. The original game changer and leader has gradually become a faltering veteran in the nearly 10 years since the explosion of American TV series, but this has not diminished its status in the slightest.

In any case, Shi Lei agrees with this conclusion: if you want to talk about the history of TV series, it is impossible to avoid AMC's "The Walking Dead".

Finally, here are some photos and group photos from The Walking Dead over the years to bid it farewell...

If you have decided to say goodbye to "The Walking Dead", now is the best time... If you are not ready yet, it doesn't matter, because although "The Walking Dead" has ended, the story of "The Walking Dead World" will continue.

In the last few episodes of the eleventh season, "The Walking Dead" returned to the original setting of the series, that is, "walking dead who had obsessions before death will show actions such as turning door handles after death." Not only that, the crew went even further and allowed some of the walking dead to have skills such as being able to use tools and climb walls.

The emergence of mutated zombies has forced humans to comprehensively re-evaluate past norms and codes for preventing zombies. Preventing and killing zombies has become more difficult. After all, every mutated zombie can be considered half a Whisperer.

This major change is obviously in preparation for future spin-off series.

So far, "The Walking Dead" has produced many spin-off works, but Shi Lei has never been very interested in it. He has not read the original comics, games, novels, etc. He has only watched a little of the spin-off series "Fear the Walking Dead" and its spin-off short series "Flight 462"...

But the next "Walking Dead Universe" work that AMC is going to produce is of a completely different scale from the previous ones. In addition to "Fear the Walking Dead", which has various linkages with the parent drama, the other three new dramas are all starred by the protagonists of "The Walking Dead".

Perhaps, this is the way for this game to truly continue: focusing on the independent stories of the core characters, opening new maps and new chapters.

The first is "Dead City" which will be aired next year.

Although Shi Lei has always disliked forcing Negan and Maggie together, there are many people who are very interested in it. In terms of characters and actors alone, these two are excellent choices... I hope that the "Wayne couple" in "Batman v Superman" can make a name for themselves in New York.

Then there is Daryl Dixon, the solo play by Daryl Dixon.

This spin-off series, which is most like the spiritual sequel of "The Walking Dead", was originally scheduled to be starred by two veterans, Daryl and Carol. Due to the withdrawal of "Carmelo Anthony" Melissa McBride, Norman Reedus became the only one to take the lead. The essence of the road movie should not change, but I wonder if Daryl will really go to Paris.

Finally, there’s Rick and Michonne, which has a lot of narrative work to do.

At the beginning, Rick's story was planned to be made into a movie, but due to changing times, it was eventually changed to a spin-off series with the protagonist Rick and "Knife Girl" starring in it. The mysterious "Civic Republic" and the past and future of the two core characters will all be explained in this drama.

In the end, Shi Lei still saw through the essence of "The Walking Dead". No matter how much its ratings dropped or were cut, it maintained millions of core fans and a large number of "cloud viewers". Not to mention the large number of derivative secondary works and theme parks, in fact, most of the extras in The Walking Dead were fans themselves.

This group of people is the reason why AMC dares to continue filming the "Walking Dead Universe". After all, no one will do something that is not profitable...

"The Walking Dead" has always been guided by the audience's preferences and needs. Its rise, prosperity, decline, rebirth and expansion are all closely related to the audience's attitude, so Shi Lei is willing to call it "the victory of the audience" - it may not be an elegant masterpiece that can be accepted into the hall, but its achievements and significance are destined to go down in history.

The Walking Dead has many advantages, and the production cost is very cheap. Zombie makeup has been around for a long time, and the makeup routines are very mature. Except for some special zombies and a small number of close-up zombies, most zombies do not require post-production special effects.

Most of the scenes in the series are set outdoors, which is easier to shoot without blocking streets or anything like that.

The only place where costs might increase is with the lead actors.

But he has a way to circumvent it.

That is to just finish filming all the episodes.

There are 177 episodes in total of The Walking Dead.

In North America, the TV station usually pays for a few episodes to test the waters. If the series is successful, it will be broadcast weekly, with filming taking place during the broadcast.

If the ratings are not good, a TV series will be canceled halfway through a season and the show will be stopped.

In China, production companies pay for a drama and only sell it to TV stations after they have produced it.

He decided to learn from domestic examples and film all the episodes first before finding a TV station to pilot broadcast them.

No other company in North America dares to do this.

He doesn't feel any pressure because he knows that some TV series will be popular and it will definitely not be a loss if he shoots them first.

Selling is also very simple, just contact Warner or Columbia, both companies have their own TV stations.

Shi Lei made a decision in his mind. He first drew up an outline for the TV series and then found someone to fill in the script.

At that time, the actors will first sign a contract with the company, and then the people filming the show will sign a confidentiality agreement, and then filming can begin.

Actors must sign contracts so that they can reap the benefits of these people's fame.

But there are a bit too many episodes in 177.

Even if you are Chinese, it is not justifiable to just shoot 177 episodes.

Let’s shoot 100 episodes first!

(End of this chapter)