A few days later, Zhang Yuan arrived at Hua Yi's office building.
“Uncle Li!”
Far away, Zhang Yuan saw an old acquaintance.
“Hey, you’re here, kid.”
Like the previous “A World Without Thieves”, Zhang Li is also the photography director of “The Night Banquet”.
This guy is very busy, but I can’t help it. He is a leader in the industry. In terms of photography, he is second only to Lao Mouzi and Gu Changwei.
In terms of overall ability, he is better than Gu Changwei.
The last time the two met was at the funeral of Teacher Fu Biao.
He came with his wife Liu Bei that day, and ended up meeting Liu Bei's ex-husband.
"Uncle Li, look at your glowing face, have you done anything good recently?" Zhang Yuan praised this man when he saw that he was very energetic.
At the same time, he took out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and lit it for the other party.
"Hehehe, it's a bit of luck." Zhang Li returned with a smile.
"No matter how good you are, you are not as good as you. You have been doing well recently. I heard that you are quite popular on the Internet."
"It is all praised by the audience."
"Don't be modest. I've seen a lot of people in our industry. They have a lot of abilities, but not many can control themselves and have a clear mind." Zhang Li took a puff of his cigarette and continued: "You have a good brain. ”
Zhang Li likes him very much, not only he speaks well, but he can also drink.
Mainly for Zhang Li, a photographer, Zhang Yuan is very easy to photograph.
Easy to produce results, no need to waste a lot of effort to find angles.
"It saves me effort if you come to act. I can worry less and save time."
Zhang Li quickly finished one, and Zhang Yuan gave him another.
This group of people who have been on the crew for a long time have extremely high work pressure and are basically chain smokers.
"Just don't delay the filming of this movie. I still have work to do next."
"You are very capable, so you will naturally have more life." Zhang Yuan took advantage of the situation and asked: "What kind of play is it?"
"A costume drama that talks about the Ming Dynasty is called "The Ming Dynasty 1566"."
Zhang Yuan smiled and nodded, and sure enough... it was such a big hole!
40 million investment, two years of preparation, and a final ratings of 0.5%.
Screenwriter Liu Heping wrote the script for a full year. He also specially enshrined the tablets of Jiajing and Hai Rui. Every day before the show, he would bow three times and nine times, burn incense and bathe. He was extremely serious and particular.
And the original film was actually the HK city government's plan to make a local celebrity Hai Rui famous and film a TV series with him as the protagonist.
However, under the design and adaptation of Liu Heping, the story centered on Hai Rui was expanded and dispersed to include Jiajing, Yan Song, Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng and other ancient celebrities.
And the best thing about this script, apart from its rigorous logic, is that it does not portray these characters.
Yan Song was a traitor, but why was he a traitor, yet he was able to remain in the court for decades.
This play tells everyone the reason, but does not label any character, but allows the audience to understand it themselves.
From an artistic point of view, Zhang Yuan has always believed that this play can be compared with "Yongzheng Dynasty".
It’s just that the end of the broadcast was too bleak.
But later, in 2017, "The Ming Dynasty 1556" was broadcast on Youku, and it received more than 40 million views in less than a month.
The Douban score also reached an astonishing 9.8, with more than 200,000 people giving it a perfect score.
Poet Chen said that it will take 10 years for people to understand Wuji.
Everyone didn’t understand.
"Ming Dynasty 1566" was a huge failure when it premiered in early 2007, and became a hit online in 2017, spawning countless memes and subcultures.
10 years have passed.
Therefore, Poet Chen’s words should be given to this drama.
“Don’t worry, maybe I still have a chance to make money from it.” Zhang Yuan thought about his way to make money.
The two chatted for a while. In fact, Zhang Yuan came to participate in the script reading meeting of "The Night Banquet" today.
Similar to "A World Without Thieves", Hua Yi set up a set for the crew in Xiaotangshan and made a complete set of interior and exterior decorations of the palace. The finishing touches have now begun and filming will begin within a few days.
So today Director Feng gathered all the leading actors together to study the lines and script in advance to avoid stumbling during filming.
"By the way, Xiaogang has been in a bad mood these past few days. Please pay attention." Zhang Li reminded him kindly after chatting with him for a while.
“What’s going on?”
“Tsk, let’s talk about Kaige’s fault.” Zhang Li looked helpless when he mentioned Poet Chen.
Although they are all from the Imperial Circle, there are many people who can't stand him.
"Have you watched his movie "The Promise"?" Zhang Li asked.
Zhang Yuan nodded.
“What a stupid photo.” Zhang Li complained.
After saying that, both of them laughed.
"He shouldn't have gotten involved in the script, he doesn't have the ability."
"Now it's better, the overseas box office is a mess, and I'm scolding Warner for cheating."
"Now because of "The Promise", overseas distributors are becoming cautious about Chinese costume blockbusters."
"Even several film producers who originally planned to buy "The Banquet" said they would reconsider it. "
"In fact, not only "The Night Banquet", Hua Yi's other major drama "Mo Gong" also encountered difficulties in overseas licensing, "
Zhang Li said while shaking his head.
I thought that Poet Chen had diarrhea himself and ended up infecting others.
"I heard that the Wang brothers have been cursing each other all day long, their tempers have exploded, and they are desperately trying to contact overseas distributors."
"The cost of "The Night Banquet" is only 20 million US dollars, and it depends solely on the domestic box office... Haha. "Zhang Li is an expert and knows that the cost of 120 million will require at least 400 million in box office to make a profit.
Lao Mouzi couldn't get so much box office in China. He didn't believe that Feng Xiaogang, who was filming a costume drama for the first time, could get it.
A few days ago, the Wang brothers were laughing at Poet Chen for making eye contact everywhere, and they were even caught off guard by an internet spoof video.
I didn’t expect the boomerang to come so fast...
He and Zhang Li came to the large conference room upstairs.
After entering the room, I found that Teacher Ge You, who had a bald head and a black baseball cap, had arrived.
After greeting him, Zhang Yuan walked towards another old man standing aside.
"Hello, Teacher Ma."
This is a real teacher, and a famous teacher from Nortel.
This person's name is Ma Jingwu, who plays Yin Taichang in the film, the father of Huang Xiaoming's character Yin Falcon.
This man is not only a teacher, but also a professor at Nortel. He was also the head of the teaching and research group of the Performance Department. He just retired in the past two years.
Qian Yanqiu, the director of "Detective Di Renjie", and Zhang Zijian, who plays Yuan Fang, are both his students.
And not only is he himself, his wife Li Ranran is also a teacher at Nortel, and she and he became the head of the teaching and research group of the performance department.
Teacher Li’s students are more famous. Liu Yunlong, Shao Bing, Yu Feihong, Zhang Guangbei, Zhao Baogang, and Li Chengru are all students taught by her personally.
Therefore, this couple has a wide network of contacts in the industry, and it is no exaggeration to say that they have a lot of friends all over the world.
"Oh, hello." Ma Jingwu took a careful look.
When he saw the list of actors, he was actually a little surprised.
Huang Xiaoming is a student of Nortel. Although he is not taught by him, he is still one of his own.
But he had to match a young man with no professional qualifications, which puzzled Teacher Ma.
Now that I have seen him with my own eyes, I feel that this young man has a good temperament and is quite kind and polite. Although I don't know him, he is quite polite to me.
And...
Teacher Ma swept around the conference room.
Besides him, Ge You, and Zhang Li, the only other young man who came to prepare for the meeting was Zhang Yuan.
My own Huang Xiaoming is still nowhere to be found.
For these veteran actors, it is normal to arrive at the set half an hour or even an hour early.
But young people today are all about having fun, and few stick to this point.
Seeing that Zhang Yuan came as early as them, Teacher Ma became a little curious.
I wonder if he is like this on weekdays, or if he occasionally arrives early today.
Huang Xiaoming, Zhou Xun, Zhang Ziyi arrived one by one, and finally director Feng Xiaogang.
Zhang Yuan has said hello to all of them.
He heard that Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi were quite romantic.
But today they were dressed in everyday clothes and without makeup, so they didn’t look much prettier than ordinary people.
Fan Bingbing is much more beautiful without makeup than these two... Zhang Yuan thought.
Zhang Ziyi is very thin, with yellow skin and dry hair.
She is also a girl, but the Gong Li she saw a few days ago has a much stronger temperament than her.
Not to mention Zhou Xun, his eyes are quite big, but his face is not small either.
Still has a big smokey voice, and when he talks he sounds like a duck quacking.
And this guy smokes cigarettes very hard, one cigarette after another.
How fierce is it?
Sai Yuqian.
Look, smoking like that is not very satisfying. There are a group of old ladies in the entertainment industry who often gather together to smoke cigars, and this is one of them.
"Although I don't have many lines, it's not too much..." Zhou Xun said.
“Too stage-like.” Uncle Ge continued.
"My lines are the same. Many times they don't look like lines in a movie, but more like a play...or not, like an opera!" Ge You said after pondering for a while.
"This is the feeling I want!" Feng Xiaogang slapped the table: "This tastes just right!"
Zhang Yuan sneered in his heart.
Some of the lines in this movie are very Westernized, obviously meant to please the Western market.
Coupled with the recent unfavorable overseas film sales, Director Feng seems to be a little obsessed.
Seeing that Feng Xiaogang was so determined, everyone said no more.
Together, everyone read the lines of several major plays in order.
Ma Jingwu on the side looked at Zhang Yuan while reading.
"His words are clear, his breath is smooth, and his pauses are appropriate. This young man's line skills are pretty good."
He listened carefully to Huang Xiaoming's lines again.
Tsk, are those taught by us from Nortel worse than a "mud-legged person"?
Zhou Xun has a special voice, which is hoarse and scratches your ears.
Zhang Ziyi is okay.
After listening to Teacher Tajima, besides Ge You’s lines being almost perfect, among the young people, this boy named Zhang Yuan was undoubtedly the most appropriate.
"Maybe it makes sense for him to be the second male lead..." After reading several major scenes, everyone began to raise their hands and ask questions.
Uncle Ge studied several unclearly described places in the script.
Zhou Xun hardly spoke, and the script reading just now was not so smooth.
Zhang Yuan felt that this lady might have read the script once and then put it aside.
So Zhou Xun is an actor who likes "directing" very much. He has aura, but how to mobilize this aura depends on whether the director has this ability.
If the director is not big enough and strong enough, once he is allowed to act casually, the film will easily fail.
Someone whose style is similar to hers is Chen Kun. The two are close friends, and it's normal for them to have similar personalities.
Later, when filming "Painted Skin", Chen Kun and Zhou Xun came into contact and did not follow the routine all day long, which was tortured by the director.
Either adding drama or changing the lyrics.
And the reason for changing the words is often because the words are too long and I can't remember them...
Fortunately, Zhao Wei is in charge and suppresses these two "doing things".
Don't worry about things like leeks in Yanzi's future generations, his acting and status in the industry are still pretty awesome.
Fortunately for "Night Banquet", Zhou Xun is not that big of a star now, and Feng Xiaogang is also big enough to control the whole scene.
"I think there is something wrong with the ending of my character?" Zhang Ziyi frowned and asked.
“I tried hard to plan the entire drama, but failed in the end.”
“Can the ending be changed to the Queen’s ascension to the throne?”
Of course Zhang Ziyi wants to play her role well.
“We designed it this way for a reason!” Feng Xiaogang retorted loudly.
"Director Feng, I also think there is something wrong with this ending." Zhang Yuan waved his hand.
"You said."
Zhang Ziyi:...
No, I said there was a problem and you yelled at me.
The guy said there was a problem, why are you so polite all of a sudden...
Director Feng has worked with Zhang Yuan several times and knows that he often has a good understanding of the script, so he is willing to listen. have to.
"I think what Sister Ziyi said makes sense." Zhang Yuan spoke first to support the female lead.
This man immediately turned his head and smiled at Zhang Yuan, feeling much more comfortable.
But there was a hint of unknown cunning hidden in her smile, and she even seemed to be holding back a smile after looking at Zhang Yuan.
Actually, she had heard of Zhang Yuan before today.
And all I heard was "a good thing".
Zhang Yuan didn’t know all this and continued talking.
“In the past few days, I bought a copy of Hamlet to read.”
Ma Jingwu raised his eyebrows when he heard this.
What a good boy, not only did you read the script, but you also read the original work. It’s very interesting.
“Our play is adapted from Hamlet, right?”
“Yes!” Director Feng replied firmly.
“In the book, my character knows how to be tolerant and intelligent. After encountering changes, he goes from passive questioning to rising up to resist. He is a tragic heroic figure.”
"But in the script, he was changed into a cowardly man who has no overall view of the overall situation and only wants revenge but has no great wisdom."
"And the wisdom and forbearance that originally belonged to him were actually transferred to him. Sister Ziyi’s queen is on the head.”
“Very good, you understand this book!” Feng Xiaogang praised.
Because Hua Yi wanted to win over Zhang Ziyi, the script specially strengthened the role of Queen Wan'er.
The queen in the original work was just the prince's mother.
In the script of "The Night Banquet", this character becomes the eye of the storm for all contradictions.
“In the novel, Hamlet saw his father’s ghost and learned the truth about his father’s death, so he decided to take revenge.”
“But in the script, it was the queen who told the prince that the emperor "The way of death."
"At the end of the script, the usurping emperor drank poisoned wine and died."
"The young girl drank poisoned wine and died."
"The prince blocked the sword for Queen Wan'er and was killed by Yin Falcon's sword poison."
"And Yin Falcon was also killed by the queen."
"Out of all the protagonists, except Yin Taichang After the death of their children, they were exiled for three thousand miles, and only one Queen, Wan'er, survived."
"This is a tragedy, just like the original story."
"But the ending is Queen. Before he ascended the throne, he was stabbed to death by the ghost of the late emperor. ”
"I know, Director Feng, you want to create a big tragedy with no survivors."
"But there were no fantasy elements in the whole play before, but the ending showed ghosts killing people."
"I feel like the script suddenly became ridiculous."
"The momentum of Wan'er, a well-created careerist character, suddenly disappeared."
"Yes, yes, yes, This is what I feel and mean.”
After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, Zhang Ziyi answered excitedly.
Her heart suddenly became clear, and she felt that Zhang Yuan had said everything she wanted to say but didn't know how to say it.
“But the character Wan Hou must die.”
“Because several characters died because of her, but in the end she took over all the power. I’m afraid the audience will feel uncomfortable after watching this. ." Feng Xiaogang retorted.
"Well...actually, I think what Xiao Zhang said makes sense." Teacher Ma Jingwu said steadily.
"There is no foreshadowing, and ghosts suddenly appear and kill people."
"Foreign audiences understand "Hamlet" and know that it is imitating the content of the original work."
"But we Chinese audiences know the meaning of "Hamlet" There are too few people, so it’s not easy to understand.”
Director Feng also has to give Teacher Ma some face.
Huang Xiaoming looked sideways at Ma Jingwu and said to himself: Teacher Ma is not from Nortel, how can he speak for that kid.
"What should we do?" Director Feng looked at Teacher Ma.
"Well..." Teacher Ma didn't think about it for a while.
“I have an idea.” Zhang Yuan waved his hand.
“It’s better to keep the ending of Wan Hou’s death, but remove the plot of the ghost killing people.”
“If it wasn’t the ghost who killed it, who else could it be?” Director Feng was puzzled: “Everyone with the ability can All the characters are dead.”
"Who else can kill her?"
"I don't know." Zhang Yuan spread his hands.
Director Feng bared his big yellow teeth and showed a dissatisfied expression.
I don’t know what you are talking about!
Isn’t this a mess?
Huang Xiaoming glanced at it, thinking that you should be discouraged if you are active.
It’s better to be like me and say nothing.
Actually, he is not honest.
It was his first time making a big-budget movie and he was a little timid.
Furthermore, he could only read through the script, and he really had no ability to offer opinions.
Master Huang is a hard-working actor, not a talented one.
"Director Feng, there was a movie last year called "Letter from a Strange Woman", you should know about it." Zhang Yuan suddenly spoke.
Everyone nodded. Xu Jinglei directed and acted herself, and also asked Jiang Wen to film together.
This movie is actually average, but the point Zhang Yuan wants to say is not here.
“This film is an adaptation of Zweig’s original work of the same name.”
"The most classic thing about the book "Letter from a Strange Woman" is his ending."
"The woman has written countless letters, but the hero still cannot recall the person who sent the letter, and Who is the woman who I have had many nights of ecstasy? I can’t even remember what she looks like.”
Zweig is an extremely famous writer.
His biography "When the Stars Shine" is known as one of the best biographies in the world.
So when Zweig's name was mentioned, Feng Xiaogang, Ge You and Ma Jingwu all stood in awe.
The other few didn't react much.
After all, celebrities have limited culture.
"What do you mean?" Director Feng asked carefully.
“In "Letter from a Strange Woman", readers don’t even know who the heroine is after reading the entire book, but they are regarded as a model.”
“We can also have a similar ending, simply Don’t film who the killer is.”
"Let the audience guess."
"Open ending!" Director Feng immediately answered.
"The audience's wisdom is infinite. It would be better to give them room for imagination." Zhang Yuan nodded in response.
“Wonderful, this saves a lot of effort.” Director Feng touched his chin and said with a smile.
Open endings are actually not new, but they work very well.
For example, the famous "Blade Runner" has an open ending that attracts people's imagination.
"This idea is okay, I will consider it... Don't leave until the meeting is over later, we will discuss it again."
Ma Jingwu looked sideways.
“This young man is good at quoting scriptures.”
“He knows a lot!”
Just now, he saw the confused expressions on Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, and Huang Xiaoming's faces after hearing about Zweig, and he thought to himself that the cultural level of these young actors nowadays is too low, and they have not even read a few classics.
“But he just opened his mouth and convinced the director.”
“It’s amazing if you dare to speak and act, not to mention what you say is good.”
< br>Mr. Ma thought to himself, it would be great if young people like this came to Nortel.
Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi, who met for the first time, also looked at him.
"So I didn't use him just because he was good-looking..." Zhou Xun thought.
Zhang Ziyi is also very curious. I have heard of him, but I didn’t expect that he surprised me a little the first time I met him.
After a long time, the sun set and the silver moon fell, and the study meeting ended.
In order to familiarize the crew members in advance, Director Feng took everyone to have a massage... (End of chapter)