After officially signing the contract, I got the script very quickly. It was basically the same as the original work "Ginkgo, Ginkgo" without much adaptation. The script was also very short, so short that Fang Yi doubted whether the film could last one and a half hours.
As a director, you may not necessarily know how much money your film will fetch, but your judgment on direction will not be wrong.
Fang Yi's judgment is that he won't sell it for money.
Why? Compared with commercial films in theaters, this film has several major box office obstacles:
First, the male protagonist is a cuckold. The opening scene is an inexplicable sex scene between the female protagonist and her current husband. At the same time, the male protagonist, who is already in a state of soullessness, sighs slightly while observing the two of them.
What are you sighing about? You can just turn into a devil and kill your current boss. What’s the point of filming this scene?
If a couple came together to watch, how embarrassed would the man be?
Second, the original work is written in the first person. This kind of article is not easy to adapt, because it emphasizes the inner drama and neglects the storyline. As we all know, inner drama is very difficult to act. Some people look like crazy people, and some people look like facial paralysis. Yu Feihong had to find talent to pull it.
A young boy of the right age who is plump, good-looking, and willing to shave his head.
You can find many people with just one condition, but if you put four of them together, you have no choice.
Lao Duan was also satisfied with two and a half of them. When he first interviewed Lao Duan, Yu Feihong was actually not satisfied with his appearance, but he couldn't find anyone better and could only believe in his acting skills.
Third, the plot is too thin. To make up 90 minutes, long shots, slow motions, and close-ups of the scenery are necessary... This is not impossible. "That Man, That Mountain, That Dog" was filmed in 1999, although this film only had a small box office in mainland China.
, audiences are more willing to spend their limited budgets watching blockbusters.
But in more mature film markets, such as Japan, it has set a new record for Chinese-language films. It is the perception of many Japanese people that it is the second Chinese film after Big Brother's Kung Fu film.
Lao Duan's appearance at this time was not able to bear the slow motion. In the original work, there were many "a mocking smile appeared on the corner of his mouth", "he then muttered to himself in a gloomy voice", "he raised his head and brought
"Smiling with a strange expression"...this description of Mary Sue.
If you are not good-looking enough, the result will be dull. If you are good-looking, for example, in Shunji Iwai's movie "Love Letter", the male protagonist did not appear until halfway through the film, and his total appearance was less than one-third of the film. However,
, the audience only remembers the male protagonist in "Love Letter", and the Douban score is 8.9.
Fourth, it is difficult to express beauty through artistic writing. For this, you can refer to Jin Yong's and Gu Long's. In "The Condor Shooting", Guo Jing enters Peach Blossom Island, and the description of the scenes can be called a textbook of split shots.
And Gu Long:
"You came."
"I am coming."
"You shouldn't have come."
"But I'm still here."
This kind of writing looks very stylish, but when it comes to filming, if the actors are not good-looking, everything will fall apart.
Because this kind of dialogue depends entirely on the reader to imagine the image of the superior person and the celestial spirit of both parties in the conversation. How good-looking does a person have to be in order for the reader to think that the ideal is reflected in reality and worthy of being imagined?
——There are also some. When Liu Tianxian acted in "Dragon", Jin Yong specially praised her, "After she played Wang Yuyan, everyone knew that I, Jin Yong, was not talking nonsense, because there is such a beautiful woman in the world..."
Many factors are mixed together, which is why the original author and the literary young woman unanimously regarded Fang Yi as the only candidate.
Yu Feihong has been staying in Beijing. After Fang Yi thought about the problems of the film, he raised them with Yu Feihong, but he did not say "problems", but used the excuse of discussing the script with the director, saying that he had some insights that he wanted to share.
He also said that the agent sent him here to imply that he was not alone; in case Yu Feihong misunderstood the nature of the exchange.
Yu is a female literary youth. She likes to have salon discussions with handsome guys.
Fang Yi dressed up and tried to make himself closer to the character, looking neither sad nor happy at all times.
"Director Yu?"
The location is at the teahouse we made an appointment with earlier.
Fang Yi took out the notebook, which contained the notes he had taken these days. Yu Feihong took it and did not read it immediately. Instead, he spread it flat on the table and called to him, "Fang Yi, come and take a look too."
Fang Yi then quietly walked behind her with his hands behind his back.
Yu Feihong first praised, "Fang Yi, your handwriting is really good."
Then he looked at it for a while, raised his head and said, "I have also considered these questions of yours, and I am also revising them. This book was originally for Duan Yihong, but now that you are here to shoot, I will definitely give you more close-ups."
Saying this, Yu Feihong took a step back without leaving a trace, parallel to Fang Yi, so that he could see him at any time.
"For example, in the first shot when the monk walks out from under the ginkgo tree and emerges from darkness to light, from the cassock to the neck, to the chin to the clear eyes... we must shoot you in your best state,
Let everyone watching the movie shout "Wow" and straighten their legs..."
She couldn't help but laugh, feeling proud that she had chosen Fang Yi.
Fang Yi continued to smile.
Yu Feihong stuttered, "It is indeed a problem to match the appearance of actors and actresses... There is a certain age difference between you and me. If Duan Yihong comes, he is not young either. Of course, we are all the same in the past life and this life."
If I'm the one acting, the audience won't feel that there's a drama; now you're the one acting, you're a ghost, of course your age won't change, you're still so young. I was reincarnated, and I was very close to you in my last life.
I’m young, but I can’t act young now.”
But she touched her face again, "But I really like this character. If I work hard on the way of transformation and make it easy for the audience to distinguish, it's not impossible to play..."
Is this really the case?
Fang Yi obviously didn't think so, and it wasn't like he was one or two years older. This was love in seven forms, but he couldn't bring it up on his own initiative, otherwise he would annoy Yu Feihong and make her determined to realize her dream as a girl.
He also talked about the other leading actors and the hardships of filming.
Both of them are directors, and Yu Feihong felt that she had something in common with him, so she took the initiative to share, "I've wanted to make this film since the beginning of this century. I couldn't find the right person, so I kept putting it off. I spent a lot of money, and I also
Too old."
"Why spend so much money?"
Yu Feihong said, "My filming was slower than expected, and I couldn't make up my mind. I always felt that it was not what I wanted, so I re-filmed over and over again..." The topic turned back to Fang Yina, "Now you are here.
, I finally know what I want to feel.”
She continued, "For the same shot, if I imagine you are in it and if I imagine other people are in it, the effect is different."
Fang Yi nodded and said, "Director Yu praises me so much. It's an honor for me to participate in such a thoughtful project."
"Don't call me Director Yu, call me Sister Yu. It's too awkward. I filmed this film, and I don't plan to film a second one anyway."
"Yes, Sister Yu."
"If you have anything else to say, I've been listening."
"I think that if there are good scenery and good looks in the movie, other people should also be equal."
