At 7:30 in the morning, Zhang Tan came to the company. Luo Ming hadn't come yet, so the office windows were closed and he felt a little stuffy.
He put down his backpack, walked to the window, opened it, and let the fresh air in. Yong'an Street was full of traffic, and the noise came in along with the air.
Luo Ming likes to be quiet, so the windows are always closed and the air conditioner is always turned on. Before he comes, he will change the air in the room first.
Zhang Tan found a kettle in the corner and touched it. There was a layer of dust on his hand. It looked like it had not been used for a long time. He washed it inside and out, filled the water dispenser with water, and plugged it in.
Then he took out the Lushan Yunwu he had brought with him, as well as a thermos cup and a teapot from his backpack.
The water was boiled and a pot of tea was brewed. It was a little after eight o'clock. Guessing that Luo Ming was about to arrive, Zhang Tan closed the window, turned on the air conditioner, and set it to ventilation mode. The office had a single color tone, and he thought about bringing two pots of flowers tomorrow.
Come on, add some green, it's eye-catching.
After a while, Luo Ming pushed the door open and said strangely: "It looks a little different in the office. Have you cleaned it?"
Zhang Tan smiled and said, "Boil a pot of tea and have a taste."
"I'm interested." Luo Ming poured a glass with a smile, and after finishing the drink, he said to Zhang Tan: "Just follow what you wrote and add a Zouwu."
Zhang Tan was not too surprised and nodded and said hello.
Luo Ming continued: "I have already written the plots of the first five episodes. You are responsible for adding the plot of Zuowu today. The principle is that it should not affect the main plot."
"No problem." Zhang Tan put down the tea cup, filled his thermos with tea, put it at hand, turned on the computer, and got into work.
Luo Ming's personality is a bit boring and he doesn't like chatting much.
So did Zhang Tan.
As soon as the two of them started working, no one spoke, and the office seemed extremely quiet. There were only the sounds of typing on the computer keyboard and the gurgling sound of water coming from the water dispenser from time to time.
Adding the character of Zuowu does not affect the progress of the main plot, so it is actually just a gag to adjust the atmosphere. Zhang Tan firmly grasps this principle and tries his best to establish the image of Zuowu as soon as possible within the scope of options.
After writing it in the afternoon, Luo Ming took the script and went to the chief director to discuss it. The chief director had to check whether it would be successful or not.
Not long after, Luo Ming came back and said that the chief director agreed. Zhang Tan breathed a sigh of relief, and the role of Zuowu was finally confirmed.
Luo Ming gave a few words of encouragement and then said: "This is good news, but also bad news. The chief director asked us to come up with the scripts for the next five episodes within three days. The time is very tight. I will write the first two episodes and you will write the last three.
How about writing it down?"
The cartoon is a group system. The first 5 episodes are produced by one group, and after a few days, the other 5 episodes are started by another group. This ensures an orderly progress.
Luo Ming has to discuss the storyboard with the first team tomorrow and has no time to write the script. Seeing that Zhang Tan is stable and capable, he wants him to participate and give it a try.
Of course Zhang Tan has no problem, he wants it.
"Then let's walk through the main plot again," Luo Ming said.
In the next three days, Zhang Tan concentrated on writing the script. On the basis of maintaining the same style as the first five episodes, he made some micro-innovations around the main plot. The whole process went smoothly, but he always felt that his hands were tied.
Luo Ming read the three-episode scripts he wrote, made some slight modifications, kept them roughly as they were, integrated the two episodes he wrote himself, for a total of five episodes, printed them out, and gave them to the chief director for review.
"Is this written by the newcomer you brought along?" the chief director, surnamed Fu, asked Luo Ming curiously after reading five episodes of the script. He turned to the last three episodes and read them again.
Luo Ming's eyebrows raised involuntarily and he said, "My name is Zhang Tan, he wrote it."
Director Fu smiled and put the script neatly in his hand, covering it with his palm, and said: "It's pretty good. No wonder it was picked up by you so quickly. I have no problem with the script, it's very good."
Luo Ming has rich experience in project work, and it can be said that he has gone through hundreds of battles, but he still felt very relaxed when he heard this sentence. As a screenwriter, the most difficult thing is not to conceive the script, but to discuss the script with his superiors, especially if he encounters a layman's guidance
He is an expert and can make people angry to death. He has seen a female screenwriter cry when she was made angry.
"Let's have a meal together after get off work? Do you have time?"
After returning, Luo Ming saw Zhang Tan writing and drawing on his desk and asked.
Zhang Tan could tell from Luo Ming's demeanor that the conversation with the chief director should have gone smoothly, which meant that the five-episode script he had just submitted had been approved, so he didn't ask any more questions and said with a smile: "I know a good restaurant.
"
"Then I'll follow you later. Will you drive or take mine?"
Zhang Tan doesn't have a car.
"Take your ride."
There was still half an hour left to get off work, so Luo Ming said that if he left now, it wouldn't be too late.
The two of them packed their things. Luo Ming saw the manuscript paper on Zhang Tan's desk, with some patterns drawn on it. He glanced at it casually, then suddenly turned around and stared at it. He picked it up again, brought it to his eyes, and asked Zhang Tan curiously
: "Did you draw this?"
Zhang Tan packed his backpack and said, "I don't know if the talisman fits the style of the story."
Luo Ming was amazed. He didn't expect Zhang Tan to have such a skill. What was drawn on the manuscript was a scene where the protagonist and Zuowu stood by the river and confronted the river demon in the river. If I remember correctly, this was episode 6.
In a story, with the help of Zuowu, the protagonist defeated the river demon with great difficulty, obtained the demon pill, and his strength increased significantly for the first time.
This is a very important plot climax.
Although what Zhang Tan painted was just a still picture, it was quite expressive and made people feel the tension behind the picture, which was about to break out. It was very tense.
"It's very good. It's very consistent with what I imagined. I can use this to talk to the storyboard artists tomorrow and let them use it as a reference." Luo Ming said.
After the animation script is determined, the next step is to draw storyboards, which means converting text into pictures. This requires full communication between the screenwriter and storyboard artist to understand each other's intentions.
The two closed the office door and left the building. Under Zhang Tan's guidance, they drove for ten minutes to a restaurant that was not very conspicuous.
Although the environment is not fancy, the food is very good and Luo Ming was full of praise.
After dinner, Luo Ming received a call from his wife. Zhang Tan guessed it from the content and tone of the conversation. It was not difficult to guess.
Luo Ming is in his 40s and has been married for a long time. He wears a wedding ring on his finger. Sometimes he will bring his own lunch box at noon.
Seeing him hang up the phone, Zhang Tan smiled and said, "Is this your sister-in-law's phone number?"
Luo Ming put away his phone: "Let me go back and help my daughter with her homework."
Then he said rather helplessly: "My child is in the third grade of junior high school, and I can't even do some homework. I have to use my brain together with my wife, which is very laborious."
Zhang Tan smiled and said, "Then go back quickly."
Luo Ming: "No hurry, I'll take you home first."
"Don't bother, I'll take the subway and I'll be there in ten minutes."
Luo Ming finally drove away by himself, and Zhang Tan took the subway back to West Chang'an Street. When he arrived at Little Red Horse Academy, he saw two little girls standing under the mulberry tree.
It's already nine o'clock in the evening, and all the children are playing in the activity room, except these two.
Zhang Tan knew them, one was Xiaomi and the other was Meng Chengcheng. Seeing his sudden appearance, the two children were obviously startled, and looked around like little thieves.
Am I so scary? Zhang Tan said, "What are you doing outside? Go back to the classroom and play, there are mosquitoes outside."
Meng Chengcheng nodded blankly, turned around and left, only taking three steps to look back.
As for Xiaomi, he didn't leave. He held his little head high and looked at the tree furtively.
Zhang Tan followed her gaze towards the mulberry tree, and it was his turn to be startled.
I saw a little girl in red holding a tree trunk and sitting on a branch. When he looked over, she waved her hands with a smile and said proudly in Trump's words: "I am Afu'er, and I am showing off my strengths."