Generally, when filming, the crew tries to shoot as much of a scene as possible. This saves time and energy and eliminates the need to switch scenes back and forth.
If the filming can be postponed according to the script and plot, although it will help the actors to perform, it will easily cause a huge waste of resources.
Fortunately, the actors on the cast of "The Embalmer" can be said to be one of the best among current Chinese-language movies, and there are no so-called unprofessional young people involved.
Of course, Zhang Hao just doesn't know how to use fresh meat.
The little granddaughter played by Mai Mai kissed her dead grandfather on the face and smiled when she looked at the lipstick marks on her grandfather's face.
Her smile diluted the sad atmosphere, and the whole family laughed, with the memory of their lost relatives in their smiles.
Lin Sen was very moved when he saw this scene, and his eyes became wet.
Lao Tian is getting older, and now Lin Sen works alone. He realizes the importance of this job more and more, realizes the inseparable feelings between life and death, and experiences touching scenes.
As a cellist, he is an emotional person and is often moved by these things.
This section in the film is a continuation of the previous plot, and the crew moved to several locations before finishing the filming.
Mai Mai didn't have many scenes, and it was all done in one day. Before leaving, she repeatedly asked Zhang Hao to treat her to ice cream. Zhang Hao couldn't resist, so he had to treat her.
Mai Mai is quite popular among the crew, especially Hua Zai, who likes children very much, and Mai Mai is also very attached to him.
After the filming of Mai Mai was completed, the crew ushered in another highlight, the day when the wife A Xiang, played by Zhou Xun, reunited with Lin Sen.
"Okay, all irrelevant personnel have exited and are ready to shoot." Song Yunhui cleared the scene.
Zhang Hao saw that he was ready, and the recorder made a plan to prepare for shooting.
Lin Sen, played by Andy Lau, returned home with food in hand and suddenly found the door open. He rushed into the house excitedly and saw his wife Axiang.
"Ah Xiang?" Andy couldn't believe it.
Axiang was washing the dishes and said in the same tone as usual: "Didn't you clean the house?"
Lin Sen said sheepishly: "I clean it up occasionally."
"Lying, I never dealt with it once."
"I cleaned it up twice," Lin Sen tried his best to defend himself.
"Can we still call it occasional cleaning?" Axiang asked rhetorically. Seeing that Lin Sen couldn't fight, he turned around and looked at Lin Sen: "Sure enough, it won't work if I'm not here."
Working with a good actor saves trouble. The actor can express his emotions well without Zhang Hao having to tell the story, and provides him with a variety of possibilities to choose from.
In this scene, Wa Jai and Zhou Xun were like a couple on the set, their performances were natural and there was no trace of acting at all.
Zhang Hao looked at the camera screen as if he were seeing a couple who had been together for a long time.
"Click, okay, let's see how it works first." Zhang Hao shouted.
Wa Jai and Zhou Xun hurriedly got in front of the camera to see the details of the performance.
After watching it, Andy said: "Director, there was a detail in my performance that I didn't do just now. The emotional expression could be better. How about another one?"
Zhang Hao couldn't help but strive for excellence as an actor, so he nodded and said, "Okay, let's do another one."
So, the scene was filmed again, and this time everyone was satisfied and it passed smoothly.
The next scene is when Axiang tells Lin Sen that she is pregnant.
"I also have something to tell you."
"whats the matter?"
Axiang hesitated, took a deep breath, and said with a slight smile on her face: "I'm pregnant."
Lin Sen was stunned by the huge surprise, and then smiled: "Really? Great, am I going to be a father?"
Axiang nodded, seeing Lin Sen's surprise, she felt very, very happy.
"So, you can't live a life that gives up halfway!"
Axiang was originally opposed to Lin Sen becoming an embalmer, but after a series of touching events, she gradually understood her husband's choice of changing from a cellist to an embalmer.
This is not a dishonorable profession, on the contrary, it is a sacred and noble profession.
With a little life pregnant in her belly, and watching her husband send away the dead one after another, Axiang understands the meaning of life and death even more.
The play "The Embalmer" tells not only Lin Sen's own story, but also the stories of many people, including Lao Tian, A Xiang, and what happened to many families.
There were many scenes where the details of the actors' performances were so good that the staff who watched the performances on the set were deeply moved and couldn't help crying.
After filming this scene, Zhou Xun said to Zhang Hao: "Director Xiao Zhang, I feel that my whole person has been sublimated a lot now. This is like a spiritual cleansing journey."
Andy also said: "When I received the script, I read it over and over again. Director, how did you come up with this story?"
Of course, Zhang Hao couldn't say that he plagiarized, but explained: "I made a lot of preparations for the movie. I interviewed many people working in related industries, and added a little artistic adaptation to create the current work."
"So that's it," Andy said knowingly, "I now feel that we can not only compete in the three major European film festivals, but also possibly get nominated for an Oscar."
"In this regard, I have contacted Harvey Weinstein, the famous Oscar public relations expert, and Mr. Han has helped us connect, and he promised to help us win the nomination," Zhang Hao said.
Because of the 2008 financial crisis, we here helped Laos and the United States clean up the mess. The political climate in Laos and the United States has generally been good for us, and we are currently in the honeymoon period.
So this year and next are great opportunities to get nominated for Oscars, and there will never be such a good opportunity again.
Of course, it would be even better if you can win an award.
However, in a different country, Zhang Hao is not sure he will still be able to win an Oscar, even though he won it in the original version.
If he can win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, it doesn't matter whether he wins the Cannes Film Festival award or not. Chen Gege can no longer criticize Zhang Hao from the artistic field for relying on his old age.
If you have high artistic achievements, try to get an Oscar award.
In terms of nature, the Academy Awards are actually regional awards, similar to the Golden Horse and Golden Rooster Awards.
But with the influence of Hollywood, this award has become the highest palace in the film industry, and all filmmakers are proud to win Oscars.
As a director, Zhang Hao is naturally the same. This is not only recognition of his artistic achievements, but also a huge improvement in his reputation and status.
In any case, the influence of this award lies there. Chinese-language films have a long way to go if they want to increase their influence!
Harvey accepted this order and planned to come to the mainland to watch the finished film of "The Embalmer" so that he could formulate a public relations strategy.
In addition, he also values "Shark Beach" starring Da Mi Mi, and plans to introduce it to North America, as well as the remake rights.
Naturally, there will be negotiations in this regard, and both parties will negotiate a more suitable term.
It seems that something happened to Harvey Weinstein and disappeared, but now he is still the best public relations expert at the Oscars.
In order to compete for the prize, Haotian Studio has allocated a public relations budget of millions of dollars to make foolproof preparations.
Not only the Oscars, but also the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Horse Awards will have to carry out public relations work.
With Andy's participation, the Hong Kong Film Awards should not exclude Zhang Hao's film, and a nomination would not be too much.
Entering October, the National Day box office war is in full swing, and "The Embalmer" has completed the filming of its last scene in Beijing and is officially finished.
After filming was wrapped, Zhang Hao treated all the crew to a barbecue as promised.
Everyone has to go their separate ways, Zhou Xun is going to be cast in "Painted Skin 2", Hua Tsai is going to guest star in "Chilling", and he has also accepted the role of "Blind Detective" directed by Johnnie To.
"If you need to take away the prize, call us to let us know." Before leaving, Zhou Xun said to Zhang Hao.
"Okay, okay," Zhang Hao nodded, stopped Zhou Xun and said, "Da Mi Mi has also taken over "Painted Skin 2". Please give him some pointers when you have time."
Zhou Xun took a serious look at Zhang Hao and then agreed: "Don't worry, I will teach her. It's up to her to understand how much she can learn."
"I will urge her to study hard," Zhang Hao said.
Although the film is finished, there is still a lot of work to be done. Zhang Hao edited while filming, so the film is finished and the editing work is nearing completion.
In addition, Hisaishi Joe also submitted the latest version of the soundtrack. Zhang Hao enjoyed it very much after listening to it, and then he was busy adding the soundtrack to it.
In his spare time, Zhang Hao also cares about the business of Haotian Studio, especially Guo Fan's new project.
"Lao Guo, what have you been busy with lately?" Zhang Hao asked.
Guo Fan was drawing some manuscripts and doing some art accumulation. Zhang Hao took a look and saw that they were some drawing manuscripts of science fiction scenes.
"I see that our studio has a lot of sci-fi copyrights from Mr. Liu. I am very interested in "The Wandering Earth" and am now planning the story." Guo Fan said truthfully.
"What?" Zhang Hao poured himself a cup of hot water and asked Guo Fandao: "Are you planning to make a science fiction film next?"
Guo Fan said sheepishly: "It has always been my dream to make a science fiction film. Of course, I also know how difficult it is. Now I am just making preparations."
Zhang Hao sat on the sofa and sighed: "Yes, it is very difficult, and many technologies are immature. Lao Guo, I support your idea of making a science fiction film, but the time is not yet ripe.
In this way, I see that you are very interested in "The Wandering Earth", please write a complete and detailed plan for me later."
"Director Zhang, you mean you can let me prepare?" Guo Fan couldn't believe it.
"If you can't shoot now, it doesn't mean you can't shoot in the future. You should make preparations in advance to avoid improvising when the time comes." Zhang Hao said.
Guo Fan was very excited after receiving the permission and immediately promised: "Don't worry, I will make a good plan and I won't let you down."
"It's hard to say whether I'm disappointed or not. I guess among the Chinese film directors, you and I are the only ones who dare to touch domestic science fiction." Zhang Hao sighed.
What Zhang Hao lamented was that Guo Fan was confident. After all, he had successful experience as support. But Guo Fan had no experience in this field, but he could still devote himself to this field without hesitation.
This courage is worthy of admiration.
Guo Fan always said that he learned a lot from Zhang Hao, and Zhang Hao didn't learn a lot from Guo Fan.
The firm belief, the attitude of striving for excellence, and the way he takes hard work seriously are all the beautiful qualities that Guo Fan brought to Zhang Hao.
It is true that when you are with good people, you will become good yourself.
In addition to being busy with the post-production of "The Embalmer", Zhang Hao also took time to attend the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony. Da Mi Mi, who worked hard on public relations, received a nomination for Best Actress, but did not win the award.
Na Renhua won the Best Actress Award for "Eji" and became a new actress
Zhang Hao was selected for Best Director and Best Screenplay, but in the end he did not win any of them. They were won by Chen Li from "Love at the Covered Bridge" and Cheng Xiaoling from "Qing Ming".
Zhang Hao sat in the audience all night, with nothing else to do except applaud.
The biggest reason why Zhang Hao didn't win the award is because he is young and has insufficient qualifications.
No amount of public relations efforts can fill this flaw, and we can only accumulate it bit by bit. However, Zhang Hao believes that this situation will never happen again by the time "The Executioner" is released.
In mid-October, Zhang Hao completed all the production work of "The Embalmer" and officially entered the release stage.
Although the production cycle of this film is very short, Zhang Hao made sufficient preparations to ensure the quality of the film. With the music of Joe Hisaishi, the atmosphere of the film is taken to a higher level.
Harvey Weinstein also came to Beijing as scheduled and watched the entire completed film with Zhang Hao and third master Yu Dong.
"Zhang, the film is great, really good. Although it is a little late to win Oscars at this time, I am willing to give it a try," said Harvey Weinstein.
"Thank you, Mr. Harvey, I will send a team to cooperate with you." Zhang Hao thanked you.
"You're welcome. Also, I like the movie "Shark Tank". Isn't the heroine in the movie here today?" Harvey looked around.
"No, Mr. Harvey, she is my girlfriend and she went to another crew to film." Zhang Hao said.
Harvey was a little embarrassed. He was thinking about the big power just now. It turned out to be Zhang Hao's girlfriend.
I heard that Chinese people are very sensitive to this kind of thing, and I think this young director is the same.
Harvey, who often plays sports with many people, is very insensitive to these things, but the place is different and Harvey doesn't want to annoy others.
If people don't let him do this work, he will lose a lot of income.
Zhang Hao didn't know that Harvey actually wanted to cuckold him, otherwise Harvey would be beaten with a stick.
However, after that, Mao Yu, the general manager of China Film Group Corporation, arranged for his subordinates to invite Harvey to experience a special nightclub, get some health care, and take care of himself.
Judging from the results, Harvey is very satisfied.
But he was satisfied, and Harvey's asking price was not low at all, and he was given millions of dollars in fees. This was only this much money given to him after the copyright of "Shark Beach" was sold to him.
Harvey left with the team arranged by Zhang Hao with satisfaction. Before leaving, he also took away many special products and a bag of good tea from Grandpa Zhang Hao.
According to Harvey, some Oscar judges like tea from China very much, and this was given to them.
The news that Zhang Hao was going to be nominated for an Oscar spread quickly, and people in the industry started talking about it.
Most people took it as a joke, while a few people ridiculed Zhang Hao for not overestimating his abilities.
That's an Oscar that neither National Master nor Chen Gezi has won. Who do you think you are as a young director?
Of course, Chen Gezi and his wife also knew about this. Mrs. Chen Gezi said worriedly: "If this kid gets a nomination, his wings will become stiff. How about we do something to hinder him?"
"Then what do you think we should do?" Chen Gege asked.
Mrs. Chen Gege thought: "We asked the media and the navy to report and smear it to create public opinion momentum."
"Are you looking for North American media? Small media won't work, but big media will listen to you?" Chen Gege asked rhetorically.
Mrs. Chen Gege thought the same thing and asked: "What should we do? Just watch him compete for the Oscar?"
"Look, it's okay. He is a young director and has no connections at the Oscars. If Director Zhang wins the Oscar, I still feel a little hopeful." Chen Gezi said with a relieved look.
Even so, Chen Gege still felt uneasy inside.
After thinking about it, Chen Gege called Mr. San to find out more.
Who would have thought that Mr. San would just answer the phone and complain: "Director Chen, you still knew how to call me. I thought you didn't take me seriously."
Chen Gege licked his face and said with a smile: "No matter where I am, no one can forget you if I forget you."
"Okay, just say whatever you want to say!" The third master didn't want to argue with Chen Gege, so he went straight to the point.
When Chen Gege saw this, he told the purpose of his call: "I just want to ask you, how did you like the film "The Embalmer" directed by Xiao Zhang?"
"Oh, so I'm here to inquire about information." After the third master finished speaking, he changed the topic: "Old Chen, I have all the good things to say, but you insist on quarreling and fighting. I don't care and I can't control it.
But you have been holding on to our juniors at Beijing Film Studio, do you still expect me to tell you any news?"
"No, Mr. Han, you heard that..."
Before Chen Gege finished speaking, he was interrupted by the Third Master: "Okay, don't say those words to me. It's easy to talk about other things in the future, but about Xiaozhang, don't ask me again, that's all ."
Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Chen Gege's face turned pale.
Mrs. Chen Gezi asked: "What did Mr. Han say?"
"What else can I say?" Chen Gege shook his head and said, "I don't want to reveal any information."
"Why is Mr. Han like this? We have always had a good relationship with their Beijing Film Studio. We can't let Zhang Hao ruin our relationship!" Mrs. Chen Gezi was a little angry.
"Okay, don't say anything like this in the future. It's already good that he maintains his identity and doesn't end up helping Zhang Hao fight us.
Even if Zhang Hao is a mouse, he is still a mouse from Beijing Film Studio. He is nothing like us. We are outsiders. How can we be the same?" Chen Gege said, feeling a little regretful in his heart.
For the sake of temporary face, to maintain the so-called status, and Mrs. Chen Gege's constant bad words, it has evolved into the current situation.
Chen Gege asked himself that some literati are arrogant, and the most important thing they can't let go of is their face, and now they feel like they are riding a tiger.
I don’t know how many people in the circle are talking about it now, saying that Chen Gege, as an elder, can’t get along with a junior. Various words such as being narrow-minded and narrow-minded have been hung on Chen Gege.
But the situation is now like this. In order to save face and status, and to resolve the conflict between Mrs. Chen Gezi and Zhang Hao's mother Zhang Yu, Chen Gege can only continue to have trouble with Zhang Hao.