Ding Sheng is a famous Chinese director and screenwriter. His representative works are the "Tough Guys" series, "Save Mr. My Life", "Little Soldiers", "Police Story 2013", etc.
This director specializes in the police and criminal genre and is capable, but not particularly strong.
"Saving Mr. Me" can be regarded as his personal peak work. Compared with word-of-mouth works, he has more bad movies.
"Police Story 2013" has a Douban score of 5.9. Da Tiantian became famous in one battle, but Cheng Long's most successful movie series also fell short.
Of course, the failure of this movie cannot be blamed on him alone. There are many reasons, but as director + screenwriter, Ding Sheng has an unshirkable responsibility.
Not to mention "Flying Tigers", Cheng Long speaks Mandarin with a Hong Kong accent, rolls pancakes and eats green onions. The sense of incongruity makes Cao Xuan, a Zaoshi native, unable to bear to look at it.
Many people thought before that it was Cheng Long who was dragging Ding Sheng down. The works in which he and Cheng Long did not work together were actually the highlights.
So, "A Better Tomorrow 2018" was born.
Douban scored 4.5 points, which is so bad that it is silently bad. The only advantage of the whole movie is that it makes people miss Wu Bai Ge at the peak of Hong Kong movies, and Fa Ge, Ti Lung and Ge Ge at that time.
Therefore, Cao Xuan still has very mixed feelings about this person, and he has no idea whether to use him as a director or not. He only promised to give him the screenwriter.
On the one hand, it is entangled with the resume of the original time and space. On the other hand, Ding Sheng has only been a director once at the beginning of the century and does not have much director resume. His qualifications and experience are indeed worrying.
So even though he accepted this book, Cao Xuan still let Cao Baoping guide him.
Although he is not very well-known, his works are very impressive.
"The Glory of Anger", "Li Mi's Conjecture", "Heart of the Burning Sun" and "The Murderer" are all well-received works. Among Chinese reality/crime film directors, this one is considered to be the ceiling.
Ding Sheng is definitely dissatisfied with this result, but he has no choice. It is indeed difficult for him to take on big responsibilities due to his qualifications.
Especially with Cao Xuan joining the cast, even if this is a literary and artistic film with low commercial attributes, it is not an ordinary small production.
It may be a bit exaggerated to say that Zhang, Feng, and Chen are rushing to direct, but the interest is definitely not small.
Compared with these people, his advantage is too low, and he is not even competitive at all.
Ding Sheng quickly figured out his position and became a screenwriter. He only made a small request, that is, he wanted to be an assistant director.
On the one hand, it's a matter of learning and training. After all, Cao Xuan acted in the movie himself. Building some resume will be good for his career development.
Although Ding Sheng has already established a relationship with Cheng Long, and even this book was handed to Cao Xuan through Cheng Long, there is a saying that the eldest brother has thick legs, and Boss Cao has even thicker legs.
If boss Cao appreciates it, maybe he will get the opportunity to direct a movie himself in the next step.
When the script was delivered to Cao Bao Square, the other party quickly gave him positive feedback.
He had just finished filming "Li Mi's Conjecture" and was just about to take a rest when he saw the script and rushed to Cao Xuan for consultation.
………
Flying on grass, private room
Cao Xuan is the host, producer Liu Denghui, screenwriter Ding Sheng, scheduled director Cao Bao and other project creators are scheduled to gather together.
When everyone was almost there, producer Liu Denghui answered the phone and whispered a few words to Cao Xuan. Cao Xuan asked everyone to wait a moment, and then went to the gate to greet him in person.
Everyone in the box who didn't know what was going on looked at each other. Just now Cao Baoping came, and Cao Xuan only went to the door of the box to greet him. Now he went to the door to greet him.
Is it possible that Mr. Han is here?
While they were wondering, Cao Xuan and Liu Denghui led a man in his forties with a crew cut, and everyone in the box was instantly moved.
Frankly speaking, the person who came here is not very well-known, he is hardly a second-tier person, and his status is not high, at least he cannot be ranked in today's gathering.
But he has a very key identity, that is, Wu Ruofu, the person involved in the adaptation of this film project.
As a film adapted from real life, one of the prerequisites for filming is to obtain the consent of the parties involved.
In fact, when Ding Sheng first started writing the script, he approached Wu Ruofu, but this matter had a great impact on Wu Ruofu himself, and he was not very interested.
Later, when Fanxing was awarded this project, there was also a problem, which was to obtain the consent of the parties concerned.
I don’t know how it works. Anyway, Fanxing has established the project as he wished. Everyone thought this was good, but they didn’t expect that Cao Xuan actually brought the person involved here.
What shocked them even more was that after everyone exchanged greetings and took their seats, Cao Xuan announced something.
"It's an honor to have Mr. Wu as a consultant for our film, and Mr. Wu has already agreed to star in our film."
Cao Baoping and Ding Sheng looked at each other, full of shock and surprise.
From a business perspective, the addition of prototype characters is more of a gimmick.
From a creative perspective, having prototype characters can help the creative staff figure out the details of the plot and characters.
The only pity is that Wu Ruofu only agreed to play the role of a policeman, which was regarded as a supporting role, and did not play the male lead. Otherwise, the stunts would have been better and the performance would have been more realistic.
It cannot be said to be real, it is simply a restoration...
But then again, not to mention that Wu Ruofu himself was quite resistant to that experience. Even when he agreed to star, Cao Xuan only asked Cao Xuan to "visit the thatched cottage three times".
Another reality that has to be admitted is that Wu Ruofu's reputation is too small, and even if he is a prototype character, he is not as effective as Cao Xuan.
In fact, there are many discrepancies between the script of this movie and the details of the real case. The plot of the incident is roughly the same, but the subtleties have been adapted to a certain extent and the characters have also been dealt with a lot.
For example, the male protagonist, Big Star, is actually a combination of Cao Xuan and Wu Ruofu, and has been made up to a certain extent. The shadows of Cao Xuan and Wu Ruofu can be seen in him, as well as other original settings.
After all, it is a true film adaptation, not a documentary, and it still requires artistic creation.
Everyone is here. Although many things have not been decided, the fact that we are here today shows that we have this intention. The rest is just chatting while eating.
First of all, there is the name of the movie. The script was originally called "Saving Mr. Wu" to show that it was adapted from the incident. Later, Cao Xuan agreed to star in it, and Ding Sheng decided to change it to "Saving Mr. Cao".
But Cao Xuan felt that it was not good. Regardless of the name, it was not only a bit disrespectful to Wu Ruofu, but also strengthened the true identities of Cao and Wu, making the audience confused about the male protagonist of the movie.
Therefore, Cao Xuan took a hit and suggested the original name "Save Mr. My".
Wu Tong Wu also means "I", but it is not a real surname. It is a metaphor and also means that this "Mr. Wu" is a somewhat fictitious person.
Ding Sheng thought this proposal was very good, and Wu Ruofu himself had no objections, and even preferred the name Zhongqing.
As a prototype character, whether it is the real "Mr. Wu" or the Mr. Cao of "Wu Guan Cao Dai", it is a bit awkward for him. Such a compromise is definitely the most satisfactory result for him.
Once the name is determined, the style of the movie is actually determined.
Mr. Wu is a famous movie star, singer, and big shot in the entertainment industry. Although the time is 2004, the setting is that Cao Xuan is around 35 years old, which is more towards his current age.
From this we can also see the fictitious element in this Mr.
Wu Ruofu has been strengthened, and Cao Xuan's status has been reduced. After all, with Cao Xuan's current status and influence, if he was kidnapped, it would make headlines all over the world.
At Cao Xuan's level, his reputation is too great. As long as the gangsters are not stupid, they will definitely not dare to touch him, otherwise it will be an ironclad case that must be solved.
Even for the sake of international image, it is not necessarily the police who handle the case. It is highly likely that special departments will be directly dispatched.
This is really not an exaggeration. There are no more than 10 people in China who are more famous worldwide than Cao Xuan.
When a world superstar encounters such a bad incident, the negative impact is simply immeasurable.
So in the movie, Cao Xuan is just an ordinary A-list star with no bodyguards and millions of assets.
There is not much discussion about the plot. It is basically based on the changes and processing of the real case framework. There is not much to say, it is mainly about the shooting and details.
So actually what we talked about the most in the second half was the casting work.
Cao Xuan plays the male protagonist, two police captains and deputy captains. Among them, the mature and prudent deputy captain is Wu Ruofu. The other criminal police captain is Liu Huohua, who is highly recommended by screenwriter Ding Sheng.
This guy has an extraordinary love for Liu Huohua and has collaborated with him in several movies.
It's actually not that difficult to play this role. The most you can do is change your age to a younger one.
In fact, there is no need to change, Liu Huohua is about to turn 30, so it is not a big problem to play a 30-year-old detective captain, as long as the makeup looks older and rougher.
The person who was kidnapped together with my husband was a young man. There was no choice in this matter. Fanxing artists could have chosen anyone.
For example, Hu Ge has not acted in a movie yet, but the two handsome guys were tied together. Cao Xuan was worried that there would be some drama, and he could not find an ordinary actor like the original version.
There are only so many decent characters. Other supporting characters are easy to find. On the contrary, it is the villain team. Everyone competes fiercely. The other characters are okay, mainly the villain Hua Zi. Everyone has their own opinions.
This role is very important, and to a certain extent it can even be compared with the male protagonist Cao Xuan.
Ding Sheng is more supportive of Sun Honglei. He is a born villain and a well-known celebrity. His second collaboration with Cao Xuan can also create some gimmicks.
Producer Liu Tenghui believes that although Sun Honglei is good, "New World" is too classic. The good brothers have now become kidnappers and victims, which can easily make the audience upset.
Whether considering this aspect or the interests of the company, he supports Duan Long. With his image and acting skills, it is no problem to play a villain.
Cao Xuan personally likes Wang Qianyuan in the original version, but now he is almost unknown and it is difficult for him to play such a big role.
Cao Baoguo also proposed a candidate, actor Wang Yanhui, who he had worked with in "Glorious Fury". He thought he was a very thoughtful actor.
Everyone has their own reasons, and each has their own advantages and disadvantages. What Cao Xuan means is to go back and try the show before watching.
However, this gathering was not fruitless. Cao Baoguo made up his mind and accepted the script.
"Save Mr. My" project is officially launched!
ps: Let me make it clear that what I owe is a major update (6,000 words), and the supplement is two small chapters (3,000 words). The number of words is the same, and there is no cutting corners.
Mainly because I have a weak hand and a stupid brain, I can write 12,000 words a day, so I divided it into small chapters.
