As an alumnus of the film school, "Titanic" has given Li Yi another layer of aura.
Therefore, the film school once again invited Li Yi to come to his alma mater to communicate with his junior students. Li Yi could refuse the other invitations, but it was really hard for him to refuse the invitation from his alma mater.
When Li Yi came to the auditorium, what he didn't expect was that so many people would come.
Not only the students from the directing department of Beijing Film Academy, but also the acting department, etc., not only that, but also the students from the Chinese Theater Department next door came over one after another.
The huge auditorium was almost packed with people.
Of course, although Li Yi was a little surprised by this situation, he could understand it.
His current identity and status, as well as his achievements, are enough for such treatment.
When he walked onto the stage, there was thunderous applause. Looking at the young faces below, Li Yi couldn't help but miss the fact that he was once one of them.
But many years have passed without realizing it.
"Hello everyone, I am Li Yi!"
"Bah, bang, bang!" Applause rang out again.
"I didn't expect so many people to come today. I suddenly remembered many years ago. I remember that at that time, I was the same age as you..." Li Yi said with deep feeling.
"Today, let's not talk about Titanic, let's talk about the first movie!" Li Yi said.
The eyes of the students below all lit up.
Without him, in fact, if Li Yi talked about his own experience with everyone, and talked about the hottest Titanic at the moment, it would be good, but it would not have much practical significance.
Because blockbusters like "Titanic" are too far away from them.
On the contrary, what Li Yi said is that it is very practical to talk to everyone about the first movie.
They are all directors in reserve, and none of them have yet had their first directing opportunity.
"Does anyone still remember what my first movie was?" Li Yi asked with a smile.
"'Life of Bitterness and Joy'!" the audience below shouted in unison.
Then there was another burst of laughter.
There is no way, it can be said that Li Yi's director career is just like cheating, but in fact, Li Yi's biggest black spot is also his first movie.
Even after he became famous, the ratings of "Crying Life" soared sharply under the filter, but in fact, only Li Yi knew that it was simply the blessing of his identity.
"So what do you think of this movie?" Li Yi asked with a smile.
The students below fell silent.
Li Yi didn't take it seriously. He could understand that because of his current status, these juniors and juniors naturally did not dare to evaluate him face to face.
"There's nothing bad to say. I think it's just a bad movie!" Li Yi said bluntly.
This is not the first time Li Yi has talked about this movie, but he doesn't have any taboos about it.
"Let me tell you why I made this movie in the first place, and why I made a bad movie that will go down in film history." Li Yi said with a smile.
"How should I put it? At that time, I was like many of you, young, passionate and ambitious about everything! I thought I had enough strength to match this ambition. "Bitter and Happy Life" was written and directed by myself
I had a lot of ideas about the movie. During the filming, I changed the script countless times, but as everyone saw, I made a big bad movie!" Li Yi said, spreading his hands.
There was a round of warm applause again.
"There is a threshold for making movies and becoming a director! Back then, I was lucky because I had a good father who supported me very much. Even if he exhausted all his connections and spent most of his family fortune, he still supported me.
To realize my dream, maybe it was because everything came too easily, so I didn’t know how to cherish it. As a result, everyone saw that I wasted an opportunity. It was the first movie in my life! Even at that time,
I have doubted myself, am I suitable to be a director?"
"So, I think that at the first opportunity, in terms of preparing for the first movie, I may not have a particularly good experience to share, but I have a particularly profound lesson to share!" Li Yi said freely and authentically.
"Of course, what I say may not be correct, it is just for your reference!"
"First of all, ambition! Any director has ambition, and ambition is a good thing. A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a director who doesn't want to be a great director is not a good director!
However, any ambition cannot be achieved overnight!
Nowadays, there are a lot of talents, and the competition intensity is much higher than what we used to do back then. Therefore, the first work can be said to be crucial.
When you want to prepare for your first work, please think about whether you are really ready.
Listen to other people's opinions. I know that no one wants their work to be criticized by too many people, but what is it actually about?
In today's film industry, if you want your work to not be criticized by others, you must first prove yourself.
As a newcomer, my words may not sound so nice, but what I want to say is that you should be prepared to be criticized by others. It is a very good thing that someone is even willing to criticize your work.
Secondly, the goal must be clear!
The clear goals mentioned here do not mean setting a random goal and then working towards it head-on. This goal must be realistic and match your current abilities.
For example, if you are making a short film or micro-movie, you must have a clear goal. You must first know what kind of effect you want to achieve. Then when shooting, you must always pay attention to whether the picture you shoot can meet the requirements.
Your own imagination!
Finally, for your first work, please remember not to make it too complicated!
Everyone's life experience is different, but at your age, life experience, and understanding of many things are not that profound, so it is best not to choose content that is too obscure.
My suggestion is, small crew, small movie!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Li Yi was talking eloquently, and the students below listened very seriously. Even if some people disagreed with Li Yi's words, they still listened carefully at this time.
"Why is it a small movie with a small crew? The small crew mentioned here means that the size of the crew should not be too large. For example, in a movie like "Titanic", do you know how many people there are when the crew is at its largest?
I can tell you, more than a thousand people!
With such a huge scale, if nothing else, just how to let each department perform their duties and let the crew start work smoothly is a very complicated matter.
Don't think that the director is just responsible for sitting in the director's chair and shouting "click".
Therefore, for a small crew, it is best not to exceed thirty people, or even less!
Small movies, as the name suggests, small-budget movies!
Don't think about becoming famous in one fight, that's not realistic!
In fact, in the history of film, if you look carefully at the resumes of the directors who truly became famous in one shot, you will find that before they became famous in one shot, they had gone through the baptism of many works and accumulated a lot of experience before they truly became famous in one shot!
Here, there are few Virgos who become famous in one battle!
At the same time, it is best for your first work to be a feature film!
Because feature films, relatively speaking, are not that complicated, and at the same time, this feature film does not require too many actors!"
"Director Li, can you be more specific? Because I have thought about almost all of your works, and it seems that there are very few films of this type." At this time, a student raised his hand, and Li Yi clicked on him.
"Indeed, there are very few movies of this type in my works! But for example, "Moon" actually belongs to this type in a certain way!" Li Yi said with a smile.
"But "Moon" can't be considered a low-budget movie, right?" the student asked again.
"Yes, "Moon" is indeed a low-budget science fiction movie, but overall, it is not suitable as a debut film!
However, the model of "Moon" is very desirable, because there are few actors, only one main actor, and the scene is single. You can try to make this type of movie. It does not have to be set on the moon. Is it possible?
Is it some place on the earth?" Li Yi replied with a smile.
"Another type is talk movies! Of course, these types of movies have relatively high requirements for scripts!" Li Yi said with a smile.
"Like 12 Angry Men!"
"Of course, the most important thing is that you have to be clear about what is the selling point of your movie? There is another point I want to advise you, that is, before the 21st century, many directors chose to shoot literary films for their first works.
, and seem to have achieved good results, but I want to say that in our era, if your first work is a literary film, the possibility of failure is definitely far greater than that of a commercial film!" Li Yi added.
"That classmate wearing glasses!" At this time, another student raised his hand. Li Yi stopped and nodded.
"Director Li, why are literary films more likely to fail than commercial films?" asked the student wearing glasses.
"Do you know how many movies are made in China in a year, and how many movies cannot be released in theaters at all after they are made? This ratio is getting higher year by year! Cinemas are open for business. If you are a famous person
If you are a great director, then your movie is a literary film and it still cannot get a very ideal film schedule, not to mention that you are all newcomers!
As for winning awards, seeing many seniors winning awards at various foreign film festivals, some may think it is easy, but in fact, is it really like this?" Li Yi asked with a smile.
"Of course not! In fact, in recent years, domestic films have won fewer and fewer awards overseas! Why? Is it because the quality is worse than before? No! It's because the competition is more intense and the market is different now.
Gone are the days! The judges’ preferences are different from those in the past, and it’s also because the gold content of these awards is not as good as before!”
"Everyone can remember the highest-grossing movie in recent years, but how many people will remember which movie won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival?"
"We went on to talk about how to choose the subject for the first movie. Everyone has their own preferences. I have always believed that for the first movie, it is best to choose the subject that you know best and like the most! Because only in this way, you can
Only then can we produce works that are more advantageous than others." Li Yi continued.
At this time someone raised their hand again.
"That classmate in the third row! Tell me!"
"Director Li, what you said is that it is best to choose the subject matter that you know best and like the most. What I like is science fiction, and what I am most interested in are science fiction movies. But is a science fiction movie really suitable as the first work?
Even if there is a good script, no matter how much the cost is reduced, it will be difficult to compare with other genres! For us newcomers, are science fiction works not suitable at all?" said the student.
Li Yi smiled.
"This is a good question! So is a science fiction movie really inappropriate as the first work of a new director? My answer is not necessarily!" Li Yi shook his head.
"First of all, we all know that science fiction is divided into soft science fiction and hard science fiction! It seems that in everyone's imagination, even a low-cost science fiction movie, at least like "The Heartbreaker", requires an investment of several million or less.
Ten million! This is certainly not a small cost.
Secondly, science fiction easily makes people think of special effects. It seems that without special effects, it wouldn’t be science fiction?
So this is actually the problem. It can only mean that your idea is not science fiction enough!"
"Actually, soft science fiction is a very good subject for newcomers to choose! Science fiction movies do not necessarily require special effects, but require large investments! Again, you must first understand that the selling point of a movie is
where?"
"Movies tell stories, and the types of stories are all kinds of weird!
Let me give you an example, what do you think is the selling point of "Twelve Angry Men"?" Li Yi asked.
"debate?"
"Storytelling?"
"reasoning?"
Soon the students responded in a flurry of responses.
"The selling point of "Twelve Angry Men" is group negotiation! Of course, the reasoning of the story is also!"
"I believe everyone has heard the saying, "The truth is often in the hands of a few people."
This is what "Twelve Angry Men" is all about. In the movie, the person we let everyone assume is the male protagonist, Juror No. 8. Why?
Because among the Twelve Angry Men, he was the weakest at first!
In the end, he peeled off the cocoon step by step, convinced the other jurors step by step, and defeated the strong with the weak!
This is the biggest selling point!”
"Actually, it's the same in movies. In action movies, everyone will often find that the protagonist either can't defeat the villain at the beginning, or for some reason, he can't defeat him, or he is not as strong as his opponent in the first place, but he wins in the end. This
That’s the clearest point of coolness.”
"The same principle is true in "Twelve Angry Men".
What about science fiction? Can dialogue-based movies like "12 Angry Men" put forward a proposition, then discuss it with each other, and ultimately conquer everyone?"
"For example, if you put forward a point of view that everyone thinks is very, very bizarre, very unscientific, and even very brainless, no one will agree with it, even the audience. But if you can use your own logic and explanation,
Is this also a big selling point for this seemingly unscientific and bizarre viewpoint to be gradually recognized by people?"
