After discussing the budget, the next step is the script that Xie Qi and others are most concerned about.
Xiao Qian began to introduce the staff present to Xie Qi and others.
"Mr. Xie, this is Qiu Tang, the screenwriter in charge of this movie."
Xie Qi saw a girl in her twenties standing up, followed by four slightly older people.
He even knew one of them.
"Hey, aren't you Li Dashou? I remember you work at CCTV. Why are you here? And..."
Li Dashou was originally a screenwriter for CCTV. He followed Wang Fei and others to the south and is now a member of Starlight Film and Television.
What Xie Qi didn't continue to say was, how could he, a screenwriter who has been working as a screenwriter for many years, hit a little girl?
Li Dashou is in his thirties, has a thin figure and looks like a scholar.
Hearing what Xie Qi meant, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Thank you for always remembering me. Hey, I have been working as a screenwriter for many years. Only after I came out did I understand what it means that there is a world outside the world, and there are people outside the world."
Xie Qi also understood what he meant.
That is, I have been impressed by this little girl named Qiutang.
Xie Qi looked at Qiutang carefully. She was about 1.6 meters tall, with short hair and a round face. She was very sunny, simple and childish.
This aroused Xie Qi's curiosity.
"Little girl, how long have you been a screenwriter?"
This was the first time Qiu Tang faced such a big director and she was very nervous.
"Hello, Mr. Xie, I graduated from the theater directing department in 1993, majoring in radio and television directing, film and television production. This is my... this is my first time to be a screenwriter."
Xie Qi was a little worried.
"As your first screenwriter, you will be responsible for a project worth RMB 100 million. Are you sure about it?"
It was Qiu Tang who asked, but it was Xiao Qian who looked at her.
Obviously, he felt that Xiao Qian's appointment was a bit random.
Xiao Qian was very indifferent and just signaled Qiu Tang to let her say what she had to say.
Qiu Tang received encouragement and was no longer so panicked.
"After I joined Starlight Film and Television, I re-learned relevant knowledge in film and television directing. In particular, the company has a special screenwriting course for commercial film and television dramas, so we all have a certain process in the design of scripts."
Xie Qi knows a lot.
"The Hollywood one?"
Xiao Qian spoke up and suggested: "Mr. Xie, let's see how their plot writing team is preparing. What do you think?"
Xie Qi stopped talking and sat quietly.
Just wait and see what tricks Xiao Qian and his Starlight Film and Television can come up with.
Xiao Qian gave up the main position, walked over to accompany Xie Qi, and let Qiu Tang start to play.
This was Qiutang's first venture into the film and television industry, and the little girl couldn't help but feel anxious. But the opportunity was fleeting, and she naturally didn't want to miss it, nor could she embarrass Xiao Qian.
After walking quickly to the location, they hurriedly operated the projector to show their results.
Looking at the information on the curtain, Qiu Tang couldn't help but think of how they had been busy day and night during this period. The exhaustion from sweat made her gradually calm down.
"I am the person in charge of the plot writing team. Now, let me talk about the script issues. These are the issues summarized by our plot writing team, and we invite everyone to discuss them."
Qiu Tang pulled out the original script.
"Our story writing team unanimously believes that the original script has too many dramas and side plots, which seriously affects the progress of the main line and the overall rhythm of the film. The overly protracted and complicated plot cannot make the audience involved.
, so we plan to make an overall overhaul.”
Xiao Qian's words are concise and to the point.
"What are the specific ideas?"
Qiutang quickly changed the information.
"First of all, the content in the beginning of the movie is too bland and does not have the elements that a good commercial movie should have. There is too much content in the introduction, and we think this part should be cancelled."
Xie Qi couldn't help it anymore.
"The Opium War is a very serious historical fact. Our purpose of making this film is also to educate the people not to forget history. If the statement is not made at the beginning of the film, will the audience understand it?"
Once he entered the discussion state, Qiu Tang was no longer nervous.
She glanced at Xiao Qian and said calmly: "Mr. Xiao said that movies are the art of images. If the content can be conveyed through images, try to convey it through images. The Opium War is a compulsory education for all citizens since childhood.
, I believe that every citizen knows this period of history. Under such circumstances, using pale words to state this fact is like cramming education in the classroom, which will only make the audience feel bored."
Xie Qi was stunned, sitting there with his eyes blank.
In fact, there were lightning and thunder in my mind, and I was really shocked by these words.
When we were discussing the script, he designed the opening part, and he was very proud of it for a long time. He felt that the dark and depressing tones and the text covering the screen would have a very good effect.
Unexpectedly, I was refuted by a young girl today.
But what Qiu Tang said makes people have to agree, because the picture can be directly imagined.
After Qiu Tang finished speaking, he looked at Xie Qi carefully, waiting for a reaction, but saw nothing.
She had no choice but to continue.
"Our story and script team believed that the guidance of the leading actors Lin Zexu, Emperor Daoguang and others in the film was too complicated and failed to achieve the finishing touch of the opening. We learned from the Hollywood movie model and redesigned the opening of the movie."
Xie Qi finally came to life and asked anxiously: "How did you design it?"
Qiutang put in new copywriting, but the content was still rather sloppy.
"In the education received by the people, the dangers of opium have always been emphasized. However, there are only pale words and no intuitive feelings. So we plan to design an action scene in the opening part."
According to the changes made by Qiu Tang and others, the new plot can be described as short, flat, and fast, but the fierce conflicts are dazzling.
Amidst the roaring rain, a panicked woman ran in the rain with a frightened expression.
Behind her, a shirtless man was chasing her like a maniac, with a bright knife in his hand.
The man chased and yelled.
The two are set to be husband and wife.
The man had been taking opium for a long time and was deeply poisoned. He had used up all his family's savings. But he didn't give up. He wanted to take away the last bit of life-saving money from his wife, and even used a knife to kill her.
Intoxicated by opium, the man had already lost his mind.
The woman ran away in fear and fell on the street. She could only watch the man approaching step by step, her life hanging in the balance.
Just when the man's knife was about to fall, a sharp spear came out from the rain and killed the man.
The camera pans to reveal the solemn and majestic imperial envoy team.
The Imperial Envoy Lin Zexu went south to Guangzhou to ban smoking, and on the way he rescued people who were suffering from opium.
According to the design of Qiutang and others, the plot at the beginning was completely changed.
Without the exchanges between Lin Zexu and his teacher, Emperor Daoguang and others, the court's determination to ban smoking, the dangers of opium and the severe situation were all condensed into one scene.
Xie Qi sat quietly, listening blankly to Qiu Tang's introduction, with mixed feelings in his heart.
The plot designed by Qiutang and others seems very inexplicable and crude at first glance, and it seems that the explanations are not clear enough.
But as Qiu Tang said, do any Chinese people not know what happened during the Opium War?
Since you know it, why do you need to explain everything clearly?
Telling things from the textbook again will really make the audience impatient.
Long Jinhai spoke for the first time.
"According to your changes, the scene of Emperor Daoguang was deleted. You did not clearly explain the role of the head of state in a series of events. How is this allowed?"
Qiu Tang had already prepared.
"We have studied historical materials and do not believe that the real Emperor Daoguang's performance during the entire Opium War was as just as shown in the film. The original script is suspected of beautifying Emperor Daoguang and will mislead the audience, so we plan to include him in the film
The positioning has been reduced.”
Xie Qi, Long Jinhai, and An Junxi exclaimed in unison. They did not expect these young people to be so bold.
But after thinking about it carefully, I found that they were indeed right.
In the original script, the image of Emperor Daoguang was really good. There was even a scene at the end of him kneeling in front of the memorial tablets of his ancestors and crying bitterly.
Haha.
How did this guy perform during the entire Opium War? Do you really think that historians don’t have eyesight?
After reading the entire script, Xiao Qian finally understood why such a movie, which was strongly supported by the country and had such huge investment, had no influence at all.
