Chapter 276 The 80-episode long-form drama - 'The Gate of the Mansion'
Entering July 2021, Shanhe’s most important work is divided into two parts.
Promote the movie "Wulin Gaiden".
"Seven Swords 2" is ready to be broadcast.
In addition, there are a few less important things, including the preparations of the crew of "Lotus Lantern", the post-production of "The Story of College Students 2", the preparations of the crew of "Serious Case Group 2"...
And Kong Sheng's new work - "The Gate of the Great House".
The previous success of "The Big Dye House" and "Don't Talk to Strangers" allowed Zuo Le to see Kong Sheng's ability to shoot serious evidence and realistic subjects.
Therefore, he very proudly took out two of his treasured scripts, the serious drama "Mansion Gate" and the reality-themed TV series "Dwelling".
Both of these dramas are excellent scripts, especially "The Mansion Gate", which in Zuo Le's opinion is no less inferior to "Crossing Guandong" and "Da Ranfang" produced by Shanhe before.
Once it is finished, there is even hope of surpassing these two TV series.
In fact, Zuo Le originally planned to keep this drama for himself. For a TV drama director, it is difficult not to be moved when seeing a magnificent script.
But again, Zuo Le is too busy.
Now that Shanhe has just entered the film field and is establishing a firm foothold, he really can't spare the energy to work on a long feature like "The Mansion Gate".
That's right, unlike the original version, Shanhe's version of "Mansion Gate" is a full-length TV series.
According to the script outline set by the Shanhe Screenwriting Department, the drama has 80 episodes. The script has not yet been completely written and is still in the final finishing stage.
When this drama first appeared in his mind, three films appeared in one go, namely the first and second parts of "The Mansion Gate" and the extra "Mansion Gate 1912".
Among them, the first part of "Mansion Gate" can be said to be a masterpiece. The script, character setting, and plot rhythm can be regarded as one of the pinnacles of Chinese dramas.
The second part of "Mansion Gate" is not bad in quality in a strict sense. The key lies in the fate of many likable and familiar characters, almost all of which were supported by Bai Jingqi alone.
Then, due to the dissatisfaction of the descendants and a series of factors of the times, all kinds of monsters and monsters came online. Bai Jingqi became older and unable to save his life. The Bai family turned from prosperity to decline, and the plot obviously developed into a tragedy.
This kind of plot rhythm will definitely not be liked by the audience.
To use an analogy, the second part of "The Mansion Gate" is like the later period of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
After the deaths of Liu Guan, Zhang, Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang, all the familiar faces were offline and interest was greatly reduced. The only remaining ones, Jiang Wei and Sima Zhao, simply could not support the box office, and the popularity was incomparable to the previous plots.
The second part of the original version of "Mansion Gate" had a poor reputation among Golden Finger Danmu audiences. The above are important reasons.
As for the extra chapter "Mansion Gate 1912", it is completely a continuation of the popularity. Except for a few points such as enriching the plot of Bai Jingqi's glue factory, there is almost nothing worth mentioning.
Zuo Le was quite surprised when he saw that all three films had the same director and screenwriter, and wondered why there was such a big gap in style and quality.
It was also because the quality of the three parts was different, so I decided to simply combine the three parts into one long novel, remove the dross, keep the essence, and make original additions to create an 80-episode Shanhe version of "The Mansion Gate".
The first and middle stages of this mansion gate are based on the first one, with some fairly good extra plots added in the middle, including the important branch line of Black Seven Jiaotang.
Adding some supporting characters and business war scenes, the second part is mainly based on tragedy style and is condensed into 20 episodes. While ensuring the rhythm of the plot, the audience will not be depressed all the time.
Due to the limitations of the character setting and era of "The Mansion Gate", a tragic ending is inevitable, and it cannot be a happy ending just to satisfy the audience.
This is ruining the show.
So even though Zuo Le knew that the tragic ending would affect the performance of "The Mansion", he still didn't make any changes.
The overall quality of the adapted Shanhe version of "Mansion Gate" is not to be said to be inferior, but it is definitely better than the original three-part combination, especially the second part and the extra plot, which are almost completely reborn.
The screenwriters in the Shanhe Screenwriting Department are not just for free. After years of training, if you ask them to create a script alone, it may not be satisfactory.
But if you "dance" based on the script outline given by Zuo Le, everyone is a master.
An old tool man!
…………
The quality of "The Mansion Gate" is here.
Kong Sheng learned that Zuo Le asked him to choose one of the two scripts, "The Mansion" and "The Dwelling". Kong Sheng chose "The Mansion" almost without blinking.
He was extremely emotional, acting like he was in a hurry with anyone who wouldn't let him be photographed.
Seeing this, Zuo Le had no choice but to part ways with her.
Although Kong Sheng got the "Mansion Gate" project, it will probably take a long time before it can be officially launched.
The first is the script, which is still in the final stage. In addition, as a director, Kong Sheng may have his own opinions on some plots. After studying the script, he will probably make certain changes.
The script doesn't involve a lot of effort. Anyway, the early stages of the plot are basically completed, and I can write it while filming in the end.
The most important thing is that "Mansion Gate" has 80 episodes, covering hundreds of characters with names. Just selecting the characters takes a lot of time.
In addition to the various preliminary preparations such as the actual location, costumes, and props of "The Mansion Gate", it took more than two months to keep track of it.
It's early July now. If all goes well, "Mansion Gate" won't be launched until at least mid-to-late September or even October.
The filming of the original 80 episodes of "Wulin Gaiden" took Zuo Le almost more than 4 months to complete, excluding the New Year holiday.
The filming of "The Mansion" is much more complicated than a sitcom. Even if there is an additional executive director to assist, it is estimated that it will take 4 to 5 months, or even longer.
Including post-production, "Mansion Gate" took at least half a year of work, which is why Zuo Le gave up.
Too time consuming.
He is responsible for the future of Shanhe and the entire company, so it is impossible for him to focus all his energy on a TV series.
On the contrary, Kong Sheng didn't have this worry. With Zuo Le supporting him, he was able to film "The Mansion Gate" for a year without any problems.
After Kong Sheng learned that he had taken over the "Mansion Gate" project, he immediately got into work without even taking a month's leave from Zuo Le.
While studying the script, I assembled the crew and prepared for the preliminary work, and at the same time, I did not forget to select the actors.
Bai Jingqi, the seventh master of the Bai family, is the male protagonist of "Mansion Gate" and the soul of the whole drama. Kong Sheng was the first one to plan to kill him.
Once you get rid of this toughest bone, the other characters will become easier to deal with.
"Mansion Gate" is a key project of Shanhe, and the investment alone is estimated to be 200 million. Even if Kong Sheng has been promoted to a top TV drama director, he still has to ask Zuo Le for such an important role as Bai Jingqi.
It just so happened that Zuo Le was now supervising the post-production of "Wulin Gaiden" in the company, so he asked about it.
………
Shanhe Editing Room
Since Sunward produces a lot of TV series every year, Sunward has set up a special editing room internally for confidentiality reasons.
It is said to be a room, but it is actually quite large. It is nearly the size of two conference rooms and can accommodate up to three editing teams to work together. It also has a dedicated rest area.
At this time, Kong Sheng and Shang Qianwu, the two executive directors and the head of the screenwriting department of the "Mansion Gate" crew, reported to Zuo Le in the rest area their ideas about the actor Bai Jingqi and several other leading actors.
"Our drama hasn't been released to the outside world yet. What I mean is that the main roles cannot be supported by ordinary actors, so we decided to cast them internally.
For the remaining supporting roles and young characters, we will inform the outside world later and start casting."
After Kong Sheng finished speaking, Zuo Le nodded and asked, "Who do you have for Bai Jingqi?"
The few of them looked at each other, and Kong Sheng said tentatively: "If you choose from our company, I think Gu Xiaoge is good."
"Laughing song?"
Zuo Le shook his head: "It's not suitable. Bai Jingqi's character is flamboyant and unconstrained, which doesn't match Xiao Ge.
In addition, this role is too heavy, and it was just a minor role when he was young. In the later part of the middle-aged and elderly roles, the laughter is enough to hold him up.
The other actors in our company are similar, and I think Fan Min is the only one who can do it, but his image is not good."
Although the actors in Shanhe have been strong in the past two years, among the male actors, there are only two and a half who can really carry the weight, Gu Xiaoge, Fan Min, and half Yu Entai.
The rest of Sha Yi and Mao Xiao are okay with ordinary themes, but serious dramas and some big productions are enough. After that, Shen Teng, Guo Jinfei and others have not yet grown up.
This is also the reason why the male leads of dramas such as "Bright Sword" and "Da Ranfang" look for Li Youbin, Hou Yong and Wang Baotian.
If one of your own people is either unsuitable or unable to hold on to the situation, you can only find foreign help. This is also the case in "The Mansion Gate" now.
Kong Sheng was relieved when he heard that Zuo Le disagreed. In fact, he was not optimistic about Gu Xiaoge playing Bai Jingqi, but they were in the same company and he couldn't turn his elbows outward.
Cao Jie and Gu Xiaoge from the agency department had told him about this in secret before. One of them was vaguely the first brother of Shanhe, and the other was a high-level general. Kong Sheng had to give him face.
So today I had the courage to mention it to Zuo Le. Now that Zuo Le doesn't agree, it's a worry for him.
If Cao Jie and Gu Xiaoge have any dissatisfaction, they should talk to Zuo Le if they can...
After Gu Xiaoge was "eliminated", Kong Sheng named a few more names, which he had discussed with the crew and were the candidates that were more popular.
Among them is Li Youbin, who became famous two months ago because of "Bright Sword".
Zuo Le rejected all these candidates, especially Li Youbin. He really couldn't imagine that Li Yunlong and Bai Jingqi were played by the same person.
It wasn't until Kong Sheng said the last name that Zuo Le became more interested.
Chen Guo, a national first-class actor, has won the Golden Phoenix Award twice, and is one of the most capable actors in the country. When talking about TV actors in the industry, Chen Guo is definitely one that cannot be avoided.
Zuo Le has seen many Shidi, and Chen Guo's overall strength can be ranked among the top three.
The only TV actor Zuo Le is familiar with is Li Youbin, who is currently in the role of "Bright Sword". Li Youbin, who is expected to be crowned the Three Emperors by the end of the year, is in the middle of the pack with Chen Guo.
For such an actor, there is definitely no need to choose his acting skills. The only thing Zuo Le hesitated about was.
"Teacher Chen Guo is 45 this year. Bai Jingqi has a lot of youth dramas. Isn't it a bit inconsistent?"
"The chairman is worrying too much."
The first choice in Kong Sheng's mind was Chen Guo, so he put it at the end as his trump card. Now that he was looking a little loose, he was overjoyed and hurriedly lobbied for it himself.
"Although Teacher Chen Guo has entered middle age, he has maintained a good foundation. With the current makeup conditions, there is absolutely no problem in dressing up a young Bai Jingqi. At most, he looks a little older and has nothing to do with elegance.
Moreover, Bai Jingqi's youth dramas are not many. There are less than 30 episodes of middle-aged and elderly dramas. With Chen Guo's acting skills, he can definitely support the characters.
In addition, when Mr. Chen Guo was filming "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty", he also mastered the various stages of the character's age span from youth to old age. This is something that few actors can do..."
Kong Sheng talked a lot, and Zuo Le was convinced and agreed to the "Mansion Gate" crew to contact Chen Guo.
Chen Guo received the script outline from Kong Shengfa and was very interested in the role of Bai Jingqi. The two parties soon had a preliminary intention to cooperate.
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ps: I felt a bit motion sick on the way home. I only have a little over 3,000 words today, so I owe you an update. I will make up for it tomorrow.
It should be easier in the next few days, and the two owed updates will be made up before the 10th of this month.
