Who are you calling powerful?.

Chapter 708: The Undefinable Entertainment Industry Crusoe

Blue Whale Meeting Room
Wei Yang sat in the main seat and listened to Zhao Liying, director Zhang Yongxin, director Zhang Kaizhou, producers, screenwriter team and others report on some preparatory work for "Knowing".

Director Zhang Yongxin is no stranger to us, and can be called the boss's favorite director.

At the same time, he is also the director with the best results on the small screen in recent years, and is the king of costume and historical themes.

Zhang Yongxin is now in charge of the post-production of "Chi Le Chuan" and the preparation of a tribute drama. If Wei Yang had not been involved in "Knowing Your Destiny", it would have been difficult to invite him.

The other director, Zhang Kaizhou, is the original director of "Knowing Your Destiny" and a member of Noon Sunshine. He is also the most controversial director of Noon Sunshine.

This guy has quite a few works under his name, including "The Battle of Changsha", "Parents' Love", "The Story of Minglan", "Qing Ping Le", "Children of the Qiao Family", etc.

He seems to be a very powerful director, but there is a prerequisite, that is, dramas such as "The Battle of Changsha" and "Parents' Love" were co-directed by him and others, and he could even be said to be a deputy.

The dramas he directed independently, such as "Knowing Your Destiny", "Qing Ping Le" and "Children of the Qiao Family", all have both advantages and disadvantages.

The reason is that this is a director with distinct strengths and weaknesses.

One of Zhang Kaizhou's biggest strengths is casting. The casting in most of his dramas is good, with the image and temperament fitting the characters or having their own advantages.

He and Zhao Liying were also mainly responsible for the casting of Blue Whale's version of "Knowing".

Another advantage is the scenes, photography, costumes and props. Whether it is "Knowing or Not" or "Qing Ping Le", no matter what the plot flaws are, the hardware level of the crew is definitely worthy of a thumbs up.

This is also related to the fact that he is a photographer by profession and has a serious personality, so he can capture these things accurately and precisely.

In addition, Zhang Kaizhou is also very good at creating an antique atmosphere. This aspect may seem insignificant, but it is actually very important.

This is a bit like a person's temperament. Some people are good-looking and dress decently, but they just feel average, with a kind of cheap beauty.

Some people may not look outstanding or wear ordinary clothes, but they have outstanding temperament, which makes people's eyes light up instantly.

The scenes, costumes and props of "Knowing Your Destiny" are already excellent, and the photography and other aspects are also very good. If you add the creation of this ancient style atmosphere, it will not only make the audience's eyes bright and immediately feel involved, but also make them feel the taste in the mouth and never forget it.

This is also one of the main reasons why "Knowing" has such a strong lasting effect. It is both pleasing to the eyes and comfortable to watch.

Finally, Zhang Kaizhou has another advantage. He is very good at telling a long-lasting story and exploring and setting various small details.

This is also the reason why many fans of the drama believe that "Knowing Your Destiny" is always new to watch, with new surprises every time. Many plots are worth savoring, and some minor characters are well-established.

The shortcomings of director Zhang Kaizhou are precisely the problems derived from his strengths.

First, he was too particular about the pictures. He would even use some shots that were obviously unnecessary.

Increasing costs and abruptly interrupting the show is not only a waste, but also a bit of putting the cart before the horse.

Second, they are too obsessed with details, no matter how big or small, and their expression methods are monotonous.

In "Knowing Your Destiny", there are many times when it is just one or two people talking, shaking their heads and talking about knowledge for several minutes. In this situation, if there is not enough information, it will be very boring and seriously affect the mood of the audience.

Third, the plot is too flat, his serious personality, and his obsession with details lead him to habitually tell stories on his own, thus ignoring the rhythm.

This is too fatal for a film or TV series!

Whether Wei Yang is a director, a screenwriter, or a producer, he often likes to emphasize rhythm.

Because film and television dramas are about telling stories, and storytelling must have ups and downs, and the right amount of details to be interesting. If the rhythm is slow or chaotic, it's like adding random seasonings when cooking, the taste will be ruined.

Wei Yang's evaluation of Zhang Kaizhou can be summed up in eight words: [Too much craftsmanship, but not enough spiritual energy].

He has good professional ability, but he doesn't know how to let go and doesn't know how to find the right balance. He can only be a deputy and is not suitable to be independent.

Therefore, Wei Yang personally transferred Zhang Kaizhou from Noon Sunshine, because he was needed to create the advantages and selling points of the original "Knowing Your Destiny", and let Zhang Yongxin be the first director to put a tight rein on him and help him to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses.

Compared with Zhang Kaizhou's partiality in certain subjects, Zhang Yongxin is the type who may not be particularly outstanding in one aspect, but is very comprehensive and has a high lower limit.

This kind of director is actually the most reassuring, just like Kong Sheng, whom Wei Yang admires very much, who plays a steady and comprehensive role.

Now with one main and one supporting role, plus Wei Yang, a producer with a keen eye who can find and fill in the gaps, and all kinds of resources at full capacity, the overall quality of "Knowing" is definitely much better than the original version.

Boss Wei is relatively confident in the director's work behind the scenes, but he is more concerned about the script.

Frankly speaking, the original novel of “Knowing” has a lot of problems, and is said to be an important driving force of the “divine religion of legitimate and illegitimate children”.

The plot of the original drama has been modified a lot based on the original novel, otherwise the ending would not be much better than "The Legend of Da Ru".

Even so, there are still some controversial plots and character settings, and Boss Wei also urged the screenwriter team to make changes if possible and optimize the script as much as possible.

If it is unavoidable, there is nothing we can do!
As I said, it is impossible for a drama to satisfy everyone, and even the most classic works can be criticized for many flaws.

Moreover, some plots are designed to create conflicts and contradictions and get the audience to discuss. Who would want to watch a harmonious drama about truth, goodness and beauty? Palace fighting is all about women vying for favor and fighting with each other, and house fighting is all about family quarrels.

Wei Yang can understand abandoning a play, criticizing, or even cursing, but what he hates most is waving the flag and making accusations.

However, for various purposes, Wei Yang still made some "explosion-proof" arrangements in the script.

Some plots and characters were created to criticize the persecution of people in feudal society from an anti-feudal perspective, in order to emphasize that the drama "Knowing" is a fictional plot, holds an anti-feudal attitude, and refuses to be influenced by literary inquisition.

Really, it was okay in the past few years, but at this stage, Wei Yang feels that creation is becoming more and more difficult.

All aspects need to be taken into consideration, including the official red lines, the audience's red lines, the red lines of some groups, and the red lines of some groups' opposition groups.

Don't even mention stepping on others. Even if people find you offensive or inconsistent with their views, a group of people will scold you and the crew/company/platform will have to apologize.

The big boss Wei Yang has become the "culprit"!
Sometimes he insults women, sometimes he insults men, sometimes he is a pinkie, sometimes he is a god, sometimes he praises the north, sometimes he licks the south, sometimes he is a salty party, sometimes he is a sweet party, he is almost becoming an indefinable Cthulhu.

In the early years, Boss Wei updated his Weibo very frequently. However, in the past two years, due to the general environment, his updates have become less and less frequent.

At the very least, he might only post one or two Weibo posts a month. He also stays silent on platforms like Tik Tok, Bilibili, and Zhihu for years and rarely shows up. He has simply stopped posting on WeChat Moments, and may not even post once a year.

There are many concerns about the plot of "Do You Know?", and the same is true for the previous "Chi Le Chuan". If you don't mention anything else, just how to unfold the plot of the Xianbei and Han people almost made him worry to death.

This is much more sensitive than feudalism and anti-feudalism and the opposition between men and women.

Wei Yang and his team were extremely cautious and made repeated revisions, and finally adopted a more conservative approach.

From this perspective, the pressure of adapting the script of "Knowing" is not that great.

Moreover, TV dramas are mainly aimed at the general public. Some opinions can be valued, but they cannot be completely influenced or even sacrifice their own advantages. The majority will always be silent, and there are countless projects that have been led astray by a small number of people.

In addition to removing the dross and retaining the essence, the change between "Knowing or Not" and the original version is that the male protagonist's perspective is expanded.

In the beginning, the screenwriter team actually even wanted to make a dual-line narrative, that is, one line for the female protagonist and one line for the male protagonist, with each side responsible for one part and then joining each other.

But this idea was stopped by Wei Yang. He could understand that the screenwriter team was concerned about him and wanted to achieve good results.

But "Knowing" is a female-led drama after all. You can give the male lead some appropriate roles, but you can't let him overshadow the male lead.

There is nothing wrong with two lines, but the heroine is still the main character, with the hero as a supporting character, and even many of the hero's plots are essentially serving the heroine.

To put it bluntly, the male protagonist is doing well because he serves as a backer for the female protagonist.

This is also the reason why "Do You Know?" was criticized as a drama with a strong female lead and a delicate wife!
But then again, how can a heroine who is based on the theme of house fighting, who has limitations and few cards to play, be an independent and strong heroine?

A woman disguises herself as a man to take the imperial examination, opens a brothel to seduce the prince, then punches her biological father and kicks her stepmother?
Without discussing whether it is a stupid act or not, the original novel of "Knowing" is about a time-traveling girl who at least has this idea, while the one in the drama is a genuine ancient indigenous official lady.

A large number of heroines in modern Mary Sue dramas still want to marry rich second-generations and overbearing CEOs every day...

Be it a drama about a lovely wife or a drama about a strong female lead, after all, the main audience group of "Knowing or Not" is female audience, so Wei Yang does not intend to steal the spotlight and is down-to-earth to be his role as a "tool man" of a domineering president in ancient costume.

The male lead doesn't steal the show from the female lead, and Wei Yang doesn't intend to let the female lead steal the show from the male lead.

For example, there is a plot that Wei Yang has always wanted to complain about. The heroine risked her life to deliver a letter and made a great contribution to saving the emperor, but the story was kept secret by the hero and his brother.

The reason given in the drama is that the army was in turmoil, and if the heroine came out to report the news, it would be likely that the outside world would make wild guesses and ruin her reputation. The hero and his brother were actually thinking about her, and later the empress dowager gave her an imperial edict as compensation in a roundabout way.

It sounds like a good reason, but in fact, he has no idea what "merit of saving the emperor" means.

Since ancient times, the greatest merit is to rescue the emperor. Not only that, but it also indirectly helps the new emperor ascend the throne, so one can also be said to have made great contributions by following the emperor.

Not to mention how grateful the two emperors were, just for winning people's hearts, you have to be rewarded greatly. Otherwise, if something really happens in the future, who will come to save you and help you?

In ancient times, loyalty and filial piety were emphasized. The heroine not only saved the emperor by delivering the letter, but also saved her father and brother who were trapped in the palace.

Not to mention that feudal dynasties looked down on women, Hua Mulan has always been praised by many ancient people for joining the army for her father. Diao Chan and Zhaojun are both representatives of righteousness. The heroines saved the emperor and their fathers, and they are definitely extraordinary women who deserve to be recorded in history books.

Moreover, the setting of the play is the Northern Song Dynasty, when oppression of women was not that severe. There were even several generations of empress dowagers in power in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Liu E simply got married for the second time.

He talked nonsense about his reputation and fabricated stories to slander the emperor's savior. He really thought that the royal family was vegetarians. Even Zhu Xi didn't have the courage to do that.

Wei Yang originally thought that the original author had lost his mind, but later found out that this plot did not exist in the original novel, and it was purely the screenwriter who forced extra scenes for the heroine.

I wanted to add a highlight to reflect the heroine’s bravery and courage, and at the same time develop a connection with the hero and deepen their relationship.

And she brings benefits to the male protagonist and his brother, indicating that the female protagonist is not a pendant, and that the rise of the male protagonist and his brother is actually due to her.

In fact, I just wanted to add some elements of a strong heroine, but I set the tone too high. How could the heroine who saved the emperor continue to fight with those girls in the house? So I forced a smoothover, but it was too incongruous, making the plot neither fish nor fowl, and the logic collapsed.

When Wei Yang first got the script, the first thing he did was to check carefully whether there were similar scenes. They had to be deleted as they were too distracting.

The hero should not steal the heroine’s highlights, and the heroine should not try to show off the hero’s highlights.

If the drama wants to create some interaction and deepen the relationship between the male and female protagonists, you can help out a little, such as accidentally giving the male protagonist a reminder.

This not only establishes a connection, but also makes the male protagonist look at the female protagonist with admiration, and uses this as an excuse to thank the female protagonist, but there is no real credit, and there is no other benefit for the male protagonist. The female protagonist's subsequent house fighting will not affect the main storyline.

At this seminar, Wei Yang was generally satisfied with the preparations for "Knowing Your Destiny", but he also pointed out some problems.

Of course, Boss Wei also emphasized that this is just his personal opinion. How to solve the problem specifically depends on the crew's discussion and decision based on the actual situation.

Zhao Liying nodded in agreement, but she kept writing and took notes very seriously.

Wei Yang couldn't help but smile bitterly when he saw this, sometimes he was reluctant to give suggestions to his subordinates just because of this, because he was short-sighted. In fact, he was not sure about some issues, and he just made a suggestion and an idea, but many people took it as an imperial decree.

He had explained and tried to stop it, but it was of no use. On the one hand, his prestige was there, and on the other hand, he was afraid that the other person was being falsely polite.

Your leader has told you to change but you don't change. Then you are not giving your leader face. He may make things difficult for you later.

The meeting was over and everyone else left tactfully. Zhao Liying sorted out the documents and looked at Wei Yang.

"Which palace or hall are you planning to visit today?"

I'm asking this question. We're both here. If I say go to Liu Shishi's place, you'll pounce on me and bite me.

"By the way, let Auntie order some barbecue. There's a football game today. Can you accompany me to eat barbecue and watch the game?"

This was not the first or second time that Zhao Liying was dragged by Wei Yang to watch football games, but she had never been very interested in football.

"Let your son watch with you. Last time I saw La Mian, he was quite interested in watching the game. You can take him with you. Later, you two can play by yourselves, saving me the trouble."

Wei Yang thought about it and felt that the second brother had some potential to be a football fan and could sit still and watch the game with him.

Of course, it is also possible that the kid is simply too lazy to move. He appears to be watching the game, but is actually just bored and in a daze.

Wei Yang is looking forward to developing his son into a football fan to watch football with him, but he is also a little reluctant.

It's hard to be a Chinese Manchester United fan. We were beaten 7-0 by our arch-rival Liverpool, and then we watched the Chinese national football team get beaten 7-0 by Japan. I almost vomited from drinking -Up...

(End of this chapter)