Acting school started in 1998

Chapter 169 Meeting Cheng Er Again
Shanghai Film Studio, Director's Office.

Cheng Er raised his wrist and looked at the time. It was already past four o'clock in the afternoon. He gathered the messy books and papers on the desk, added a bookmark to each book, arranged the papers in order, and took a sip before cooling down of tea.

After working for more than a year, he has already gotten used to the current life, reading in the morning and writing in the afternoon, drinking tea during the day and drinking at night.Although a short film of "Criminal" when he graduated caused a small sensation in a small circle centered on Nortel, everyone thought he was a talented director.

All this made him yearn for a while, hoping that he could make the movies he wanted to make like Zhang Yimou and Chen Dadao.But the reality tells him that film is a luxurious art, even if you are talented, even if you have proven your work, it is not easy to make a film.

Shanghai Film Studio has gathered a large number of excellent directors such as Peng Xiaolian, Zhang Jianya, Jiang Haiyang, etc. These people are his predecessors, and they need to be famous and their works must have works.Even if there is any project like a gift film in the factory, it will not be his turn.

What's more, Cheng Er wants to make his own movie, so the only way to go is to attract investment and self-raised projects.As the director of Shanghai Film Studio, the only convenience may be that the factory can help you set up a project and submit it to the General Administration for approval, and then provide convenience in terms of personnel and equipment.

More than a year is enough for him to calm down his high-minded heart and accept the reality in front of him.Fortunately, in the days when there is no filming, his job is still very easy, and he has enough time to do his own things, such as writing scripts and shooting commercials.

The script is written for myself, and the advertisement is for eating.The salary of Shanghai Film Studio is not high, and it is difficult for him to live comfortably in this city without extra money.

He doesn't like to talk, and he doesn't have many friends. Most of his friends were in the capital before. After coming to Shanghai for more than a year, he didn't make a few friends that he could talk to. Most of them were colleagues or nodding friends he met at work.

Sometimes he really misses the days when he filmed his graduation work "Criminal". The school gave 10 yuan for the shooting, and the film was sponsored by Kodak. Work towards the same goal.And Li Tang, without his performance, their graduation work could not be presented so perfectly.Because everything they do behind the scenes depends on the actors to express it with their acting skills.

He still clearly remembered the scene where "Criminal" was screened at the Film Academy on July [-] last year. The thunderous applause made them eager to have a big fight, and he didn't know that it was the most relaxed and free time.

Thinking of this, Cheng Er couldn't help but shook his head with a wry smile, and packed up his belongings to leave.It is good to work at Shanghai Film Studio. The working hours are flexible and you can come and go freely.

At this time, the mobile phone rang, and it showed that the incoming call was Li Tang's name.

Cheng Er couldn't help showing a smile on his face. Li Tang was probably one of the few friends he could talk to in this city. Of course, it was more about the creative communication when he was filming "Criminal".In fact, we don’t have much contact with each other on weekdays, and during this time he can often see some reports about Li Tang, from the most popular actor at the Beijing University Student Film Festival to Ling Huchong in "Swordsman".It is undeniable that Li Tang is already popular now, and it may become even more popular when "Swordsman" is broadcast.

At this time, he could still receive a call from Li Tang. Cheng Er was somewhat complacent besides the accident.

"Hello, Brother Li."

"Cheng Er, are you free recently? Let's get together if you have time."

Of course Cheng Er is free, almost every day, so he said: "If you are free, you can do it anytime."

"Uh……"

Li Tang on the other end of the phone paused for a moment before tentatively asking, "Can we have dinner together today?"

At first glance, it may not be very polite, after all, few people call to invite someone to dinner when it is close to the meal time.

Cheng Er didn't care, and was even a little surprised. He had no direction today, so he hurriedly said, "No problem."

He even offered to propose: "Brother Li, if it's convenient, you can come to my place. There is a nice restaurant on Puhuitang Road opposite our unit."

"Okay, then I'll be there in half an hour." Li Tang said straightforwardly on the phone.

"Well, I'll wait for you at the gate of the unit then."

Twenty minutes later, Cheng Er was already standing at the entrance of Shanghai Film Studio with a small bag on his back, he was used to being early and hated others being late.

In less than 5 minutes, he saw a taxi with a Haibo ceiling light coming slowly and pulled over in front of him.Li Tang got out of the car from the rear door, and walked over with a smile: "Cheng Er, long time no see, have you been waiting?"

Indeed, it has been a long time since the filming of "Criminal", the two of them basically kept in touch with each other by phone, and they haven't seen each other for more than a year.Li Tang looks a lot darker and thinner, but his mental state is very good.

"No, I just went downstairs too." Cheng Er said hurriedly.

Cheng Er was looking at Li Tang, and Li Tang was also looking at him. In Li Tang's eyes, Cheng Er hadn't changed much from the last time we met. He had a crew cut and glasses, and he always looked immortal.

After a simple greeting, Cheng Er had nothing to say, unlike others who always cared about "Swordsman" when they saw Li Tang, after all, it was a hot topic for Li Tang now.

Li Tang didn't mind this, and said with a smile, "Let's go, let's try the restaurant you introduced."

Puhuitang Road is a small road facing the gate of Shanghai Film Studio, across Caoxi North Road, and the restaurant is not far from the intersection next to Xuhui New Village Community.

It was early five o'clock, and there were not many customers in the store, so the two found a table by the window.

"Brother Li, what do you want to eat?"

Cheng Er handed over the menu.

Li Tang waved his hand and said, "You should be familiar with you, I have nothing against you."

Cheng Er pointed to the menu and ordered a few dishes with the waiter, and ordered four more bottles of cold beer.

A dish of boiled chicken, a dish of edamame, and four bottles of beer were quickly served on the table.

Boiled chicken and bad edamame are the most common home-cooked cold dishes in this family. The taste is similar, and it depends on the quality of the ingredients themselves.

Reunited after a long absence, the two had a drink first.

Li Tang took the initiative to ask: "How does it feel to work at Shanghai Film Studio, are you busy?"

"Don't be busy, just do what you want to do."

Li Tang had a general understanding of the state-owned studios, and it was very difficult for young directors to obtain funds from the studios to make films.For example, in Beijing Film Studio, Lu Xuechang is considered lucky. He has the support of Han Sanping, the former director of Beijing Film Studio and now the vice president of China Film Group.Others, even if their connections are as strong as Xiao Teng's director, are waiting eagerly, unless they can get funds and projects.

So Li Tang guessed that Cheng Er's life in Shanghai Film Studio was not easy.

"Shooting commercials, music videos?"

Directors do what they want, other than making movies, there are only these two kinds. Even Lou Ye often shoots commercials outside when he is free. People always have to eat.Moreover, shooting commercials and MVs is also a process of experimentation and accumulation for a director, and it can also make money, which is the best of both worlds.

"I filmed a few commercials, but I didn't shoot the MV. The main thing is to write the script." Cheng Er said frankly.

In the past, singing might be divided into Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, but now everyone goes to Beijing, and there are not many opportunities to shoot MVs in Shanghai.There are a lot of advertisements, after all, it is the most economically developed city.

"Write the script for someone else?"

Nowadays, the so-called sixth-generation directors have one thing in common that they write and direct themselves. On the one hand, they have a strong desire to express themselves; Five generations of patents.

Cheng Er shook his head and said shyly, "No, I wrote it myself."

Li Tang became interested as soon as he heard it, and hurriedly said, "Have you finished writing? Can you show me?"

To be honest, he didn't have any purpose in looking for Cheng Er today. He talked about movies with Zhou Xun in the afternoon, and he thought of Cheng Er inexplicably.

How should I put it, in his several filming experiences, it seems that he felt the most comfortable and most expressive in the process of cooperating with Cheng Er and his group of students.

"The first draft is complete, but it's been being revised now, and it may be... er, not very coherent."

Seeing Cheng Er's embarrassing look, Li Tang naturally didn't want to force it, and said with a regretful expression: "Okay, let's see if it's okay after you finish it?"

"Of course no problem." Cheng Er said hurriedly.

The ordered dishes are served one after another. October is the season for eating crabs. There is a fried rice cake with hairy crabs. The hairy crabs are very fat, which is more delicious than steamed and the price is very affordable.There are also scrambled eggs with pickled vegetables, salt and pepper strips, and fried pork liver with sauce are all home-cooked dishes of the gang.

What surprised Li Tang in particular was that Cheng Er actually ordered a dish of fried shrimp, which was marinated with white wine, soy sauce, fermented bean curd, garlic, and coriander. It tastes the most delicious when you are completely drunk and dying.

Li Tang noticed that Cheng Er was also very good at eating. The shells of the shrimps that only ate the meat were intact, and they were neatly arranged in the pelvic plate, which was in line with his obsessive-compulsive personality.

Except for the script, the two of them didn't talk much, and the rest was just eating hard. I have to say that this local restaurant recommended by Cheng Er tastes really good.

Listening to Cheng Er's introduction, the script he is revising now is the same as his previous graduation work "Criminal". He did not introduce the specific content. It is roughly based on the daily life of ordinary people. A girl with brain cancer has an ambiguous affection for her brother-in-law, and the intrusion of a stranger makes all the potential problems of this ordinary family explode, and a series of strange events occur.

As soon as Li Tang heard it, he knew that this was a typical Cult movie script, including the short film "Criminals" that the two had collaborated with before, which was actually a Cult short film.

This kind of film is very common in the United States. It refers to films with unique shooting techniques, strange themes, slanted swords, unusual styles, strong personal opinions, controversial, usually low-cost productions, and not market-oriented.It is generally very popular in non-mainstream fields and certain groups of young people.

Of course, there are also big-selling Cult movies, such as "A Clockwork Orange", "Pulp Fiction", "Blade Runner", "The Scumbag" and so on.

However, in China, limited by the censorship system, this type of subject matter is rare.If there is, it is probably director Li Shaohong's famous film "The Murder of the Silver Snake", which can be called the originator of domestic cult films.

Li Tang was a bit regretful that he hadn't seen Cheng Er's new script. After dinner, when they were parting at the entrance of the restaurant, Cheng Er hesitated for a moment, took out a stack of manuscript paper from his bag and handed it to Li Tang, saying, "Brother Li, what are you waiting for?" It's the first draft, if you're interested, you can take a look at it... Uh, we can talk about it then."

Cheng Er is proud. He didn't say some scene words like "provide more valuable opinions", but said "communication".Communication, the implication is that I can accept or disagree with your opinions.

Li Tang was surprised, and pleasantly surprised.Cheng Er just gave the manuscript to himself, not just a simple communication, but also a great trust.

Otherwise, if you change it up and publish it or submit it for review, it will become your own work.

　The first update and the second update will be released at about ninety o'clock in the evening.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)