Acting school started in 1998

Chapter 50

Go along Changshu Road for about [-] meters and turn left to Wuyuan Road.

Cheng Er is very familiar with this road, having been here several times last year.I remember that the weather was still hot at that time, and the air was filled with a quiet and lazy atmosphere, and even the footsteps became gentle, and I called Xia Tian in a loud voice.The dense sycamores on both sides arch the green dome, lining the road so far and deep that you can't see the end at a glance.

The leaves have already fallen in this season, and the bare branches add a bit of depression, but you can see the British-style buildings on both sides of the road, with double-sloped roofs, dormer windows, tall brick chimneys, and the exterior walls of clear water and red bricks. .

There are many shops scattered on both sides of the road, including cafes, clothing stores, boutiques, barber shops, restaurants, etc., and they are full of fireworks.

According to the agreed address, Cheng Er came to a snack bar, and there were pan fried and steamed dumplings in the window at the door.A team of more than a dozen people was photographed on the sidewalk outside, and it was obvious that the business was good.

Walking into the shop, Cheng Er found that it was not so much a breakfast shop as a place for morning tea.The shop is very clean, the dark tables are covered with white tablecloths, and people are drinking tea, chatting and tasting snacks leisurely.

There is no hustle and bustle of the breakfast shop here, and most of the people speak in a soft voice, and occasionally they can hear the crisp sound of bowls colliding.

Cheng Er glanced around, and found the person he was looking for at a table next to the wall, but it was a little different from the image in his impression, there was no sleek parting, no suit and leather shoes, but instead It has neat short hair and a black half turtleneck sweater, making it look younger and more energetic.

"Li...Mr. Li Tang!"

Cheng Er walked over. He was not very good at words. He wanted to address Mr. Li, but the other party was obviously young, so he had no choice but to address Mr. Li by his first and last name.

Li Tang quickly stood up, looked at this young man with a pair of protruding ears, a suit and leather shoes, and black-rimmed glasses, but a little cramped, and stretched out his hand with a smile on his face: "You are Director Cheng Er, right? Alright, Director Cheng!"

Cheng Er nodded shyly, shook hands with Li Tang and said, "Just call me Cheng Er."

"Okay, Cheng Er! Sit down, I'm really sorry, the appointment is so early." Li Tang greeted warmly.

The two talked on the phone last night. Perhaps they had been waiting for this call for too long. It had been two months since he saw the script of "Criminal" and received a call from Cheng Er, so he had a whim and made an appointment with the other party the next day. Have a morning tea together.

"It's ok."

Cheng Er sat down restrainedly.

"I'll take this book." Li Tang poured him a cup of tea, and said straight to the point.

"Thank you, Lee...er, Mr. Lee."

After just a few words of pleasantries, Li Tang could tell that Cheng Er in front of him was not very good at speaking, or not very good at talking. No wonder he could "get along well" with Lou Ye.

He smiled and waved his hands and said, "Just like you, just call me Li Tang, don't be polite."

"Okay, Li...Brother Li."

Cheng Er was finally a little more flexible.

At this time, the waiter brought over the menu.

Li Tang motioned to give the menu to Cheng Er who was sitting opposite: "Order what you want."

Instead of looking at the menu, I directly ordered with the waiter: "I want a bowl of small wontons, and a serving of fried steamed buns... Oh, and a serving of steamed ribs."

Cheng Er was a little strange looking at the menu, because it not only had local breakfast varieties in Shanghai, but also many Cantonese-style snacks, such as the steamed pork ribs that Li Tang just ordered. The menu said "steamed pork ribs with black bean sauce", a classic Cantonese side dishes.

But when he saw Li Tang finished ordering, he hurriedly pointed to the menu and said, "I want a salted soy milk and a small cage."

"That's all?" the waiter asked.

"Well, that's enough."

Li Tang was slightly surprised to see Cheng Er actually ordered a bowl of salty soy milk.Salted soy milk is a product of the Yangtze River Delta, and outsiders rarely drink salty soy milk.

I remember the first time Yuanshen took his ex-girlfriend to drink salty soy milk. When she saw soy sauce, rice vinegar, green onion, seaweed, mustard powder and fried dough sticks were added to the soy milk, her ex-girlfriend was very surprised at that time, because in her perception, soy milk was sweet. , Tofu nao is salty.

"Cheng Er, how long have you been in Shanghai?"

"It's been more than half a year. I came to Shanghai Film Studio for an internship in July last year."

Oh, it's been half a year, I should be used to it.

"That's really unfortunate. If it had been half a year earlier, we might have had the opportunity to cooperate." Li Tang laughed.

Cheng Er nodded and said, "I have read "Shanghai Chronicle."

"The finished film has come out, how do you feel?" Li Tang asked hastily.

He has been looking forward to his first work.

Cheng Er pushed his glasses, and said seriously: "The movie was shot very well. Both the photography and the composition are excellent, and the lens is very modern. Brother Li, you and the actress named Yuan Quan both performed very well. It's just that ..."

Speaking of this, he hesitated for a while before saying: "It's just that I personally feel that the movie covers too many events, which leads to the characters covered by the events, and the core emotional power embodied by the characters is not enough."

"Uh……"

Li Tang didn't expect Cheng Er to be so outspoken.

You must know that the director of this film is a senior of their Nortel director department and a top student of the New York Film Academy.Under normal circumstances, it is all carried by people in bridal sedan chairs, even if there are obvious flaws, they are selectively ignored or the tone is as mild as possible.

He, a fledgling fourth-year student in the director department, dares to criticize his predecessors so bluntly. Does Director Peng Xiaolian know?

At the same time, Li Tang was a little disappointed. After all, it was his first work that was criticized so much. Although the fault was not necessarily caused by the actors, it still made him feel uncomfortable.

"Let's talk about the script. The story is very well written and feels very real. I like it very much, and the character Hu Tian..."

Listen, Li Tang speaks so nicely, three special ones in a row.But before he finished speaking, Cheng Er took out a stack of manuscripts from his bag, handed them over and said, "Brother Li, please read it first."

"Uh, good."

Li Tang took it.

The first one is a diagram of the relationship between the characters. There are not many characters in the script, including gangsters and policemen who are playing tricks, and there are only a dozen or so in total.But on this character relationship diagram, all the characters, including the connections between characters, are clearly marked.

The second is the structure diagram of the movie. Although this is only a short film, it still strictly follows the three-act plot structure.

The next dozen or so are the character relationships and plot details of each scene.There are both text descriptions and graphical displays, which are clear at a glance and have a great sense of picture.

Finally, there are the storyboard drawings of some important scenes.

Li Tang just flipped through it roughly, and was shocked. He didn't expect Cheng Er's preparations to be so thorough.

When cooperating with Director Peng Xiaolian, Director Peng put more emphasis on brainstorming, more emphasis on technical and performance details, and strictly implemented the final decision.

And Lou Ye is another extreme, mysterious and imaginative, "flying paper" is commonplace, so the actors are not allowed to have too much preparation, and they are looking for inspiration during shooting.

As for "Returning the Pearl II", it is a TV series, not a creation, it is simply an industrialized running account.

But on Cheng Er's side, the preparation work is so meticulous, it is obvious that he emphasizes the art of directing, and controls the actors in specific situations.At the same time, he does not regard actors as marionettes to realize his directing art, but gives actors enough room to play in specific situations.

The reason why Li Tang came to a conclusion so quickly is because it is very simple, just look at the chart.

Originally, he was planning to discuss the script with the director, but now it seems that there is no need for this, as he has already done the preparation work in advance.

At this time, the ordered food came to the table one after another. Li Tang flipped through the storyboard drawings while eating. Of course, the artistry was far worse than Lou Ye's, and he was not like Lou Ye's unconstrained style, with no rules at all.Judging from the composition of the shots, there are more middle shots and close shots, most of the pictures adopt a symmetrical pattern, and the colors also use a lot of warm tones, and some parts are darker, which is probably due to the plot.

Generally speaking, it reflects the standard of a very upright academic director.

Of course, these are the sincerity shown by Cheng Er to Li Tang, and he needs Li Tang to repay his trust in the director.

(End of this chapter)