Entertainment Reborn Rhapsody

Chapter 448: Oscar needs Hua Xiaqiu
Zhou Luyao's personal story touched Shanhe deeply. He not only made changes to the script and characters, but also gathered several main actors and creative members of the crew such as Sun Honglei and Liu Ye to listen to the personal experience of Zhou Luyao, the prototype character.

The entire crew was moved by the twists and turns of the "August 9" case and the dedication of the front-line police officers, especially Sun Honglei and Liu Ye, both of whom were in tears.

Since they were confirmed to star in "Operation Mekong", the two began various preparations, read various materials, and learned about the daily life of the police.

In their minds, "Operation Mekong" is a mainstream movie, and the protagonist in the film cannot escape the routine of mainstream movies. Even if it is directed by Shanhe, it is estimated that it cannot escape the routine of praising heroes.

But Zhou Luyao's story shocked the two. It is really difficult for ordinary people to imagine the hardships and cruelty experienced in real cases.

The chaos in the Golden Triangle and the brutality of drug dealers are beyond the imagination of normal people who grew up in a peaceful environment.

Both of them have a completely different understanding of their roles. This is not fiction or exaggeration. The reality is more heroic and more touching than the script.

Shanhe also made more demands on the two.

"Honglei, Liu Ye, the script will be changed a little bit, the biggest one being your roles. Gao Gang and Fang Xinwu will be more three-dimensional. I don't need the grand heroes of model operas. They will be more flesh and blood. You need to get deeper into the characters, especially you, Liu Ye. Fang Xinwu's image will change a lot, and you need to get in touch with and observe some drug addicts in advance!"

"No problem, sir. The sacrifices and dedication of the anti-drug police are indeed unimaginable. I will do my best to play them well and let everyone know what it means to be an unsung hero!"

After Liu Ye finished speaking, Sun Honglei made a request to Shanhe.
"Director, can I live with Captain Zhou for a while?"

"Honglei, don't worry. Captain Zhou will give us targeted training next year. You are lucky to have a real-life template to learn from!"

"That's true. To be honest, I really can't imagine what it feels like to hunt and fight in the jungle for more than two months. It's really an admirable profession!"

...

The addition of the prototype character Zhou Luyao gave Shanhe a lot of inspiration and made the "Operation Mekong" crew busy again. Combined with Zhou Luyao's personal experience, Shanhe made extensive changes to the script and shooting plan.

In addition to the necessary commercial elements, he also added more documentary elements to the shooting plan and used more handheld shots to make the whole movie more real, more tense and more immersive.

Shanhe also made great adjustments and changes in light and tone. He planned to add more dark colors to the picture to add a sense of heaviness and depression to the lush green jungle of the Golden Triangle.

He added a sentence at the beginning of the script:

The Mekong River flows through the deep jungle like an artery with blood flowing...

Half a month later, after reading the script and shooting plan of the new version of Operation Mekong, Dante Lam could not help but sigh to the mountains and rivers:
"This is simply a combination of Black Hawk Down and Fast & Furious. Shanhe, if this movie can be completed according to this concept, it will definitely be a model of a commercial action blockbuster. It's so interesting!"

Shanhe agreed with Lin Chaoxian's praise and confirmed some of the filming techniques of "Black Hawk Down" and "Fast and Furious".

"Black Hawk Down" and "Operation Mekong" are both adapted from real events. Shanhe has fully absorbed the advantages of these films, for example: the scenes and costumes are relatively simple in color and are mostly integrated with the overall environment.

In terms of the color saturation of the picture, Shanhe decided to keep it relatively low, which makes the audience feel heavy. The interior scenes mostly use high-light ratio and high-contrast tonal effects, while the exterior scenes are generally overexposed.

There is also a lot of use of handheld, shoulder-mounted, tracking, panning and small zooms to make the pictures dynamic and increase the tension of the film. High-speed photography is often used to show some war scenes, and overhead shots with foregrounds are often used to create a voyeuristic feeling and express a tense atmosphere.

In terms of action scenes, Shanhe borrowed the dynamism and vitality of "Fast and Furious", with car chases, speedboat chases and helicopter chases intertwined and full of imagination.

In Shanhe's imagination, "Operation Mekong" is a documentary film with sufficient commercial elements but a heavy overall tone. He hopes that the film can not only bring passion and pride to the audience, but also make them feel sacrifice and pain.

Shanhe was very satisfied with his changes. He looked at the original director Dante Lam and smiled. He was confident that Shanhe's version of "Operation Mekong" would be completely different from the original version and would be more successful!
Just as Shanhe and the crew were busy revising the script and shooting plan, news came from across the Pacific Ocean that "Being Young" won great success at the Golden Globe Awards in the United States.

Although it did not win the Best Picture award, the film won six awards including Best Director, Best Actor in a Drama, Best Editing, and Best Visual Effects, becoming the biggest winner of that year's Golden Globe Awards.

After Gong Li, Tang Xiaoyu became the second Chinese to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and the first Chinese actor to win the Golden Globe Award.

After winning the award, Tang Xiaoyu was the first to call Shanhe to report the good news. Although Shanhe had no idea about winning the Golden Globe Award, he was still very happy for Tang Xiaoyu.

This kid is truly a legend. Not only did he win the title of Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, but he also won the best honor at the North American Golden Globe Awards. Coupled with the terrifying box office data of "Being a Good Person", he broke the ceiling of all domestic male actors in one fell swoop. It is conceivable how popular he will be in China.

This is indeed the case. The big win of "Young and Dangerous" at the Golden Globe Awards was reported to varying degrees by media around the world, with domestic media being the most active and excited.

There is nothing much to say about Shanhe's award. It was well deserved for it to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Many media were even indignant that "Life of Yi" did not win the Best Picture.

Tang Xiaoyu made a breakthrough and won the Best Actor award for the first Chinese actor, which was the focus of domestic media reports.

"'Youth of Easy Life' swept the Golden Globe Awards, and Tang Zhiyu became the first Chinese Golden Globe Award winner!"

"'Youth Is Easy' was suspected to be suppressed and missed the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. Shanhe won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director again, and Tang Zhiyu won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor!"

"My little cousin is so awesome in Europe and America, Tang Xiaoyu wins the Best Actor award again!"

...

While the domestic media and the public were still cheering and discussing Tang Xiaoyu's winning, good news came again from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

The list of nominees for the 86th Academy Awards in 2014 was announced. "Life of Easy" received ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects.

Became the biggest nominated winner of this year's Oscars.

As soon as the news reached China, it was a double happiness. Domestic media were once again in an uproar and discussions on the Internet were even more heated.

"By the way, can my little cousin win another Oscar for Best Actor? Just look at my little cousin and you'll know what it means to soar to the sky and make a big splash!"

"It's quite difficult. Just look at Shanhe. Hollywood has never stopped suppressing him. Shanhe is really too abnormal. The Academy of Oscars couldn't suppress him at all and gave him the award. But last year's "Joker" was suppressed again. Only Heath Ledger won the Best Actor award undisputedly, and the Best Director and Best Picture awards were both taken away!"

"Haha... Shanhe doesn't care about the Oscars at all. He has missed the Oscars for two consecutive years. It's still a question whether he will go this year!"

"Shanhe has won all the influential film awards in the world. The Oscars are just a piece of cake for him. I guess he doesn't even have the slightest expectation now!"

"Comparing yourself to others is really frustrating. If this happened to other directors, they would definitely be praised!"…

Movie fans were right. Shanhe was indeed indifferent to the Oscar nomination. However, he was being harassed by the old rogue Bruckheimer over the phone because of this.

"Qiu, you have missed the Oscars for two consecutive years. Are you not coming this year?"

"Uh~ You know Annie is pregnant again!"

"Stop making excuses. What's wrong with being pregnant? Every Hollywood actress continues to shoot movies even when they are pregnant. There are many who use pregnancy to hype up their films. Qiu, you need to give the academy some face!"

"We're not that important, are we? Are the Oscars still lacking stars?"

"We are not short of stars, but we are short of you two. You don't know that the attention paid to the Oscars has been decreasing in the past two years. Last year's ratings hit the lowest level in the history of TV broadcasts. You and Anne are the biggest hot spots this year. If you don't come, the Oscars will lose half of its popularity! Besides, Anne will definitely win the Oscar next year for Room!"

"Okay, let me discuss it with Annie. I won't go there empty-handed, right? I don't mind, but there will be a lot of trouble when the time comes!"

"Impossible! Those old-timers in the academy are not fools. Hawke Couch has already told me that you have definitely won the Best Director award!"

"Who is this Hawke Couch? I've never heard of him!"

"Fuck! You really don't care about the direction of Hollywood. Hawk Koch is the new chairman of the Oscar Executive Committee!"

"Really? Why should I care about this? Okay, nothing else, I'm hanging up!"

"Wait, let's talk for a few more words. How is your Chinese national mission going?"

"It's going pretty well. We're expected to start filming in April or May next year, Jerry. Are the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Deadpool going well?"

"It's okay, but the pressure is quite high. You know I'm old and will retire in two years. I really can't muster any enthusiasm for these purely commercial projects!"

"Haha... Jerry, what new project have you set your sights on? I know you too well, just speak your mind!"

"Haha... I knew I couldn't hide it from you. I just read a script called Green Book. Fuck, it's too similar to your Parasite. Qiu, when you were filming Parasite, you were too young and didn't direct it yourself. How about we make up for this regret together?"

"Green Book? Send the script to my email and I'll take a look first. You know, I have two national projects to complete!"

"This is a feature film, there are no special effects or big scenes. I will prepare everything, and we can shoot it at your speed while you prepare for the movie!"

"You really think highly of me. Okay, just send it to me first!"

...

After finishing the call with the old rogue, Shanhe tried his best to recall the information about "Green Book" in his mind.

He had an impression of this movie, but he had only seen it once and his impression was not very deep. He remembered that it was about the story of a black musician and a taxi driver in the 1950s and 1960s.

It is indeed somewhat similar to the Shanhe version of "Parasite", but there are also many differences.

The Shanhe version of "Parasite" mainly shows the solidification of classes. Racial discrimination is of course also involved, but it is not the main theme. The theme of "Green Book" is only racial discrimination, and it is racial discrimination against black people. This theme is naturally the best theme for winning awards in the United States.

Do you want to take it?
Shanhe was a little hesitant and was not very interested in winning an award, but the subject matter did have some appeal to him. Bruckheimer knew Shanhe very well, and he did have some regrets about not directing "Parasite" himself!

Let’s take a look at the script first. The old rogue has a really sharp eye. Even if this subject is not directed by Shanhe, it will have a high probability of success!
Bruckheimer was very thoughtful. He not only sent the script to Shanhe, but also provided other relevant information.

That night, Shanhe finished reading all these things on the computer.

It turns out that the name "Green Book" comes from a travel guide called "The Negro Motorist Green Book", which has a reminder on the cover: "Carry your "Green Book" with you, you may need it."

The book was written specifically for black drivers in the United States during the apartheid era, reminding them of the restaurants, garages, and hotels that served black people, and the "sundown towns" that travelers would encounter, which prohibited black people from venturing out after nightfall.

This green-covered travel guide was first published in 1936 and has been published annually for the next 30 years. The book is sold at gas stations across the United States, with sales of up to 20,000 copies per year. It is one of the biggest evidences of racial discrimination in the United States.

This script is based on real events. Every character in the script exists in reality, without deliberate exaggeration or fabrication. The author of this script is the son of the white driver in the play.

The real prototypes of the two protagonists in the script happened to die this year, which prompted the birth of this script.

Compared with "Parasite", "Green Book" does not have dramatic plot conflicts and tension, and the satire and revelations are not direct enough. The story is more like a warm and even humorous road comedy.

But the story's criticism of "racial discrimination" and analysis of human nature are not superficial.

The theme revolves around "mutual redemption". An out-and-out racist and a black musician popular with white people promote their self-discovery and cognition during an accidental road trip, and achieve mutual spiritual redemption.

The script hits the funny and tearful points very accurately, and the expression and analysis of human nature are also very accurate. There is no shortage of funny and tearful points. The various laughs are very refreshing and cool, and the tearful points shine with the expectation of kindness in human nature, which is very warm.

It is indeed a rare good script!

Shanhe considered it for a night and decided to take on this movie, but he would not start preparations until the filming of "Operation Mekong" was completed.

With the help of the gold medal producer Bruckheimer, "Green Book" should not take much time and will not delay the preparations for "Castle Island".

The movie "Operation Lycoris" involves more things than "Operation Mekong", including diplomacy and international relations. The first draft of the script has been completed, but Shanhe has not had time to make any changes.

The higher-ups didn't seem to be in a hurry and didn't seem to be urging them at all. Han Shanping meant that there was no need to rush to prepare for the filming!
After receiving Shanhe's affirmative answer, Bruckheimer was overjoyed and made a solemn promise that as long as Shanhe was responsible for making the movie, he would take care of everything else.

After finding another job for himself, time has already come to the end of the year and the Year of the Horse is about to arrive. Shanhe put aside work and the troubles of the outside world and welcomed the arrival of the Spring Festival with his family.

(End of this chapter)