1990: Starting from Baojia Street

In the next two days, Zhou Yan was revising the plot of the wedding while rehearsing with Zhao Fei and the actors.

All the actors in the crew, except Michael Hui, were present.

So, except for Michael Hui who asked others to stand in position for him, the other actors did it themselves.

The rehearsal was very fast. In just two days, most of the plays at Jiaochangwei were performed.

Of course, except for the wedding and the dance, the other plays at the end of the stage are relatively simple.

On September 30th, the filming of "Time Traveler" officially started.

The opening ceremony was very simple. Apart from the crew members, no guests were invited and no reporters were invited to the scene.

But on the morning of the 30th, Zhou Yan and Joey Wong were discovered by a group of reporters as soon as they came out of breakfast.

All the reporters were sprint champions. They were originally interviewing Zhao Fei, but when they saw Zhou Yan and Joey Wong appear, they quickly surrounded them.

The crew did not invite reporters to attend the film's opening ceremony, but they never concealed the news of the film's opening, so many reporters rushed over when they heard the news of the opening today.

Many of the reporters who came today came from Hong Kong.

After all, Shenzhen is close to Hong Kong, so it is relatively convenient for reporters to come here.

Zhou Yan's new movie has been attracting much attention from the Hong Kong media since the summer, because Zhou Yan revealed at that time that it might be filmed in Hong Kong and that he might collaborate with Hong Kong actors.

The crew did not reveal to the public that the heroine of the movie was Joey Wong, but Joey Wong appeared in Yanjing a few days ago and was photographed.

So many media are speculating that Joey Wong is the heroine of Zhou Yan’s new movie.

At this moment, seeing Joey Wong standing next to Zhou Yan, the reporters were all very excited.

"Director Zhou, is Xiaoxian the heroine of your new movie?"

"Who is the male lead?"

"The movie is called "Time Traveler". Is it a love movie?"

"Xiaoxian, how do you feel about working with Director Zhou again?"

……

The reporters had a lot of questions, which flooded towards the two of them like a tide.

In fact, it was very strange for reporters to ask these questions on the day of the opening ceremony.

Normally, when a movie has reached the stage of starting filming, the cast should have been announced long ago, after all, movies also require pre-production publicity.

But Zhou Yan’s new movie is very interesting. It has only been two months since he revealed the idea of ​​making a new movie in Hong Kong in the summer, and the film has already started shooting, while basically no useful information has been revealed during this period.

They are basically certain that Joey Wong is the heroine of this movie. After all, with Joey Wong's status, she probably wouldn't play a supporting role.

But they had no idea who the male lead would be.

When they arrived just now, the reporters were watching the scene, trying to find the male lead.

Zhou Yan looked at the time. There was still some time before the opening ceremony officially started at 9:09, so he stopped and began to answer reporters' questions.

He did not invite reporters to the opening ceremony because he did not want to waste time, but since the reporters were already here, there was no harm in doing some publicity at the same time.

"You have a lot of questions. I will answer them one by one. Someone just asked if this movie is a love movie. I can only say that love is one of the themes of this movie."

"As for the hero and heroine, they are already standing in front of you."

After hearing Zhou Yan's words, some reporters had not yet reacted, while some reporters with quick brains had already started shouting.

"Director Zhou, you want to direct and act in the film yourself?!"

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, "Yes, I will play the male and female protagonists with Joey Wong in the new movie."

The reporters were very excited when they got the news.

This way, the new movie will have some gimmicks.

They have not forgotten that Zhou Yan also won the Best Newcomer Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. His role as Xu Xian in "Green Snake" was very impressive.

The box office of the movie "Green Snake" was average, or even very poor, but the subsequent dissemination of the movie was not bad at all.

The performances of Joey Wong, Zhang Manyu, Zhou Yan and Zhao Wenzhuo in the movie left a deep impression on many audiences, and the music of this movie is also very popular.

The song "Nightingale" in particular was so popular that it was even used as the soundtrack for the hit TV series "The Return of the Condor Heroes" aired last year.

"Green Snake" suffered a Waterloo on the big screen, but gained a lot of attention on the small screen.

The reviews of this movie have been getting better and better as time goes by.

The "weirdness" in this movie is also accepted by more and more audiences.

In that movie, Zhou Yan and Joey Wong played a classic couple, Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian.

The two of them working together again this time naturally attracted a lot of attention.

In addition, both Zhou Yan and Joey Wong have rarely appeared on the big screen in recent years.

There is no need to talk about Zhou Yan. He has been behind the scenes in the past few years and has not acted in any serious drama. Many people even say that Zhou Yan will never act again in the future.

As for Joey Wong, she only starred in one movie "The Sixth Sense" in recent years, and then she hid her fame and talent, and no one knows what she is doing now.

This time, the two of them starred in a new movie together, which seemed like a hidden master returning to the arena.

"Director Zhou, Xiaoxian, this is your second collaboration. Do you feel anything different?" a reporter asked.

Another reporter countered, “This is their third collaboration.”

"Director Zhou of The Sixth Sense is behind the scenes, so it doesn't count."

"This is my third time on camera. We filmed a commercial for Senior Hall together before."

After this reporter reminded everyone, they remembered that Zhou Yan and Joey Wong had also collaborated on an advertisement for Zishengtang.

Zhou Yan almost forgot about the advertisement. He smiled and said, "Xiao Xian is a very good and dedicated actor. It is reassuring to work with her. She is also one of my teachers in acting. She taught me a lot when I was filming Green Snake."

After saying this, the reporters didn't feel there was anything wrong, but Joey Wong standing next to her almost blushed.

When filming "Green Snake", she mainly taught Zhou Yan how to act in bed scenes.

At that time, it was Zhou Yan’s first time to act in a passionate scene and he was a bit awkward, thanks to Joey Wong for guiding him.

At that time, she didn't expect that during the performance, they would actually end up on the bed.

"Director Zhou, when will Time Traveler be released?"

"It's not confirmed yet. It depends on when I finish filming, but the plan is to release it within this year."

"So fast?"

The reporters were a little surprised. The filming of the movie had only just started in October, and time was very tight if they wanted to release it within the year.

According to the Gregorian calendar, there are only three months left this year.

Even according to the lunar calendar, there are only four months left.

Some movies cannot even finish shooting in three or four months, let alone the complicated post-production.

However, although they were confused, the reporters did not ask further questions. Whether the film was shot fast or slow was not their focus.

As for the specific release date of the film, it will be announced later during the publicity and promotion period.

A reporter asked again, "Director Zhou, will the song "How Long Will I Love You" that you performed live at the Hong Kong concert appear in the new movie?"

"Definitely, and in the form of a song." Zhou Yan threw out another piece of information that the reporters were very concerned about.

"Song? Who will sing this song? Is it a singer you have worked with before?"

"Please allow me to keep this question a secret for now, but I can tell you that there will be many songs in "Time Traveler". This is also the first time I have put so many songs in a movie."

"More than The Chorus?"

There are many songs in "The Chorus". Of course, those songs are not interludes. They were just written by Zhou Yan for the choir for the needs of the plot.

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said, "Well, more than The Chorus."

"Is this a musical or a musical?"

"No." Zhou Yan shook his head.

“Can we hear these songs before the movie comes out?”

Zhou Yan shook his head again, "No, but the movie will be released soon, so you don't have to wait too long."

……

The reporters asked Zhou Yan some more questions and then turned their attention to Joey Wong.

Zhou Yan then asked people to call over the other actors and asked them to talk to the reporters, even Li Naiwen and Li Xiaoran were called over.

It was the first time for the two newcomers to face such a scene. They were surrounded by thirty or forty media outlets. Most newcomers would not be able to cope with it.

But Li Naiwen and Li Xiaoran handled it very well.

Li Naiwen is not the kind of person who likes to speak actively, but when facing reporters, he was calm and spoke in an orderly manner. He did not look like a newcomer who was facing such a scene for the first time. He had the feeling of a big scene master.

Some people are like this, they may be shy in private, but appear very comfortable at work.

The key point is that he looks mature, so much so that reporters thought Li Naiwen was an actor who has been in the industry for quite a long time.

As for Li Xiaoran, she took an unconventional approach.

Today she still appeared without makeup, but she was dressed a little more formally. The white dress made her look very fresh. The reporters paid close attention to her because she was so beautiful.

After all, she can act in Zhou Yan's movie right after her debut, which is a very good starting point. Maybe she will become a big star in the future.

But no matter what questions the reporters asked, she seemed to be daydreaming and gave incorrect answers.

People asked her if she was nervous about working with such a well-known, world-class and talented director like Zhou Yan for her first film.

If she were an ordinary newcomer, she would definitely praise Zhou Yan first, and then say that she is very honored to have this opportunity, and she would definitely do her best during the filming process.

But Li Xiaoran is different from ordinary people. She answered the reporters that the crew members are very nice, the food in the cafeteria is delicious, and the scenery of Jiaochangwei is also very good, especially at sunset in the evening. She also suggested that reporters should not rush to leave at night, but to appreciate the sunset of Jiaochangwei.

Such an irrelevant answer left the reporters confused.

When the interview was almost over, Xu Feng also appeared and the reporters surrounded him again.

Xu Feng attached great importance to this movie and came all the way from Shanghai to attend the film's opening ceremony.

She was not surprised to find so many reporters at the scene. After all, Zhou Yan's popularity is extremely high now.

Looking across the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau, Zhou Yan is the most special director.

I don’t know when it started, but some people began to divide Chinese directors into generations.

Some people say that it is because of an economics book called "The Fifth Generation" that people feel that this word is very appropriate to describe the rising force in the Chinese film industry.

However, Xu Feng first heard the concept of the fifth generation of directors from Ni Zhen.

Ni Zhen classified the directors he had worked with, such as Zhang Yimou and Li Shaohong, into the fifth generation.

When talking about the fifth generation of directors, people generally think of them as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Zhang Jianya, and Wu Ziniu.

These directors are the backbone of the Chinese film industry at this stage.

The concept of the sixth generation of directors has gradually emerged, with Wang Xiaoshuai and Lou Ye being its representatives.

As for Zhou Yan, he should be considered the sixth generation in terms of age and experience, but in terms of international fame, Zhou Yan is more like the fifth generation.

However, Zhou Yan's style is obviously different from both the sixth and fifth generations.

His style is not only different from the fifth and sixth generations in the mainland, but also different from the directors in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Some people have said before that Zhou Yan's style is heavily Westernized and too commercialized, but many people refute this view. They believe that if Zhou Yan's works are heavily Westernized, then at least half of the directors in the country have heavily Westernized styles, and they are unsuccessful Westernizations.

The only thing that makes Zhou Yan's films more Westernized than those others is that they are better produced. As for commercialization, it is only because other people's films cannot sell that Zhou Yan's films appear to be more commercial.

In fact, no one can describe the movie "The Chorus" as "highly commercialized".

Many people believe that Zhou Yan is the director in China who is best at grasping the balance between artistry and commerciality. His films are more about guiding the audience into the world he has created, rather than creating a world that caters to the audience.

Of course, people have not forgotten that Zhou Yan was also a talented musician, and one could even say that he was a literary figure.

Zhou Yan occupies three of the eight major arts. He has unique advantages that other directors do not have. In his films, he can always perfectly integrate music and film.

Moreover, he wrote all the screenplays for his films himself, which is something most directors cannot do.

Shortly after Xu Feng finished his interview with the reporter, the opening ceremony began.

She and Zhou Yan lifted the veil for the camera, and then took the main crew members to burn incense one by one.

The ceremony would have ended after the incense burning, but because there were many reporters, Zhou Yan came out temporarily and said a few words.

This was not the first time he had hosted a launch ceremony, and he was already very familiar with giving speeches on the spot.

He first emphasized the tight schedule of filming the movie and put forward requirements for all crew members to work together to make a good movie.

Then it’s time to look forward to the future, which is to brag a little.

If there were only people from the crew present, it wouldn't matter if he didn't brag about it, but with so many reporters coming, Zhou Yan naturally had to promote the movie.

After he finished bragging, he thanked the reporters who came to the scene today, and the ceremony was over.

However, after the ceremony, everyone did not leave. Zhou Yan and Xu Feng gave red envelopes to the crew members.

The red envelope is not big, it is filled with ten-yuan bills, and the main purpose is to ask for good luck.

Everyone who saw it at the scene was included, not only the reporters who came uninvited, but also the villagers who came to join in the fun.

In the end, Zhou Yan and Xu Feng still had a lot of red envelopes left in their hands, so they threw them directly towards the reporters and villagers, and a battle for the red envelopes broke out on the spot.

The red envelopes aren’t big, and everyone just wants to join in the fun.

After handing out the red envelopes, Zhou Yan called Li Hong to his side and said, "Go entertain the reporters who came today. Bring me a note and I'll approve 10,000 yuan for you. I'll go directly to Wu Jing to transfer the money to you."

"It doesn't take that much, does it? Do you think I'm going to give them some money?"

"Won't giving them money give them something to talk about? Just take them out for a nice dinner."

Ten thousand yuan can be used to take these reporters out for a drink, which is much more useful than giving them money.

"As for the meal, ask someone else to arrange it. You still have a scene to shoot today and you can't leave."

"Understood. I'll go find someone to arrange it right away."

After Zhou Yan had given all the instructions, Xu Feng came over and whispered, "Do you want to make some arrangements for the reporters? Or should I do it?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Sister Feng, I have asked Li Hong to arrange it."

Hearing that Zhou Yan had already made arrangements, Xu Feng smiled and nodded, "You are the one who makes me worry less." (End of this chapter)