This director needs to apologize

Chapter 194 Reciprocity of Courtesy and the View of the Northwest
After the five people auditioned, the candidate for Mulan was already ready to be chosen, and Yu Nan won overwhelmingly.

Once the core character is decided, the search for other supporting characters can begin.

First, there are Mulan’s fellow villagers and friends. The ones who have bigger roles include two fellow countrymen who are older than Mulan and joined the army with her, two friendly generals from Huihe, and a prairie girl who has been decided to be played by Qin Zhilei.

The basic requirements for these four roles are young and middle-aged actors in their 4s, between 30-175cm tall, and able to take a long time to learn riding, archery and weapons routines.

Then there is the candidate for Wu Zetian, who is younger than Yu Nan and can rival Yu Nan in terms of momentum.

The ideal image in Chen Yiming's mind is Teacher Lu Zhong who played Wu Zetian in the previous "Detective Dee" series, of course the youth version.

The requirements for this candidate are obviously too high. From the six first-tier actresses who are recognized for their good acting skills, there are not many who can suppress Yu Nan in terms of momentum.

Chen Yiming further requested that the casting be based on the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty, which meant plump figures and good looks.

In the current entertainment industry where thinness is regarded as beauty, actresses with plus-size figures are rare, so casting is naturally even more difficult.

Everyone discussed it for a long time, but still could not choose a candidate who would convince everyone.

Chen Yiming could only put the matter aside for now. He thought that it was not possible, so he would just use his connections to find a senior actress to play a guest role. Anyway, Wu Zetian only had two scenes, and they were called special performances in the name of the outside world.

As a historical blockbuster, there are naturally more than just a few characters involved.

The Tang Army camp includes Mulan’s guide and de facto male lead Xiao Siye, Mulan’s boss veteran Su Dingfang, and the villain of the early plot Wang Wendu.

The Western Turkic camp includes Khan Ashinahelu, three or four generals under his command, and the Uighur traitor Ugo.

Mulan's family includes Mulan's sister, brother and parents.

However, these characters don’t have too many roles, so we can wait until the project is almost ready before starting casting.

Chen Yiming, the only Xiao Siye who had many fighting scenes, contacted Guyuehe. He had done too many costume films, including horse riding, archery and tricks, so he didn't need special training at all.

In fact, this is also an opportunity that Chen Yiming has reserved for several investors. As long as it fits the script and the characters, Chen Yiming doesn't mind going along with the situation as a favor.

After all, it is a large-scale production worth two to three billion, and the management paid real money. Reasonable demands should be met, and face is given to each other.

Since Cheng Yiming has sole control over the female lead and the second male lead, the other characters should be let go appropriately.

Xiaomei was asked to work with the casting director to select four male characters, and Lin Xiao was sent to the Tang History Institute of Shaanxi Normal University to follow experts to draw pictures. Chen Yiming himself went to the northwest with two photographers, Qi Yu and Cui Fang.

Chen Yiming's plan is for the actors to start training in July, and at the same time, the construction of Tangcheng will be officially launched.

Production officially started in October. We will first shoot daily scenes on the grassland. After winter, we will move to Tangcheng to shoot indoor scenes at Mulan's house and the market. After spring begins, we will shoot the first battle on the grassland and the decisive battle in the Gobi. Finally, we will shoot the palace in Chang'an City. play.

Estimated production time is 12 to 15 months.

Compared with the costume blockbuster projects that Hong Kong directors have been struggling with, the production cycle of "Mulan" is more than twice as long.

There is no way. If you want to reduce the number of special effects shots, you have to prolong the time of live shooting. It is impossible to have the best of both worlds.

Actors need time to practice their skills, Tangcheng needs time to build, and grasslands and Gobi need to wait for the best season.

The three of them first visited the ready-made film and television bases in the northwest region.

The first stop is Zhenbei Fort in Ningxia, which was once a garrison fort at the foot of Helan Mountain. Both Ming and Qing dynasties built forts to garrison troops.

In the 80s, restoration-style renovations were carried out, and a western-style film and television base was built based on two military forts.

Before Sun Wangquan shot commercial blockbusters, many of his art films were shot here.

After Chen Yiming saw it in person, he immediately backed down because it was already a tourist attraction and it was too noisy with people coming and going.

Moreover, the scale of the military fort is small and its functions are not complete. The watchtower, arrow tower, gate tower, school grounds, etc. all need to be rebuilt. Wouldn't it be easier for Chen Yiming to find an old acquaintance from the Engineer Corps to build one now?

Then the three of them went to the ancient city of Dunhuang. Well, the flow of people was greater than that of Zhenbeibao.

Moreover, except for a small forest near the city wall, the surrounding areas were covered with rolling yellow sand, and not a single blade of grass could be seen.

The third stop is to go to the nearby Yellow River Stone Forest Film and Television Base.

In previous lives, this place was the filming location for many costume blockbusters, and Chen Yiming was deeply impressed by it.

However, once they were at the scene, the three of them found that it was inappropriate.There are high mountains and deep valleys on one side, and water-filled oasis on the other. They are beautiful, but there is no grassland.

Moreover, this is a national natural geological reserve, and the crew must not be allowed to build randomly.

Next stop, head to Jiayuguan Pass.

Unfortunately, the Guancheng renovation project happened to be completed soon, so the three of them saw brand-new city walls, brand-new gatehouses, and brand-new floor tiles.

It's definitely impossible to film like this.

The three of them were all a little frustrated. The four film and television bases they walked through were already the most famous garrison points in the northwest in history. The other military forts were only smaller than these four.

Cui Fang suggested that we simply go to the grassland first, try to find a small area, and then build a military fort on the edge of the grassland for filming.

The three of them bought air tickets and flew directly to Zhangye to see the Shandan Army Racecourse, which is known as the largest racecourse in the world.

Big, really big, endless grasslands and rapeseed fields, stretching for dozens of kilometers.

It's flat, extremely flat. There are snow-capped mountains at the extreme end of the horizon, and there are large areas of flat grassland nearby, with no slight undulations to cover it.

Moreover, this place is located on a plateau, and it is winter in September. If you want to take pictures of the green grasslands, you can only wait until next year.

The three of them walked eastward through the Shandan Army Horse Farm and descended from the plateau to the Imperial Town. Outside the town was the Tara Grassland, which has been the filming location for many movies.

Here the altitude is lower and summer and autumn are longer.

Tara Grassland is actually a hilly grassland, with both undulating gentle slopes and steep mountains with strange peaks. The geological conditions are very diverse.

The town is very close to the grassland, so the crew's logistics are very convenient. There are also many open spaces outside the town, so setting up the scene must not be difficult.

The three of them quickly decided that this could be an alternative filming location.

After wandering around outside for more than a week, some progress was finally made, and the Kanjing group felt much relieved.

With a guarantee, the rest of the trip was very relaxing and enjoyable. The three of them skipped several grasslands at higher altitudes near the Qilian Mountains and turned north to Inner Mongolia.

In Alxa, at the junction of Yinchuan and Inner Mongolia, the three selected the second alternative location, Tonghu Grassland.

It is a unique desert grassland that brings together deserts, salt lakes, grasslands, wetlands, oasis and other landforms.

In terms of scenery alone, it is more beautiful than Tara Grassland, but it is a 5A-level scenic spot, so there may be many obstacles in setting up the scenery. This problem will depend on Da Zhuang's public relations.

The scene of the grassland came to an end, and the three of them turned back to the west without stopping, heading to Yingshachuan, the ancient battlefield where Su Dingfang defeated the Western Turks in history.

The Yingsha River in the Tang Dynasty is today's Xiaoyuledus River Valley in the Bayinbulak Grassland, located in Hejing County, Xinjiang Province.

The three of them found a local guide in the county seat and rushed there after a long journey, only to find that they couldn't do anything.

This place is so beautiful, with rolling mountains on both sides and a winding river in the middle. On both sides of the river are large pastures, green mountains and green waters, quiet and peaceful.

Digging earth to build forts and galloping horses here is simply a waste of natural resources. Chen Yiming does not have the courage of a poet to destroy the natural landscape for the sake of making a movie.

What's more, in Chen Yiming's mind, this decisive battle should take place on the Gobi Desert where the sky is filled with yellow sand.

The Yingsha River is too beautiful and completely inconsistent with the chilly and lonely battlefield atmosphere.

Chen Yiming discussed it with two photographers and decided to continue walking west to take a look at the famous Karamay Urho Devil City.

This is a typical Yadan landform. The red and yellow Gobi desert is covered with rows of wind-eroded rock pillars.

All the way to the west along National Highway 217 is the Baiyang River Grand Canyon. The Baiyang River flows down from the Tianshan Mountains and flows to the southeast on the west side of Wuerhe.

According to the research of later historians, Su Dingfang's battle to annihilate the 10 Western Turks army took place in a dry valley.

Su Dingfang divided his troops into formations on the highlands on both sides of the valley and drove the defeated Western Turks to the bank of a large river. Ashina Helu crossed the river in embarrassment and only escaped with his own life.

Therefore, the reconstruction of this scene requires a section of dry river bed, with mountains on the north side, a raised mesa on the south side, and a river not far away.

Chen Yiming and the others wandered around Wuerhe and Baiyang River Grand Canyon for five days and selected three locations that met the shooting requirements.

(End of this chapter)