This director needs to apologize

Chapter 271 Conspiracy Theory

The "Chinatown" in Chen Yiming's conception is not only the filming location of the movie, but also refers to the underground world of overseas Chinese society.

The history of Chinese overseas immigration can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties more than 2000 years ago. At that time, the Silk Road led westward to ancient Rome, and a small number of Han business travelers settled or even settled along the way.

The first generation of overseas Chinese whose historical records can be verified was born in the Tang and Song Dynasties more than 1000 years ago. The boom of maritime trade gave birth to a class of merchants who settled overseas. The main immigration direction was Xiaoli and Southeast Asia.

Beginning in the late Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of foreign survivors emerged from the stateless state, and the sources of immigrants also began to diversify, expanding from maritime merchants and sailors to handicraftsmen, fishermen, landless farmers, and urban civilians.

As the number increased, the behavior of grouping naturally began. Non-governmental organizations such as guilds, township parties, gangs, etc. began to rise on a large scale. Many "folklore" in later generations basically originated from this period.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He went to the Western Seas, and in the late Ming Dynasty, there were pirate leaders Wang Zhi and Zheng Zhilong. At this time, Chinese people were blooming all over Southeast Asia, numbering in the millions.

During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, there was the last wave of immigrants to the Gao Dynasty. A large number of Chinese workers went to sea to make a living. Their destination was no longer limited to Southeast Asia, but spread to all parts of the world.

Many overseas Chinatowns that Chen Yiming "investigated" were basically formed during this period.

If we count from the late Southern Song Dynasty when overseas immigration became common, the material Chen Yiming can draw on spans 600 years, including the history of the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and the Republic of China.

Since his debut, Chen Yiming has written and directed "Holiday in the City" and "1951", and participated in the screenwriting of "Super Sense" and "Love Letter". All four films have achieved good box office results, and his Broad Bean score has never dropped 4 points. His storytelling ability Recognized as the top in the industry.

The beauty of the 600-year-old Chinatown society lies in its unofficial market nature.

Chen Yiming is just a screenwriter, not a scholar, so he does not need to study the history of overseas Chinese in depth. He just borrows Chinatown as the story framework and then puts his own things into it.

There is a high probability that Chen Yiming will take charge of the new project, write the script, create a good team, and then hand it over to Wang Wei to direct.

On the afternoon of November 11rd, Chen Yiming invited Wang Wei, Tian Li and Li Zhun to the Mu Hao Teahouse and held the first script discussion meeting.

Therefore, they have long accepted Chen Yiming's "all-powerful" character design and made psychological construction in advance.

Yes, discuss the script before you even have an outline.

Judging from the few clips in which the three of them took the place of Chen Yiming and tried to shoot, it is obvious to all that Wang Wei's calmness is obvious to everyone.

In fact, the three of them knew it well. During the filming of "Mulan", Chen Yiming obviously let Wang Wei shoulder the responsibility of the assistant director team, and his identity as the temporary team leader was throughout.

One of the screenwriter's favorite dramatic characters, the "royal descendant," can be freely chosen without worrying about running out of material.

They have heard about the genre film plan since they joined Bojue, and now that it has finally been implemented, the three of them are very excited.

However, as soon as they sat down, they were told by Chen Yiming that the story had no script and that they would discuss it together starting today. The three of them were quite surprised.

The most famous example of this is Hongmen in the late Ming Dynasty. It is said that there are Hongmen branches in every Chinatown from Hong Kong City to Jinshan.

An unexpected surprise, an unexpected surprise!

Who would have thought that, in addition to having the opportunity to personally direct the film, one would also be guided by a gold medal screenwriter to prepare scripts.

The theme of "treasure hunting", which belongs to the same puzzle category as detectives, also has a deep foundation for jokes. After all, if you dare to believe in the treasures of the dynasty, you dare to have them. Jin Yong can arrange a cave full of treasures for the mud-legged King Chuang, not to mention Zhengerba. Where is the ancient emperor?

The three of them participated in the preparation, filming and post-production of "Mulan" throughout the entire process, and they have their own considerations for the quality of the film.

Overseas Chinese have always been excluded by local rulers, with the only exception of the Lanfang Republic, which also experienced ups and downs.

This further stimulated the expansion of the Chinese underground world, which has a long and orderly history. It even broke through the regional nature of underground organizations and spread to the world with the migration of Chinese.

The three of them had just returned from vacation after watching the latter part of "Mulan". They didn't have any outside work for the time being, so they all showed up as soon as they were called.

Wang Wei, who was confirmed to direct, seemed a little worried about gains and losses, but the other two looked calm and showed no signs of envy or jealousy.

After working together for more than half a year, they got along well with each other, and Chen Yiming had already spoken out, and there would be opportunities to be promoted to directors later on, so Tian Li and Li Zhun had no objection to continuing to serve as assistant directors.

Maybe there is a chance to take apart the mirror draft?

Therefore, after learning the truth, the three of them could not sit still, and they could not hide their eagerness to try.

As the saying goes, directors who don't want to be screenwriters are not good actors.

Every director has a dream of writing, directing and acting.

Although being an actor depends on your talent and qualifications, you may not be able to act if you are a good director. Most directors can only make a cameo and play a supporting role.

However, there is no threshold for becoming a screenwriter. The longer you work as a director, the more difficult it is to resist the urge to tell inner stories.

Although Wang Wei and the other three were just newbies, they couldn't refuse Chen Yiming's screenwriting invitation.

The waiter brought the refreshments and closed the door. Wang Wei and Tian Li opened their notebooks, while Li Zhenzhen opened their notebooks and each prepared to record.

Chen Yiming smiled and said, "Don't be so intimidated, relax a little.

After all, this project belongs to you. My duties are planning and supervising. Even if I need to name a screenwriter for publicity purposes, I will be listed last. "

Chen Yiming paused for a moment when he said this, and looked over one by one. He could see the surprise and fear in Wang Wei and others' eyes at a glance.

Obviously, they all understood the meaning of Chen Yiming's words.

After clapping his hands to ask the assistant directors to concentrate, Chen Yiming continued.

"What we are going to discuss today is not a single movie, but the beginning of a series. The key word of the series, or the main stage of the story, is Chinatown."

Opposite the three people writing and typing on the keyboard, Wang Wei seemed to be hesitant to speak after putting down his pen.

Chen Yiming nodded at him and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it."

Wang Wei smiled sheepishly, and then asked cautiously, "Teacher Chen, will overseas filming increase production costs?"

Chen Yiming nodded, "It's good that you can think of the cost, but the production has its own dedicated person in charge. You are only responsible for directing the film, so there is no need to consider the cost issue for the time being."

Before he finished speaking, Tian Li and Li Zhun also raised their heads with doubts on their faces, obviously also paying close attention to this topic.

Chen Yiming added, “In the genre film plan, we plan to trial a producer system and share the director’s work.

Of course, the Hollywood style is not entirely suitable in China. Xiaomei, you are all familiar with it, so we should discuss it together when the time comes. "

Seeing the three people nodding their heads simply or hesitantly, Chen Yiming continued.

“The choice of Chinatown was not only due to review considerations, but also for the convenience of serialization.

As we all know, detective themes are very sensitive in China and are not conducive to multi-directional expansion.

If nothing else, private detectives are illegal in China, and this alone is very troublesome. "

Chen Yiming waited until the three of them finished recording, then stretched out a finger and said word by word, "I hope you will remember and understand what I am going to say next.

Traditional detective films are about concealment, logic and reversal. You all know this, so I won’t go into details.

Our Chinatown series pursues conspiracy theories.

In short, the stories in this series follow the path of seeing the big from the small. Starting from small daily disputes, layers of cocoons are peeled off to gradually reveal a big conspiracy, and finally reveal a fragment of the huge world of Chinatown. "

Li Zhun's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "For example, the chef in Chinese cuisine is a Hongmen double-flowered red stick who washes his hands in a golden basin?"

Chen Yiming chuckled, "Okay, okay, it tastes a bit."

Wang Wei also added, "Witchcraft and head-dropping can also be brought in. Isn't this more down-to-earth than hypnosis and multiple personalities?"

Tian Li is not to be outdone. "In Southeast Asia, criminal organizations can also have many new tricks, such as kidney fraud, telecom fraud, and counterfeit money groups, all of which are more fashionable than drug trafficking."

Chen Yiming said, "You can let your imagination run wild, as long as the conspiracy is novel and interesting enough to attract the audience.

We don’t have an overly complicated storyline. This series is just a popcorn commercial movie, not a true-style mystery film.

Then there is the scalability. Our principle is to inherit the background rather than the characters, which means we do not rely on the starring role. "

Chen Yiming's thinking stems from the many experiences and lessons he has heard and witnessed in his previous life.

Regardless of whether it is Hollywood or China, the road to IP-based movies is faced with the phenomenon that audiences will not buy it if the starring role is changed.

However, if the leading actors are not changed, the remuneration will only increase rather than decrease, which will greatly increase the cost. This is also a chronic problem that cannot be eliminated.

This is also the reason why Chen Yiming tries his best to avoid taking the comedy route. Comedy is too firmly bound to the actors and is highly contagious, which can easily solidify the style of the entire series.

As far as 2012 is concerned, Chen Yiming's approach was completely unprecedented and unconventional.

You must know that movie sequels at this time all focused on the same original cast. Changing actors was simply an act of self-destruction.

The three assistant guides are all in a hurry. No matter whether they can understand it or not, write it down first before talking about it.

They did have question marks on their foreheads because Chen Yiming's words were very jumpy.

“Although it was shot in Chinatown, the Chinatown in our movie is a fictional Chinatown based on Chinese history, not a real Chinatown.

You should all know that Freemasonry is known as the number one mastermind behind the thousand-year history of the West.

Our Chinatowns will follow this path. Chinatowns all over the world are interconnected and filled with the old, young and old, as well as their disciples and descendants from the 600 years since the late Song Dynasty.

Various organizations, such as the Hongmen mentioned by Li Zhun just now, must pretend to be real.

On this basis, there are all kinds of characters with Chinese elements.

One thing they have in common is that they carry inheritance.

For example, a pawn shopkeeper, a descendant of thousands of families, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and a merchant selling stolen goods.

The story features one of them as the protagonist, and in the process of unraveling the conspiracy, more supporting characters are introduced and related. "

Wang Wei reacted quickly and shouted, "The protagonist of the sequel is the supporting character of the previous game! Wonderful, this idea is great!"

Chen Yiming smiled and nodded, but did not forget to remind him.

"The key is that You's previous film must be filmed well, and the sequel of Tian Li and Li Zhun cannot be aborted."

(End of this chapter)