This director needs to apologize

Chapter 287 Foolproof

The celebration party was obviously not a suitable occasion for in-depth talks. The two of them hid in a corner and chatted for a long time. They could only stay at the stage of "frank exchange of views" for the time being and failed to reach the stage of "reaching a consensus on victory".

What can be done? Let's go back to our respective homes and think about it again.

Chen Yiming has been in a difficult situation for the next few days. Duan Yining has not called yet, which shows that he still insists on his original position and is unwilling to compromise on the quality of the film.

The preliminary preparations for "The Usual Suspects" have been launched with great fanfare.

That's right, the actors and cast members have not yet revealed their names, and other matters such as location scouting, review submissions, planning, and logistics have all been started one after another with specific schedules.

Wang Wei and his two assistant directors have their own ambitions, so they have been very motivated in the past few months. Even the Spring Festival in the middle did not dampen their enthusiasm.

Tian Li and Li Zhun have been "collecting scenes" together in Tailan, and their inspection of filming locations has long been no longer limited to Bangkok's Chinatown.

On the basis of a large number of photos and archives, the two also accumulated a large number of sketches. After in-depth connection, they were enough to complete a complete set of storyboards.

In fact, what the two of them did has gone beyond the boundaries of assistant directors and "infringed" on Director Wang's creative field. I think there will be some quarrels when Wang Wei starts to focus on storyboarding!

Looking at it, both the production side and Wang Wei are about to advance to the cast.

Chen Yiming saw this and smiled in his heart. It is healthier to argue. Maybe sparks will be created by arguing.

Considering the complexity of shooting abroad, Xiaomei plans to assign most of the production team to Wang Wei. After the scene is completed and the storyboard draft is finalized, Xiaomei will go to Bangkok for pre-production.

The investment went very smoothly. After "Mulan" hit the theaters, several other investors took a big reassurance and were very happy to invest in "The Usual Suspects". 50% of the initial investment was in place in early March.

Wang Wei himself stayed in China and was busy with preparatory work outside of Kanjing.

Chen Yiming still sympathizes with Wang Wei's mentality. After all, in his previous life, he was also an "inspirational" director who started as a dramatist. He knows very well what kind of mentality he will have when he holds a guide tube for the first time.

Currently, Wang Weizheng is pestering Lin Xiao every day, designing and experimenting with the film's artistic style and lens language.

This work is progressing extremely slowly. Judging from the increasingly frequent feedback Chen Yiming received from Lin Xiao, Wang Wei's mentality is too worried about gains and losses, and he is "carrying out a Brownian motion between extreme self-confidence and extreme inferiority."

On the other hand, I rationally told myself that in fact, I didn't understand anything when it came to serious matters. If I didn't listen to the opinions of the seniors in the crew, I would fall into a trap sooner or later and be in danger of death.

Thanks to Boss Yang's relationship, Tailan's immigration review went smoothly, and the script was not changed at all.

Similar to an actor's acting style, an actor's style also has its own characteristics and is suitable for different stories. There is no universal plug-in.

Lin Xiao was so annoyed by Wang Wei that he had long thought of quitting the job. In his words, "the part-time salary is not enough."

It was only Chen Yiming's earnest persuasion, and the use of his concurrent "artistic director" at Bojue, that finally calmed Lin down.

In a word, it is blind confidence.

"The Usual Suspects" is a dark-style detective film. This is determined by the synopsis of the story. Wang Wei actually doesn't have much room for maneuver. Most of the previous repeated efforts were just tuition fees.

A subcategory of film aesthetics is makeup, which is naturally closely related to actors.

This project was started for three newbies. The production schedule is very loose, and a lot of time is reserved during the preparation period for running-in.

So Wang Wei appeared in front of Lin Xiao, looking like he was schizophrenic.

Chen Yiming estimated that the art plan should be finalized in the near future, because if it is not finalized, Chen Yiming will not be able to hold Lin Xiao down.

On the one hand, you must build up strong self-confidence in your heart, because you have nothing to rely on except your will, and you can only believe in yourself without reason.

Photography, lighting, props and even recording are all more or less related to actors.

Even Tony Leung Ka-fai, who was known as the "Actor with a Thousand Faces" in his previous life, still had many cases of overturning. It was not that his acting skills were not good and his image did not match, but that he was not a good match for the crew.

The production side also needs to quickly decide on the cast, because it is directly related to the formulation of the overall budget.

No matter what he was afraid of, that night, Chen Yiming finally received a call from Wang Wei.

Director Wang's excitement on the phone was beyond words. You could almost follow the phone line and see it directly in front of Chen Yiming. You could tell that he was in a very good mood. "Teacher Chen, the art plan is done. Lao Tian and Lao Li and I have almost finished the location. We want to touch it with you before splitting the shot."

Chen Yiming naturally understood the insincerity of his words and declined sensibly.

"You can decide what to do with the storyboard. You are the director, and when it's time to make the decision, you should make the decision. I can trust you."

Wang Wei on the other end of the phone was indeed even happier.

"How's the contact with Duan Yining going? Let's meet together sometime. The opposite actor should always ask for his opinion."

Chen Yiming had a big head. He never knew how to tell Wang Wei about Lao Duan's nagging, and now he was pushed into the corner.

If you make up your mind not to change Wang Wei, there are no more than two ways to deal with it.

The most direct way is to replace Duan Yining and replace him with a potential newcomer or a washed-up veteran, who Wang Wei can hold down.

In the past period of time, Chen Yiming has been sifting through reliable spare tires in his vest bag.

But nothing was found.

In recent years, the enrollment of the three major acting schools in China has been moving closer to the two-in-one direction of "second generation + facial control". The openings for acting talents are getting narrower and narrower. The new generation of acting schools has long been out of business, and it is impossible to pick out a few good talents. .

There are candidates for the old veteran, but it is not easy to convince the management due to the commercial value, and it is not conducive to subsequent series development.

If the director doesn't change and the old actors don't change, then Chen Yiming will have to end the show himself.

During the running-in period after the filming started, the crew acted as lubricant to prevent Wang Wei from being "run" by his boss and his co-stars into becoming a tool.

This job is not easy!

It's not that he's afraid of offending people. With Chen Yiming's current status in the industry, he can communicate with any "performing artist" on an equal footing. As long as it's for the sake of the movie, there's nothing he can't say.

But not offending others does not mean that the actors will be obedient. The director's authority cannot be established only by the support of the producer. The most important thing is the director's own performance.

Judging from Lin Xiao's feedback, Wang Wei's understanding and control of "The Usual Suspects" is obviously not enough. He himself still has many uncertainties, so how can he confidently face the actors' questioning?
Lao Duan is not a clock-in actor who gets paid to do things. When filming "1951", Chen Yiming also shot for more than a week. After completing the first long shot almost harshly, Lao Duan's "cold look" came to an end. .

This is also due to the fact that Liu Dongjun, who plays the opposite role, distracts Lao Duan's energy. With a cute new apprentice who is not easy to worry about, Lao Duan naturally has less to talk to Chen Yiming.

There is no character like Liu Dongjun in "The Usual Suspects". Every one of them is a veteran. Most of Duan Yining's firepower must be directed at the director.

Think of Zhang Yi in "Mulan". Wang Weike has witnessed the difficult character with his own eyes.

Duan Yining refused to give in, which made Chen Yiming extremely uncomfortable, and even gave him the idea of ​​revising the script.

The worst case scenario is to find a "cute new apprentice" for your old man, and change the character of the veteran policeman into a rookie detective, so that you have to take one even if you don't have one.

There is a classic example of this kind of character matching in the previous life, Anthony Hopkins's masterpiece, "The Silence of the Lambs".

The two-hero drama becomes a one-man show with one protagonist and one assistant. Lao Duan can give full play to his acting skills and create a very charming special incident response expert.

A police rookie with outstanding talent and little experience gets a slap on the head when he is just starting out, but he can take the opportunity to close the psychological distance with the audience.

The resulting bond between the two parties and the subsequent growth line of the police are also conducive to the filming of a sequel.

Simply perfect!
The side effect is that the tone of the movie suddenly became a lot whiter, the dark colors of the original script were greatly diluted, and the style became more like "Cat and Mouse".

I think Duan Yining would definitely not welcome this change.

But who made him stubborn?
Chen Yiming decided to "threaten" him later.

He made a decision in an instant and said to Wang Wei on the phone, "Don't worry, it's foolproof! Just wait for my news."

(End of this chapter)