This director needs to apologize

Chapter 325: It’s better to show off your flesh than to show your flesh

On Sunday, Chen Yiming did not stay at home anymore, but spent the whole day in the editing room of Phantom Studio.

The cargo ship scene in Bangkok has been filmed almost exactly, except for the final scene of the ship blowing up. Wang Wei immediately asked Li Yangyang to bring the completed materials back to Chen Yiming for review. If he wanted to reshoot, he had to do it now. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome if the ship explodes.

This section in the finished film lasts less than 20 minutes including sequence, interludes and flashbacks. Wang Wei and the others shot it for nearly 300 minutes in one go, which stretched it out 15 times, highlighting a large amount of content.

Chen Yiming shot it roughly at 8x speed, and it was OK. All the content in the script and storyboards were captured.

An Xixi, who was sitting on the side, looked confused and couldn't keep up with the scene. When Chen Yiming came to an end, he couldn't help but ask, "What can you see from this?"

Chen Yiming tilted his head and teased the girl with a smile, "Practice makes perfect, haven't you ever heard of a saying that reads countless movies without codes? The same goes for fast forwarding."

Anxi Sika had two little deer eyes. After a moment, she realized what she was saying and gave the mean-mouthed person a slap in the face.

Chen Yiming kept his hands on the material, coughed twice and said, "Let's get down to business. The assistant will prepare the notes first."

An Xixi then put away her fierce and cute look, opened her laptop and sat down at attention.

In the original version of "The Usual Suspects," the cargo ship scene was even shorter and could be roughly divided into three parts.

They were not the mastermind behind the scenes, but died in a fight with the gang.

First-time directors Wang Wei and Xiangrui made the same mistake. They spared no effort in writing in places that should have been skipped in one shot. The result was a slow and slow film with no distinction between priorities and rhythm.

In Chen Yiming's magically modified version, this section has been fattened up. In addition to the full real-life scenes, there are also several additional gunfights on and off the ship.

It is precisely because of the clear distinction between the four lines of shooting that the audience will not be confused when interspersed with editing.

For example, the man in black disguised as Bao Wenwen, except for the reversal at the end, the whole process is from a first-person perspective. Only the field of view can see no one, but it always makes the audience aware that there is a third person on the ship besides the protagonist group and the gang. .

The endings of each of the four protagonists, except Bao DaTao, are described in more detail, instead of dying silently like the original version.

There is an explosion at the beginning of the film, two versions of the boarding operation between Bao and the police during the interrogation process in the middle, and the reversal at the end of the film.

The first is Bao Qing who is on lookout at the pier. Old Duan needs to play two roles. On the surface, he is a clumsy gangster, but secretly, he is an agile man in black.

Qi Tian's shots use a partial close-up with a scope view. Her beautiful butt, long legs, red lips and bright eyes are alluring, but they are all too big to see the real person.

In order to sort out the audience's perspective, Wang Wei arranged obvious characteristics for these four lines.

Of course, the original material is based on scenes, which needs to be split by Chen Yiming according to the storyboard. This is a great test of Chen Yiming's "brain imaging" ability. Don't be afraid of taking too many shots, but be afraid of not being able to connect them if you take too few.

The fourth item is the former criminal policeman himself. He is responsible for going to the bow console and providing guidance to the action team through surveillance video.

Considering the age of the film and its limited budget, this is understandable.

The cannon fodder group in the bottom warehouse is the most normal third-person narrative. This line is shot with a handheld camera, using the violent movement of the characters and the shaking sensation caused by the grenade explosion to highlight the chaos and intensity of the close-range gunfight.

The plastic feel of the explosion scene is undeniable. At first glance, it was a combination of an empty shot of an exterior shot and a model blasting clone. The last two parts were not filmed on board the ship, but on a corner of the deck set up in a studio.

The part of the former gangster policeman includes a close-up of his face and a split-screen surveillance video in the control room. He is responsible for the role of sneaking into the scene, which also hints to the audience that the former gangster policeman has another purpose.

After watching it for the second time at 2x speed, Chen Yiming swung the big scissors and killed half of the time with a click.

The second one is the former criminal police secretary played by Qi Tian. She was placed by her boss in the operating room of the dock crane, holding a sniper rifle as backup from a high position.

The third one is the trio of cannon fodder who search the bottom warehouse for mission items and take on the main part of the gunfight scene.

Therefore, the cargo ship scene in the magically revised version is almost a rearrangement, with as many as four character lines.

This is most obvious in the shootout sequence at the bottom of the cabin. These guys are obviously having fun shooting. The cannon fodder trio and the gangsters are so excited that they shoot from the hatch all the way to the innermost part. The rhythm of the whole scene is completely All hell broke loose.

"The Usual Suspects" is a suspenseful detective film. The gunfight is just an embellishment and not the main point. The paragraph itself cannot be separated from the main line. Suddenly all the descendants are dead, which only shows that the script cannot be written anymore and is killing the plot.

Chen Yiming dictated it and An Xixi recorded it. The core meaning is that the gunfight scene was re-shot.

"First, restore the original script, sneak in first, step on the trap and then merge. In the current version, Mr. Xu was lonely in the monitoring room!

Secondly, the infiltration should be slow rather than long, reflecting the tacit cooperation between the two groups of people on the ship. The infiltration should be quick and short, so that the former criminal policeman’s move to trap his teammates becomes fatal. The contrast at the critical moment must be brought out.

Thirdly, several cutscenes of the porthole windows of the bottom warehouse, the characters' postures are not ideal, and they are sorted out again with Qi Tian's surveillance footage.

Fourth, the death methods of Lei Jiasheng and Bao Jianfeng were repeated, and if they were re-designed, they would not be dramatic enough. Fifth, you can consider arranging Zhang Yu's death at the beginning of the fire war, so as to make it more absurd for a good swimmer to drown in the water.

Sixth, the gunfight action was shot very professionally, but it was a bit too professional. Don’t forget, these two groups of people are pseudo-experts on one side and gangsters on the other, not special forces and PMCs. "

After An Xixi finished typing, she couldn't help but advise, "Would you like to polish it up? What you said is so ruthless. I felt like my face was burning when I heard it."

Chen Yiming said disapprovingly, "If you want to be a director, the first step is to lose your reputation. Being shameless is a prerequisite. Believe it or not, when I sent my revision comments, the first reaction of those three guys was not self-criticism, but self-criticism. First, you chatted with me for a few rounds on a conference call.

It doesn’t matter whether my words sound unpleasant or not. As a director, I don’t want to listen to other people’s opinions. What I shoot is the best. You have to have this kind of persistence.

Of course, they had to make changes according to my instructions in the end. Who made me the producer? I really have the power to change people. "

An Xixi curled her lips and said, "Yes, yes, yes, Producer Chen, you are great. In the future, I will make my movies without your intervention, so I don't want to be educated by you anytime and anywhere."

After hearing this, Chen Yiming quickly changed the subject, "The shootout part is over, let's watch Teacher Duan's performance."

There are actually only two scenes where Lao Duan appears. Those first-person shots are all empty shots of the photographer. It cannot be said that it has nothing to do with his performance, but it can only be said that it does not involve much.

The first part is about the bag huddled in the gap of the container at the dock. Looking at the material alone, it feels like Yin Tianqiu in "The King of Comedy". There are close-ups of various expressions, and each one is different.

Regarding Lao Duan's acting skills, Chen Yiming is impeccable, but Wang Wei's camera scheduling still has some room for improvement.

"The seventh shot of holding the head and covering the face is a bit wasteful, but the overhead perspective is more interesting. I suggest you give it a try.

In addition, the relative relationship between Lao Duan and Qi Tian, ​​who are both on the dock, also needs to be reflected at the beginning and end. "

After this part is finished, it is the highlight of the whole film, the final confrontation between the former black policeman and the man in black on the deck.

Wang Wei shot this part very "fully", with seven camera positions set up. Judging from the material, Yining and Xu Yajun performed this scene no less than twenty times.

Except for a vertical pan at the end of this scene, the camera was fixed for the rest of the scene, and we watched the two teachers having sex behind the scenes.

As far as the camera movement is concerned, it can be said that it is a masterstroke without any workmanship. The lighting and sound recording on the scene are also done very well. Chen Yiming has no fault.

What surprised Chen Yiming was the performances of the two actors.

Duan Yining still outputs steadily, every foreshadowing echoes just right, and the freeze-frame is both natural and accurate.

Because here he seems to be holding a pipa with his face half-covered, and he is not as interesting as Xu Yajun, who is at the end of his life.

The former gangster policeman is seriously injured and dying. On the one hand, he has to face Bao Jianfeng's torture of conscience before his death. On the other hand, he is still suffering from the pain of betrayal by the person next to him. After Bao Wenzhen appears, another layer of oriole suddenly realizes behind him. consternation.

After all, Xu Yajun is a top-notch actor who plays an old undercover agent. The first layer is pity and ridicule, the second layer is sigh and helplessness, and the third layer is shock and relief. The layers are clear and the presentation is orderly. Just look at him alone. Through the performance, you can generally understand the logic of the entire cargo ship scene.

Considering that he performed half-sitting on the ground from beginning to end, and barely moved his hands when he was dying, relying on his expressions and lines to survive the whole process, it is even more amazing.

I know clearly that this is a bad policeman who sticks to both the right and the wrong, and has done a lot of bad things, but after watching this curtain call, I can't help but praise the words "you can take it, you can let it go, you can watch it, you can lose it" .

This is enough. Although it is a gray movie with an overseas background, the portrayal of "criminals" cannot be too positive, let alone play with human nature to whitewash it. The critical tone must still be maintained.

So he still asked An Xixi to record it. There was no need to take out his mobile phone to look at family photos, which diluted the character.

Next comes the part where Xu Yajun appears alone. The action scenes in the control room are clean and neat, and it seems that they have been rehearsed. Xu Yajun's degree of completion is also very high.

As for the scene where he secretly left the control room to do private work, using a walkie-talkie to guide his teammates through the void, the filming was a little less interesting, mainly because the logical relationship was not explained clearly enough.

After all, the storyboarding lacks a trace of detail. This section is actually a miniature version of the three-line narrative. The former gangster commanded by the void on the upper deck, the action team in the lower warehouse who followed orders, and the secretary who displayed the three-dimensional map of the cargo ship in the tower crane .

This also implies that the former criminal police officer boarded the ship for another purpose, and made additional arrangements and special preparations without telling the protagonist group.

Through the precise grasp of the ship's structure and the secretary's prompts through the porthole, the former police officer was able to continue to direct the action team to go deep without being monitored, and bury the three cannon fodder at the right time.

The actor's performance must be natural, and the camera movement must have a clear purpose, otherwise the audience will easily be confused.

An Xixi finished recording Chen Yiming's opinions with a bang, and then complained, "Don't you have anything nice to say? It's so hard to go on location, why don't you give them some encouragement?"

Chen Yiming was deeply convinced and nodded to the girl to continue recording, "Qi Tian's shots are good, seductive but not glamorous, charming but not vulgar. He has mastered the essence of taking pictures of vases, and it looks better if you don't show your flesh than if you show your flesh. It's worth it." A thumbs up.”

(End of this chapter)