This director needs to apologize

Chapter 52 Handsome Blonde Battle Prototype
Robert Redford was born in 1936 and was the first generation of handsome blond men in Hollywood.

In Hollywood in the 70s and [-]s, blond hair was often given a lot of feminine connotations and was a typical label for nutty sweethearts. At that time, there were very few popular male actors with blond hair.

Only Lao Lei showed off his blond hair without hesitation, established a romantic and handsome "golden boy" image, and became a generation "classic" in Hollywood.

Brad Pitt, who later became famous, was called Redford II because of his blond hair when he first entered the industry.

Using Brother Pi as an analogy, you will know how handsome Lao Lei was when he was young.

Compared to being a handsome actor, Redford's career as a director is more accomplished and better known to the world.

In 1982, his directorial debut "Ordinary People" won four Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. He himself swept almost all the Best Director awards during the awards season that year.

As soon as he debuted, he achieved the lifelong pursuit of many famous directors. How could old Martin not faint in the toilet without crying?

Redford also single-handedly founded the Sundance Film Festival, which is the world's premier independent film festival. Many directors who later directed Hollywood blockbusters first became famous at Sundance.

After becoming a director, Redford knew how to act when he encountered a good script. Although he was nominated many times, he ultimately failed to win the Oscar title.

The characters played by Lao Lei all have their own characteristics. Perhaps it is because the characteristics are so prominent that they affect the judges' perception that he has repeatedly missed the best actor.

However, this quality, or character's aura, is exactly what Chen Yiming needs now.

To put it bluntly, it is very simple. When Lao Lei is acting, he will occasionally bring out his personal habits. When he is expressionless, looks straight in the eyes, and reads his lines in a murmuring way, he will naturally create a sense of alienation and isolation. Perception.

His eyes did not speak, but were empty and without content, but paired with his confused expression, it gave the audience a very harmonious feeling.

Chen Yiming doesn't think this is Lao Lei's acting skills. It should be a side effect of Lao Lei's laziness in acting. When Lao Lei relaxes his performance control, this personal trait will be inadvertently highlighted.

Since it is an extremely personal performance quality, Chen Yiming does not expect to find Lao Lei's time and space counterpart.

You can lower your requirements. You don’t need the first protagonist to be 100% like the old Lei. It’s enough if he can be like three or five points.

He needs the protagonist to bring a sense of detachment to the audience, so that the audience can maintain a detached relationship with the plot.

Traditional war movies with the main theme often require the audience to be as involved and immersed in the drama as possible, sighing for the characters' frustrations, grieving for the sacrifices of the soldiers, and cheering for the victory of the battle.

"1951" does not require this kind of empathy, and the characters in the movie are also different from the established image of our military soldiers in the minds of Chinese audiences.

The first protagonist needs to act as a "regulating valve" in the film, pulling the audience out of their emotions at the appropriate time.

If you rely purely on skills, you will accidentally play the dull protagonist into a fool. At this time, if the actor can bring a bit of Lao Lei's alienated temperament, it will not be easy to deviate from the character during the performance.

So Chen Yiming designed an audition process for Xiaomei. All the lines were written by him. What was tested was not the actor's acting skills, but his own personal temperament.

……

After the three separated, they started working non-stop according to the agreed division of labor.

On Sunday, Chen Yiming read all the books on the Peninsular War that could be found in the public. He read all the Chinese books, focusing on the descriptions of the war in September and October 1951.

He compared the 3D map of the peninsula, inspected the mountains and rivers from east to west, roughly sorted out the changes in the front lines in the past two months, and finally listed four battles suitable as movie prototypes.

The first one and the one with the highest degree of fit is the Battle of Tianma Mountain that took place from September 9 to 20.

战役对阵双方，华国方面是东北野战军第2军第5师第14团，联合军方面是坚果陆军骑兵第1师第5团、第7团和袋鼠营。

14团9连（加强8连1个排）死守天马山主峰7昼夜，掩护友邻各部后撤至临川江东岸的二线阵地，守军完成任务转移时，只存活8名战士。

The second was the Battle of Renzishan from October 10th to 16th.

对阵双方是华国华东野战军第6军第17师第51团与棒国第6师团，这场打得有来有回，阵地先后9次易手，51团最终守住了阵地。

However, the results were not much different. As the right wing of the friendly front was breached, Renzishan was eventually abandoned. The 2th Company of the 5nd Battalion, which was covering the rear, could only withdraw enough soldiers to form four squads.

The only regret is that the enemy army is the puppet army of Nanbang and not the genuine Nuts.

第三个是9月15日至10月22日的北汉江防御战役。这场战役规模更大，华国这边是东北野战军第1军和第12军，联合军那边是坚果陆军第2师、第24师、棒国首都师团、不列颠第27旅。

The battlefield was large in scope, the fighting lasted for a long time, there were many units involved, and there were many conflicting descriptions of the war history. Chen Yiming could only use it as a last resort.

The fourth is the Battle of Kasumikawa from October 10 to November 22.

这是半岛战争中最为经典的一场阻击战，华国守军是华东野战军第一王牌第1军第1师，联合军人多势众，包括坚果陆军第7师、第24师2个团、棒国2、4师团。

During the two-week blockade operation, the 1st Division built a four-layer defense line to resist step by step. The coalition army made no more than 4 meters of progress every day.

By the time it switched defenses with friendly forces and withdrew from the battle, the 1st Division had suffered more than 3600 casualties and more than 7400 enemy soldiers killed, wounded and captured, creating an astonishing exchange ratio.

This battle is a flexible defensive battle. There are not many cases of holding on to the top of the mountain. The enemy and our front lines change frequently. In fact, it is not very consistent with the setting of the original version of "1951". If this is really shot, the original plot must be overhauled.

Considering that time is tight, Chen Yiming still prefers to choose the Battle of Tianma Mountain as the movie prototype.

He listed a series of demands based on the battle data and sent them to the second uncle. If he wanted to see the internal data and interview the surviving veterans, he had to ask Deputy Director Sun for help.

In addition, he has further expanded the scope of interviews with veterans. He also hopes to visit some of those who have witnessed the battles of Renzishan, Bukhan River, and Kasumikawa.

After all, they were all defensive operations in the same period. The combat environment, equipment, and tactics were all the same. Asking for more details would facilitate mutual verification.

At the end of the list, he simply let himself go. Being the general secretary is Doraemon. As long as it has something to do with making movies, no matter what, it will be written on it.

For example, the military has the most detailed geological information in China, so why can’t they help us with the scenery of the filming locations?
Another example is that the military has so many training grounds with all kinds of terrain and landforms. Can they be used temporarily for filming movies?
The movie involves a lot of shots of military equipment. If possible, it would be best to have live ammunition shooting. Director Sun, can you rest assured that it will not be placed in a training ground?

There are so many trenches, fortifications, bunkers, and tunnels. No construction team can do this as well as an engineering company. Wouldn't it be nice to make extra money while practicing?
After the engineer brothers have dug the hole, they can also appear on camera and play for tickets as an extra, earning an extra bit of money. After all, they are here, right?

……

In the penultimate week of 2009, the Platinum Jue trio were extremely busy.

On Monday, Da Zhuang made full use of the relationship between his parents and finally helped pave the way for Xiao Mei before going abroad.

Xiaomei has successfully established contact with the three major film and television academies, and the brand of Moying Factory is still sufficient.

On Tuesday, Da Zhuang and Xiao Mei ran to the airport together, but one was flying abroad and the other was flying to the imperial capital.

Chen Yiming watched movies and TV shows endlessly, and first decided on the No. 1 choice of team leader and communications staff officer.

On Wednesday, Xiaomei went through the files at two film and television schools in the imperial capital, first filtering out those who were too tall, too strong, and too anxious.

Uncle Sun has heard back that all the demands are feasible in principle, and the details will be discussed in detail when he comes to Magic City over the weekend.

On Thursday, Da Zhuang sent back a message that the results of the contact with Alai were gratifying. The camera split modification was not a big problem, and Alai was very interested in Chen Yiming's one-shot concept.

The other party said that not only could they send engineers to follow the team, but they were also willing to rent the newly released F35 camera for free, and they only asked for a sponsorship.

Chen Yiming had no reason not to agree to such a good thing.

Xiaomei's casting team completed the auditions at two academies in the imperial capital and returned by plane that night.

On Friday, Shen Pengfei put aside the busy Da Zhuang and directly sent an email to Chen Yiming, listing the information and quotations of the three Steadicam photographers recommended by Warner Brothers.

Chen Yiming looked at each one one by one and found that they were all industry giants who had participated in many Hollywood blockbusters and were nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography. He didn't know which one to choose.

He simply replied to Sister Shen's email and asked her to arrange for three photographers to fly to Magic City next week. The travel expenses and subsidies would be paid by Platinum Jue. Compared with other people's appearance fees, they were only a small amount.

Chen Yiming sent the actor candidates for the main roles to the second uncle, and the Magic Film Studio came forward to invite them. They will audition at Bo Jue next week before New Year's Day.

On Saturday, Chen Yiming and Xiao Ma Dong, who had just returned to China, joined Da Ma Dong and went to Mu Ai Teahouse to meet Deputy Director Sun.

Today involves the project company's share issues, and of course the boss of Bo Jue must attend.

Once the investment agreement is reached, it means that the "1951" project has been officially launched!
(End of this chapter)