This director needs to apologize

Chapter 78: Pleasing and deceiving
Since Chen Yiming didn't want to mention it further, Yu Lan didn't care about himself and simply changed the topic.

The Sixth Princess is very stylish in this regard. Her host basically doesn't have the "bad habit" of picking on the guests' sore spots. If they want to chat, they will hand over the words so that you can have a good chat. If you don't want to chat, they will just skip it and highlight one point. respect.

Yu Lan asked with concern, "Do you have any information you can reveal about the new project, Director Chen? You look very tired. I didn't expect the second movie to be launched so soon. Director Chen must be at his peak creative period now."

When Chen Yiming heard this, he burst into tears.

Who wants to work so hard? Isn’t it because the second uncle put me on the shelf and I can’t get off?
In fact, he did not want to reveal "1951" so early. After all, it is not a big star-counting production like "Guandu". If it is preheated too early and the follow-up popularity cannot be sustained, it will be a waste of publicity resources.

If it were the ordinary media, he would just push it, but the status of the six princesses is different, and the main theme of the movie should not be hidden. It would be embarrassing to meet again later.

So Chen Yiming chose to tell the truth, "The new project is about the Peninsula War. It is a gift film. Isn't it the 60th anniversary celebration soon?"

This answer was beyond Lan's expectation, and his already big mouth suddenly opened like a crocodile.

The last one just became a hit overseas, and the next one is a tribute film with the main theme. This is not a 360-degree turn, but a 720-degree Armstrong Thomas spin. Are you not afraid of flashing your waist?
And it’s a Peninsula War movie!
The Peninsula War has not been filmed in China for many years, so why was it suddenly unsealed?
Chen Yiming's answer was not long, but the amount of information was astonishing. Yu Lan's brain was spinning so fast that it almost shut down.

After a while, Yu Lan closed the "Maw of the Abyss" and asked again, "Director Chen, how did you come up with the idea of ​​filming the Peninsula War?"

According to the original intention of the host, Chen Yiming should be grabbed by the collar and asked: Tell me!Why did you want to film the Peninsula War? What was your motive?
As usual, Chen Yiming changed the rhetoric he used to deceive Cheng Yu and used it again to deceive Yu Lan.

"You just said that I have entered the peak period of creation, which is actually not accurate.

My creative logic is quite different. Most of the time, I don’t just have a story or idea in my head, and then I can’t wait to shoot it out of creative impulse.

Usually I meet an actor or a person whose qualities resonate with a vague idea I already have, and then inspire me to expand that idea into a story, and then enrich the details into a film.

Take "Holiday in the Magic City" as an example. At that time, my assistant director returned to China for the holidays, and I happened to meet Lily, who was traveling to China with him. Then after Gu Yuehe recovered from his injury, we all had a dinner, and I saw that he looked like an uncle with an unshaven beard. Ancient.

The two images collided with each other in my imagination, and this is how the story of "Holiday in the Magic City" came about, a one-day trip between an exotic woman and a Chinese man.

As for the identity of the princess, it is actually a fictional enlargement for dramatic reasons and does not affect the main line of the story.

The new project follows a similar process. It was originally a proposition composition assigned to Bo Jue by Ma Dong. As long as it is the key of the main theme, we are not required to make a war film.

When I first received the assignment, I was a little at a loss. The main theme was a theme I had never imagined, and I was not sure at all.

The idea at the time was very simple, that is, the entry point must be small, shooting small scenes, small characters, and small events, otherwise I would not be able to control it. "

Yu Lan answered in time, "So which muse did Director Chen meet this time to fix his idea on the Peninsula War?"

Chen Yiming laughed, "It's a pity that I'm not a muse. I'm a half-college student and haven't graduated yet."

Host Yu Da suddenly lost his temper again.

What the hell, a movie with a main theme, with a school student playing the leading role?
Sun Wangquan wouldn't even dare to do this. Isn't this even more outrageous than the pairing between Guyuehe and Lily?
Chen Yiming noticed Yu Lan's astonishment, so he continued talking on his own without waiting for compliments.

“When I was a child, I especially loved watching war movies, because it’s instinct for boys to dance with guns and cannons, so when the main theme was mentioned, the first thing I thought of was to film war scenes.

But I can't handle big scenes, and I can't portray the great men of our party and our army in history, so the original idea was to shoot a small-scale battle at the squad level to portray the ordinary soldiers of our army. .

Generally, when setting up a movie, the script and the protagonist are decided first, and then the scenes are divided and the supporting actors are found. However, the reverse happened here. The supporting actors were determined after the scenes were drawn, but the protagonist was completely unclear, and there were no lines in the script. .

I couldn't find inspiration for a long time, so I had no choice but to make a wide selection. I interviewed all three major acting schools, and finally selected 6 students whose temperaments I felt were closer to ordinary soldiers of that era. "

When Chen Yiming said this, Yu Lan finally caught up with his train of thought and chatted with a smile, "I guess Director Chen's muse is among the 6 of them. I'm so lucky to have such a starting point that is far beyond those of my peers." .”

Chen Yiming smiled sheepishly, "The protagonist is not among them. He is a sophomore in high school who came with his cousin to watch the audition. His name is Liu Dongjun."

When host Yu heard this, he was stunned for the third time.

At this moment, she didn't want to talk about it, she just wanted to step on it.

Why is this person named Chen so annoying, using her as a compliment to talk about cross talk?The baggage shook one after another.

She grinned into a rather forced smile, maintained her host's demeanor, and continued to ask.

"Director Chen, can you introduce this lucky guy named Liu Dongjun? If you can recognize him with your discerning eye, his personal temperament must be very outstanding."

Chen Yiming continued his annoying character, "I should be lucky to be able to find him. He is just an ordinary big boy. In terms of temperament, he is a bit dull. I don't know if that counts?"

Yu Lan didn't know how to answer this, so she simply asked back, "So what kind of inspiration did Director Chen get from Liu Dongjun?"

Chen Yiming had already prepared for this problem, so he came right away. "In my eyes, Liu Dongjun is the epitome of countless young Chinese people whose destinies were changed in that vigorous red era.

They are not really dull and numb and do not seek progress, but their vision is limited by their region and their thoughts are imprisoned by tradition. When they actively or passively devote themselves to the entire great era, they will also shine with their own light.

The people's army is a big melting pot, where the dross is removed and the brittle iron is forged into fine steel.

If you want to reflect the transformation of ordinary Chinese people in that era, no environment is more suitable than the military.

So from the moment I saw Liu Dongjun, the existence value of this movie changed.

It’s not like I, a director, made a war movie just to fulfill my childhood dream, and I was satisfied with the composition and had fun at the same time.

But if you want to reflect Liu Dongjun's growth, you need to use the relatively extreme background of the army and the battlefield. The war theme is a carrier that is more suitable for the theme, nothing more. "

Yu Lan half understood, seemed to understand but not completely understood, her heart was a little excited and a little confused. So, she didn't have time to think about it carefully, and continued to ask out of reporter's instinct.

"There has been no shortage of themes in movies over the past few decades that reflect ordinary soldiers, right? Although they are all heroes, there are also many with lower ranks. And Director Chen still hasn't explained why it has to be the Peninsula War? "

why?
Of course, it’s to go to the three major prizes in Europe. Why don’t white people in Europe care about fighting civil wars and making books? How can there be any way to relieve the hatred by cracking nuts?

There is no old European filmmaker who is not annoyed by Hollywood. Black Nut is politically correct in the three major awards!
It's a pity that I can't tell the young lady such a superficial truth.

Chen Yiming could only try his best to explain, "The concept of this movie is obviously different from the traditional theme. Teacher Yu, I want to ask you a question. Have you watched "Liberation"? What do you think of Li Youfu in it?" What do you think of this character?”

"Liberation" in this time and space is almost a replica of Chen Yiming's previous "Armageddon" series. As an important variable in the war process, the liberation fighters are naturally a relatively focused profile in the movie.

It was Ding Xiaoer in "The Final Battle" and Li Youfu in "Liberation".

Yu Lan recalled for a moment and replied, "A low-level soldier who was recruited by the Guo army took the initiative to defect to the people's side and became a fighting hero.

Director Chen, is there anything special to say about this character? "

Chen Yiming reminded, "Think carefully about Li Youfu's state when he was with Guojun, and what state he was in when he was with us."

Yu Lan thought for a while and replied hesitantly, "I seemed a little dull over there, but when I got here I felt very energetic..."

She suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Director Chen, you just said that Liu Dongjun's temperament is a bit dull. Does that mean that the protagonist is a liberation fighter?"

Yu Lan quickly reviewed the war movies with the main theme that he had seen. Indeed, there were no liberation fighters as protagonists. They mostly appeared as supporting characters. If Chen Yiming focused on portraying liberation fighters, it would indeed be a big breakthrough.

Unfortunately, she guessed wrong again. Chen Yiming shook his head and said, "The protagonist only joined the army after the founding of the People's Republic of China. How could he be a liberation fighter?

Liu Dongjun's stupidity is just his personal trait. At first impression, he feels quite cute. I think Teacher Yu will also feel good about him when he sees him.

The dullness I want to present in the movie is a kind of numbness that is imprisoned without knowing it, just like Li Youfu was in Guojun, unable to find pursuit, unable to see the future, and just living day after day.

Li Youfu in "Liberation" broke away from his shackles and found himself by joining the People's Army, and his mental state was completely different from before.

It is a pity that "Liberation" is a grand epic, and there is too little and too little ink left for Li Youfu, an ordinary soldier. Regarding the reasons for his uprising, the movie only mentions the land reform in his hometown.

In fact, this is an omission. I don’t think that a young man who works as a hawker at the station can have a deep bond with the land. The screenwriter here obviously made a stereotyped treatment and did not delve into the character’s motivations.

During the period before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, China had a population of 4 million and tens of millions of young people in their teens. Only a small part of them could enter the army.

So what kind of mental state should the young people in the countryside, especially those in the newly liberated areas, have?

In previous movies with the main theme, even if they portrayed ordinary soldiers, they were warriors who had achieved self-awakening through military education.

What I want to focus on are those young people who passively joined the people's army, and show their process from ignorance to self-awareness.

So I want the protagonist, a young man from the mountains in the southwest, to join the army, and then move to a foreign peninsula thousands of miles away as a new recruit.

There, the world in his eyes would jump from the surrounding mountains and forests to the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in China.

There, he could understand the meaning of China and find the psychological refuge of being a Chinese.

There, he began to understand the meaning of the country to individuals, and then continued to extend the concept of compatriots.

You said, if there had not been the Peninsula War, a battle to establish a foundation, a battle for the whole country, and a battle of all efforts, how long would it have taken for a young man isolated in the ravines of the southwest to break free from the shackles around him and grow into a free and self-reliant man? people? "

(End of this chapter)