Started as an independent producer in 1988

Chapter 139 Let’s see who dares to bare his teeth!

It started to rain lightly in Cannes, and the weather inside the hotel became humid.

Cheng Kaige's room smelled of alcohol, and there were several empty wine bottles in the place.

In the quiet corridor, footsteps were heard after a while, and a somewhat bloated woman came out of the room.

If there are any filmmakers here, they will recognize her as a very famous film critic in Europe.

The woman with a beaming face quietly left the hotel, drove back to her residence and began to think about how to write a movie review, and also to deny the movie reviews she had published before.

This is a difficult technical job, but thinking about the difficult technical work she enjoyed last night, she is still willing to use her brain to rewrite a video.

At this time in the small hotel, Cheng Kaige also woke up and stared at the ceiling in a daze for a long time before getting up and washing up.

Half an hour later, the decadent look was gone, his hair was meticulously combed, and his beard was shaved cleanly.

He just has a lot of gray hair on his temples, which makes him look a bit older.

When Cheng Kaige was about to go out to the film festival market, he saw Xu Feng at the coffee shop in front of the hotel.

Xu Feng was a little surprised to see Cheng Kaige still looking graceful. She had just seen a lot of negative comments in the newspaper about singing while walking.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Kaige was not depressed at all, which surprised Xu Feng.

But he was just a little surprised. He was already a stranger, so there was nothing worth paying attention to.

Out of politeness, Xu Feng raised the coffee cup in his hand towards Cheng Kaige, but he didn't expect Cheng Kaige to walk straight over.

"We are very destined. I didn't expect to meet you here." Cheng Kaige said with a smile: "Can I sit down?"

Xu Feng didn't know what was behind Cheng Kaige's sudden enthusiasm, but he nodded and said, "Of course."

After Cheng Kaige sat down with a smile, he first chatted with Xu Feng about the films of this year's Cannes, and then discussed philosophy and homosexuality. The last topic naturally turned to Farewell My Concubine.

"Later I re-read the novel Farewell My Concubine and found many wonderful things that I had not discovered before." Cheng Kaige said with a smile: "I rejected your invitation because I felt that I could not grasp the subject matter."

A trace of humor flashed in Xu Feng's eyes as if he had seen a ghost, but he still followed his words and asked, "What about now?"

"Now I feel mature." Cheng Kaige paused and suddenly raised his little finger, picked up the cup and took a sip. "I used to know a friend when I was studying in the United States. His name is Paul. I have met him."

Xu Feng's eyes were on Cheng Kaige's little finger. He no longer knew how to describe his mood at this time, and was even more surprised by the little story he was telling about himself and his friends.

The short story between him and his friends is nothing in itself, but Xu Feng doesn’t like Cheng Kaige’s style now. He invited you to film Farewell My Concubine before, but you didn’t want to!

It’s really disgusting to do this now!

Xu Feng endured the discomfort and put down the cup to interrupt him and said: "I have to leave first. Let's talk next time when we have a chance!"

After saying that, Xu Feng took out a few bills and put them on the table, got up and left quickly.

Cheng Kaige looked at the banknotes on the table, picked them up and looked at them several times, and suddenly sighed. He shouldn't have been so pretentious before.

Xu Feng, who had made an excuse to leave, felt terribly uncomfortable. He was so panicked that he couldn't help but call Chen Shiping to complain about what he had just experienced.

"Shi Ping! You know who I just met! Cheng Kaige! Do you know what he told me! He said he was"

It was evening in Beijing at this time, and in an office of Beijing Film Studio, the main creators of Farewell My Concubine were all having a meeting together. Gu Changwei came to the factory directly to participate in the meeting after getting off the plane.

It's just that the conference room was so quiet now that you could hear a pin drop, and everyone looked at Chen Shiping who was on the phone with strange expressions.

Chen Shiping was also helpless. He was just in a meeting when Xu Feng's call came, and he picked it up without thinking much.

But who would have thought that Xu Feng was so excited and complained so loudly that everyone sitting next to Chen Shiping could hear a few words, and then the atmosphere in the conference room would become like this.

Chen Shiping looked at their gossiping and surprised expressions, and quickly walked out while covering the receiver.

Now that I am a leader, I must pay attention to the reputation of the comrades in the factory.

After Chen Shiping left, the conference room exploded instantly!

"Did I hear you correctly just now? Is that what you said on the phone?"

"I don't know, I didn't hear anything!"

"Ahem, don't make any noise, just pretend you didn't hear anything and continue with the meeting!"

The oldest comrade in the conference room knocked on the table to stop everyone's discussion, but the effect was not obvious.

Zhao Fei, who was sitting next to Gu Changwei, asked in a low voice: "Brother Gu, do you know what's going on? Is it true or false?"

Gu Changwei immediately shook his head and said, "I don't know, don't ask me!"

"Tsk, why didn't you see it?" Zhao Fei smacked his lips, feeling quite magical.

On the other hand, after Chen Shiping left the conference room, he laughed so hard that he couldn't stand up straight. He was embarrassed to laugh in the conference room just now, but now he finally didn't have to hold it back.

It’s too coke, I really can’t help it!

He also didn't expect that Cheng Kaige would suddenly want to pry into his corner at this time. If it was really possible a few months ago, there is no hope now.

Even if Chen Shiping said now that he would not make Farewell My Concubine, Xu Feng would not agree. The movie has been prepared to this point, how could he change the director.

However, it was beyond Chen Shiping's expectation that Cheng Kaige could do this, and he didn't expect that he would be able to spare it.

The courageous Cheng Kaige may be more likely to succeed without the burden of being a poet.

Chen Shiping has always felt that Cheng Kaige is very talented, but sometimes he thinks too much. If he really calms down, he will definitely succeed.

Chen Shiping, who laughed for a while, also made Xu Feng laugh on the other end of the phone. After chatting with him for a while, he hung up the phone.

After Chen Shiping put away the phone and adjusted his expression, he returned to the conference room and prepared to continue the meeting.

As soon as I opened the door and walked in, the noisy conference room suddenly became quiet.

Chen Shi said with a straight face: "What are we talking about? We are sure to start filming next week, right?!"

Everyone shut up and stopped talking.

"I don't want to hear anything I shouldn't hear tomorrow!"

After Chen Shi finished teaching him a lesson with a straight face, he sat down and said, "Okay, let's talk about tomorrow's work arrangements. Zhao Fei and Gu Changwei will go to Qinghe to find a location tomorrow. The art team will prepare all the costumes in advance tomorrow, and the lighting team will lead We take the young actors to the theater troupe for auditions, and the production team handles all the logistical work."

After arranging all the work, Chen Shiping ended the meeting.

I hope these people won't spread today's incident as gossip, otherwise how will Director Xiao Cheng behave after he comes back.

The most important thing is that the source of this news is from him. If it spreads, others will think that he deliberately discredits Director Xiao Cheng.

Chen Shiping didn't hear any rumors in the next few days, so he forgot about the incident.

At this time, Cannes also ushered in the closing awards. Although Walking and Singing's reputation has increased in the past few days, it still did not win any awards.

However, producer Carl still helped to sell a lot of movie rights, and after recovering part of the funds, it was considered to be able to recover some losses for investors.

Cheng Kaige flew to the United States after the award ceremony. He had to find a way to find investment on his own. Now he could only rely on his wife. It's just that the relationship was about to break up before, and now we have to find a way to save it.

Gong Li also flew back to China immediately after the film festival.

Although the current filming has nothing to do with her, she has to go back in advance to prepare and study the character.

The prostitutes in the old society are almost impossible to find now. If Gong Li wants to understand that special group of people, she still needs to look up information.

There are also many scenes in the script that deal with the experiences of prostitutes in the old society in a special era. These need to be understood and learned.

The big actors on the crew were busy studying, and the young actors were all pulled into the troupe by Chen Shiping to start the official filming.

Zhao Fei and Gu Changwei were in the courtyard of the theater troupe, tinkering with the latest camera.

Xu Feng, who had returned from Cannes, was also strolling around the courtyard at this time, as if he had really returned to China in the 1920s and came to the Liyuan Opera Troupe.

Looking at the troupe's set, Xu Feng truly felt Chen Shiping's seriousness, and also felt the difference between mainland filmmakers and Hong Kong and Taiwan filmmakers.

All the service methods strive for excellence. Xu Feng suddenly thought of the chess king photographed by Xu Ke. Although it was also set in the same era, the sense of era and realism were very different.

Chen Shiping didn't have time to greet Xu Fen at this time. He was thinking about how to make the scene better for the meeting.

"Where's the art? Come here!"

When the people from the art team came over, Chen Shiping pointed to the hanging rope hanging in the practice room and said, "There are too many ropes. What did the seniors in Liyuan say? Are there really so many ropes?"

"About that, there are twenty or thirty apprentices in a normal troupe." The artist explained.

After looking at it for a while, Chen Shiping said: "Remove a few and arrange them more closely, otherwise the composition will be ruined."

"Okay!" The artist immediately ran to rearrange the arrangement.

Zhao Fei and Gu Changwei also observed it from the perspective of the camera and gave the art a thumbs up to express OK.

At this time, Chen Shiping was busy communicating with Teacher Lu, who played the role of the leader of the theater troupe, about the scenes to be played later. However, the old man had been acting in dramas all his life, so his acting skills were naturally not good enough.

He could immediately understand what Chen Shiping said. The class leader is Master Yan, and he respects and loves Peking Opera from the bottom of his heart.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have said something like "If you are a human being, you have to watch the show. If you don't watch the show, you are not a human being."

And there has always been a saying in Renyi, drama is heaven! Teacher Lu is perfect to play Master Yan.

Soon all the preparations were completed, and the young actors playing the young boys put on their coarse cloth jackets and stood in the yard.

Chen Shiping looked at the young actors and said with a smile: "Perform your performance later, or I will let Teacher Lu spank you!"

All the young actors couldn't help but laugh, patting their chests and promising that they would perform well. They also said that acting is the easiest.

Chen Shiping just smiled, but young actors at this age are indeed the most energetic, and they don't have as many ideological shackles in their hearts as adults. As long as their understanding is not bad, they can perform well.

"Okay, all departments are ready!" Chen Shiping walked behind the monitor and looked at the new monitor, feeling extremely satisfied.

Finally, there is no need to rush to develop and review the materials after shooting. The presence of a monitor can greatly improve shooting efficiency.

Reduce the rate of scrapped films, you can know on the spot whether the shooting is OK, and the efficiency can be improved several times.

Soon, the stage manager arranged the positions of the young actors, and all the performers who performed somersaults and tricks were in place.

The master is also holding a pointer and waiting for the director to call start.

Chen Shiping looked at the picture on the monitor, picked up the loudspeaker and shouted: "The first shot of the first scene of Farewell My Concubine has begun!"

After hearing Chen Shiping's words, the troupe immediately became lively, and all the young actors began to practice their basic skills.

The old and serious master in a black mandarin jacket walked up to the little leper who was hanging his legs and said: "Your night run."

Xiao Laizi immediately raised his hands, put up a posture and said, "Look back at the sky and run away in a hurry."

Xiao Laizi couldn't remember the next sentence. Looking at the serious master, he began to feel nervous and stumbled while reciting the words.

"Don't care, don't care."

The master immediately grabbed Xiao Laizi's hand and slapped him while asking: "I don't care about anything!"

"Ouch!" Xiao Laizi screamed in pain, but he didn't dare to stop. He was still muttering: "I don't care."

The master hit him hard again before reminding him: "Don't care about loyalty and filial piety!"

"Ka!" Chen Shiping immediately shouted to stop.

The studio suddenly became quiet, and everyone turned to look at Chen Shiping, wondering why he suddenly shouted "Ka".

The camera crew responsible for filming the behind-the-scenes video also watched the camera silently and walked next to Chen Shiping.

Chen Shiping reached out and shouted to Zhao Fei and Gu Changwei: "You two, come here."

When the two of them came over, Chen Shiping frowned and said, "Look at the picture. It's too bright. Xiao Lezi and the others were beaten and were wearing short coats. They haven't left the army yet. It needs to be darker. The senior brothers behind them are wearing costumes." It should be bright."

Zhao Fei and Gu Changwei thought it was true and quickly ran to readjust the camera.

"Also, put an extra rope next to the little leper for him to grab." Chen Shiping shouted to the props again.

The actor of "Little Leprechaun" couldn't help shouting: "Uncle Chen, I don't need to hold on to the rope, my basic skills are so good!"

"If I ask you to catch it, you can catch it, otherwise there will be no chicken drumsticks at noon!" Chen Shiping said with a smile: "You have to pretend that your basic skills are not good, otherwise why can't you remember the words of Ye Ben!"

Xiao Laizi said oh, rolled his eyes and said: "Then I understand!"

Chen Shiping smiled and shook his head, "What do you know? That rope is a metaphor, it is Xiao Laizi's nervous dependence and comfort at this time, and it is also a lifeline later."

Little Shitou and Little Douzi next to Xiao Laizi will not have this rope. One is practicing well, and the other is grabbing the rope that hangs his leg.

Different characters will be different when passing through a rope. The audience may not notice these details, but when there are enough such hints, the audience will be guided by the director.

Xu Feng came over at this time and said: "Why did you say stop just now? The first one shouldn't stop, it's unlucky."

Chen Shiping: "." Is there such a thing? !

"We don't believe that!" Chen Shiping immediately waved his hand and said, "I know what happened during the filming, and I won't let it go even if I don't shout. Just leave it alone."

After the filming officially started, Chen Shiping has become a pure director and will not let others interfere with his creation.

Of course, if he is the producer himself and the director disobeys, he will be replaced!

Anyway, there is only one principle: no one in the crew can quarrel with him!

(End of this chapter)