The literary era since 1979

The next day, early in the morning.

Fang Yan and Gong Xing sat face to face at the dining table, which was filled with eggs, bacon, toast, milk, etc.

Just as the two were talking and laughing, they were interrupted by the sudden ring of the doorbell.

As soon as Gong Xing opened the door, Mike walked in excitedly, holding the script of "Blood and Sand".

"Hey, isn't Ruoxue here?"

"She drove to school a long time ago."

Dialect put bacon and eggs on one slice of toast, then put another slice of toast on it and spread ketchup on it.

Gong Xing closed the door and said with a smile, "Would you like to have something to eat with us?"

Seeing Mike's tactful refusal, Fang Yan motioned for him to sit down and said, "Then have a glass of milk."

After breakfast, Gong Xing packed up and went straight into the study while looking at the two people's backs.

As soon as Mike sat down, he couldn't wait to say, "Teacher Fang is here, this is the script I wrote."

Fangyan took it, but did not open it immediately. Instead, he handed over a thin stack of manuscript paper.

Mike took a closer look and the title "Standards for Writing Movie Scripts" immediately caught his eye:

"Teacher Fang, what is this?"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "This is a guide to writing movie scripts that I wrote based on the writing norms and creation standards of Chinese literary scripts and my many years of screenwriting experience. I hope it will be helpful to you."

"Could this be the peerless secret manual mentioned in martial arts novels?"

Mike's eyes lit up instantly.

"It's not that exaggerated."

Dialect waved his hand. Movie scripts, like prose, novels, poems, and plays, are also a genre of literature, and have corresponding writing norms and creation standards, such as the use of punctuation marks, the rules and format of writing, and the structure and composition of the narrative...

For example, according to the three-act theory, a script is divided into a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The middle section is the longest part of the entire script, and contains one intermediate point after another, also called "plot points".

Just like "Titanic", the first plot point is that Rose jumped into the sea and was rescued by Jack, and the two met. The second plot point was that the Titanic hit the iceberg, and the third plot point was the moment of the ship sinking, and Rose and Jack prepared to face death together.

Each plot point corresponds to a major event that affects the direction of the story, which is often the most ups and downs part of the entire movie.

“Many movie plot twists are basically arranged at these midpoints.”

Mike flipped through the "Martial Arts Secret Book" and said, "Teacher Fang, I don't quite understand this."

"Well, it's like the ending of Saving Private Ryan, when the captain was seriously injured and couldn't move forward. He laid his body across the bridge and aimed his M1911 pistol at the Tiger tank. At this time, the readers and the characters knew that they were going to die, and they also knew that the pistol could not destroy the tank at all, but he knew his responsibility and would rather die than shoot the tank with the bullets in the pistol to prevent the enemy from crossing the bridge."

"Just when the characters and readers were waiting for the death ending, the fighter plane flew over at the right time and blew up the tank. The reinforcements arrived in time and the captain was rescued. Look, the reversal has come! This kind of tragic moment is also called 'pseudo-tragedy'..."

Fangyan used "Saving Private Ryan" as an example and explained it in great detail.

Mike was suddenly shocked, as if he had suddenly realized something: "That makes sense. It really makes so much sense!"

Then, he stared at the book "Standards for Writing Film Scripts" as if he had found a treasure, licked his lips uncontrollably, and his greedy eyes moved to the next book, "Guide to Using "The Hero with a Thousand Faces"". He was shocked as if struck by lightning.

"The Hero with a Thousand Faces" is hundreds of pages long, but I never expected that Mr. Fang could condense the book into just 7 pages?!

What is even more surprising is that, although the article is short, every word is precious and the truth is simple.

Mike used to feel sleepy and puzzled every time he watched "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". But after reading the "User Guide of "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", the knowledge points that had confused him before were connected together as if by magic, and it was like a sudden enlightenment for him.

He was stunned for a while, then looked up in astonishment, "Teacher Fang, how did you do it?"

"Didn't I say that many movie plots are actually variations of myths?"

Fang Yan said: "As the saying goes, no matter how things change, they still remain essentially the same. I have only summarized the most fundamental plot framework and story template."

Mike was full of admiration, gave her a thumbs up and praised her highly.

Fangyan reminded him, "However, any template or formula has a scope of application. Don't copy and paste it mechanically. Otherwise, the whole plot will be very rigid, the structure will be very deformed, and the connection between the upper and lower plots will not be natural..."

Mike scratched his head. "Teacher Fang, the story I wrote, Blood and Sand, is about the war during World War II. How can I apply a formulaic template of an ancient myth to a modern background?"

Fang Yan said: "The most important thing about mythology is the core value. Your Western mythology advocates personal heroism."

With Fangyan's guidance and instruction, Mike slowly modified the draft of "Blood and Sand" to create a framework for a heroic story.

For example, characters like the wise man or wizard who guides the hero can be replaced by superiors, comrades-in-arms, and officers who have a harsh tongue but a soft heart.

Soldiers in the era of hot weapons naturally cannot go to the nest to fight monsters in close combat like in the mythical era of cold weapons, but there must be a scene similar to the nest. The air force is the sky, the navy is the ocean, and the army is street fighting, tank fighting, and tug-of-war...

“In short, the hero’s journey is just a skeleton that needs to be filled out with the flesh and blood of the story.”

Fangyan said seriously, "As long as modern elements are used to replace the characters and scenes in mythological stories, mythological stories can be turned into dramas, plays, or even romances, action films, and science fiction films. Do you understand?"

Mike was extremely excited. "Teacher Fang, listening to your words is really worth ten years of study! No, a hundred years of study!"

"No, not really."

Fangyan raised his hand. "By the way, did Spielberg give any response to the request I asked you to convey to him?"

"I almost forgot about this!" Mike slapped his forehead and apologized repeatedly, "I replied, Spielberg said there is no problem with the Oscar invitation letter." Then he held up five fingers, "Hey, Amblin sent five blank invitation letters."

Fangyan said with satisfaction: "Spielberg really gave me face."

Mike pursed his lips and said, "It's just that the location is a bit off, in the front row of the second floor balcony of the concert hall."

"As long as I can attend the award ceremony, it's enough. Whether the seat is good or not is secondary."

Fangyan asked: "Where are these blank invitations now?"

"It's in my room. I'll go get it now!" Mike stood up suddenly.

"Thank you for the trip then."

Fangyan patted his shoulder, thinking that when the crew of "Under the Bridge" came to the United States, he and Gong Xing would send it over. …………

Time unknowingly came to the day of the award ceremony, and celebrity guests walked across the red carpet and entered the Los Angeles Music Center one after another.

Gong Xing, wearing a bright white cheongsam, came to the balcony with Zhang Yu, Wu Yigong, Chen Daoming and others.

Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Huh, the flash just now almost blinded me."

Chen Daoming felt the same way and looked around, "This is Oscar."

Bai Chen and Wu Yigong looked at each other, and then looked at Gong Xian at the same time, "Xiao Xian, it's really hard for you to accompany us."

"Don't say that, Mr. Wu. This arrangement was discussed between Yanzi and me."

Gong Xing smiled and said, "Compared to the crew of Saving Private Ryan, I feel more comfortable on the set of Under the Bridge."

Zhang Yu took her arm and joked, "Of course, I am with you, no worse than your man!"

Gong Xian rolled her eyes at her bestie in a doting manner, and sat down with them, her eyes involuntarily falling on the pool seating area.

Bai Ruoxue and Li Zhi, dressed in black and white dresses, stood on either side of Fangyan in the aisle, skillfully translating between him and Steven Spielberg, chatting and laughing, having a very pleasant conversation.

"Fang, Kubrick asked me to convey his gratitude. He is very satisfied with the script you wrote for Artificial Intelligence. It is the story he wanted!"

"He really should thank me. If it was a few months later, he wouldn't have paid me this much for the screenwriting. He would have had to pay more!"

Fangyan was half joking, but he really won the Oscar for Best Screenwriter. His future screenwriter fee will increase to at least 300 to 400 million US dollars.

Even though Kubrick only gave me over 100 million dollars, do I still need to thank them? My money!
“Haha, indeed!”

Steven Spielberg amused, "Congratulations on winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay."

Fangyan winked playfully, "It's congratulations to us, Steven. The Golden Globe Award is not our end, right?"

Steven Spielberg couldn't stop smiling. Although he had achieved great success in the field of commercial films before, he had always failed in his attempts to win an Oscar. Now, "Saving Private Ryan" has received 11 Oscar nominations of varying sizes, which must be a breakthrough!
"I wish you the best picture and best director."

The dialect is spoken with a smile and a sincere tone.

Steven Spielberg said happily: "Same to you, I wish you win the Best Adapted Screenplay Award."

"I'll take your good words, but I'm afraid it's not that easy."

"Yes, after all, you are dealing with Amadeus."

"you do not say!"

Fangyan shrugged his shoulders. This time, like "Saving Private Ryan", the movie with the highest chance of winning an Oscar is "Amadeus".

Adapted from one of the trilogy "Faith" by the famous British playwright Peter Shaffer, "Mozart" is not only a big hit at the National Theatre in the UK, but also a big hit on Broadway in the United States. It can be regarded as the biggest rival of himself and Steven Spielberg this time.

As the two were talking, Mike brought Jason Epstein to them.

“Maybe I don’t know if you can win the Best Adapted Screenplay Award.”

Jason Epstein has good news, "But I can tell you that Saving Private Ryan won the Mobil Pegasus Literary Award."

Fangyan looked at Mike on the left and Bai Ruoxue on the right, but no one knew the origin of this award. Could it be a fake award?

Jason Epstein explained that this was a literary award established by the oil giant Mobil in 1977, dedicated to promoting the translation of outstanding literary works from all over the world. "Saving Private Ryan" was naturally among the selected works.

Fangyan raised his eyebrows. It turned out that the financial backer behind this was the Rockefeller family.

Jason Epstein said: "In addition to a considerable after-tax bonus, there is also a Pegasus medal, and the work will be published by Louisiana State University Press. You can entrust us at Random House to be the agent, and we guarantee that we can negotiate a contract that satisfies you."

Fangyan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Jason Epstein changed the subject and asked if there were any new works released recently.

The dialect tells the truth that neither "Criminal Investigations", a Chinese police and gangster detective novel, nor "Love Letter", an aesthetic pure love novel, is enough to arouse the interest of European and American readers. Naturally, Jason Epstein couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.

"Besides these, is there nothing else?"

"There is another one, but I don't know if you are interested in it."

He introduced "Farewell My Concubine" in a concise and concise dialect.

"This one sounds good. Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera was very popular in the United States back then, and it also set off a big 'Chinese trend'." Jason Epstein's eyes flashed, "Anything else, Fang? I need more of your works, the more the better."

Fangyan was very surprised. Including "Artificial Intelligence" and "The Ring", Random House has signed three novels in a row. Is it not enough?

Jason Epstein did not hide the fact that if Fang Yan could win the Best Adapted Screenplay Award this time and join the ranks of Oscar-winning screenwriters, with the spotlight of the Oscars and the publicity of Hollywood, the sales of not only "Saving Private Ryan" but also Fang Yan's other novels would soar.

What's more, "Guns, Viruses, and Steel" will be 100% shortlisted for this year's Pulitzer Prize in History.

Fangyan's works are now truly hot commodities, thanks to the foresight of Random House, which signed an exclusive cooperation agreement in advance.

Otherwise, he would have been poached by publishing companies such as Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Holtzbrink!

"I really can't think of anything to publish right now."

Fangyan frowned.

Suddenly, Mike at the side interrupted and said, "How can there be none? Aren't the 'Standards for Creating Movie Scripts' and 'Guidelines for Using 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' written a few days ago guiding script writing?"

Jason Epstein was surprised and delighted: "A book that guides the writing of the script? Fang, why didn't you tell me earlier!"

Fang Yan was stunned for a moment, "This kind of thing is also okay?"

"of course can!"

Jason Epstein couldn't help but get excited: "You are the best screenwriter of the Golden Globe Awards, and you may even be an Oscar-level screenwriter. The screenwriting theory book you wrote will not only become a reference for many screenwriters in Hollywood, but will also be listed in the recommended books of major film schools across the United States."

The dialect is so exciting that it is true that after going through so many twists and turns, you may think there is no way out, but when you turn around, you will find another village with willows and flowers.

“I am happy to be the first reader after the translation, and I am really looking forward to your screenwriting theory work.”

Jason Epstein smiled meaningfully, "Of course, I am more looking forward to you winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and Saving Private Ryan winning the Best Picture Award." (End of this chapter)