new kung fu king

Chapter 552 An Important and Timely Lesson
"Teacher Wang, how to be a good director!"

In the comprehensive teaching building of BJ Film Academy, the classroom with a capacity of 300 people is full of students, and there are many students standing at the end of the classroom. The corridors, windows and other places are also full of people. They all come to listen to the lectures.

This is the first time since the establishment of BJ Film Academy that a non-Soviet director was invited to give lectures to the students, and he was also the director of "Myth" Wang Xiaohu.

How about the movie "Mythology", I believe that no one knows better than the students who are engaged in film majors. Since the movie was played in the big screening room, the students in the whole school discussed "Mythology" during class breaks. When the teachers were lecturing "Mythology" will also be introduced interspersedly, and everyone is talking about "Mythology" during the meal.

"Myth" has become the focus of discussion among the students of BJ Film Academy. It seems that if you haven't seen "Myth", you are different, you can't catch up with the trend, and you are out of the group.

Now, Wang Xiaohu was standing on the podium and looking at the student who asked the question with a smile.

If he hadn't misunderstood the person, this student who was about his age should be Chen Kaige.

Chen Kaige was born in an artistic family, and experienced the Cultural Revolution and queue jumping in his youth. In 1970, Chen Kaige joined the army. In 1974, he was demobilized and changed jobs. In 1976, he worked in BJ Film Lab. In 1978, Chen Kaige was admitted to the Directing Department of BJ Film Academy.

The "Yellow Earth" directed by him, with its breakthrough film language, had a great influence on Chinese films and laid the foundation for the fifth generation of Chinese directors to go to the world."Farewell My Concubine" directed by film critics is considered the most artistically valuable film after China's Cultural Revolution, interpreting the changes in China's wind and rain and the fate of characters in half a century.He is also the only Chinese director who won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.Received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.

"I don't think directors are good or bad, qualified or unqualified." Wang Xiaohu tapped the podium lightly with his index finger, and said loudly: "The director is the soul engineer of a film, and it needs spirituality, understanding and tenacity."

When all the students heard this, they immediately picked up their pens and quickly wrote it down in their notebooks.

Wang Xiaohu waited for them to write down and continued: "Many people mistakenly believe that as long as they can attract a few popular actors and get investment, they can start making movies. I can tell you directly: the movies made by this director must be bad movie."

Many students couldn't help nodding when they heard this. After all, most of the students in this class were baptized after the Cultural Revolution, and they were not a few years younger than Wang Xiaohu in age. Moreover, people like Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou had good foundations before. , Most of them know a film shooting process.

Especially Zhang Yimou, after experiencing many difficulties in "Mythology", he thoroughly realized the hard work of being a director.

As Wang Xiaohu said, not everyone can be a director.

"Everyone present here can become a student of the film academy, then the artistic feeling will definitely be better. I will not talk about spirituality and understanding, but mainly talk about resilience."

"The so-called toughness mainly refers to perseverance and perseverance." Wang Xiaohu continued.

"The work of a director is a systematic project. Every film has multiple processes from the planning and shooting to the final production, and often encounters unexpected difficulties and problems. Some difficulties seemed almost insurmountable at the time. For example The script, such as the actor's schedule, such as the funding, are all tormenting the director's nerves all the time, so most people say that the director has taken guns, curses at every turn, and has a bad temper, because of this reason .”

Wang Xiaohu pointed to his own brain: "The director is a complex mental worker. You not only need to understand the script, but also the photography. At the same time, it is also a manual worker, because some scenes may have to be shot more than ten times or even dozens of times, so Said, if you want to become a director, you must have super strong nerves, super physical strength, super patience and tenacity."

"Thank you, Teacher Wang."

Chen Kaige stood up and bowed deeply to Wang Xiaohu, and took the lead in applauding. The applause in the whole classroom lasted for a full minute before it stopped.

As soon as Chen Kaige sat down, a boy beside him raised his hand and asked, "Mr. Wang, is it true that if you don't have artistic talent, you can't be a director?"

This boy is Tian Zhuangzhuang.

After the Cultural Revolution, when the college entrance examination resumed, Tian Zhuangzhuang originally planned to apply for the Department of Photography, but he was two years older than the required age. He did not persevere in seeking help from the college leaders like Zhang Yimou, but instead applied for the Department of Directing and became a classmate of Chen Kaige.

Different from ordinary students, Tian Zhuangzhuang already had the opportunity to direct films before he graduated. Although he did not take part in the filming of "Mythology" as soon as he entered school like Zhang Yimou, but this summer, when others like Chen Kaige went to various film studios During the internship, Tian Zhuangzhuang and a few people who stayed in the school had the opportunity to direct the short film "Our Corner", and the film caused a great sensation in the literary and art circles.

Apart from Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang is currently the most famous student at BJ Film Academy.

However, in Wang Xiaohu's impression, Tian Zhuangzhuang's luck seemed to be bad. Some films were banned, and his masterpieces were criticized in various ways. Don't face the ten-year ban on shooting.

Wang Xiaohu shook his head with a smile and said: "No, I never think so, because I was just a dragon and tiger martial artist seven years ago, and I was the most basic member of the film industry. I personally think that the above three qualities can be acquired. Cultivated, as long as you observe carefully, as long as you think often, as long as you put in more effort than others. I remember a movie master once said such a sentence, he said: "Movies can be learned."

"Huh, huh, huh~~" There was another round of warm applause in the classroom.

Afterwards, many students from the Department of Directing, Department of Acting, and Department of Photography raised their hands to ask questions. Most of the questioners focused on the movie "Myth", such as what should be paid attention to when shooting big scenes, such as how to face the camera. Get the best out of your character, more like.
In the minds of these proud people, it is a great thing that "Mythology" was filmed in this era, and they couldn't realize that those miraculous pictures were shot by Chinese people.

"Mr. Wang, what do you think is the most important thing in a movie besides the director?" A student standing at the back of the classroom asked loudly.

Wang Xiaohu took a closer look and shook his head with a wry smile. It turned out to be director Chen Kaige and Zhang Fengyi who collaborated with Leslie Cheung in the movie "Farewell My Concubine".Wang Xiaohu really did not expect that Zhang Fengyi was also a student of the 78th Beijing Film Academy. After being a little surprised, he said without hesitation: "Script!"

After Wang Xiaohu threw out the word script, the entire classroom was immediately discussed, and some people refuted it on the spot.

"I think the most important thing is the director and actors, not the script! We have a 5000-year-old culture in China. Can't we just pick up a fairy tale and write a good script?"

"The director's level is directly proportional to the actor's acting skills. Even if there is a good script, if it is shot by a low-level director or an actor with poor acting skills, it will be a bad movie."

Faced with these opposing opinions, Wang Xiaohu did not answer immediately, but shrugged helplessly, with a meaningful smile on his face.

As a reborn person, Wang Xiaohu has a deep understanding that the script is not only the biggest obstacle for Hong Kong movies, but also the biggest obstacle for Chinese movies. Looking at the entire development process of Chinese movies, it’s not that these directors can’t make good movies, in fact The films they shoot can reach the international level in terms of picture, special effects, sound quality, etc., but they can win awards in the international arena, but they cannot be accepted by the Chinese people.

why?
Just no good script!It is because the Chinese people think that the directors did not interpret Chinese culture well, and they all catered to the tastes of Western audiences, ruining the essence.

And this is very prominent in the later works of the fifth generation of directors in China. The quality of the film is increasingly dependent on the novel. The masterpieces of the great directors are all adapted from novels, and the original script of the film is in the scope of China. Inside is equal to blank.

Zhang Yimou was very anxious now. Seeing this, he hurried to the row where the teaching staff were sitting, and muttered a few words in a low voice. Before the teaching staff stood up to maintain order, Wang Xiaohu on the stage had already spoken.

"China has a vast land and rich resources, and its culture has a long history. But if you go abroad and go to the United States to inquire about it, do you know what the first reaction of Americans is when you mention oriental culture?"

Many people shook their heads and said they didn't know.

"They will talk about Japan!" Wang Xiaohu said here with a very heavy heart, and said solemnly: "Maybe you think this is impossible, but it is true! When we Chinese filmmakers are immersed in our dreams, the Japanese have already used Their films with unique Japanese culture opened the door of Hollywood, so that when mentioning the East, people all over the world think of Japan!"

"Don't think I'm alarmist. I'm not trying to dampen your self-confidence. If you have the opportunity, you should get in touch with the outside world. Maybe what I said is not very nice, but I hope everyone can clearly understand China's position in the world film industry. Despite the embarrassing position in the world, I also hope that everyone here will insist on promoting Chinese culture as our own responsibility, let the world re-understand Chinese movies, and take back what should belong to us."

"Self-improvement is the only way to strengthen the country. Only by insisting on one's beliefs and not being shaken by the outside world can the film be reflected in the comprehensive value of art and commerce!"

Wang Xiaohu's impassioned words made the heaven's favored ones present fall into silence. They all knew that what Wang Xiaohu said was true. In fact, when they entered the first class of film studies, the lecturers put these principles in front of them .

It's just that what those lecturers said was very subtle, tactful, and even particularly dogmatic, far less true and thought-provoking than what Wang Xiaohu said.

After the Cultural Revolution, BJ Cinema resumed enrollment. In terms of teaching, it basically inherits the Chinese tradition and inherits the former Soviet Union. Whether it is music teaching or performance teaching, it has its system and its characteristics. It is also the same today. Not out of date.

However, due to the stereotypes of dogmatism, these teachings are classicized, and when they are classicized, they lose their shining vitality.

Therefore, Chinese films seem to be lagging behind in the competition, because the different production creativity of human beings will inevitably lead to different consumption needs.

Art, specifically speaking of performing arts, has become the spiritual consumption needs of human beings and developing people, and it is a commodity after all, because it is already in circulation in the form of commodities, so it cannot be placed on the temple , can't make it a myth.

Both the leaders of BJ Film Academy and the students themselves thought that Wang Xiaohu's class was too timely and important.

(End of this chapter)