China Entertainment Times

Chapter 1 Back to 2004

"Crack!"

Tang An in front of the monitor yelled to stop heavily, and then returned the position to Xu Jinglai.

In April 2004, Hengdian, Huaguo, filmed the movie "A Letter from a Strange Woman" directed and acted by Xu Jinglai.

Tang An is the assistant director of the crew, and nearly a quarter of the shots in the whole film were shot by him. Occasionally, the leading actor Jiang Wen also came back to play a guest role as a director. Leave it to Xu Jinglei to do it herself.

"Okay, let's go!"

""Letter from a Strange Woman" is finished!"

Xu Jinglai, who was in front of the monitor, carefully checked the set of shots just now, and announced to the crew with a loudspeaker that the film was officially finished.

Xu Jinglei turned her head, looked at Tang An, and said with a smile, "Thanks for your hard work!"

Tang An waved his hand: "What's the hard work, but it's not easy for you to direct and act at the same time!"

"Huayi is in charge of the general direction of the crew, and you are in charge of those trivial matters. As a director, I just need to stare at the monitor and say "click!" Xu Jinglei smiled self-deprecatingly.

"At least half of the shots are taken by you, which is not easy. Self-directing and acting is not just for fun!"

Tang An.

From the bottom-level young director who has no worries and no worries in 2024,
Filmed a TV series.

Anti-Japanese War, idols, costumes, and myths have all been filmed, but none of them have been broadcast on stars.

I also fooled investors into making movies, and most of them were sold to local TV stations. Occasionally, some felt good about themselves, reluctantly spent some money to manage the head of the distribution department of a large company, and took a three-day trip to the theater by luck.

No surprise, what kind of film can be made with 10 million yuan more than 300 years later, what kind of actors can be hired, and the box office is not enough for the cost of copying.

Then one late night, I just finished editing the new film, and I was going to go to several major companies to try my luck.

I had a dream that night, a movie with an investment of 300 million won a box office of [-] million, and the reporter's lights at the celebration press conference were too dazzling, so I subconsciously closed my eyes.

When I opened it again, I went back to 2004.

He is 23 years old this year, 24 years old, grasping the tail of the post-80s generation.

I came to Hengdian again. In this era when Chinese-language films were just beginning to develop, I happened to encounter Xu Jinglai's self-directed and self-acted film that was short of an assistant director.

With more than 10 years of solid basic skills, he won the job without a doubt, and occasionally sat in front of the monitor as the real director.

Looking at the cheering crew in front of him, in this desert-like era, Tang An started his career as a director again.

"What do you think?"

A rough male voice interrupted Tang An's thoughts, he turned his head, and Jiang Wen was looking at him with interest.

"Brother Wen, I didn't think about anything, isn't it almost finished!" Tang An said with a smile.

Tang An used to call Brother Jiang all the time before, but once Jiang Wu came to visit the class, he had to change it to Brother Wen and Brother Wu.

Now Jiang Wen is 40 years old, but in the play he is completely different from his usual dress.

He played a suave writer in a white shirt, black waistcoat, and glasses that couldn't be connected with himself.

"Yeah, it's finished, what's your plan after that?" Jiang Wen asked with interest.

23 years old, without any reputation, even Jiang Wen couldn't find such a person after asking all over the circle.

But just such a person knows everything about the various departments of the crew.

Photography, art, script, lighting, overall planning.
Although it was still far from first-class, but basically every department was very proficient in business, not like a novice at all.

More importantly, when Tang An was sitting in front of the monitor, he was far more like a director than the real director Xu Jinglai.

Of course, this skill is still not in Jiang Wen's eyes.

I remembered that when Tang An applied for the job, a 23-year-old assistant director, Xu Jinglei, was almost kicked out.

However, Tang An used his professional skills to conquer Xu Jinglei, a half-hearted director, and successfully served as the assistant director of "A Letter from a Strange Woman", and assisted in shooting nearly a quarter of the shots.

Jiang Wen, a 23-year-old director, is becoming more and more interested.

But he didn't have much doubt about Tang An, there was never a shortage of geniuses in this world.

Isn't he Jiang Wen? In 86, he made the first film "The Last Empress" as the leading actor, and "Furong Town" in the same year even won the Best Actor of Hundred Flowers.

In 88, "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, and he was also nominated for the Golden Rooster Best Actor.

In 95, his self-written and directed debut "Sunny Day" was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, won the Golden Horse Award for Best Director and Best Actor, and was nominated for Best Actress. Top ten best movies in the world".

Compared with these outstanding resumes, a person like Tang An is similar to many assistant directors of the crew, all-rounder, able to do everything, but he is younger.

At this time, director Xu Jinglai put down the loudspeaker and came over, "Tang An, Lao Jiang, what are you talking about?"

"I asked this kid what his plan is, how is it going, do you want to go with me to the crew of "Heaven and Earth Heroes" to work on the set, that is a blockbuster costume movie, and learn more. After 05, I will also prepare a new movie , leave you a position as an assistant director."

Jiang Wen suggested that he was still very optimistic about the young Tang An, given more time, he might be able to improve to a certain extent.

Being Jiang Wen's assistant director, this qualification is not low, but Tang An has already made plans in the past two months, so he politely declined, "Thank you, Brother Wen."

But before she finished speaking, Xu Jinglei joked first.

"Old Jiang, forget it, don't be targeted again, be careful this time, don't step on the line!"

"Don't worry about those villains. Old Wang's book is absolutely fine this time. Can I be banned for another 5 years?" Jiang Wen waved his hand and said imposingly.

Indeed, banning a well-known director both at home and abroad for ten years without going too far will cause confusion.

What's more, when Jiang Wen was filming "Red Sorghum", he dared to quarrel with director Zhang Yimou from beginning to end. It is basically impossible to expect him to give up his film.

After wrapping up, it was dinner time as usual. A small crew of less than [-] people rented a hotel lobby in Hengdian, and money was a plus.

...

After the meal, everyone in the crew left one after another, and Tang An chatted with Xu Jinglei and Jiang Wen.

Xu Jinglai looked at Tang An who was sitting next to her, "Any plans for the future?".

"Wrote a notebook!"

"Changed?" Jiang Wen asked vaguely, chewing peanuts.

"No, be the director!" Tang An shook his head.

"Oh?"

Jiang Wen became interested, picked up his cup and took a sip, "The book is finished? Show me."

"I just finished writing a few days ago. Brother Wen and Lao Xu, you guys helped check it out. I also have something to ask for your help."

As Tang An spoke, he took out a few pieces of manuscript paper from the inside pocket of his coat and handed them over.

The two took the manuscript paper, and Jiang Wen read the script directly.

Xu Jinglei looked at the title of the film with the two characters at the top, and asked curiously, "Is the word spelled correctly?"

ps: A new book for newcomers, I hope you will like it.

(End of this chapter)