Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 797 No Negotiation
There are two classes on Monday afternoon and two classes on Tuesday morning.

With this week's tasks completed, Chen Fan will have six more days of free time until next Monday, including Tuesday afternoon and Monday morning.

The moment he regained his freedom, he ran to the Jiangying Film Studio.

Let's first look at the film Kuang Mingyi shot these past two days... Well, we can't see it yet, the film hasn't been developed, so it won't be that fast.

Let's set that aside for now and skip the few shots he took. Chen Fan will take over again.

This time, the filming location was not inside the Jiangxi Film Studio, but moved to the street.

It turns out that Jiang Tiantian's novel, "The Lotus Just Begins to Show Its Tip," is an urban workplace novel with a slightly reformist theme. It tells the story of Xiao Yuan, a young intellectual who returned to the city after being sent to the countryside. After returning home, he encountered a series of unpleasant things, but he remained optimistic and did not wait for help. He learned about policy changes from the newspaper and found opportunities to "serve the community" from his neighbors.

Well, it shouldn't be called making money; it should be called serving society and receiving a little bit of reward in the process of serving.

He started a mobile barbershop using the hairdressing skills he learned in the countryside, ignoring the strange looks from others and withstanding the pressure of his family's dissuasion, and finally achieved success.

It must be said that with Jiang Tiantian's experience, writing the first half shouldn't be a problem. After all, there are too many people and things like this. She has heard of them even if she hasn't seen them. As long as she gathers the material appropriately, organizing it won't be troublesome at all.

But the second half of the story was a bit difficult for her.

But it's okay, if she doesn't know what to do, someone does.

Jiang Lili, that curious girl, had been pestering Yu Keying a lot to ask about their story of "self-reliance and hard work while studying." When her sister was struggling with her creative work, she volunteered to provide material.

Thus, the second half of the story unfolds, with the protagonist, Xiao Yuan, "discovering the market and starting his own business," and its outcome.

When Chen Fan was guiding Jiang Tiantian in adapting the literary script, he also gave it a second creative interpretation.

When a literary master takes the helm, the resulting work is naturally different.

If Jiang Tiantian's original work was an idealistic inspirational novel for young people, Chen Fan transformed it into a lighthearted urban comedy containing life philosophies.

The entire storyline, characters, development process, and even the final outcome remain unchanged.

But just like adding MSG to a bowl of soup or sprinkling cumin on barbecue, Chen Fan's slight modifications immediately produced a wonderful chemical reaction.

If we were to make an analogy, it would be like the same movie, one starring ordinary actors, and the other starring Chen Peisi and Stephen Chow.

It's the same lines and the same scene, yet it makes people burst into laughter.

Sure enough, bursts of laughter frequently erupted on the filming set.

Chen Fan sat in the director's seat, picked up a towel to wipe his sweat, turned his head to look at the crowd watching outside the blockade, his eyes full of helplessness.

Factory Director Wu sat down next to him and, seeing his expression, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Uh, Director Chen, these people are all employees of surrounding units, and they're outside the filming area, so we can't manage them."

Chen Fan turned around, waved his hand, and said, "It's okay. Anyway, there's no sound recording on set. Let them laugh all they want, as long as it doesn't affect our actors."

But how could it not have an impact?
Although the actors have all undergone professional training, there are still some who are not well trained.

The lead actor was someone who had only joined Jiangxi Film Studio last year and had been performing in stage plays for just over a year. After the film project was approved, there were no other suitable actors in the studio, so this great opportunity fell into his lap.

The young man is hardworking, but his mindset is lacking; he is easily influenced by his surroundings.

It was only because he had veteran actors like Master Yang guiding him on set; otherwise, things would have been even worse.

But there's nothing we can do about it; some wear and tear is inevitable. We can't have movies like those from this era, where there are only a few actors on the street and no sense of everyday life.

At worst, it just means a few more rolls of film will be wasted.

After finally finishing filming the street scenes, the pace quickened again once we switched to the interior shots.

After rushing around, we finally finished filming all the shots on Friday.

With a loud shout from Chen Fan, "I hereby announce that filming for the movie 'Little Lotus Just Beginning to Emerge' is complete."

As soon as he finished speaking, enthusiastic applause erupted in the audience.

More than a dozen main actors spontaneously clapped and surrounded Chen Fan, looking at him with excitement.

Chen Fan laughed and made a few hand gestures. After the applause subsided, he looked at Yuan Wang, the male lead who was a year younger than him, and said with a smile, "How does it feel to play the lead role for the first time?"

Yuan Wang covered his chest with his right hand, trying to calm his excitement. After catching his breath, he said, "I am very happy and excited. Making this movie has taught me a lot. I will definitely take the protagonist in the movie as my role model, and like him, I will not wait for others or rely on them. I will make achievements and serve everyone better."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. The beginning was fine, but the end was starting to sound a bit like a ploy.

However, judging from his expression, even if he was just stating the obvious, there was still some sincerity in his words.

He then looked at a girl next to him and asked, "If this movie is a success and you become a movie star like Wu Haiyan, what would you think?"

As early as 1915, Zhou Shoujuan translated the autobiography of Hollywood star Mary Pickford and called her "American Star". The word "star" was thus proposed and has been used ever since.

The earliest film magazine during the Republican era was "Star Monthly," founded by Star Film Company.

However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, everyone was uniformly referred to as actors, and the term "star" was gradually mentioned less and less.

Whether it was a rebound or not, after Popular Cinema resumed publication in January of this year, someone brought up the word "celebrity" again in an article, and it was quickly accepted by the general public.

It seems that this term is intended to separate the most popular actors from ordinary actors.

Moreover, Popular Cinema magazine has repeatedly broken new ground, and many of the "bottom lines" in the arts and culture world were first crossed here.

For example, in the fifth issue of this year (1979), the back cover featured a still from the British film "The Slipper and the Rose," showing the male and female leads kissing, which caused an immediate uproar.

Those who liked it applauded and cheered, praising the editorial team for their pioneering spirit and breakthrough from past constraints.

Those who opposed it jumped up and down, cursing and wishing a strong wind would blow the magazine away.

Actually, if it weren't for the opposition's outbursts, the magazine might have really been fined.

But their outburst immediately brought to mind unpleasant things from a few years ago, and so the incident passed peacefully amidst the superiors' eerie silence.

This further elevated the status of films among the public and sparked a trend of idol worship for the first time. Almost all actors considered it an honor to appear on the cover of Popular Cinema magazine.

Coincidentally, Wu Haiyan, who played the lead role in "Yunhu Love", along with the two leading actresses in "The Ferryman" and "Shanghai Spy Shadow", have all appeared in "Popular Cinema".

So much so that some people shouted the slogan, "If you want to be featured in Popular Cinema, make a film by Chen Fan."

Like Yuan Wang, Xu Danping joined Jiangxi Film Studio last year. From the very first second she entered the crew, she harbored this ambition.

Although "The Lotus Buds Are Just Emerging" is not Chen Fan's literary work, it is his film. How could he be selected by Popular Cinema?
But after filming the movie, her feelings were somewhat complicated.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, she lowered her head and thought for a moment, then bit her lip, raised her head and said, "Director Chen, like Yuan Wang, I am already very excited and happy to be able to play a role in your movie. Whether I can become a star or not is no longer important."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan nodded secretly. Judging from her emotional intelligence, this girl's future achievements would definitely be remarkable.

Xu Danping continued, "During these days of filming, my most important gain, besides improving my acting skills under your and the other masters' guidance, is the inspiration I received from this story, which has cleansed my soul."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and looked at her, asking, "Then tell me what you've gained."

Xu Danping pursed her lips, looked at the people around her, and saw encouragement in the eyes of Director Wu, Director Kuang, Director Lao, and Master Yang. So she mustered up her courage and continued to say to Chen Fan, "In the film, some people raised deep questions. After experiencing the hardships of rural life, we returned to the city but had no job and could not see any hope."

Before being accepted by Jiangying Film Studio, I also had this kind of confusion. After being accepted by Jiangying Film Studio, I still had this kind of confusion…”

These words made Director Wu, Director Kuang, and other leaders scratch their noses in disbelief.

It's a bit embarrassing.

That was indeed the case with the Jiangying Film Studio in the past. Apart from receiving salaries from higher-level funding, they didn't even receive the most basic subsidies or bonuses, and the entire studio didn't have a single work that they could be proud of.

It's understandable that employees would have such confusion.

Xu Danping did not notice the change in the leader's expression, and she continued, "In fact, many educated youth faced this kind of life dilemma: what can we do on the road of life?"
I didn't know how to answer this question before, but after acting in this movie, I found the answer in the protagonist.

That means not waiting passively but actively responding, discovering our value from the needs of the people. As long as we can meet the needs of the people, our lives are bright, our future is promising, and our lives have not been a failure.

As soon as she finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted around her.

This time, it wasn't just the crew who applauded; even the onlookers applauded for her.

Chen Fan nodded with satisfaction and looked at her, saying, "Remember what you said today. When the editors of Popular Cinema come to interview you, you'll have something to say."

In the fifth issue of the magazine "China Youth" in 1980, a letter from a reader named "Pan Xiao" was published. The editors of the magazine gave this letter a title that sparked a nationwide discussion in the early 80s: "The Road of Life, Why Does It Get Narrower and Narrower?"

In fact, Jiang Tiantian raised a similar question in her novel "A Little Lotus Just Begins to Show Its Tip," but it was overlooked by most people because of the protagonist's brilliance.

Now Xu Danping has dug it up again and given her own answer.

It is entirely foreseeable that once this movie is released, regardless of whether Popular Cinema magazine will come to interview it, local newspapers such as Jiangnan Daily and Jiangnan Literature will definitely report on it.

If Xu Danping's words are published again, it will surely spark a major social discussion that is no less significant.

But this time, the young people are no longer confused; the film will provide the answers.

Riding this wave of popularity, this film is sure to achieve results comparable to the film adaptations of Chen Fan's three works.

It's such a pity that no matter how much money Director Chen makes, it has nothing to do with him.

Well, let's just consider this paving the way for Sweetie.

There was no wrap-up ceremony or wrap party. After a brief discussion organized by Director Chen on a whim, the film officially entered the post-production stage.

In the film processing workshop of Jiangying Film Studio, Chen Fan, relying on his powerful memory, and of course, detailed shooting logs, edited the film with maximum efficiency.

At the same time, Kuang Mingyi also began to take over some of the post-production work, such as recording for the actors and contacting the Jiangnan Provincial Symphony Orchestra to provide musical accompaniment.

The sheet music was provided by Director Chen, who wrote several instrumental pieces and two theme songs.

Chen Fan did not directly copy classic songs from later generations.

It's not that he doesn't want to, but that it's not suitable.

Every era has its own characteristics, and popular music from later generations may not necessarily be suitable for the present. Grandma Li's song "Hometown Love" was banned for a long time.

Therefore, if you want to write songs, you can only write songs that fit this era.

However, Chen Fan's work wasn't entirely original. With so many classic materials from later generations as references, why would he need to waste his precious brain cells?

The song "Young Ambition Knows No Sorrow" expresses the passion and pride of young people. With just a slight modification to the "golden shield" part, it becomes an inspirational song for young people.

Let's play another song, "Starting Over," to encourage young comrades to let go of their mental burdens, travel light, and forge ahead.

The score can remain unchanged, but the arrangement needs to be slightly modified to better suit the current musical style.

Editing, dubbing, and music composition—the three most important post-production tasks for a film—are carried out simultaneously.

And the progress is not slow.

Just as the weekend was about to end and the post-production work was about to be completed, an unexpected incident occurred.

Someone has come knocking on our door!
In the Jiangying Film Factory, in the factory director's office, Director Wu held his enamel mug, blowing on it to cool the tea. In fact, the tea had long since gone cold, but his eyes weren't on the tea; instead, they were fixed on the people sitting on the sofa.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, looking at the people sitting opposite him, and couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling a headache coming on.

Ji Chenfeng, chairman of the Jiangnan Provincial Musicians Association, personally presided over the meeting and said with his neck outstretched, "Vice Chairman Chen is from Jiangnan and is also the vice chairman of the Provincial Writers Association. As early as before the Spring Festival, after he created 'Young Friends Come to Meet,' I proposed to invite him to join the Musicians Association. Now we just need to go through the procedures. Once the procedures are completed, he will be one of our own."

Regardless, these two songs must remain in Jiangnan, no question about it!

The people sitting on the sofa next to them didn't say a word, but all glanced up and simultaneously let out a "humph".

(End of this chapter)