Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 804 Grass Team
Even after the movie ended, the audience hadn't left yet, and they couldn't wait to start talking loudly, making the whole theater noisy and giving everyone a headache.

As people lined up outside waiting to enter came out, someone immediately shouted, "How was the movie?"

The young man at the front raised his hands high and gave two thumbs up, saying, "Great job!"

A girl asked curiously, "What's a good idea?"

The young man thought for a moment, "It's especially good to watch when someone is both crying and laughing."

Those who hadn't seen it were immediately bewildered, and were both crying and laughing.
Wasn't this supposed to be an inspirational film, depicting the real lives of educated youth returning to the city? Besides, everyone's read Jiang Tiantian's original novel, and we didn't laugh and cry while reading it. What's going on now?
Before they could even process what was happening, the audience members who came out one after another started talking.

"It's definitely good, but I didn't cry or laugh at the same time. I laughed from beginning to end."

"Inspirational, extremely inspirational."

"I need to go back and read Jiang Tiantian's original novel again. I only realized after watching the movie that there were so many deeper meanings in the original novel."

The most distinctive characteristic of artsy young people these days is that, regardless of whether they know each other or not, as long as they encounter a topic they both like, they can chat endlessly.

So, in front of the movie theater, groups of people began to discuss the matter.

The path of life must be walked by oneself; one must take initiative, not wait or rely on others; serving the people leads to self-realization…

They enjoy engaging in lengthy, rambling discussions, while the clever ones have already taken notes of what they hear, ready to submit their findings later.

Yes, these people are all students who have participated in the Jiangnan Writers Association's correspondence course on literary creation. They have deeply grasped the essence of creation taught by Chen Fan: "collecting materials at any time." They are just waiting to make a name for themselves tomorrow.

……

On the second floor of the cinema, after the audience had all left, Chen Fan walked out of the private box, exchanged pleasantries with the leaders of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Film Association, and then left with Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili.

They had already explored the entire provincial capital, so there wasn't much left to see. After having lunch at a local restaurant, they went straight home.

Once home, Jiang Tiantian couldn't resist her curiosity about creative techniques and paid a hefty tuition fee to diligently learn from Chen Fan.

Pay first, then learn. After receiving the tuition, Chen Fan imparted all his closely guarded creative techniques to Jiang Tiantian.

Jiang Lili was originally very interested in literature, but she only liked reading and not creating, so she didn't plan to attend classes when her sister was studying.

However, on Chen Fan's desk, she suddenly saw several beautiful clothing design drawings, which made her unable to look away.

In order to learn this fashionable clothing design skill, she disregarded her tight budget and paid a large tuition fee to attend classes with her sister.

Teaching two people at the same time, and in different subjects at that, was a bit of a challenge even for Chen Fan. He didn't even cook dinner; instead, he called a wild game restaurant to order food and had Bian Huifang pick it up.

From noon until late at night, except for a quick bite to eat, I spent all my time teaching, teaching one student at a time, then another, and finally giving them a test together. In the end, they all mastered a lot of new knowledge.

……

The next morning, because he had studied until midnight the night before and was exhausted, Chen Fan did not disturb them after getting up.

However, by the time he finished washing up and came out, the two sisters had also gotten dressed and gotten up.

Chen Fan looked at the two of them and said, "I have to go to the film set to shoot. Why don't you two just rest at home?"

Jiang Tiantian shook her head, rubbed her slightly sore arms, and said, "It's okay. I came back to see you this time, but you went to work and we stayed at home. Wouldn't that be a waste of time?"

Jiang Lili twisted her waist and nodded, saying, "That's right, we'll go with you later. You can take your pictures, and we'll just watch from the side."

She paused for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Won't this bother you?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "What's the big deal?"

He then looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "Since you don't want to rest at home, why don't you come along?"

The two sisters looked at each other and smiled.

When Chen Fan drove to the Jiangxi Film Studio, everyone was already gathered there.

As usual, he parked his car at the entrance, waiting for the crew to assemble before they went out to film together.

The filming locations have changed several times, from the Wufeng Mountain Taoist Temple at the beginning, to various outdoor locations inside the Jiangying Studio, and then to the battlefields along the Yangtze River where wars once took place.

The filming of this movie is gradually coming to an end.

But the later scenes became increasingly difficult to film, and the most difficult scenes to film were almost all war scenes.

The place we're going to today is a battlefield.

A defensive battle took place there back then, but it was small in scale and didn't leave much of a mark on history.

But these sporadic battles, fought across countless territories from north to south, became an indispensable part of the War of Resistance.

According to the script, Zhang Xuansong was unintentionally drawn into the battle. Because of his effectiveness in killing Japanese soldiers, he was noticed by the guerrillas and was eventually persuaded to give up his plan to join the Blue Army. He then joined the guerrillas, who had few muskets but whose spirit far surpassed that of other units.

Chen Fan was mentally reviewing today's filming schedule, while Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili sat obediently in the car, watching the busy scene outside the window with curiosity in their eyes.

A moment later, Kuang Mingyi came over with the filming log, knocked on the car window, and waited for Chen Fan to roll down the window. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw two incredibly beautiful women sitting in the back and was immediately stunned.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, she finally realized, "You must be Comrade Jiang Tiantian and Comrade Jiang Lili, hello."

He had previously visited Chen Fan in Shanghai with Director Wu and met the two sisters, but at the time they were preoccupied with how to persuade Chen Fan to cooperate with Jiangying Studio, so they didn't have a deep impression of them, only remembering that they were very beautiful.

Seeing them again now, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly, why bother looking for a female lead elsewhere? These two are just fine!
Although female characters don't have many roles in this film, there is a female lead, mainly a female guerrilla fighter, and another female bandit.

The actresses who played these roles were all people that Chen Fan found in Beijing. For example, Yang Zhenlong's granddaughter Yang Congling, Chen Qingqing, a successor of Chen-style Tai Chi, and women from several other schools also played small roles.

Yang Congling, Chen Qingqing, and Xu Danping, the leading actress of Jiangying Film Studio, were all top-notch beauties. But what about this pair of "twins" in front of us? They must be twins, right?

Compared to these two, they are far inferior.

Even from the perspective of Kuang Mingyi, a professional photographer, most female celebrities are not as good as them, and perhaps only a very few can be compared to them.

The two sisters, sitting in the back row, immediately greeted Kuang Mingyi with smiles upon hearing his words, "Hello, Director Kuang."

The same expression and the same tone made Kuang Mingyi momentarily dazed, and he inadvertently blurted out his thoughts, "Director Chen, you could totally cast the two Jiang sisters as the leading ladies in your next movie. They have such star quality." Upon hearing this, both sisters couldn't help but blush.

Chen Fan glanced back at them and smiled, "Director Kuang is a master photographer, his eye for detail is exceptional. Comrades Jiang, would you like to consider it?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili immediately glared at him, but then, remembering that Kuang Mingyi was still nearby, she quickly lowered her head.

Jiang Tiantian took a deep breath and said in a seemingly indifferent manner, "We can't act, so we won't join in this fun. Let's leave the professional stuff to the professionals."

Chen Fan shrugged at Kuang Mingyi, "Fine, neither of them wants to."

Kuang Mingyi chuckled. He was just joking, and since the other party disagreed, he didn't say anything more.

In fact, given Chen Fan's abilities, if the two sisters were truly interested in becoming actresses, they wouldn't need to come to Jiangxi Film Studio; there would be plenty of opportunities at Shanghai Film Studio.

Or, like these two films, you could start your own production without having to ask anyone for help.

Shaking his head, Kuang Mingyi came to his senses and finally remembered the important matter. "Well, Director Chen, the Jiangnan Daily wants to interview you, and the Jiangnan Film, a publication hosted by the Film Association, also wants to interview you. Do you have time to arrange it?"

Chen Fan shook his head without hesitation, "Forget it, I'm just doing this for fun. I just want to make the movie I want to make and release it smoothly. Don't bother me with interviews, they're just a waste of my time."

After pausing for two seconds, he thought for a moment and then said, "However, you can go and do the interview. This interview is for 'Little Lotus Just Beginning to Show Its Tip,' right? Let Master Yang, Yuan Wang, and Xu Danping go too; they are the most suitable."

Kuang Mingyi clicked his tongue and said, "Master Yang and the others have already made appointments, but the senior masters are not willing to do so, saying that they should give the opportunity to the younger generation. I think they are just shy."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan burst into laughter. "You're already in your fifties or sixties, and you're still embarrassed to show your face? Besides, it's just a written interview, what's there to be ashamed of?"

Kuang Mingyi looked at him. "Didn't I say so?"

Chen Fan, "What did you say?"

Kuang Mingyi: "Oh, it means that when the newspaper conducts the interview, Jiangnan TV will film it, and it may be broadcast on TV. In addition, Jiangnan Radio and the provincial radio station will also record it."

Chen Fan blinked. "Is that so?"

Television programs these days are ridiculously simple, while radio programs are more diverse in format and have a much longer broadcast time than television programs. If you can get on a radio program, you can say that within a day or two, the whole province will know who you are on the show.

As for television stations, let's forget about them.

Nowadays, the first choice for graduates of broadcasting and television schools is radio stations. Only students without background or connections are picked up by television stations.

However, in Chen Fan's view, television stations definitely have a brighter future than radio stations.

He also had his eye on making a TV series called "Monk Comes Down the Mountain".

Thinking of this, Chen Fan suddenly had an idea and asked Kuang Mingyi, "Is Director Wu here?"

Kuang Mingyi nodded immediately, "Yes, I'm in the office right now, accompanying the people from Jiangnan Daily and Jiangnan TV. But the people from Jiangnan Radio and the provincial radio station haven't arrived yet."

Chen Fan blinked. "You're here so early?"

Kuang Mingyi laughed and said, "It had to be done sooner rather than later. The veteran workers refused to be interviewed, so the factory forcibly assigned the task to Yuan Wang and Xu Danping. They were the main characters, so it was the most suitable for them to take the stage."

Otherwise, after 20 years of operation and finally achieving some success, the Jiangying Film Studio couldn't just do no publicity at all.

But the two younger ones weren't being lenient either. They said they had to stay with the film crew and didn't have much time, so they should come early so they could finish filming sooner and continue with their own scenes.

Chen Fan chuckled twice, "They're not even main characters, yet they're acting like they're addicted to it."

He paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Well, since there are guests inside, I won't go in. Go and call Director Wu to come outside so we can discuss something."

Kuang Mingyi was taken aback upon hearing this and asked, "What is it?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Creating stars and making TV dramas."

Kuang Mingyi was stunned. He was about to ask more questions when Chen Fan waved him away, saying, "Go and call someone. We'll talk about it together later."

When he saw that Chen Fan refused to speak first, he could only turn around and run back to the factory.

The two sisters remained silent in the back row until Kuang Mingyi left. Then, Jiang Tiantian said thoughtfully, "You want Jiang Film Studio and Jiangnan Provincial Television Station to collaborate and help you film the TV series 'Monk Comes Down the Mountain'?"

Both of them were fully aware of Chen Fan's initial plans.

Chen Fan wanted to achieve success in the novel, film, and television series, using wave after wave of initiatives to make the general public aware of "The Taoist Priest Comes Down the Mountain" and Chaoyang Temple.

They also said that if the plan succeeds, Chaoyang Temple can remain a popular place of worship for fifty years.

However, before it could even be implemented, it was met with a cold shower from Buffett.

These days, apart from CCTV, almost no other TV stations have the capacity to produce long-form dramas, and dramas are not valued.

As a result, the novel's publication was delayed, the TV series was shelved, and only the film production was initiated.

The new plan is to release the movie first, then publish the novel immediately while the movie is still popular, and then make a TV series when the time is right in a few years.

I just heard Chen Fan say that he wants to make a TV series, which clearly means he has his sights set on Jiangying Studio and Jiangnan Provincial Television Station.

Hearing Jiang Tiantian's words, Chen Fan turned around and smiled, "As expected of Tiantian, you're so smart, you guessed it right away."

Jiang Lili said casually from the side, "Just say I'm stupid."

Jiang Tiantian reached out and hugged her younger sister's head. "It's enough that you know you're stupid, but you still said it out loud. Aren't you afraid of looking bad?"

Jiang Lili: ...? ? ?
Chen Fan laughed and ignored Jiang Lili's little antics, continuing, "Jiang Film Studio has actors and crew resources, TV stations have broadcasting platforms, and I have scripts. With the three parties working together, we can definitely make a TV series!"

Previously, he only thought that only large organizations had the opportunity, but he overlooked the fact that even the smallest organizations, no matter how bad, are still legitimate platforms.

Is it possible that Jiangnan Provincial TV Station is unwilling to broadcast the TV series they filmed?

That's absolutely impossible!

So now Chen Fan wants to get these two units involved and see if they can put together a makeshift team to put on a big show.

(End of this chapter)