1980 My Entertainment Era

Chapter 177: Poke upwards!

There are actually many alternative actresses for the female lead in "Red Mansions".

After all, most of the main characters in "Dream of Red Mansions" are female, and the only truly important male character is Jia Baoyu, so the crew selected many actresses from all over the country.

But the male actor really wasn’t well prepared!
And it is indeed difficult to find someone who fits the character's image.

At this time, Director Wang looked at Xia Tian again, but shook his head again: Temperament is one aspect, and excellent actors can change their temperament. Xia Tian played the role of the fool very well, and it was hard to imagine that it was actually played by him. But the problem of height cannot be solved at all!
This person standing next to the actress is like an older brother leading his younger sister. Is this still Dream of the Red Chamber?
Huang Danian has grown up and is even shorter than he was in summer!

Wang Gui'e, who was in charge of casting, sighed and said, "It seems that while we are training the actors and selecting roles that suit them, we also have to find an actor for Jia Baoyu."

She also played the role of Youshi later - it was normal to have multiple roles in the crew of Dream of Red Mansions.

Originally she was responsible for sending and receiving letters, but because Pan Xinxin was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama and had to go to school, the task of casting was given to her.

However, before leaving the crew, Pan Xinxin had completed the first round of actor selection, and had selected Chen Xiaoxu, Zhang Lei, Ji Peijie, Chen Jianyue, Zhang Mingming, Zhang Jinglin and others.

Of course, the final decision was made by Director Wang and the preparatory team.

However, unexpectedly, in the past year, they split up into several groups and traveled to TV stations, dance troupes, and art troupes across the country!
We gathered more than a hundred and dozens of alternative actors, but in the end, we left out the male lead!
This is a big deal!

Xia Tian comforted him, "Haha, don't be afraid, everyone. Good things take time. This is exactly the essence of Dream of the Red Chamber!"

He made everyone laugh by saying this.

After a while, everyone started talking about the upcoming trial shooting of "Prologue to the Red Chamber".

Everyone's mood dropped again.

Because in the prelude episode of the trial shooting, the part about Zhen Shiyin was passed by the old cadres who were watching the trial.

The reason is - there is no protagonist after watching for a long time~?

The "skin" is too thick, delete it!
So the Golden Three Chapters are popular now?!

It seems that the old cadres like to get things done in one go.

In the end, there was no other choice but Director Wang decided to compress the previous content into half an episode - which was somewhat similar to the three golden chapters of later online novels.

The first chapter has no protagonist, no cheat code, and no conflict. The editor and readers will just pass it by.
If we hadn't argued for our reasons and emphasized that the Zhen family's small rise and fall reflected the later great rise and fall of the Jia family, and was also an important clue to introduce characters like Jia Yucun, I'm afraid the entire trial episode would have been deleted!

But there is some good news. At least the opening credits, music, and "Hao Le Ge" have been finalized.

For example, from the first shot of "Dream of Red Mansions" - the red sunset - to the appearance of the paper full of absurd words, the total duration is 2 minutes and 42 seconds.

Why is the beginning so long? Mainly because the music of the prelude to Dream of the Red Chamber is so long!

Director Wang told Wang Liping that the length of the opening and overture is generally 1 minute 50 seconds to 2 minutes. If the overture is so long, it may not pass the film review.

This was a rigid rule of the TV station, but Wang Liping was unwilling to cut the opening "Overture" and emphasized many reasons. In the end, he simply said that because it was "Dream of Red Mansions", there should be a 2-minute and 42-second "Overture".

Seeing that he insisted, Director Wang argued with his superiors and broke the rules.

However, "Dream of Red Mansions" does not introduce the great master Mangmang, the real person Miaomiao and the spiritual jade in detail, because the regulations prohibit the filming of mythological and fantasy things.

Xia Tian thinks that the current regulations are ridiculous. If you don’t allow "Dream of Red Mansions" to film mythology and fantasy, then why do you still want to film "Journey to the West"?

Alas, if the leader says yes, it’s yes, and if he says no, it’s no, and you have to accept it.

Amateurs command professionals.

It has always been emphasized that filming "A Red Mansion" is difficult. The difficulty lies here: it is difficult to satisfy everyone!
When leaving, Xia Tian stayed a little longer to chat with Director Wang and give him some encouragement.

Wang Dao is a somewhat soft-hearted person, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

The advantages are that "water is good to all things but does not contend; no one in the world can contend with it." It has some ability to overcome hardness with softness, and it is patient and resilient.

But the disadvantage is that it is not resistant to pressure!

He is under great psychological pressure and suffers severe internal friction, and can easily fall into a vicious cycle.

So Xia Tian always cheers him up.

Wang Dao also likes this. With encouragement and support, he can cheer up quickly. He is the kind of person who needs support!
With support from others, you can achieve results.

Different from Director Yang, who is strong and independent but easily isolated by others.

King Arthur doesn't understand human nature.
Xia Tian said: "Haha, Director Wang is having trouble again, isn't he?"

"I won't say much about how difficult it was to act in Red Mansions. When we were filming the Peking Opera movie Daiyu Burying Flowers, Mei Lanfang played Daiyu, and was criticized by Lu Xun for 'I never expected Daiyu's eyes to be so protruding and her lips to be so thick'. It's impossible to get everyone's approval! Just work hard and get the approval of most people!"

"It's just that a few old cadres don't understand. That's normal! Don't worry about it! We must stand firmly on the side of the majority of the audience. We are making a TV series for the audience! We are not old cadres, let alone Redologists..."

After leaving Director Wang's house, Xia Tian went directly to the Cultural Department B of Aunt Deng's unit.

Damn it, spit it up! I had lunch at Aunt Deng's workplace in the summer, and during the lunch, we were telling stories, and I mentioned the story of "The Prologue to the Red Chamber".

Aunt Deng just nodded and said nothing.

But after dinner, she took Xia Tian to meet the unit leader. Aunt Deng told Xia Tian: "Our old leader is an old soldier who has walked through the hail of bullets. Later, he was in charge of cultural work..."

Xia Tian nodded to show that he understood.

Xia Tian reported the situation to his superiors, and then gave an example: "It's like directing a battle, and there are laymen on the side giving orders - you guys are advancing in twos and threes, which is too ugly! Listen to me, the big troops push up, the purpose is to intimidate the enemy with momentum! Do you think this will work?"

The old leader had commanded battles before and had rich battlefield experience. Xia Tian's blood pressure rose at this moment.

Xia Tian said: "You have come through the hail of bullets, you know how terrible it is for an amateur to command the experts. This principle is applicable everywhere."

That afternoon, someone received instructions that "administrative leaders should try not to provide guidance on artistic content."

This is not the end. The next day, the chief engineer said: I think it’s okay.

This sentence has settled it!
When it comes to content creation, absolutely no one dares to make comments.

Xia Tian chose to stab upwards, also thinking of his teacher's teachings: one punch is enough to avoid a hundred punches.

If you don't set the tone at the beginning, you will suffer a lot later!
But I never expected that it would alarm the old man!

The crew members also said that Xia Tian had quite a lot of energy - if they knew who was talking, they probably wouldn't dare to say anything.

Xia Tian is always grinning in private!
Finally, the members of the preparatory group continued to discuss, and Xia Tian suggested leaving a "hook" in a shot in the prologue - letting Daiyu show her figure to attract the audience to continue watching.

Everyone in the crew said: This is a good idea.

Xia Tian was very proud: "Of course, I am professionally trained! I will finish the chapter no matter how difficult it is, unless my book friend threatens me with a knife."

At this time, Xia Tian also watched the original unedited version of the prologue. Although the picture quality was a bit rough, the ancient charm was really hard to describe!

This is a feeling that no TV series will ever be able to reproduce.

It must be mentioned that Mr. Wang Zhongxin, who played Zhen Shiyin, also played Taibai Jinxing in "Journey to the West", Hua Tuo in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and Wu Yong in the Shandong version of "Water Margin". It can be said that he is the only male actor who has played in all four great classics.

This time, he won’t be the only one to take the credit!

……

The last day of August.

Milan provoked again last night: Oh?

Xia Tian: No!

Milan: “Come on!”

Xia Tian: “Two or three minutes is boring.”

Milan: "Don't leave, fight until dawn!"

Three minutes later...

"Please spare my life! I won't do it again!"

I got up early in the morning to exercise in the summer, while Milan was still sleeping.

I went there for breakfast in the summer, bought some and put it on the table, and then left.

I made an appointment with someone and went to see the goods.

As the economy developed, the antique industry also began to develop, and many people began to buy and sell.

Xia Tian is considered a famous "dog tycoon" in the circle. Many brokers like to look for him when they have something. The reason is simple - he's straightforward!
As long as I like it, I won’t talk to you about anything else.

This time there are three items: a three-layer ivory ghost ball, a lacquerware-auspicious crane paperweight, and a bronze tiger talisman!
Originally, Xiatian didn't want anything. The first one was ivory products. Although they were old items from the late Qing Dynasty, they would definitely cause some trouble in the future, at least they would not be easy to see in the light.

The paperweight is nice, but I have collected several paperweights in the summer.

But I really like the last tiger talisman! I like it very much!
Bronze!

Finally, I gritted my teeth and decided to take them all. I might as well buy them all!

Make that person happy!

It is said that he is going to sell his ancestral possessions to go abroad for further studies. Let us wish him the best!

(End of this chapter)