New Age Artists

Chapter 71: Magical Remake of "Happy Death Day"

First of all, the name needs to be changed, as "Happy Death Day" has an unlucky name.

Shen Santong should focus on comedy, with less suspense and horror, and should not make the audience uncomfortable.

So, the name was changed to "Happy Birthday".

Then we have to determine a theme. It doesn’t mean that commercial films have no substance.

Simply viewing commercial films as popcorn is purely a false impression created by a bunch of vested interest waste in China.

On the contrary, the themes of commercial films are often deeper and purer.

Even if it is set abroad, pure excitement cannot support a movie, and it must be accompanied by a narrative of family and country.

If it's a Hollywood war film, there's often some fake reflection and crocodile tears.

All successful Hollywood commercial films have very profound connotations.

The theme of the original "Happy Death Day" is redemption.

The heroine of Aquaman completed redemption, self-reconciliation, reconciliation with her classmates, and reconciliation with her father through repeated cycles.

Then the prodigal girl turned back, returned to her family, and found a Puritan-like male protagonist to be with.

Puritans were only relative to the environment in the United States at that time.

The Puritans in Hollywood in the 1s and s were like Forrest Gump, and the Puritans a few years later were like the male protagonist.

He only takes painkillers and doesn't do anything promiscuous. He is definitely a Puritan on American campuses.

The original shots and scenery are very sophisticated.

The national flag on the light switch exerts a patriotic influence in a subtle and silent way.

The original movie also had its share of awkward moments.

Asian characters, whether male or female, are only responsible for pleasing others and quietly despise black women.

It seems politically correct and takes care of minorities, but the gaze of white discourse power can be seen everywhere.

"The theme of my version should be more realistic. Even if it is a commercial film for domestic audiences, it should have substance and must withstand a certain level of scrutiny."

Shen Santong would never really believe some fabricated nonsense, such as the fact that China does not teach logic classes.

Just find a Chinese person and ask him to talk about history. Everyone has different hobbies and favorite historical periods, but they will always be able to say a few words.

In 05, people born in the 80s gradually became the mainstream moviegoers. They have a high average education level and are increasingly difficult to fool.

In addition, there has been a thought over the years that literature can convey moral ideas, and purely exciting films will not work.

In addition to the redemption of the original version, Shen Santong's version of "Happy Birthday" also contains maturity.

Adulthood is a compulsory course, maturity is an optional course.

The audience who want to explore will have something to explore, and the audience who just want to have fun will also have fun.

The theme is presented in this subtle and silent way.

Shen Santong first created the character of the protagonist.

The male protagonist Xu Le is a somewhat introverted, kind and sunny science and engineering man.

The heroine Cheng Xiao is a sexy woman with a master's or doctorate degree. On the surface, she is aggressive and prickly, even a little coquettish. She likes to flirt with men without caring about other people's feelings.

But in fact, she is very conservative and kind-hearted.

He chose to isolate himself just because his beloved mother passed away.

The character displayed is a kind of self-protection, disguising oneself as a hedgehog.

She is unwilling to face reality, and even more unwilling to face life.

When it came to the name of the heroine, Shen Santong's first thought was Cheng Xiaonian.

That is to say, it is a minor adult, implying that the heroine's mind remains before adulthood.

But after thinking about it, it seems a bit inappropriate, as Xiaonian contains time point information.

In the setting, the heroine’s birthday is the same as her mother’s. The story begins on the heroine’s birthday, which is also her mother’s birthday.

The school was on holiday during the Little New Year, which caused a conflict with the school where the story took place.

The name Cheng Xiaonian would disrupt the audience's cognition and bring a bad viewing experience, so it was changed to Cheng Xiao.

The story begins with Cheng Xiao's birthday again, which is also her mother's birthday.

She missed her mother and accidentally got drunk. When she woke up and saw Xu Le, she realized that she was in a strange man's room. She was very angry and called the police immediately.

The male protagonist Xu Le gave an explanation, proving that nothing happened between the two of them last night.

The heroine checked her clothes and found that it was true, so she let the hero go.

The heroine character in this version played by Shen Santong is actually a bit sci-fi, a drunk good girl.

However, because the story begins when the heroine wakes up, the small flaws in the character can be quickly covered up by the constantly appearing people and things.

Likewise, the heroine cannot have an affair with her teacher, as it is difficult for domestic audiences to like a promiscuous protagonist.

It can only be that the teacher has feelings for the heroine and is pestering her, wanting her to be his lover.

In Shen Santong's version, after several cycles, the heroine already knew in the first cycle that nothing had happened between her and the hero.

So when she wakes up, she will no longer think of calling the police, nor will she question what the male protagonist has done to her.

When the male protagonist saw this behavior, the female protagonist had no reaction to waking up in a stranger's bed.

She is a woman who can get drunk outside at will. It is obvious that she is not a decent girl and is not worth liking.

Because the male protagonist is kind, he still chooses to help the female protagonist avoid being hunted down and find the murderer, but he is unwilling to develop a relationship between the two.

Only after the heroine's explanation did it turn out that she had already known in the previous cycle that nothing had happened.

The hero suddenly realized that the heroine was a serious girl and was able to accept her feelings.

There is such a detail, which shows that the male protagonist is not a trash can or a scapegoat who accepts everything.

It is also more reasonable, making the details more amenable to reasoning.

Although this is a drama centered on a female lead, the male lead has also become a key point in the drama.

On the surface, it is a drama with a strong female lead.

An older, educated woman who has reached adulthood but is unwilling to mature, redeems herself, steps out of herself, reconciles with her friends, reconciles with her father, and reconciles with herself in a day of repetition. She chooses to face life and move towards maturity.

The ending is a happy story with the hero who is willing to sacrifice his life to protect her.

On the b side, to put it bluntly, it is a cool story about a sullen, younger science and engineering guy and a charming, but pure and knowledgeable older sister who falls in love with him.

The theme of Shen Santong's version can be further explored.

Surface themes: the path to redemption, self-reconciliation, and embracing life.

A slightly deeper topic: adulthood. As long as you grow up and reach a certain age, you become an adult, but maturity is different.

Deeper theme: There are some differences between men and women, and some different positioning of men and women in society.

Girls tend to mature earlier than boys, but this precocity is not true maturity.

On the contrary, the so-called late-maturing boys, with the pressure of work and life, must become paladins, tenacious and strong as a mountain to achieve true maturity.

However, many girls always remain in their precocious stage.

To put it more deeply, boys have no choice; society forces them to mature.

In other words, "adulthood is a compulsory course, maturity is an elective course" only applies to girls.

For boys, "adulthood is a compulsory course, and maturity is also a compulsory course."

Boys must be mature, but as for girls, it doesn’t matter if they don’t want to be mature.

Thus, the eternal classics such as “Front-line fighters only need to fight bravely, while those in the rear have many things to consider” and “Prepare fat-reducing meals for absentees” were born.

"Happy Birthday" is Shen Santong's second play, which is mainly a comedy and suspense story.

Self-redemption and thoughts on maturity are just a hidden thread and will not be emphasized too much.

As for the deeper theme, it is a dark line within a dark line.

Shen Santong laid out both the overt and covert plots to ensure that the play would still be worth savoring even many years later when the audience rewatched it, allowing his work to stand the test of time.

"okay, I get it."

Shen Santong was just thinking about it when he received a reminder from his assistant.

It’s almost time, he has a dinner date with Fan Bingbing tonight.

Shen Santong has blocked most people's invitations, but Fan Bingbing is still worth seeing.

(End of this chapter)