Generation Z Artists

Chapter 394 A Good Day for Collaborative Filmmaking
Firearms have fully demonstrated humanity's killing wisdom, while also burying kung fu in the mud.

Under the power of a rifle, all beings are truly equal. Kung Fu masters and the world's richest men are all the same when swept away—big holes within small holes.

Fang Xinghe held a fully automatic assault rifle and blasted the silicone target into pieces, feeling both exhilarated and absurd.

With 5 million units in private hands, let's not even talk about revolution. There hasn't been a single instance of organized Robin Hood-like activities, killing officials, or rebellion. So how are we supposed to film this kind of American heroism?

He tried out every gun on the market, but he still couldn't figure it out.

The style of Wolf Warrior, based on a sense of national honor, is definitely not suitable; the collectivism based on teamwork, like in Red Sea, is even less appropriate; and the purely individualistic judge, like in The Grievance, didn't become very popular.

Unable to understand it, screenwriter Fang decided to stop writing the script himself; he simply couldn't grasp the point.

Forget it, let's just copy it!
Of course, it's not a complete copy, but rather to retain the core of the original film as much as possible, only adding elements to the action scenes.

After careful consideration, Fang Xinghe came up with two adaptation targets: one was the South Korean film "The Man from Nowhere" and the other was the French film "Taken".

In fact, the John Wick series is the best adaptation target. Its core is simple, there is no cultural barrier, the killing is exciting, and it has the potential to form a cinematic universe.

The reason for shelving it is very simple: the Hunt series came out later, so there's no rush to monetize it.

In comparison, the Hurricane series will start filming next year, and the Lone Agent project was initiated in 09. If we don't get started now, the first batch will go to someone else.

Given the urgency of time, Fang Xinghe decided to revise "Taken" first.

The original "Taken" was a low-budget action film produced by Luc Besson, financed by EuropaCorp, and starring Liam Neeson.

Its script was finalized in March or April of 2007, filming began in the summer, and it was released in 08.

The prototype of the official script, or the first draft, came from a story about a "secret agent father" that Luc Besson had already written.

Therefore, as long as Fang Xinghe changes the core setting of "agent father" to suit his own age, then these are two completely different films, only clashing in style but not in core.

In other words, he doesn't need to care whether EuropaCorp is still making "Taken" or not; he can just focus on making his own films, and if necessary, they can go head-to-head.

As a result, Fang Xinghe wrote out the complete script in just one day.

He retained the core of the original film—a lone rescue mission—as well as the solid and effective dialogue scenes, striving to balance formulaic elements with depth while preserving the essence of the story.

From a film critic's perspective, the original "Taken" had overly formulaic dialogue scenes, simple and superficial character relationships, and lacked emotional impact.

Based on the opinions of a small segment of the audience, the original version's dialogue scenes were somewhat lengthy and tedious.

However, from a professional perspective, the first 30 minutes of dialogue (showing the estrangement between father and daughter and the daughter's abduction), while somewhat clichéd, were very necessary and effective.

It quickly establishes the character's motivation, giving the father's subsequent ruthless violence a strong emotional basis, allowing the audience to understand and support his extreme measures.

This is the core source of the enjoyment.

Always remember: senseless violence does not bring satisfaction to normal people. Only violence that is just enough and contains great emotional expectations can release pent-up emotions.

So the dialogue scenes in the original version were indeed a little long, but they were absolutely necessary.

Fang Xinghe's opinion is... it can be appropriately shortened, but the essence must be retained.

With a budget of $3000 million, "Taken" was less than a B-movie and had no box office appeal. However, it still grossed $2.3 million worldwide, $1.4 million in DVD sales, and $1.7 million in streaming revenue. It not only brought EuropaCorp a very healthy cash flow and profit, but also made Liam Neeson a star.

In such a successful film, those 30 minutes of dialogue are by no means superfluous.

From a personal perspective, Fang Xinghe disliked the character relationships in the original version, but from a screenwriter's perspective, he decided to respect the audience and the market.

After the adaptation, the male protagonist became Zeus Yang, and the kidnapped person became his sister, Mia Yang.

The settings are somewhat traditional and old-fashioned, but they contain hidden interfaces.

Story background—

A Chinese mother remarried an American working in China, taking her two children with her. The 12-year-old boy refused to accept the decision, ran away from home, and decided to go back to live with his father.

They were kidnapped on the road and taken abroad for assassin training.

The mother did not actively search for a new husband and soon immigrated to the United States with her new husband.

Seven years later, the boy found his sister living in the United States. By then, their father had already passed away. Zeus Yang decided to take on the responsibility of protecting his sister, but he was not good at dealing with living people, and his wary attitude repeatedly aroused the girl's rebellious mentality.

They only see each other once or twice a year, and their relationship is terrible.

Ten years later, on her 18th birthday, the younger sister wanted to travel to Paris with her friends, but Zeus disagreed. Her stepfather offered financial support with a smile, and her mother tried to ease the tension with her son by suggesting that he go with her, but this was met with fierce opposition from the younger sister.

"He's never there when I need him!"

"He abandoned me from the very beginning, so what right does he have to boss me around and interfere in my affairs?"

"I do not want!"

"Listen to his name, Zeus. Whose god-king are you? Come on, I don't need your routine displays of presence. I'm doing fine, and even if I were, I wouldn't pray to you!"

Zeus was speechless and could not explain.

The stepfather was a good man. He shrugged and smoothed things over, saying, "Actually, she prayed when she was younger, I swear. But you... you have indeed been gone for too long. I know it's not your fault, and you have your own relationship issues to deal with, but now... well... in short, you two need to give each other some time."

Even now, the stepfather's family still believes that Zeus simply ran away from home and didn't want to contact them, unaware that he had been kidnapped or what he was doing now.

This contradiction—that the audience is aware of the situation while the characters are unaware—creates a huge emotional conflict, making the plot full of tension.

The younger sister's character is not unlikeable; she is just a wronged little girl who often cries while looking at her brother's photo.

The dialogue scenes, reduced to about 22 minutes, include her longing for her brother when she is isolated, as well as her incomprehension and disappointment when she sees her brother again after their joyful reunion.

The former is the norm for Chinese-American girls attending school in the United States, while the latter is the spillover of pressure from Zeus's unique living environment.

Fang Xinghe cleverly places the male and female protagonists in parallel worlds, creating a desperate chasm through limited contact—they clearly care for and miss each other, but can never return to the intimacy of their youth.

In fact, this is far more ingenious than the original plot.

This separation is not something we don't want to do, but rather a cruel twist of fate.

Two children, facing the same pressure in different environments, the girl chooses to vent the pressure on what she perceives as a betrayer, while the boy has already learned to silently bear everything.

To be honest, it's quite enjoyable.

The only slightly clichéd part of the entire structure is the assassin training camp, but this was 2006, and people believed even more outrageous ideas.

……

The producer sent by Sony silently read through the script's dialogue scenes and immediately began to flatter him.

"Wonderful!"

This producer (waiter), who was like a pendant, racked his brains and summarized 12345678 points.

"No matter what you want to film, you can always find that emotional gap that touches the public the most. The situation in the script is not common, but the state in the script is too common, real, delicate and touching..." I knew it!

Fang Xinghe shook his head, giving up the possibility of seeking advice from the partners.

When he reached his position, there was no longer any truth around him. He either made decisions on a whim or could only rely on cold, hard data.

But Fang Xinghe had no data... Oh well, he'd trust his intuition.

After submitting the script, it passed three rounds of review in one day, all of which were approved, and the process could begin immediately.

News of Fang Xinghe starting filming his new movie quickly spread throughout China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

The filming locations for this movie are basically the same as the original version, with the United States as the original setting and Europe as the battlefield. The villains are the incompetent French government and the Central European mafia.

The reason is simple: it's not time to criticize America yet.

At that time in America, the Rust Belt wasn't particularly rusty, Gundams weren't particularly rampant, and gangs weren't particularly rampant.

There's no need or point in trying to criticize it.

Therefore, in order to protect the feelings of the main audience, the villain cannot be any one of the Chinese, American, Japanese, or South Korean actors.

Then let's just insult France as usual. The French don't care anyway, and those small Central European countries are indeed the womb of Europe rife with gangs, so there's no question of smearing them.

The original film vividly portrayed that darkness, while Fang Xinghe added a new element—that fair-skinned, odorless Chinese girls are the finest finds in this dark jungle.

For the same virginity, Chinese girls cost twice as much as white girls.

This is not nonsense. Anyone who has been to the dark web knows that high-quality Chinese girls are superior to other races in every aspect, from blood and organs to sexual value and reproductive value, as well as other aspects that cannot be looked at or described.

This has even led to a very small number of Chinese girls being tortured and killed on the dark web, because they are expensive and scarce, and people are reluctant to do so.

Zeus was a dark remnant living in true cruelty, so he warned his sister: "You must recognize your own worth."

In the United States, you live in an affluent neighborhood and attend a prestigious private school. On this sunny and warm land, you are just a minority who are ostracized and isolated by your classmates.

But once you leave your familiar environment, the outside world is like a cave of ogres; you will be wildly sought after, and they will be eager to tear you to pieces and devour you.

In this dialogue, Fang Xinghe uses the straightforward word "devour".

He wasn't sure when Chinese audiences would understand, but at the latest, a decade or so later, when they revisited the film, they would likely have some new thoughts.

Furthermore, he clearly pointed out the differences between wealthy areas in the United States and other places, which was not a smear campaign but a respect for the facts.

At the end of the story, the opening lines used when the host announced the auction of Mia were also very impactful.

"As we all know, Chinese people are a magical race that has no odor at all. The best of them are beautiful, pure, innocent and friendly, and have a wonderful fragrance. They are the best no matter what they are used for."

However, the Chinese government protects them too closely, making it difficult for us to enter their countries and choose freely; we can only hope for a chance encounter.

Therefore, high-quality items like today's are rare even in our auction history..."

Fang Xinghe's praise for "Made in China" products is both a personal motive to build national self-confidence and a reminder and warning to naive young girls in China.

This world is not a beautiful place; be extra careful when traveling abroad.

"It's the best no matter what you use it for," this meaningful line ensures the suspenseful tone and impact.

"Such high-quality goods are rare," perfectly explains why Zeus persisted in the auction despite destroying so many gang members along the way.

Because of its high value, the gang would rather confront a killing machine head-on than settle a settlement.

Once this logical loop is formed, the motives of the villains in the whole story immediately become reasonable and sufficient, and Zeus's violent confrontation becomes intelligent and decisive.

Even the female lead's image was thus established—beautiful, delicate, with fair skin and an innocent and pure temperament.

In short, her value needs to be convincing enough.

The first thing that flashed through Fang Xinghe's mind was Liu Yifei's image once again.

No one can be younger than this fairy at this age.

But she clearly couldn't do it; her status wasn't a good match, and playing such a weak, supporting female lead didn't fit her image.

So, as a second choice, Son Ye-jin and Yui Aragaki, whom I've worked with before, would also work. They are both beautiful and fair-skinned, and most importantly, they both possess the delicate and fragile quality that comes with age.

However, it falls slightly short in terms of innocence and naivety, lacking that easily fooled, naive charm.

Moreover, this is a Sino-US co-production, and there are not many Chinese characters to begin with. Apart from the family of three, all the other actors are foreigners. If possible, Fang Xinghe would like to try to find another Chinese actress.

He left this difficult problem to the casting director to worry about.

Let the producer handle things like scouting and location selection.

He is mainly responsible for two things—

First, we worked with the company's action choreography department to study close-quarters combat techniques and with Hollywood firearms experts to disassemble CQC systems for movie scenes.

Second, follow Luc Besson's path and leave Bebe with nowhere to go.

After signing the contract with Sony, he immediately held a large-scale media conference to officially announce the start of the "Taken" project.

The script has been revealed, the plot has been revealed, the style has been revealed... Beibei, if you still want to make this, then that's just not right!
Fang Gou feels awkward and uncomfortable even when copying a domestic song or a novel; he can't get over it in his heart.

But if they try to take things from outside and use them, they're heartless and ruthless, leaving no trace of their lineage.

Luc Besson only saw the news two days later, and his mind went blank; he felt like he had seen a ghost.

Why does this... seem so familiar?
Well, at most he just felt a sense of déjà vu and familiarity, but he couldn't be sure of anything.

Because the actual script for "Taken" won't be completed until early next year, screenwriter Robert Carmen made targeted film adaptations based on Luc Besson's story, setting a tight main plot of "a former special agent father rescuing his daughter".

There's nothing there yet, and even the doubt itself can only flash by.

It's perfectly normal to have a stroke of inspiration.

Luc Besson initially kept a close eye on the project, intending to see how large the market was for this style of action film and whether it was worth learning from.

'If the audience is very receptive... then jumping on the bandwagon and making a quick buck isn't so bad!'

Thinking this, he suppressed the inexplicable regret that suddenly rose in his heart and sent Fang Xinghe a blessing text message.

"Keep up the good work, SR! Let the world truly realize that your action films are unparalleled!"

Fang Ge pursed his lips and replied frankly, "Thank you, your contribution will be a part of the success."

Beibei grinned from ear to ear, beaming with pride. She felt a close relationship with Fang Xinghe, and the good times of filming together were just around the corner...

(End of this chapter)