Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 76 Seven Powers, Four Senses, and Performance Tension

Everyone was having dinner together, and Lu Kuan felt embarrassed to just read the script and shot storyboards by himself, so he started chatting with Liu Xiaoli.

"Aunt Liu, Xiao Liu has been confirmed to play Wang Yuyan in Tian Long. Has Chinese Paladin contacted you yet?"

He just subconsciously chatted with her according to the development path of Concubine Liu Yi in his previous life.

"The Legend of Sword and Fairy", "Dragon and Dragon", "The Return of the Condor Heroes", these four dramas have cultivated Liu's blood-strong physique.

"Ah? What magic sword?"

Liu Yifei didn't know what Lu Kuan meant by the "Legend of Sword and Fairy" crew, but she had heard of this game.

Lu Kuan turned around and looked at Liu Yifei and her daughter, both of whom looked stunned. Only then did he realize that they probably had not yet come into contact with the "Legend of Sword and Fairy" crew.

Even now, whether the Xianjian project has been approved within Tangren is another matter.

He slapped his head, didn't even eat, took out his cell phone and walked out.

"Hello? Mr. Lu?"

The person who answered the phone was Sun Wenwen, the assistant Zhuang Xu hired for him, and also the only employee of Wenjie Culture Media.

Wenjie Culture Media is a one-person limited liability company owned by Lu Kuan. In order to make the company famous, Boss Lu ultimately did not use the film quota of Qingying Studio.

Instead, he asked this master's degree student from the Law School of Renmin University, who had graduated two years ago, to complete the registration and filming permit procedures.

"Contact Daewoo Entertainment in Taiwan immediately and inquire about the film and television adaptation rights for The Legend of Sword and Fairy. If possible, discuss cooperation as quickly as possible."

Lu Kuan carefully recalled the information from his previous life. He only remembered that Tangren had a long copyright conflict with Daewoo.

However, since Liu Yifei and her daughter didn't even know about this film and television project at that time, it is very likely that the adaptation rights have not yet fallen into Tangren's hands.

It doesn't matter whether you try or not. If you can snatch "Chinese Paladin", you can also incubate a big IP for Wenjie Culture. There will be no shortage of buyers for adapting it into a movie or other peripheral products in the future.

Sun Wenwen is a young man from a small town who graduated from Sichuan Province. She is very capable and efficient. "Okay, Mr. Lu, got it."

"and many more!"

Boss Lu calculated the funds he had and the expected additional income after the World Cup and decided to stock up on a few more dramas.

"Two more things."

"Contact the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House to buy the copyright for author Du Liang's novel 'Drawing Sword.'"

The fate of this novel is rather tortuous. Du Liang was rejected by the publishing house six times. Even if it was published, it had to go through many major revisions and was quite unrecognizable.

Later, a Shanghai film and television company bought the copyright for 18.8 yuan. Due to the subject matter and the difficulty of shooting, it changed hands several times and was finally purchased by Liu Yanming of Hairun Film and Television for 100 million yuan.

"Then contact Lan Xiaolong, the screenwriter of the Peking Military Region Comrades Repertory Theatre, and buy the copyright of 'Elna: Assault' from him."

This is the predecessor of "Soldier Assault".

I'm sorry Huayi, although we haven't had any encounter yet and although we have no grudges against each other, let me, Boss Lu, steal some of your luck first!

Sun Wenwen always felt distressed about not being able to keep up with her boss's pace, but she still cheered herself up and replied, "Got it."

The world is still uncertain, and I am still a beast of burden.

Sometimes, this young man who has just entered the society wants to resign because he is being ordered around by Boss Lu, but the capitalist offers too much!

Lu Kuan offered her a monthly salary of nearly 2000 yuan, which was considered high in an era when the average monthly salary was yuan.

Everything went smoothly for several days until June 1st, Children's Day, when the crew encountered the biggest difficulty since filming.

This is a scene where Feng Yuanzheng and Jay Chou act against each other. It is the first turning point after the film enters the plot point, and it is also the first time that drummer Xu Huan witnesses the solemn perversion and horror.

In the film, drummer Xu Huan finally joins Zhuangzhong's band. He still cooperates with the band's performance according to his previous playing rhythm and mentality, but Zhuangzhong is determined to push him towards the path of madness.

Zhuangzhong deliberately delayed or interrupted his normal drum beat, forcing him to repeat it again and again.

Feng Yuanzheng often utters obscene words. In the original version, words like Di*k and Fu*k are everywhere, and he curses Xu Huan so badly that even his mother doesn't recognize him.

Jay Chou was completely defeated in the rivalry scene with Feng Yuanzheng. He was too weak in terms of actions, expressions and physical reactions, which made the plot of the film feel fragmented and failed to form effective interaction between the characters.

"Cut!" Everyone in the crew looked solemn. Ning Hao also looked at Lu Kuan who was frowning. This was already the 12th take of the scene. Jay Chou's performance was still not on point. Under the coercion of Feng Yuanzheng, he did not give the proper feedback.

In Lu Kuan's expectation, this conflict scene should be easier to shoot.

Because the character's psychological state of solemnly accepting the teacher at this time is very consistent with Jay Chou, he once said that he also received strict music education since childhood.

Take this scene for example, Zhuangzhong put his whole face close to Xu Huan's ear and forced him to repeat it over and over again, punishing him with insults and slaps each time, deliberately messing with his mentality.

At this time, the feedback on Jay Chou or Xu Huan's performance should be timidity with a hint of doubt, hesitation, and unwillingness, rather than being like a wooden stake that can be flattened and rounded by Zhuangzhong.

If he had just blindly accepted his fate and swallowed the insult like Jay Chou, the plot in which the protagonist was stripped of his principal position for forgetting to bring drumsticks and reported Zhuang Zhong to the school and other organizations would have been too abrupt and affected the rhythm of the entire linear narrative.

And what was Andrew’s performance like in the original work?
From being at ease at the beginning to self-doubt, even after being slapped and insulted by his teacher Fletcher, breaking down his psychological defenses, he still kept repeating: I feel bad! I feel bad! I feel bad!

This is a performance with contrast and progression. The repetition of a single emotional element is very detrimental to the establishment of the character image.

"I'm sorry, director, I can't capture the emotions in this scene."

Jay Chou felt a little embarrassed.

Feng Yuanzheng patted his shoulder. New actors all have problems of one kind or another, and he has seen a lot of them. He smiled and went to the side to drink some water.

Lu Kuan looked at his watch and saw that he had already failed more than 30 shots today.

"Everyone take a break today, and we'll start early tomorrow."

Lu Kuan announced the end of work in a concise manner.

The rest of this scene is almost all about the rivalry between Zhuang Zhong and Xu Huan. Jay Chou is stuck and the entire crew has to stop because they have to solve his problem first.

Lu Kuan took Jay Chou to the flower bed outside the studio and greeted the two male actors who were just about to finish their performance.

"Huang Bo, Teacher Feng, go out and have a cigarette."

Lu Kuan is a heavy smoker. Feng Yuanzheng paid more attention to protecting his voice and quit smoking earlier. However, when he joined the crew of "Whiplash", he was dragged into the smoke again by Boss Lu.

"Teacher Feng, you are a senior actor at the People's Art Theatre. What do you think is wrong with Jay Lun's scene?"

Feng Yuanzheng laughed and said, "Director Lu, are you giving us a question?"

Jay Chou pricked up his ears in anticipation, and he was also eager to solve his problem.

Huang Bo pondered, "When performing the seven powers and four senses, Jaylen lacks some sensitivity and creativity."

He looked at Lu Kuan with an inquiring look, hoping to get an answer from this skilled young director.

Lu Kuan patted Jay Chou on the shoulder: "Actually, Jay Chou lacks some tension."

The tension in performance does not belong to the seven powers and four senses. It is a rather mysterious thing to talk about, and the audience usually cannot detect its existence in actors with excellent acting skills.

But once this thing is missing, the character image will immediately lose its footing.

Jay Chou said anxiously: "Director Lu, tell me what to do!"

Lu Kuan looked at Feng Yuanzheng with a smile.

The latter crushed the cigarette butt under his feet: "The tension of the performance can be summed up in eight words."

“Just right, able to control it with ease.”

Appropriate means harmonious but not abrupt.

Tension is not just tension in the physical sense, nor is it mindless roaring like Ma Jingtao.

There are many cases where one can control the system with ease.

For example, the speech clip of Chen Daoming in "My 1919" and Maggie Cheung laughing and then crying when she looked at Mickey Mouse on the corpse in "Comrades: Almost a Love Story".

Jay Chou seemed to understand what he said, but not quite.

(End of this chapter)