Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 80: Talking to Feng Yuanzheng
Lu Kuan was directing the lighting technician's preparations before filming.

Today's scene is about Xu Huan gradually turning evil after being tricked by Zhuang Zhong. The requirements for the stage lighting are very high, with some overexposure, black and white designs, and he must personally direct it.

Boss Lu received a call from his assistant.

"Yong Yu Le?"

"Yes, Director Lu, it's a company called Yongyue Film and Television Culture and Art Company."

Sun Wenwen said: "According to a staff member from Daewoo, they bought the adaptation rights in 2001, but for some reason the project has never been launched. I also asked around in the industry, but there is indeed no news."

"Go ahead and make contact first, and do your best to take it down."

"Good guide."

Lu Kuan hung up the phone and secretly complained in his heart, no wonder Tangren had endless copyright lawsuits over the Fairy Sword in later generations, it turned out that he had bought it second-hand.

The later sugar man was a contract signed with Yitong Culture and Yongyue Film and Television Culture and Art Co., Ltd., stipulating that the three parties would jointly invest and cooperate in filming the TV series "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".

The script was written by Tangren and he owns the copyright, while the other two parties only have the right to attribution.

However, Tangren only owns the copyright and revenue of "Chinese Paladin" outside the mainland. The parties agreed that seven years later, that is, after 2010, Tangren has the right to buy back the mainland copyright from both parties.

The complicated contractual agreements only proved one thing: the Yongyule Company, which later became unknown, was a difficult company to deal with, and they could only talk about it after Sun Wenwen had contacted it.

The filming in recent days has been very smooth. The character Xu Huan's performance does not have many levels. Jay Chou has basically grasped the character's action chain under different psychological states. There are almost no major pauses like that day.

Feng Yuanzheng was discussing the psychology of the character Zhuangzhong with Lu Kuan. His originally smooth thinking about the character encountered obstacles, especially in the blank spaces left in the script.

He needs to listen to the guidance of screenwriter and director Lu Kuan, otherwise he is likely to deviate from the original core ideas.

"Director, do you think this solemnity is intended to motivate Xu Huan, or to destroy Xu Huan?"

In the original script of later generations, the screenwriter once wrote this sentence in the script: Was Teacher Fletcher planned?
This sentence appears after the teacher tricks the protagonist into performing without giving him the music score.

The director himself is also open to this issue, and does not rule out wanting to let the actors explore the possibilities themselves.

The actor who later played the teacher Fletcher won the Best Supporting Actor at the 87th Academy Awards.

Lu Kuan felt that with Feng Yuanzheng's ability, he could definitely compete for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards at the international film festival with his interpretation of this role, and he didn't want to tell him the answer just like that.

"Teacher Feng, let me tell you a story, the story of Zhuangzhong's childhood." Lu Kuan said patiently.

"When Zhuangzhong was a child, because he loved music, his father secretly took him away from school to watch a performance by a jazz drum master named A."

"This master is Xu Huan's idol in the play, and he is also the protagonist that Zhuang Zhong has been feeding his disciples with toxic chicken soup."

Feng Yuanzheng nodded and listened to his description attentively.

"Zhuangzhong loves this jazz drummer A. Once during a live performance, the drummer made a mistake, and the band leader threw a cymbal at him!"

"Just like the solemnity in the play?" Feng Yuanzheng asked.

“A lot of people think that, but the reality is very different.”

"The reason why drummer A was hit was simply because he was a nobody at the time, ostracized by the rest of the band, and abused by the boss for no reason. This isn't chicken soup; it's not meant to motivate the drummer. It's just for violence."

Feng Yuanzheng's expression grew serious. In the film, Zhuangzhong's description of the school was not like that. He told everyone that even the master drummer A would be punished by the strict teacher, let alone lowly scum like you.

In other words, Zhuang Zhong's violence against Xu Huan was not an imitation of the teaching methods of his predecessors, but his teaching methods were imitating the violence of his predecessors!
That's it!

The problem that had been bothering him was finally solved. Feng Yuanzheng flipped through the thoughts he had written on the script, and compared them with Lu Kuan's "easter egg chapter", and everything became clear to him.

"Director Lu, this character is brilliantly written."

This was the first time Feng Yuanzheng was impressed by Lu Kuan's talent after joining the group for so long.

Everyone has their own level of knowledge and everyone has their own specialization. This talented actor is not shy about expressing his admiration.

This is recognition and affirmation of art, and has nothing to do with age or seniority.

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "You're welcome, Mr. Feng. When I was selecting the actors, I considered Mr. Wang Xueqi, Mr. Chen Daoming, and you."

"Why did you choose me in the end?" Feng Yuanzheng asked puzzledly.

Lu Kuan said seriously, "Excuse me for being blunt, but the performances of these two are more or less a bit crafty. Teacher Wang Xueqi still shows his usual cold-faced image and hasn't made any major breakthroughs in his roles."

"Mr. Chen Daoming has played so many emperors and generals that if he were to play Zhuangzhong, he would most likely be portrayed as a strict teacher, a positive character, which would be inconsistent with the film's open ending."

Seeing Feng Yuanzheng listening intently, Lu Kuan continued to explain, "This character is definitely not just a strict teacher or a thug."

"For the last show, he invited Xu Huan to perform but deliberately gave him the wrong music score. If Xu Huan could perform it, he would be pleased that he had created another jazz drum master."

"If Xu Huan fails to perform well and his career is ruined, or even commits suicide like his previous student, unable to bear the pressure, he will only mock and look for the next student to use as a test subject."

Feng Yuanzheng nodded slightly.

Although the rivalry in this movie is not that exciting, what else can he be dissatisfied with to be able to play such a wonderful role under the guidance of a director of Lu Kuan's caliber?

"Director Lu, if you need a role like this in the future, please think of me. I'll do it for free!"

Feng Yuanzheng, who was self-righteous, also started to flatter him.

This was a drama fanatic. Foreign professor Meier tried hard to persuade him to stay in East Germany and contribute to the inheritance and development of the Grotowski School.

If he stayed, he would have easily obtained status and generous treatment, but he resolutely returned to China for his dream of becoming an actor.

"Director, someone is looking for you."

The studio assistant interrupted their conversation.

Lu Kuan asked Ning Hao to organize the filming first and walked outside the studio. Was he here to visit the set again?

During this period, because Jay Chou was filming in seclusion here, reporters and fans were constantly coming and going.

Some agents who are familiar with the crew, director and actors have brought their artists to visit the set to get some exposure, which is also a normal practice in the industry.

Why is it her? Lu Kuan frowned, sensing that someone was up to no good.

Liu Bei came over with a chubby female assistant and a young boy with a childish face.

(End of this chapter)