Reshaping the landscape of the Chinese entertainment industry

He Ye personally took charge of everything for the film, from the preparation of the crew to the selection of the cinematographers and the actors.

So unlike those directors who rely on dog-tying, he delegates everything to the assistant director.

Ten days earlier, when the crew first met, he made a request to the actors.

They were asked to rehearse the script and perform it like a stage play to get a feel for it.

Of course, He also dislikes things being too theatrical, and he offers some guidance when watching their rehearsals.

In retrospect, this approach proved effective.

Once filming began, everyone instantly got into character.

This made He Ye feel a great deal of goodwill towards the actors of this era once again.

Putting everything else aside, the performances of these ordinary people are full of realism.

Unlike some people who, after becoming famous, couldn't bring themselves to play minor characters again.

The most representative of these is probably actor Huang.

When he was young and not yet famous, he acted in all the dramas well, and he portrayed every character very realistically.

Later, I don't know if it was because he took on too many variety shows and made too much money, or because he became more important, but he always acted with an air of importance and never played ordinary people again.

In this respect, Baoqiang is very good. He will play any role as long as it is suitable, and he has no burden of fame.

Furthermore, many of Baoqiang's roles are comedic or ugly, which really tests his acting skills.

After all, a bad portrayal of a clown can easily make someone dislike you, and it's not easy to make someone like a clown.

Among the more famous actors who have played comedic roles well are Buffett Zhao, Baoqiang, and Rachel from "Friends".

Yanzi in "Wild Child Looking for Father" is indeed a clown character, and a supporting character at that, but she managed to overshadow the protagonist Ziwei.

In terms of acting ability, he is indeed capable.

Rachel in Friends was also a character with a very bad personality, but she was portrayed so well that she wasn't annoying at all. That's amazing.

Needless to say, most of Baoqiang's roles would be completely different if played by someone else.

……

When Yu Feihong gave the order to prepare for filming, the first scene quickly began.

Unlike the directors of the 10s and later, He did not sit behind the monitor as soon as he joined the crew.

The era of film is still dominated by celluloid.

Apart from people like Jiang Wen who don't care about money, everyone else actually uses film very sparingly when shooting.

This is also why He Ye had them get a feel for the camera and try it out first.

At the same time, the monitors at this time were not as useful as they were later; the images were not only blurry, but the quality also varied greatly.

Therefore, He Ye did not sit down at all, but mainly relied on the viewfinder or directly observed the actors' performances to judge whether the shot could be used.

This also reveals the directorial capabilities of this era.

Because if you don't have the ability, you probably won't even know what you're filming.

The most typical example is probably Guan Hu. When he made his first film, he didn't pay attention to these things at all and thought he had made a great film. But when he went back and developed the film, he found that all the shots and images were overexposed.

None of them were usable, so we had to redo them all.

Not to mention labor costs, the production cost alone will more than double.

Therefore, the directors who can truly become famous in this era, putting everything else aside, are undoubtedly excellent in terms of basic directing skills.

For example, He Ye himself, if he wants to ensure that the shots are usable, he not only needs to be clear about the script he has written, but also needs to have a full understanding of the visual presentation by the actors.

At the same time, it is also necessary to constantly monitor whether the actors' performances meet the requirements.

This kind of judgment and insight is the foundation of a director.

This situation will only gradually change after 2010.

With the innovation of camera technology, the resolution of monitors will gradually improve, making the director's job much easier, and allowing them to directly review previous performances to identify any problems.

However, it was 2002, and He Ye didn't have that kind of thing yet, so he could only rely on his own judgment and the judgment of the director of photography.

Liu Guonan was busy running around, coordinating everything. Zhang Shudong led the lighting team to set up the lights, while Li Xuelei, his apprentice, and Zhou Jia began to adjust the recording equipment.

Once everything was ready, script supervisor Liu Miao raised the clapperboard.

"The first scene, the first shot, the first take of 'Fireworks in the Human World'!"

"Action!"

Li Baotian instantly got into the zone.

He stood in front of the stove, scooped a ladle of water into the pot, and bent down to start a fire.

The flames leaped up, and he squinted to check the heat before standing up to get the basin.

The basin contained pre-prepared dough. He sprinkled some flour on the cutting board, placed the dough on it, and began to knead.

His movements were slow, but every step was practiced.

When kneading the dough, he would slightly turn his head to look at the sky outside the window... When rolling the dough into strips, he would stop and wipe his forehead with his sleeve... When cutting the noodles, he would neatly arrange the cut noodles on one side, and then smooth them with his hands after arranging them.

Throughout the entire process, he didn't say a word, but everyone could tell from his performance.

This is a person who makes the noodle shop his whole life, a person who, though old, still has the skills.

"Click!"

He also called a halt, and everyone looked at him.

He pondered for a few seconds, then stared at the monitor for a few more seconds to confirm with the cameraman before saying, "Teacher Li, this take is complete."

Li Baotian was taken aback: "Passed? No need to guarantee one?"

"No need," He laughed. "You acted better than my storyboard. Taking another take would be a waste of film."

The whole room burst into laughter.

The first scene was filmed in one take.

This start seems to indicate that the filming will go exceptionally smoothly.

As expected, the filming progressed smoothly in the days that followed.

Filming continued until the end of January, and the production progressed more and more smoothly.

While He Ye was filming with great enthusiasm, he was unaware that public opinion outside had already exploded.

The whole thing started with the promise Han Sanping made to him of support for art-house film directors.

China Film Group allocates a sum of money each year to support directors of art-house films. The amount is not large, but it is enough to start production on several low-budget films.

In previous years, this money was distributed among a few "veterans." They were all in the same industry, so everyone tacitly agreed to it. They would take the money, make a film, and then submit it to the film festival, and that would be considered their job done.

Then the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival can award these films, and everyone will be happy.

We're all in the same circle, familiar faces, old friends. Who's going to embarrass anyone else? It's the same every year.

So when the domestic film market took off, these veterans got a bit defensive. They thought, "You guys can make hundreds of millions just by making a movie, so what's the point of us working so hard to gain recognition and get support?"

They did consider making movies to earn some money back then, but having gotten used to that kind of film, it was impossible to change their ways.

So they were even more vulnerable.

Then they stubbornly believed that their films were highbrow and sophisticated, and that if the audience couldn't understand them, it was the audience's problem, while those who made commercial films to please the audience were a stain on the art of film.

They couldn't win commercially, so they collectively ostracized those who achieved high box office returns and refused to give them any awards.

They even developed a sense of superiority over this, thinking, "How much money do your films make? Whether they win awards depends on whether we give them to them or not."

Therefore, they don't really respect those so-called new generation "great directors".

Although the development of the domestic film industry has not yet reached the level of the next few years, this state of self-entertainment and self-contained enjoyment has actually been going on for several years.

Many of them even live off this money every year.

This is also very evident in academia. Often, as soon as a research project is launched, the academic elites know about it and casually mention it over drinks, saying that there's a new research project this year, and then they tell so-and-so to apply for it and have their group do it.

That's how simple the matter was settled.

It's not as complicated as we ordinary people think. They've already divided up the spoils without you even knowing.

After all, directly asking for money is definitely not right, it's against the rules, and it's easy to be noticed.

However, it is certainly reasonable to create various pretexts, such as research funding or academic seminar grants.

However, the people responsible for submitting the applications were their disciples and grand-disciples, the people responsible for reviewing them were their friends, and the people in charge of this project were their own research group...

The film industry is similar; there's support every year, but it's only for art films.

Applications like "Little Cannon" are not eligible.

However, He happened to be filming an art film, and this genre was also very popular with China Film Group, plus he was a newcomer.

Therefore, this year, after He Ye Studio applied, Han Sanping gave him the support policy.

A newcomer, making his debut film, not only received investment from China Film Group Corporation, but also special support.

By the time some senior members thought that the new year had just begun and the Lunar New Year was not yet over, but the new special funds had already been allocated, and they were preparing to sound out the situation before applying after the New Year, it was all too late.

Han Sanping said directly that there would be no more support this year, and that they should wait until next year!

The seniors who came to apply were stunned. At first, they were thinking, "It's only January, who is making such a quick move this year?"

But upon checking back, they discovered that it wasn't one of their people, but a young man.

Furthermore, this young man also has some connection with Han Sanping.

They couldn't sit still any longer and immediately released it to the public.

When the news got out, the older generation of people objected.

"What does Han Sanping mean by this? Is he taking state funds for his cronies?"

"Why should a kid who hasn't even grown up yet receive a million dollars plus subsidies to make a movie? What has he ever made? What does he know?"

"Does it even need to be said? It's definitely a case of bribery!"

"How could someone so young receive so much investment and support? Is he Han Sanping's illegitimate son?"

"I'm going to file a complaint!!!"

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