Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 248 Dialogue

The expert looked a little unnatural and could only hide it with an awkward smile.

Zhang Chen ignored him and looked at the audience, continuing: "There is actually a saying in the industry that movies without profound content are called popcorn movies.

This is actually true, and I think it is quite vivid. Aren’t the movies I made popcorn movies?
Watching a movie and eating popcorn, before I knew it, the movie was over and the popcorn was gone. I think this is good, there is nothing wrong with it, it’s just for fun, isn’t it? "

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, the audience spontaneously applauded.

"But I think shallowness does not mean superficiality. In The Dark, I focused on the friendship and betrayal between Juno and Sharla. In The Shallows, I described the heroine's determination not to give up. In Manslaughter, it's about maternal love, the determination of a mother to do anything for her child..."

The host continued, "Since we are talking about "The Accidental Murderer", I would like to ask, have you watched "The Accidental Murderer" recently?"

"I saw it~"

"I saw it~"

Voices from the audience could be heard one after another; most of them had seen it.

"So what do you think of the movie?"

“It’s pretty~”

“Very good~”

“Good looking~”

"I particularly like..."

There are all kinds of comments below, but basically they are all positive.

Zhang Chen smiled and bowed with his hands: "Thank you all for your support. You are all my breadwinners. I can only have enough food to eat thanks to you all. I am here to greet you all~"

Zhang Chen's funny behavior quickly caused the audience to laugh, and the host also laughed. The tension caused by the previous little argument disappeared.

"I also watched "The Accidental Murderer". To be honest, I didn't see anything profound in it, but it was indeed quite good..."

Zhang Chen was a little surprised that the host would backstab the expert, and the expert next to him was even more embarrassed.

"I heard that the two main actors had a conflict during the roadshow?"

Speaking of this, Zhang Chen smiled bitterly: "The conflict was originally a gimmick, just for publicity. After all, their relationship is inherently competitive.

But what I didn’t expect was that it was all made up, and everyone was just joining in the fun, but I didn’t expect that the two parties involved seemed to really get a little carried away…”

Zhang Chen revealed this information intentionally. His current personality reflects his true nature.

Moreover, this little bit of information is not a big deal for the two parties involved. If they want to clarify, it is just a matter of saying a few words for them, and not clarifying it will not have any impact on their status.

"Dialogue" is still a serious talk show. The host has no intention of digging deep into gossip, but instead talks about movies.

"Publicity aside, the plot of "The Accidental Murderer" itself is also very good, the conception is very clever, and the use of time difference is really amazing. In addition, the rhythm of the whole movie is very good. I was immersed in it without realizing it. Director Zhang's directing skills are really profound..."

Facing the compliments, Zhang Chen waved his hands and said, "Thank you for the compliments. The fact that this movie is so good actually has little to do with the director. It's mainly because of the good script."

“Oh, who’s the screenwriter?”

"Haha, that's me too~"

This scene made the host and the audience laugh, and even the embarrassed expert couldn't help laughing.

After everyone finished laughing, Zhang Chen added: "It's not just me. The overall framework of the story is indeed my idea, but many of the details in the middle are actually completed by our company's screenwriter team. I have a lot of things to do every day, and I have other movies to shoot. It's impossible for me to think so carefully, so the details are usually perfected by the screenwriter team.

By the way, our company's screenwriter team is very good. I am not exaggerating when I say that our company's screenwriter team is first-rate in the entire film industry. You may not know that our company does not sign actors. Apart from directors, we only sign screenwriters..."

"Oh, why is that?" The host asked the question that the audience wanted to ask, and the audience in the audience all looked very interested.

"Because we need to maintain a strong creative spirit. We are a film and television production company, and creative ability is the foundation of the company's survival. Oh, I forgot to mention that the screenwriters of our company all have the right to be credited..."

"what is that?"

"You may not know that in the film industry, there are so many types of jobs and so many roles, but the status of screenwriters is the lowest. Many screenwriters work hard for a long time, but in the end, their names cannot even be written in the screenwriter column. But our company will not do that. We respect screenwriters very much. We respect people with creative ability..."

"Oh, if you hadn't told us, we really wouldn't have known. So can I understand this way? You mean that your military medals also have a part in those screenwriters?"

"of course."

"I didn't expect you to admit it so openly?"

"why?"

"Because many directors I know like to deliberately emphasize the importance of the director in a play, but according to them, the script is the least important part of a movie."

"That's all bullshit~"

Zhang Chen blurted out, but immediately realized: "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have used swear words. It's really, um, the arrow is on the string and has to be shot..."

Zhang Chen's words made the host laugh again. He felt that since he started hosting "Dialogue", the number of times he laughed was not as many as today.

Some of the audience laughed, while some had never heard of this story and didn't understand what was funny. But it didn't matter, Zhang Chen had already continued.

"The script is called a script because it is the foundation of a play. For a movie, the script is responsible for the lower limit, and the director is responsible for the upper limit.

Let’s take "Farewell My Concubine" as an example. The script written by Mr. Lu Wei is already good enough. Even if it was not Chen Kaige, it might not be bad if someone else shot it.

That’s the lower limit.

But with Lu Wei's script and Chen Kaige's talent, Farewell My Concubine reached another level."

What Zhang Chen said was very simple and easy to understand, and many people in the audience nodded.

"You admire Farewell My Concubine?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "It is indeed a very good movie. All students in our directing department should watch it to learn from it."

The host immediately asked, "Why didn't you shoot this type of film?"

Zhang Chen showed a surprised expression: "If we use cooking as an analogy, Farewell My Concubine is Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. The process is complicated and time-consuming. It is a Kung Fu dish. Although it is amazing and delicious, it takes a lot of time and effort.

The movies I shot were like stir-fried dishes, which were quick to serve and tasted good. Although they were not as amazing as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, they were more suitable for the general public. After all, no one eats Buddha Jumps Over the Wall every day. "

Hearing this metaphor, the audience laughed again.

The host did not continue to dwell on this topic, but continued with the previous question: "Just now you said that the script should be responsible for the lower limit, then why are there so many bad movies on the market?"

“That’s because directors all have a bad habit of changing the script.

Do you know why it is so difficult to be admitted to the directing department of Beijing Film Academy? Because the requirements for directors in movies are higher than any other job.

A director not only needs to understand directing, but also needs to understand other aspects of his job, such as lighting, scenery, art, performance, etc.

Why do many great directors come from other positions? For example, Zhang Yimou was a photographer, Gu Changwei was also a photographer, and Feng Xiaogang was an art director...

Because they already have a deep understanding of their own positions, it will be much easier for them to switch to being directors.

So, every director is very proud.

They feel they understand the script better than the screenwriter, understand light better than the lighting, and understand composition better than the photography.

So during the filming, they couldn't help but want to make changes.

But the director is the biggest person on the set, and no one dares to tell them what to do, so even if they make changes, no one can restrain him.

Many directors have artistic sentiments, just like what the expert just said, they want to express something deeper.

But it is bound to be difficult to express deep things, and if you don’t do it well, the audience will not be able to understand it.

If most of the audience understands it, it is art. If most of the audience cannot understand it, it is a bad movie.

It’s that simple~”

Zhang Chen said a lot in one breath, and everyone was fascinated by his words.

"So how would you rate "The Accidental Murder" if the full score is 100?"

The host's question is very tricky.

Zhang Chen touched his nose and said, "80 points."

"Where did the 20 points go?"

Zhang Chen felt that he had fallen into the host's trap, but he still had to say: "It was at the end."

“So you know it yourself…”

At this point, the host and the audience burst into laughter, and Zhang Chen also laughed awkwardly.

"It seems that the audience also feels it. Let's ask them what they think. What do you think of the ending?"

After the host finished speaking, the staff in the audience were still thinking about who to pass the microphone to, but the crowd was already boiling with excitement.

"The ending is a failure~"

"Yeah, it feels superfluous~"

"It's just a dog's tail~"

"I think so too. It's a good movie, but the ending ruined the fun~"

"Director, did someone force you to change it like this? If someone forced you, just blink your eyes~"

There were all kinds of comments below, and the atmosphere was very relaxed and warm.

Zhang Chen withdrew his gaze and smiled bitterly.

The host also looked at Zhang Chen at this time and asked with a smile: "Why do you add that paragraph at the end? As far as I know, it is not included in the Hong Kong and foreign versions. Why is that?"

Zhang Chen shrugged: "Why? Of course it's for the trial."

Host: "Without this part, it can't be shown in the country?"

Zhang Chen did not answer directly, but said: "Let me first state the conclusion. The fact that "Accidental Murder" can be released in China and meet the public shows that it definitely meets the censorship requirements.

But that wasn't the original script.

When I just wrote the story framework, I felt that it might cross the red line, so I went to China Film Corporation to find Mr. Han Sanping and asked him to help me check it.

President Han said at the time that such a story would definitely not pass review.

Later we thought about setting the story in Hong Kong. As you all know, due to some special reasons, the standards for Hong Kong films are much looser than ours, but even so, it is still not safe.

Later, the story background was simply changed to a foreign country. After all, the identity of the villain is quite sensitive.

Then there is the modification of the ending.

There is a very important rule in our country's review process: bad guys must be punished.

Is the protagonist of this movie, Ayu, a bad person? Definitely not, but she did break the law.

If you break the law you must be punished; this is a red line that cannot be crossed, so A Yu finally turned himself in.

In order to make this point more convincing, I deliberately added the plot where the daughter lied in the end. After experiencing that incident, the daughter already had the wrong value of "as long as you are smart enough, you can escape legal sanctions". That's why the protagonist chose to surrender himself, just to tell him with actions that her idea was wrong and no one can escape legal sanctions.

But judging by the results, people don’t seem to accept this.”

At this time, the expert suddenly spoke up: "Then Director Zhang, do you think that our country's film censorship system has hindered the development of the film industry?"

As soon as this guy opened his mouth, you knew he was up to no good.

Zhang Chen finally understood that this guy was hired by the program crew to trick him.

But how could Zhang Chen get what he wanted? Don't forget what he came here for today.

Zhang Chenzi weighed his words carefully, "Everyone may think that the film censorship system is troublesome, like a shackle on us.

Even many film practitioners believe that they cannot produce good works because of the shackles of the film censorship system.

But that’s not the case!
"Hero", "A World Without Thieves", "Kung Fu", "The Shallows"...

These are all good movies. Weren't they all produced under the film censorship system?
It doesn’t mean that filming those dark places will necessarily be a good movie, and movies don’t necessarily only need to film those dark places.”

"But why is our country the only one with a film censorship system? Don't you think this is a step backward?" The expert continued to play the role of the villain.

Zhang Chen shook his head: "No, no, no, you are wrong about this. In fact, many countries have film censorship systems. Singapore and Malaysia may be stricter than ours. Moreover, the censorship system is not only for internal films, but also for foreign films. If they do not meet the requirements, they will not be allowed to be released. This actually has some positive significance..."

"for example?"

“For example, Young and Dangerous. Male audiences born in the 1980s and 1990s should be familiar with this film.

This movie is full of various violent elements, portraying the underworld as positive and heroic, which can easily have a negative influence on teenagers.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has expressly banned this film from entering the mainland.

In other words, he didn't pass the film censorship at all.

The reason we've all seen it is because of pirated discs.

I can say responsibly that if mainlanders hadn't seen this movie, the number of teenage fights would be reduced by at least half. Do you agree with me saying this?"

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, the audience responded loudly.

Many of the audience were born in the 1980s and 1990s, and Zhang Chen was talking about their childhood.

During the two years when "Young and Dangerous" was all the rage, which school didn't have a "Chen Haonan" and a "Hung Hing"?
"Let me tell you one more thing. Young and Dangerous did not pass the Malaysian film censorship at first and could not be released. It was only approved after some modifications were made. In the Young and Dangerous that passed the censorship, Chen Haonan became an undercover agent of the police. Can you believe it?"

Not many people knew about this news, and everyone was shocked. I thought that in Young and Dangerous 5, Chen Haonan secretly confessed to the police because Hong Kong had returned to China at that time, but I didn't expect to encounter such a thing in Malaysia.

"I don't deny what you said. The film censorship system does have its positive side, but overall, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, right?" The expert still expressed his disagreement.

Zhang Chen continued: "You may not know that our country actually relaxed its policies for a period of time in the 80s, but the result was that all kinds of monsters and demons emerged.

Without restrictions, everyone dares to shoot anything, such as the long close-up shot of milking in "Ranger Black Butterfly"...

The film, which is full of nudity, vulgar science fiction and cult classics, is comparable to "The Living Dead" and "Frankenstein"...

"Death Inn" deliberately shows various tragic and horrific scenes of death...

There are also films called "Kill Them All" with words like "blood", "kill", "crime", "love", "sex" all over the movie posters..."

"At that time, nothing was really done, and the film industry was in chaos. But I also agree with part of your point just now. The censorship system does have its shortcomings. We still need to promulgate the Film Law as soon as possible. Having a law to rely on is the right way..."

Then Zhang Chen spread his hands and said, "But this will definitely take a process. Our country's film industry has just started to develop. According to the law of development of things, it must be disorderly at the beginning. The country also allows it to grow wildly, and then it will slowly become orderly, and the relevant laws and regulations will gradually become perfect.

The management will certainly be rough at the beginning, and it is unrealistic to expect them to formulate perfect laws and regulations all at once, so we can only take it one step at a time..."

Zhang Chen said a lot today. Some of it was of course spoken to the Film Bureau, but some of it was also his true thoughts.

Until he traveled through time, there was no clear "Film Law" promulgated, but the intensity of control was indeed changing year by year, which is progress.

Otherwise, how could movies like "Twenty-One Demands" and "The Road to Fire" be released?

(End of this chapter)