Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 343 Different thoughts

The main filming location for "Assembly" was Kuandian, Liaoning Province.

Before China Film Group and Qingdao Film Studio invested in the film, this place had already been selected as an outdoor shooting location, and filming facilities had been built, including the magnificent "castle" that is 300 meters long and 15 meters wide.

When Cao Yang arrived in Kuandian, the film crew was shooting war scenes.

"Ta-ta-ta," "Bang," "Charge!"...

On set, gunshots rang out, bombs flew, and shouts filled the air.

Thick smoke billowed, wrecked tanks stood side by side, and the walls were covered with marks left by bullets.

Cao Yang stood outside the warning line and watched for a while. Just looking at these things, it still had a very cruel sense of war.

It was still very cold in Kuandian at this time. Xiao Gangpao was wearing a big cotton-padded coat and a cotton hat with ear flaps, also known as a Lei Feng hat. He stood behind a camera with a serious expression.

Unlike other directors, when a director is sitting behind the monitor, no one dares to move around behind him for fear of affecting his train of thought or the lighting, and they would easily get scolded.

Behind Xiao Gangpao, there were always three people following him. Even when filming was paused and Xiao Gangpao was running around directing, these three people always followed him.

Cao Yang had been standing there for less than five minutes when seven or eight people gathered behind him. They didn't say anything, just stood quietly behind Cao Yang.

"Take a half-hour break."

Xiao Gangpao also saw Cao Yang. After filming a scene, he gave instructions to the crew.

Then, he rubbed his face with both hands and walked towards Cao Yang.

"Director Cao."

"Director Cao is here."

"Hello, Director Cao."

……

At this moment, the few people who had gathered behind Cao Yang finally spoke up to greet him.

The person closest to Cao Yang was Bai Yunqing, a producer sent by Qingying Film Studio, who served as the production manager in the "Assembly" crew.

Cao Yang's position at Qingying Film Studio was chief producer. Although he didn't really manage things, he was definitely Bai Yunqing's superior.

After Bai Yunqing's introduction, the seven people who gathered later were either the executive producer or production manager of the production team, or the assistant director or the art director.

Anyway, they were all high-level executives of the production team, ordinary staff members, and some actors waiting for their scenes. Even some well-known actors wouldn't be able to show up suddenly without being invited.

At this moment, Xiao Gangpao arrived, his face beaming with smiles and baring his teeth. Perhaps to show his closeness to Cao Yang, he didn't shake hands but instead put his arm around Cao Yang's shoulder.

"Haha, Lao Cao, welcome, welcome. It's been cloudy these past few days, and the temperature is a bit low, probably around minus ten degrees Celsius. Are you able to handle it? This is still good. When we were filming before the New Year, it was really cold."

Then, pointing to the people behind him, he said:

"By the way, let me introduce you. This is Park Joo-cheon, the action director from South Korea. He is the action director for this movie, and this is Jung Do-an, the head of the explosion team, who was specially invited from South Korea."

"Hello Director Cao, I am Park Joo-cheon. It is a great honor to meet you. I really like your movies."

Cao Yang saw one of the three people following Xiao Gangpao stretch out his hands, bend over slightly, and look somewhat excited, muttering something incoherently.

Another of the three was a Korean translator, who translated for Cao Yang.

Cao Yang shook hands with Park Joo-cheon and said, "Hello."

At this moment, another South Korean, Jeong Do-an, said something similar to Park Joo-cheon, and his attitude was also very humble. This is a gene ingrained in the South Korean psyche, which can be vividly summarized in two words: admiration for strength.

"Hello Director Cao, I am Zheng Daoan, and I am in charge of the explosion design for the film. It is a great honor to meet you, and I also really like your films."

Cao Yang shook hands with Zheng Daoan again and said hello.

South Korean films have developed rapidly in recent years. Both of them were invited by Xiao Gangpao because they participated in "Taegukgi," a film with a huge impact on South Korea.

It's not that there aren't good action choreography and explosives experts in China, but rather that Xiao Gangpao clearly wants to make "Assembly" into a movie like "Saving Private Ryan".

Furthermore, many elements of "Saving Private Ryan" can be seen in "Assembly".

To create such a film, domestic war action design and explosions are too realistic and obviously not "exciting" enough, while Hollywood's are too expensive. All things considered, these people from South Korea are cheap and plentiful.

"Filming is important, you go ahead and get busy, I'll just take a look around."

Cao Yang said to Little Cannon.

Little Cannon coughed lightly and asked in a low voice, "I saw in the news last time that you've received so many nominations again. Is there any hope of winning another major award?"

Cao Yang was stunned for a moment, then realized that Xiao Gangpao must have been talking about Oscar.

"I don't know, it's probably very difficult."

A smile flashed across Little Cannon's face as he comforted her, "It's okay, with your abilities, you can try harder next time."

Cao Yang smiled and shook his head, "It may be difficult to win big awards in the future, after all, my box office is too high, like 'Inception', which is worth seven or eight billion RMB."

Little Cannon loosened his grip on Cao Yang's arm, coughed again, smiled with extreme difficulty, and nodded, saying, "Alright, you can wander around for a bit, I'll treat you to a welcome dinner tonight."

Damn it, can't you just talk properly? Can't you just speak properly?
Thinking that my own movie breaking 100 million is considered a super hit, while that son of a bitch Cao Yang actually made 7 or 8 billion worldwide with one movie, I'm so damn angry, I really want to strangle him.

The two South Koreans following Xiao Gangpao chattered on and on, and the translator simply said, "They are very sorry that they cannot accompany Director Cao, and they hope to have the opportunity to receive guidance from Director Cao."

After Xiao Gangpao left, Cao Yang beckoned Bai Yunqing to come with him for a walk.

Walking around the 300-meter-long "castle," Cao Yang asked, "These were built before, right? They're quite large."

"Yes, this was built before we and China Film Group came. We and China Film Group's accountants reviewed and calculated the project, which cost a total of 518 million yuan and took more than four months."

Bai Yunqing hurriedly replied.

Cao Yang sighed, marveling at how low the labor costs were in China.

Such a large-scale project, with a construction period of just over four months, only cost 518 million yuan.

If this were in Hollywood, with this kind of project and this timeframe, even if you converted the RMB to USD, it definitely wouldn't be enough.

"How's the filming going lately?"

Cao Yang asked with a smile, seemingly just making a casual remark.

"Overall, things went smoothly, and we were able to meet our daily targets."

Bai Yunqing, a step behind Cao Yang, replied with a smile, "Perhaps it's because it's Zhang Hanyu's first time playing the lead role, so there are sometimes more takes with him, but we always work overtime to catch up."

Cao Yang nodded, then asked, "I heard Deng Chao is filming 'Comrades: Almost a Love Story.' Is there a scheduling conflict?"

"Speaking of this, Director Feng got very angry and even considered replacing the actor. In the end, Deng Chao assured Director Feng that the filming would not be delayed. I don't know how he coordinated with Gao Xixi, the director of 'Tian Mi Mi', but the priority was on the other side."

Bai Yunqing explained.

"Do other characters have similar issues?"

Cao Yang then asked.

Bai Yunqing answered without the slightest hesitation:
"The female lead also had a similar situation. Producer Xu said that Chen Shu felt that the role was not quite the same as her own image and that she could not play that feeling. Director Feng also felt that Chen Shu was too fashionable, so they hit it off and decided to terminate the contract and select a new female lead."

After glancing at Cao Yang, Bai Yunqing continued to explain, "Chen Shu has only been filming for three days. Her salary is not low. The new actor recommended by Huayi joined the crew for free."

Cao Yang nodded without saying anything.

Replacing a film's lead actor, especially the female lead, is a big deal. The production manager sent by Qingying Film Studio didn't stop it or report it to the studio... After Xiao Gangpao told him about this, Cao Yang had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

The proper procedure is that Bai Yunqing should have told him first, not Xiao Gangpao.

As the production manager sent by Qingying Film Studio, Bai Yunqing, representing the studio, absolutely could not remain inactive in matters involving the replacement of actors.

Afterwards, Cao Yang called President Han again to ask if he knew about the news that the production team of "Assembly" was going to replace the female lead.

Mr. Han is a smart man. As the head of China Film Group, he has seen similar things many times. From Cao Yang's few words, he realized what had happened.

The key point is that, like Qingdao Film Studio, China Film Group also doesn't know what happened.

It's clear that Huayi's public relations are quite impressive.

After Xiaogangpao finished filming today's plans in the afternoon, he originally wanted to invite Cao Yang to dinner for a get-together, but Cao Yang declined.

Little Cannon's heart skipped a beat; he knew the "show" was about to begin.

After everyone had a working lunch, Cao Yang convened a meeting with the crew's management.

He offered several suggestions.

"The production team needs stability. During filming, the producer or supervisor should not easily interfere in the production team's affairs. If there is anything unreasonable, opinions can be raised and the director's behavior can be stopped, but it must be reasonable."

After this was mentioned, several producers, including those from Qingying Film Studio, China Film Group, and Huayi Brothers, looked a little uneasy.

Nobody's a fool; of course they could understand why Cao Yang was making this statement.

Cao Yang glanced at everyone and bluntly stated, "Since I am the producer and one of the producers of this film, I will not allow anyone to interfere with the filming process, no matter who it is."

The most important thing in filmmaking is stability, and the worst thing you can do is haphazardly cast actors. If anyone thinks a current actor is unsuitable, they should tell me. Only if I truly believe they are unsuitable can I replace them; otherwise, no one should even consider doing anything unethical.

The producers kept their heads down, not daring to look at Cao Yang, especially Bai Yunqing from Qingying Studio, whose face was somewhat pale.

Little Cannon's eyelids drooped, and he looked like he wanted to laugh, but he forcibly suppressed it, which made him look a bit comical.

"I briefly watched Director Feng's filming today and consulted some relevant people. I have some questions that I would like to ask Director Feng."

Cao Yang looked at the little cannon and said.

Little Cannon didn't think too much about it and said with a grin, "Producer Cao, please ask if you have any questions."

"I won't even mention your uniform American equipment. You can think of it as the Ninth Company giving all the captured American equipment to the main force in order to complete the blocking mission."

However, there is one major oversight: the Ninth Company used special forces sign language during the Liberation War, which was a huge oversight, as tactical hand signals did not exist at that time.

South Korean special effects teams are quite good at pyrotechnics, explosions, and sound effects, which can be used, but we can't rely on them for everything.

Xiao Gangpao has made many improvements to the script, but he is determined to make a Chinese version of "Saving Private Ryan", so he goes for the "most glamorous" war scenes and props.

However, since he has always focused on comedies, he has never made a war film before, so he "borrowed" a little from "Saving Private Ryan" and "Taegukgi" during filming.

In "Saving Private Ryan," there's a sergeant, similar to a platoon leader, who tallies casualty figures. "Assembly" also has a platoon of long-range telephoto lenses doing the same job.

There's a cowardly and afraid-to-die clerk in the movie, and there's also one in "Assembly".

In movies, the US military kills prisoners of war, and the movie "Assembly" also depicts the killing of prisoners of war. The problem is that this is a strictly prohibited act in our army.

In "Saving Private Ryan," the squad nearly turned on each other and drew their guns over whether to continue the mission. Similarly, in "Assembly," the soldiers of the Ninth Company argued and even drew their guns on each other over whether to continue the mission.

It's fine for "Assembly" to imitate the battle scenes of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Taegukgi," but copying their details of killing prisoners, infighting, and smearing the instructor is a bit much.

Therefore, Cao Yang specifically pointed out some problems to prevent Xiao Gangpao from going too far in his filming and starting to imitate the South Korean style.

Since you've given me the credit for screenwriting, don't let me completely "go wild." Artistic embellishment is acceptable, but any obvious flaws must be corrected.

For example, the tank destroyed by Gu Zidi's mountain gun in the movie "Assembly" never appeared in the Liberation War. Using a mountain gun with indirect fire to shoot at a tank is bizarre in itself, and the explosive shells were not powerful enough to destroy the tank.

For example, the terms "sniper" and "sniper rifle" only appeared in the Chinese military in the late 1970s; they didn't exist during the Liberation War. They could be changed to "sharpshooter."

There are many similar examples, but I won't mention them in the meeting. I'll tell Xiao Gangpao about them privately. This is also one of the reasons why Cao Yang came here after carefully reading the new script and consulting with relevant people.

Xiao Gangpao's face turned somewhat grim; he hadn't expected Cao Yang to turn the "fire" on him.

Given his temper, he should have slammed his fist on the table and stood up to refute it on the spot.

However, when he saw Cao Yang staring straight at him, his anger burned even more fiercely, and he wished he could fight Cao Yang one-on-one on the spot.

That bastard Cao Yang, I shouldn't have let him become a screenwriter and producer. Now look what he's done, trying to control me. Who does he think he is?
With a "smack," Little Cannon couldn't hold back any longer and slammed his fist on the table, standing up abruptly.

"Director Cao is absolutely right. I didn't even notice these little details. No wonder he has become a world-renowned director. I admire him for that."

Xiao Gangpao cursed Cao Yang like a bastard in his heart, but on the surface, he felt that Cao Yang was coming to the film crew for the first time and should be given some face. They were all big directors and he couldn't let Cao Yang lose face.

Yes, it is like that.

This will not happen again, absolutely not again!
The next afternoon, people from Qingying Film Studio and China Film Studio came to replace Bai Yunqing and the other person.

Despite his resentment and disdain for Cao Yang's suggestions, which he considered somewhat pedantic, Xiao Gangpao still went out of his way to plug these obvious loopholes without any compromise.

If someone else tells him these things, he will definitely treat that person as talking nonsense and will insist on his own opinion.

But when Cao Yang told him these things, even though he was furious, he would still calm down and think about them. He also had a blind trust in Cao Yang and subconsciously believed that everything Cao Yang did was right.

This is probably because when someone is consistently successful, people unconsciously assume that all of their words and actions are reasonable.

It wasn't until Cao Yang left that Xiao Gangpao's temper suddenly became much worse and more irritable on set. If a shot didn't meet his expectations, he would start cursing and throwing a tantrum.

The ones who received the most criticism were Zhang Hanyu, who was playing the lead role for the first time, and Deng Chao, who had long been unhappy with Xiao Gangpao because of his multiple projects being filmed at the same time.

This was Zhang Hanyu's first time playing a lead role, and he even joined the project for a fee. So even if Xiao Gangpao criticized him harshly, he felt that Xiao Gangpao was being strict with him to eliminate better films.

Deng Chao was different.

He already had a decent reputation and should have been riding high, but being constantly scolded by Xiao Gangpao made him feel that Xiao Gangpao was targeting him, and he had a lot of resentment towards Xiao Gangpao.

Of course, Deng Chao certainly wouldn't dare to argue with Xiao Gangpao now, nor would he dare to resist; he could only keep this matter in mind.

After returning to Beijing from Kuandian, Cao Yang didn't stay long and went straight to Los Angeles by plane.

The 79th Academy Awards will be held on February 26th. Cao Yang arrived in Los Angeles in the early hours of the 25th.

His film "Inception" received nine nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.

It's not that Cao Yang didn't want to come to the US sooner to work on the Oscars.

Instead, Tom Rothman, the executive director of Columbia Pictures and soon to be promoted to vice president of Sony Pictures, had already spoken to Cao Yang.

Despite receiving nine nominations, Inception's box office success, though not high enough to force the Academy to compromise, makes it virtually impossible for it to win a major award. It's more likely to win technical awards.

Since he could only win technical awards, Cao Yang didn't care anymore.

If it weren't for Oscar chairman Sid Garnier, who had a good relationship with Cao Yang, insisting that he attend, he might not have come.

The technical awards at the Oscars have done almost no boost to Cao Yang's status.

Depp, on the other hand, was very happy, after all, he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor again, which is a recognition of his acting skills.

However, neither he nor his agency did much to promote awards. Even with an excellent performance, it's difficult to win Best Actor for a movie that's a global box office hit.

(End of this chapter)