Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 45 Filming Completed
During the next few days of filming, both Liu Ye and Yu Feihong gave brilliant interpretations of their roles. It was as if the two of them were competing with each other, and any scenes they played against each other were so exciting to watch.

Old Tian was deeply moved by what he saw.

She complained to Cao Yang more than once that today's directors are too impetuous and impatient.

As long as one can calm down and explain the play seriously to the actors, even someone as stupid as Yu Feihong can compete with Liu Ye in acting, so what actor can't perform well?
Cao Yang smiled and said nothing.

Old Tian, ​​I'm afraid you haven't met the young actresses and handsome boys of the future. When that happens, you will once again sigh that there are really actors in this world who can't be taught.

The crew's filming progress is accelerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

To this end, Cao Yang adjusted the plan several times.

Liu Ye has a new nickname. Besides being called "greenhorn" behind his back, many people jokingly call him "Sixth Aunt".

"Sixth Aunt" refers to "God Liu".

First, he sometimes talks in a weird way, and people who don't know him would think he is sick. He hates to see women being bullied, and he will stand up for them no matter if they are known to him or not, which is why he is called "a greenhorn".

Second, he is a real god at acting. His lively eyes, charming smile, and body language that is sometimes restrained and sometimes wild, make the male protagonist, who seems to be seriously ill, come alive vividly.

By the end of the month, after a comprehensive calculation, it turned out that only the prison scenes were left to be filmed. The rest were completed ahead of schedule, half a month ahead of schedule.

At the same time, two pieces of news came.

First, after nearly a month of screening, the box office of "On the Beach at Night Alone" is only about 100,000 per day. The market has long been flooded with a large number of pirated discs. It is estimated that in a few days, even 100,000 will not be able to be maintained.

Hou Keming called and asked Cao Yang whether he wanted to apply for an extension.

So far, the movie's box office has exceeded 2400 million, but without the postponement, it will be difficult to exceed 2500 million.

This was definitely a box office hit.

Cao Yang hesitated for a moment. The box office potential was gone, but as long as the screening was postponed and a little manipulation was done, it would exceed 3000 million.

Under normal circumstances, they would definitely apply for a postponement of the screening to get the box office to over 3000 million. How many directors in China can earn 3000 million now?
Hou Keming went on to say that China Film Corporation had hinted that it could announce the box office to the public at 3100 million, which was also a kind of unspoken rule. Early films would usually exaggerate the box office revenue.

He told Cao Yang directly and rejected China Film's proposal at that time.

He explained that although 3100 million sounds like a gimmick, you are not a commercial film director and you don't need the false reputation of a 3000 million director.

In addition, the film has been registered for this year's Golden Globes. Golden Globes has an unwritten rule that films with too high box office will be directly screened out in the first round and will not be allowed to participate in the major awards.

Judging from the current box office, given Jinji’s character, I’m afraid it won’t even make it to the first round.

However, as long as the box office does not exceed 3000 million, the school can still find a way.

The most important thing is that the school wants to establish your personal image and will not allow your resume to have the stain of false box office numbers, which is a hidden danger.

What else could Cao Yang say? He could only say that Teacher Hou was right and we would not postpone the class.

The second piece of news was told by Li Xiaoran when she came to visit the set.

The results of the 73rd Academy Awards are out. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won four awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography.

Especially the Best Foreign Language Film, this is the first time a Chinese-language film has won this award.

Even though it didn't win the most important Best Picture and Best Director awards, winning four out of ten nominations is still a remarkable achievement.

This film was the most important turning point in Li An's directorial career, greatly increasing his status in the international film scene.

The same is true for the three main actors.

Although in the eyes of later generations, Hollywood is just a game of a group of Jewish capital and a tool for cultural export, but at the beginning of the new century, Hollywood was still a place that filmmakers yearned for and the world's film center.

At night, Li Xiaoran lay in Cao Yang's arms, calmed down for a while, and then said leisurely: "Zhang Guoji is very proud now. Her press releases are all about her contacts with certain international big names, saying that some Hollywood crews are very interested in her, and she doesn't mention me at all."

"Why did I mention you? Are you going to curse at me and make fun of me?" "I'll bite you."

"It hurts."

Cao Yang grimaced and gasped, and hurried to comfort him.

"Don't take it too seriously. It's not that easy for Chinese people to break into Hollywood. Unless you enter as a Kung Fu superstar like Jackie Chan and then form your own group, otherwise, there's no way you'll be given the leading role."

He patted his buttocks and continued, "Anyway, it's a little complicated to explain. You just need to know that it's the world of white people."

"But others don't think so. The idiot producer Zhang Weiping directly said in front of the media that they are planning to invite an international actress to play an important role. He thinks Zhang is a good actress."

"Then let her play the role. She's not the female lead. I've told you before that you shouldn't hold out too much hope. But it's good to compete for it. The media is comparing the two of you now. You two are the most popular in the country."

Li Xiaoran laughed, with a hint of pride in her words.

"That's right. My agent, Sister Zhang, has been very busy recently. Before going to Berlin, she begged and pleaded with many big names, but many big names ignored her. Now many big names have contacted her and want to sign me."

"Of course. You are more famous in Europe now than Zhang Ziyi. You have been hyped up as a goddess of literature and art."

"What do you mean by being blown up into an artistic goddess? Can you speak?"

"Can't you blow it well?"

"not good."

Then Li Xiaoran bared her teeth and asked, "Is this okay?"

"It's good that you don't show your teeth."

"Pooh!"

Li Xiaoran is quite busy. With the large-scale screening of the movie in Europe, her popularity is indeed increasing. MK2 took advantage of the popularity and bought articles to hype her up as a literary goddess in order to reap more box office revenue.

Some European brands have extended olive branches to her, wanting her to be their spokesperson.

Unfortunately, in order to avoid the Oscar award month and at the same time, Sony Classics focused its main energy on Oscar campaign for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and did not arrange the release of "On the Beach at Night Alone" in North America.

Otherwise, Li Xiaoran might become more popular.

If the North American box office is good, it might be possible for her to compete with the international Zhang Ziyi.

Li Xiaoran left the next day and Cao Yang continued to shoot the final scene.

Prison, also called correctional institution in Hong Kong, has different names for different levels of guards. Zhou Yiwei plays the role of a correctional assistant.

In the original version, this character was played like a Japanese invader invading a village, but Zhou Yiwei gave a different interpretation.

The male protagonist was not seen in the cell. Zhou Yiwei opened the door, but did not rush in. Instead, he stood at the door looking inside, then walked in and turned his head to observe.

Yes, this is like a normal person.

The last shot is Liu Ye drawing an eye on his hand. As his hand moves, his vision begins to change. Then he becomes a master of magical powers. As long as he doesn’t want others to see him, they can’t see him.

There is actually a bit of religious meaning here, using eyes drawn on the hands to show the transformation of the male protagonist.

In Buddhism, there is a figure called White Tara, who is one of the incarnations of Avalokitesvara. She has one eye on each hand and foot, and three eyes on her face, so she is also called the Seven-eyed Buddha Mother.

People always like to seek help from her, so she is also called Tara, symbolizing the power and dignity of all Buddhas.

This can also be echoed here, the transformation of the heroine after being taken back by the domestic violence man, and being redeemed and given dignity after meeting the hero, which is the theme of the movie, women’s struggle and dignity!
At this point, all the shots of "Empty Room" have been completed.

(End of this chapter)