Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 485 Breaking the rules
After filming the footage for the episode "The Gift of Nature," Cao Yang and five other filming teams, each with a different theme, traveled all over the country to film footage.

In other words, Cao Yang will be filming another theme.

The theme he chose for himself was "The Taste of Time," which uses traditional preservation techniques such as curing, air-drying, and smoking as clues to emphasize how time shapes food and reveals the Chinese people's contradictory yet profound understanding of time.

Filming a documentary series that includes food from several different regions in one episode is extremely time-consuming and energy-intensive.

Because you need to contact the people you want to film in advance, get their cooperation, and make sure they set aside time to rehearse every detail repeatedly...

Because of the complexity of filming, the other party may not always be able to fully cooperate; they may be perfunctory, especially given the Chinese tradition of holding back some of the skills involved in cooking.

Therefore, filming takes even more time and effort.

Don't be fooled by the smooth finished product; it's the real food preparation process and a record of how food is made.

Even documentaries involve repeating the production process over and over again, filming various details repeatedly, and finally editing them into a smooth final product.

Fortunately, each of Cao Yang's teams has local officials involved, which greatly reduces hostility and other unnecessary ulterior motives.

More importantly, Cao Yang also offers these workers a substantial "labor fee," which is the driving force behind their cooperation.

With official support and a "source of motivation," Cao Yang and his teams were able to film smoothly and quickly.

After filming "The Taste of Time", Cao Yang returned to Beijing.

His team was the first to finish filming, and including the time spent filming "The Gift of Nature," almost fifty days have passed.

The other groups would report their progress to Cao Yang every day. They were bound to encounter many minor problems, especially during filming, as many of the dishes involved were made in remote areas.

In this era, the national economy was just beginning to take off, and some remote areas may not have been taken care of yet. Therefore, remote areas represented the simple and honest folk customs, as well as rural unity and the tough folk customs.

Fortunately, with local cooperation and sufficient "power sources," minor troubles may occur, but major troubles are almost non-existent.

Besides Cao Yang, Ning Hao was the fastest to finish filming "The Harmony of Five Flavors," which explores the philosophy of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. He finished filming and returned to Beijing two days after Cao Yang returned.

As Cao Yang had predicted, the slowest filming progress was made by Zhang Qi, who had just joined the team.

In his report to Cao Yang, he said that it would take about another week to film all the necessary footage.

This is also reasonable.

Even though Cheng Jianye had already taken special care of him, as the executive producer, he couldn't stay in Zhang Qi's crew forever. He also had a lot of other things to do, such as liaising with government departments in various places.

Therefore, compared with the other groups, Zhang Qi's teamwork was definitely not as smooth, and they were certainly not as coordinated as the other groups.

To be honest, Cao Yang was already quite satisfied that Zhang Qi's group was only two days behind Liu Shan's group.

This also proves that Zhang Qi has certain abilities.

After Ning Hao returned to Beijing, Lao Tian happened to return from filming in Shanghai. That evening, Cao Yang and the other two got together at their usual private restaurant.

"Have you filmed almost all the footage?"

Old Tian glanced at the cabinet displaying the wine, then turned and looked at it again before asking Cao Yang.

Before Cao Yang could answer, Ning Hao, with great tact, stood up and shouted, "Boss lady, come on, that wine..."

Turning his head, Ning Hao asked Lao Tian with a smile, "Which one would you like to drink, sir? Still Red Star?"

Old Tian first grinned, then frowned and became troubled.

After a long pause, he waved his hand, seemingly helpless.

"Forget it, forget it. We have to film tomorrow. Let's wait until after filming, then we can have a good drink together."

Ning Hao didn't press the matter and waved to the proprietress with a smile.

"Okay, then next time."

Old Tian smacked his lips, sighed, and seemed somewhat regretful.

"Alright, I'm getting old. I should watch what I eat and try to quit drinking. Drinking is bad for my health."

Cao Yang said from the side.

Old Tian glared at him, rolled his eyes, and said, "Go ahead and say that to the old man. He's even more addicted to smoking. He coughs for a while every morning when he wakes up. He should have quit a long time ago."

The "old fellow" he was referring to was their teacher, Old Situ.

Cao Yang glared back and retorted, "Why don't you go and say it?"

“I told you, but the old man wouldn’t listen and even cursed at me,” Old Tian retorted.

"Oh, is it so?"

Cao Yang laughed and said, "I've told him many times, and he always says he'll quit, but he just won't change."

"He didn't curse at you?" Old Tian asked incredulously, his eyes wide.

"Why did he curse at me?" Cao Yang asked, feigning disbelief.

"I……"

Old Tian mumbled something in his throat, which Cao Yang didn't hear clearly, but he guessed it wasn't anything good.

Ning Hao was laughing right next to him.

"why are you laughing?"

Old Tian glared at Ning Hao and yelled at him in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, well, I just remembered some funny things that happened during filming, and I couldn't help but laugh. Please don't mind me, I was definitely not laughing at you."

Ning Hao quickly stood up, refilled Lao Tian's cup with tea, and explained with a chuckle.

Old Tian gulped down his tea in one go, somewhat annoyed, and snorted.

"Is your filming going smoothly?"

Cao Yang asked with a smile.

He was asking about Lao Tian's filming of "The Founding of a Republic".

Old Tian wasn't really angry. He shook his head and said, "It's alright, but there are too many celebrities, and most of them are just making cameo appearances without getting paid. Their agents will communicate with them in advance about the filming schedule."

There's nothing you can do. The person making a cameo appearance isn't even asking for a fee, so how can you film according to the pre-arranged shooting plan?

"Absolutely impossible. We have to film right up to the stars' schedules, which makes the shooting schedule a complete mess. It's a real headache. Not just every day, but almost every moment I have to sort things out. The coordinator's eyes are always red, haha..."

Ning Hao blinked and said "unintentionally":

"Really? Director Huang Jianxin was filming scenes at the Great Hall of the People and Tiananmen Square a while ago. There were a lot of big stars in the scenes. I even had a cameo role. There were so many big stars, but I didn't see anything special about them."

They all arrived early that day, waiting patiently on set. Many had only one or two lines, and some didn't even have any lines; they were all just waiting patiently.

Ning Hao laughed as he spoke, then looked at Lao Tian and said, "I was thinking, Director Huang Jianxin shouldn't have as much influence as you, right? How come things went so smoothly for him? It's a bit strange."

"Snapped!"

Old Tian slapped Ning Hao on the back of the head.

He said irritably, "You brat, are you deliberately trying to annoy me?"

Of course, both of them knew that it was because Huang Jianxin had a lot of influence.
Definitely not, Huang Jianxin doesn't have that much influence.

Many veteran actors with established work units, as well as some Hong Kong stars, certainly wouldn't give Huang Jianxin that much face.

The reason for this was that Cao Yang was there to oversee things that day.

"Oh, by the way, let me tell you something funny."

Old Tian picked up a piece of food, chewing it with a crunching sound. Seeing Cao Yang and Ning Hao looking over, he swallowed, then chuckled and said:

“A few days ago, I was filming scenes in Shanghai, including one featuring Du Yuesheng, played by Xiao Gangpao. Guess what happened after we finished filming his scenes?”

"You guys started fighting?"

Ning Hao, looking excited, made wild guesses as if he wanted to stir up trouble.

"roll roll roll."

Old Tian rolled his eyes. He knew Ning Hao was joking, but even though it was a joke, he could still feel how Old Situ felt when he called him his wicked disciple.

"You wouldn't believe it, would you? That scene was the last one of the day, and after filming, Director Feng actually said he wanted to treat me to dinner!"

"do not go."

Ning Hao interjected, "Be careful he doesn't accidentally hit you with a stick."

At this moment, countless versions of his teacher battling Little Cannon were already playing out in Ning Hao's mind. Old Tian, ​​too lazy to pay attention to Ning Hao, said to Cao Yang, "I didn't want to go in the first place. You know, he's always had some prejudice against me...hehe."

However, he was so enthusiastic that day that I couldn't refuse.

"Hey, is Xu Fan here?"

Ning Hao asked with a gossipy look on his face.

Old Tian ignored Ning Hao and said with a smile, "He only brought up the matter after we finished eating. He has a new movie that is about to start filming, and there is a role in it that he wants me to make a cameo appearance in."

"Is it 'If You Are the One'?"

Cao Yang asked.

"Yes, yes, that's the name. He said you're the producer of this movie, and you even came up with the title. Plus, it's invested by Qingying Film Studio and China Film Group. When I heard that, it seemed pretty reliable."

However, I didn't know if he was just trying to fool me. I knew he was notoriously prone to exaggeration and boasting, so I didn't agree immediately and said I'd think about it.

After saying that, Lao Tian picked up a piece of food, chewed it, and asked, "Is that so?"

Cao Yang nodded thoughtfully; Little Cannon was clearly determined to take the hype to the extreme.

"There is such a movie, it's a love story about blind dates, right?"

Cao Yang also picked up a bite of food, chewed it twice, swallowed it, and then continued:

"There's a backstory to this movie: the female lead falls in love with a married man and has a passionate, life-or-death relationship with him. The married man is a director, a famous director who's a bit older."

"Depend on!"

Old Tian slammed his chopsticks on the table and said angrily, "Isn't this the background of 'On the Beach at Night Alone'? That bastard surnamed Feng wants to create a sequel? This is copyright infringement!"

"He paid royalties."

Cao Yang picked up another bite of food and said as he chewed.

"Oh, that's okay."

Old Tian picked up his chopsticks again and said as he picked up some food.

The reason he reacted so strongly is that this movie was something he and Cao Yang prepared and filmed together. It was Cao Yang's breakthrough work and also the most unforgettable movie of his life.

There are many emotions involved.

After all, to be honest, Lao Tian is not only the producer, but also the cinematographer and the main actor... Except for the director, he is deeply involved in all other aspects, including raising investment, casting actors and finding staff.

"The female lead is... never mind, it'll definitely be Xiaoran. Given Feng's nature, if he's going to create hype and use the name of 'Alone on the Beach at Night,' he'll definitely go all out and invite Xiaoran to be the female lead."

Old Tian shook his head and said, "What are you thinking?"

"His initial idea for this project came from reading Chen Guofu's 'Marriage Proposal,' which was even earlier than 'Tangshan.' However, I gave him the 'Tangshan' project, so he put this project aside."

After finishing the production of "Tangshan" a while ago, he had the idea of ​​restarting the project. However, Chen Guofu was the film director of Huayi Brothers, and he and Chen Guofu did not get along. So Chen Guofu asked him for copyright fees.

The content of this movie is completely different from "The Personals". You can't just pay copyright fees to "The Personals" every time it's a dating movie, right?
But Chen Guofu is also the film director of Huayi Brothers, which gave Director Feng a headache.

So he simply used "Alone on the Beach at Night" as the setting, the plot of which is about a female protagonist who wants to get rid of that scumbag director, goes on a blind date, then meets him again, has a mental breakdown and jumps into the sea, only to be rescued by the male protagonist... it's pretty melodramatic anyway.

"Knowing it's melodramatic, you still let him use the background? Isn't that tarnishing the reputation of 'Alone on the Beach at Night'?"

Old Tian muttered.

"The main reason is that Xiaoran took the lead role. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have let him use the background of 'Alone on the Beach at Night,' nor would I have listed him as the producer. I don't need that copyright fee."

Cao Yang explained.

Old Tian clicked his tongue, thinking of how pitiful and humble Li Xiaoran looked in front of that bastard Cao Yang, and for a moment he really wanted to slap Cao Yang like he slapped Ning Hao.

He had special feelings for Li Xiaoran, but it wasn't romantic love; rather, it was the affection of an elder for a younger person.

When filming "Alone on the Beach at Night," Li Xiaoran was so talented that Lao Tian took a liking to her.

But Li Xiaoran got too into character and even became depressed, which was really pitiful... Lao Tian completely regarded Li Xiaoran as his junior.

Not only Lao Tian, ​​but everyone in the crew of "Alone on the Beach at Night" liked Li Xiaoran, who was both spirited and carefree while acting, yet also pitiful.

Ding Jiali, who had scenes with Li Xiaoran, has said in interviews more than once that Li Xiaoran is the most talented and favorite actress she has ever met.

Thinking of Li Xiaoran, Lao Tian also thought of Yu Feihong, and Gao Yuanyuan, the advertising queen who, after winning the Cannes Best Actress award, neglected her work...

So many girls have been single all these years, with no boyfriends or scandals, all waiting for this brat Cao Yang.

At that moment, Lao Tian felt an intense itch in his hands.

"Snapped!"

He finally couldn't hold back and slapped Ning Hao on the back of the head again.

Why did you hit me?

Ning Hao was listening with great interest when he unexpectedly received another slap on the head.

"I'm having a serious talk with Cao Yang, what are you grinning about? You're being disrespectful!"

Old Tian stared wide-eyed as he spoke.

"I……"

Ning Hao was momentarily stunned. Did I just laugh like an idiot? How was I being disrespectful?

"You're nominally the producer, are you just going to shirk your responsibilities again? That movie by the guy surnamed Feng is being marketed as a sequel to 'On the Beach at Night Alone'."

Old Tian stared wide-eyed and asked.

"He definitely can't make art films, I can only try my best to help him tell the story well."

Cao Yang said.

"Him? He can't even make a decent art film."

Old Tian pursed his lips, then thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll agree to make a cameo appearance. I'll also keep an eye on things. If he dares to film anything recklessly, I'll definitely not let him off the hook."

Ning Hao suppressed a laugh, wanting to ask his teacher: Why can't you let him off the hook? Through Xu Fan? Haha…

However, after much consideration, Ning Hao ultimately decided not to ask.

Ning Hao heard a rumor that when his teacher broke up with Xu Fan—well, it should be said that when he dumped Xu Fan—he gave Xu Fan a breakup fee.

And this breakup fee was borrowed from Li Shaohong.

Ning Hao was afraid that if he mentioned Xu Fan, he would inevitably ask all these questions, and then his teacher would definitely be furious.

Ugh, this damn curiosity!
Ning Hao felt he was going to have insomnia tonight.

Over the next period of time, the filming crew of "A Bite of China" gradually returned.

Cao Yang then led several directors and editors to begin the post-production of "A Bite of China".

Editing documentaries is much simpler than editing films.

With digital cameras, editing is much easier than with film, and you don't need to be as careful. This is why Cao Yang brings a lot of people to edit together.

This busy period lasted for almost another month.

During this period, not only was the editing of "A Bite of China" completed, but the background music and narration were also recorded.

Cao Yang also hired Li Lihong to do the voiceover for "A Bite of China".

His voice is deep, warm, and steady, full of magnetism, and carries a sense of trustworthiness and vicissitude. He can accurately grasp the various emotions in the narration, such as joy, emotion, awe, and nostalgia.

Speaking of Li Lihong, he graduated from the Department of Communication and Audio-Visual Arts at the Central Academy of Communication, and has dubbed too many classic movie and TV series roles.

For example, he voiced the Bull Demon King in the 86 version of "Journey to the West", and he also voiced Liu Bei in the 94 version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The narration in "A Bite of China" is very important. It makes extensive use of rhetorical devices such as metaphor, personification, parallelism, and synesthesia to give life to food, ingredients, cooking process, and all things in nature.

The narration is highly evocative, imbued with a strong sense of humanistic sentiment, and capable of evoking emotional resonance in the audience.

Therefore, to be on the safe side, Cao Yang chose Professor Li Lihong.

Just before Father's Day in June, Cao Yang finally finished producing "A Bite of China" and used it as his graduation project, which was a fitting end to his time as an apprentice with Lao Situ.

After all, Lao Situ is known as the father of documentaries. How could his last disciple not know how to make documentaries?

Not only can they make documentaries, but they can also make unique and unconventional documentaries.

(End of this chapter)