Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 590 The First Scene: All You Need Is a Mouth
Before I start filming, I go through the movie in my mind. So, for me, I've already seen the movie. I'm just having the actors act out what I've seen.

—Quentin Tarantino, October 11, 2003, Variety.

……

……

In a small, private movie theater in the New Orleans suburb of Louisiana.

A black-haired, curly-haired man stood on the stage, holding a microphone, and said with great enthusiasm:

"Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin today's film, I have two things to say."

First, today is the last day of our screening. As we agreed before, after today's film, each of you must tell me the name you've suggested for the movie.

A chorus of jeers erupted from below.

Someone said, "Quentin, have mercy on me. I swear, even my son's father was my father-in-law's father."

“Me too,” someone else exclaimed. “I can’t even recognize all the letters of the alphabet.”

"Hahahahaha."

The whole room burst into laughter.

Quentin laughed for a while, then his smile faded as he said, "I know this is torture for many of you. You might think, what does this have to do with us? Naming is the director's job."

But this is the same reason why I ask you all to gather together every day to watch these old movies from the 1960s that I found. I hope that by thinking about the titles, you will carefully consider and understand what kind of film I want to make this time, and what every shot, every texture, and every composition I need is.

Finally, I want to tell you that I will give a $10 reward to whoever uses my name.

The people in the theater immediately sat up in surprise.

"Is it true?" someone asked.

Quentin laughed, “Yes. I learned this from China. An extra bonus on top of the contract, what do you guys think? I think it’s a really great idea. What do you think?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the same voice shouted, "OMG, I totally agree! I love China! I forgot to mention earlier that I actually came up with ten names for my son, but my wife didn't like them. But I think they're all great! I think I'm actually a naming genius!"

The audience burst into laughter, with applause and whistles echoing throughout.

Quentin laughed too, but didn't let the commotion last long. He raised his hand to quiet it down and continued, "The second thing is that the last member of our team, Mr. Chen, has finally finished his vacation and returned from China. He will join us this afternoon to participate in the final preliminary discussions. Although there are only two days left before departure, and I suspect that he will most likely fall asleep at his desk due to jet lag."

"Ha ha ha ha--"

The theater erupted in laughter.

Quentin laughed and added, "But considering what he's done in the past six months, I think it's like a vacation; he deserves it, so..."

Just as he was about to continue, the door to the small screening room was suddenly pushed open from the outside. A production assistant holding a cell phone quickly walked in, leaned close to his ear, and whispered a few words.

Quentin Tarantino paused for a moment, then asked in a low voice, and the man nodded.

Quentin gave a wry smile, shrugged, turned to the curious crowd in the theater, and said, "Oh dear, it seems the plan needs to be changed. Our beloved Chen won't be able to join us this afternoon."

"Why? Which girl is he holding him back?" A round-faced, chubby man with slicked-back hair and wearing a floral shirt asked with a smile from the front row.

Quentin said helplessly, “It’s not some girl, Leo—it’s the Sun. His assistant just called from Andrei and said there was a solar storm there. Their plane was forced to ground while refueling and is expected to be delayed by eight to ten hours. In other words, he’ll have to spend the night in Alaska. I don’t think you’ll see him tonight.”

"Well, maybe this is for the best." The fat man shrugged and smiled. "It sounds like some kind of destiny."

Quentin laughed and said, "Yes, I think that might be God's will. I hope you two will maintain a certain unfamiliarity until the day you film your scenes together."

Then, he spoke into the microphone, “Alright, gentlemen, enough chit-chat. Now, please adjust your positions, relax your minds, and let’s watch a legend together.”

He turned around and looked at the screen.

"The film we are about to watch was directed by Sergio Corbucci in 1966 and is one of the most violent and romantic works in the history of Italian Westerns—"

He raised his right hand high, waved it sharply, and said in a passionate tone:

"--Django!"

……

……

The setting of a wooden inn.

The script supervisor walked in front of the camera with a clapperboard and said, "West Side, Scene 1, Take 1—Snap."

Then, the script supervisor quickly bowed and retreated.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson leaned over, his eye pressed against the viewfinder of the ARRIFLEX film camera.

Quentin Tarantino stood beside the camera, hands in his jeans pockets, leaning slightly forward, his eyes fixed on the scene in front of the set.

Without a doubt, although the film's title has not yet been decided and is temporarily referred to as "Western" in the script, everything else is ready.

Several old-fashioned oil lamps hung on the wall, casting a soft, dim light that poured down from one side, raising a thin layer of dust in the air and casting large shadows.

The room's walls were made of rough pine planks, and the floor was dark oak, glossy and slippery, as if it had been trodden on by countless boots.
All of these things were built by the crew themselves in this studio in New Orleans during the pre-production phase. The lighting and props were also completed under the direction of Joseph Macmillan Johnson, an Oscar-winning production designer.

This place looks like a run-down hotel in the American South countryside more than a hundred years ago.

Now, right here in this dimly lit room, near the bed,
A dark-haired man wearing a cowboy hat, a dark brown trench coat, and leather boots was sitting in the shadows.

Across from him, a Black girl of about 10 years old sat upright on a wooden chair.

After hitting the clapperboard, Quentin paused for two seconds before saying softly, "Okay, we're ready. You can start anytime you're ready."

Chen Nuo knew that Quentin was talking to him.

Because next, he needs to start the action, and then Quvenzani will begin to speak her lines.

Without a doubt, this is probably the strangest opening of all the movies Chen Nuo has ever made.

Although Nolan, like Quentin Tarantino, is a staunch believer in film cameras and would stand beside the camera watching actors perform and personally call "action," the British wouldn't let the camera idle and waste seconds of film, giving him the choice of when to start.

However, it must be said that Quentin's approach is really good, as it allows him to freely choose to start acting when he is in his best condition.

Chen Nuo felt the excitement in his body.

The last movie he made was "DROP" two years ago. Although he did make "The Eagle Catches the Chicken" in between, that was not difficult for him at all.

But this time is different.

What kind of sparks will he create with Quentin Tarantino, a director with a very distinctive personal style, and what kind of adjustments and obstacles will they encounter?
It has to be said that he was both excited and a little nervous.

Because of that damn solar storm, he was unable to attend the pre-production meeting with the crew.

Although Quentin had a long private talk with him after he arrived at the set, he learned that this film, for Quentin, was still a Western that blended the violent aesthetics and dark humor of Italian Westerns. Although the plot and characters had changed, the overall style was not much different from his previous film, Django Unchained.

However, he still couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

Thinking carefully about "Django Unchained" and the other Quentin Tarantino films he's seen, Chen Nuo guessed that he might need a long time to work out the dialogue with Tarantino.

Quentin Tarantino writes all his own screenplays, so dialogue is the core of his films, and each character has a unique rhythm and cadence, a fact known worldwide.

Many native-born American actors who have worked with him talk in interviews about how they struggled with every word of the script under Quentin Tarantino's direction, so how much more so for a foreigner like him?
Even though he had spent so many years in the United States over two lifetimes and his English was practically second-native, he hadn't seen many Westerns and hadn't attended any preview screenings, so there were bound to be some issues.

But now is not the time to think about these things.

Let's try it once and see. A flurry of thoughts flashed through Chen Nuo's mind. Then, these thoughts gradually disappeared.

All that remained in his mind were the knife, the gun, the oil lamp, and the girl in front of him.

it's time.

Then, Chen Nuo began to move.

He slowly wiped a bloodstained dagger with a piece of gray rag in his hand.

Then, Quvenzani began to deliver her lines, her voice a little nervous: "Thank you for saving me."

Chen Nuo ignored her and continued what he was doing.

"Do you speak English? Are you Japanese?" the girl asked again, trembling with fear.

"NO."

"You don't speak English?"

“I’m not Japanese,” the man said in English.

"Oh." The girl understood. "Then you are... a Qing Dynasty person?"

Chen Nuo stopped what he was doing, put the dagger on the table, and picked up the revolver on the other side.

This was something he had practiced countless times beforehand on his ranch in Montana.

With a flick of his wrist, he pushed open the magazine, ejecting the used bullet casings one by one. Then, he pulled out a thin wire, slowly threaded it through the muzzle, and repeatedly pushed and pulled it. Afterward, he took out a piece of oilcloth from his pocket, dipped it in gun oil, and began to wipe the gun.

After a while, he took the cleaned gun in his hand, leaned forward slightly, and his upper body was immediately exposed to the light of the oil lamp.
Then he took off his cowboy hat.

A young, thin, and tired-looking face of an Asian man was revealed.

He had gotten some wigs, making his hair quite long now, disheveled and reaching his shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot, and there was a long scar on his right cheek that stretched from the corner of his mouth to his ear, making him look somewhat frightening.

He looked at the girl coldly, "I am not a Qing Dynasty citizen."

He reloaded the gun, snapped the magazine shut, and said in his usual calm tone, "I am a dead man who has lived a little longer than others."

When the word "dead man" was uttered, the girl instinctively shrank back. Unexpectedly, the stool she was sitting on became unstable, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground with a thud.

The entire scene fell silent for two seconds.

Then——

"Hahahahaha."

Everyone in the room laughed.

Quentin, who was sitting next to the camera, smiled and said, "Cut."

Quvenzani Wallis scrambled to her feet, her small black face filled with shame, looking like she was about to cry.

However, at this moment, Quentin shouted, "Quivenzani, you're amazing, absolutely amazing! Falling to the ground, such a great idea."

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs-up, "Let's do another take in a bit, keep it in this state, understand?"

Quvenzani paused for two seconds, then smiled as brightly as the sun: "Okay, director!"

Quentin clapped his hands and said, "OK! Go get some water and relax. We'll do another take in five minutes. Go on, little guy, that was great."

"Thank you, director!"

Quvenzani was pleased, glanced at Chen Nuo, and walked towards the rest area.

Quentin turned to him again and said, “That’s awesome, Holy shit. I guarantee that when it’s shown in theaters, the whole audience will scream like Quvenzani when they see this scene. I loved the look in your eyes just now.”

Chen Nuo was still immersed in the feeling of Sean and hadn't come out of character. She said calmly, "Alright, just say what you have to say. I'm not Quvenzani, you don't need to coax me."

Quentin chuckled and said, "I'm not lying to you. I really like you the way you are right now, and I hope you stay that way. However,"

He suppressed his smile and said very seriously, "The only problem is that I hope your lines will have more rhythm. Right now, you're acting too naturally. This is a Western, and Westerns don't need overly natural acting. Remember that, it's different from the movies you've acted in before. So, aside from the acting—which I think is absolutely flawless, your movements are simply beautiful, and so are your eyes—I'd like to see some changes in the lines."

Chen Nuo listened, seemingly understanding but not quite.

First of all, as expected, it was indeed a problem with the dialogue.

However, he was a bit confused by the rest of what they were saying. He really didn't watch many Westerns.

How should it be adjusted?
He was racking his brains.

Suddenly, Quentin continued, "I want your lines to be like this—'I'm not from the Qing Dynasty, I'm a dead man who has lived longer than anyone else.'"

Quentin changed his expression and repeated it in a unique rhythm.

Chen Nuo was suddenly stunned.

WTF?

This was the first time he had ever encountered a director who would act out a scene while explaining it to him.

Directors like Wong Kar-wai and Christopher Nolan, who don't sit behind the monitor much, will call "action" and "cut" themselves, but none of them would actually recite all the lines and act them out.

Holy crap, what the hell are you worried about?!

He had been worrying about it for a long time, but it turned out he had been worrying for nothing!
After Quentin finished speaking, without pausing, he immediately said, "I'm not a Qing Dynasty person. I'm a dead man who has lived longer than anyone else. Is that right?"

This time, it was Quentin's turn to be stunned.

The middle-aged director frowned and looked him up and down.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, and before Quentin could reply, he said, "Or—I'm not a Qing Dynasty person, I'm a dead man who has lived longer than others. Or is that it?"

"Or perhaps, I'm not a Qing Dynasty person, but a dead person who has lived longer than others. Would that be better?"

"Wait, wait, wait."

Quentin raised his hand, making a stop gesture, then stared at him for a while. Then, he covered his forehead with one hand, his face looking as if he had accidentally eaten poop, completely unable to accept it. "You—what's wrong with you?"

Chen Nuo said, "You don't think it's good? Then I'll..."

"STOP! That's not what I meant!" Quentin yelled, glaring at him with his bull-like eyes. "DAMN, how did you learn so fast?"

Chen Nuo said, bewildered, "Isn't it just repeating what you say? All you need to do is talk, right?"

“Bullshit!”

Quentin said fiercely, "Chen, you really fucking scared me. You know how long Brad Pitt spent learning his lines when I was filming 'Inglourious Basterds'? And Christoph Waltz too. Compared to you, I was talking to a bunch of rocks. I understand why Christopher Nolan likes to cast you. Okay, okay, that's it. You take a two-minute break, and then we'll do it three more times."

"three times?"

Quentin grinned and said:

“Yeah, three fucking times! Repeat everything you just said!”

Ps:

As is customary, the first scene often requires a lot of thought, so less is written.

There are only 15 more "Light of the Master" characters left to reach 200. If you haven't clicked yet, please do so~ You can see them by clicking on my author name.
(End of this chapter)