Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 784 Myself Ten Years Ago (33)

Shen Yan really felt that he hadn't sworn at anyone...

Yes, he's very objective!

What are the unique characteristics of Feng Xiaogang as a director?

Beijing-style humor?

Sharp lines?
Does it satirize society through the lives of ordinary people?
This belongs to Wang Shuo, not him!

Upon closer examination, it turns out that Director Feng has actually directed quite a few films of various genres, including historical epics like "Assembly" and "Back to 1942," which involve large-scale scenes.

Ultimately, none of these films have any unique visual signature.

Perhaps there are, but they're not unique enough.

As a director, he's still far from world-class!
As for historical significance... that's even further from the question.

Awards, box office?
International reputation?
Shen Yan completely crushed him...

"I'm taking it in stride. If he can't accept it, that's his problem!" Shen Yan waved his hand and then asked, "What's wrong? Do you have a business relationship with him?"

Song Jia shook her head: "I've never worked with him... He's a famous director."

Shen Yan looked at her and then asked, "Do you know about 'The Extraordinary Flower' and 'The Era of the Three-Pointed Tree'?"

Hmm? Asking about movies?
Song Jia, suppressing her excitement, thought for a moment and replied, "The 'Heavenly Flower'... I've heard of it, it's a sci-fi thriller about human invasion..."

“Yes,” Shen Yan nodded, “a 1956 film, Don Siegel’s masterpiece… ‘The Age of the Three-Pointed Trees’ is roughly the same type…”

I recently chatted with Kong Dashan, and we're thinking of making a sci-fi thriller of a similar genre… The main plot revolves around plants evolving and becoming the masters of humanity, even eliminating or transforming any creatures that don't obey or revolve around them… The script is still being written, and it's probably geared towards winning awards. Are you interested?”

Without a second thought, Song Jia nodded immediately: "Of course!"

"Okay, I'll get in touch with him for you. You can have a good talk with him!"

"You weren't the director of this movie?"

"I'm the producer, responsible for getting the film into film festivals!"

"OK!"

……

That's right, Shen Yan is planning to make several science fiction thrillers!

In fact, looking back at the history of science fiction films, science fiction films as a genre only became a new subject of filmmaking after Fritz Lang directed "Metropolis," a futuristic film about humanity losing its freedom in a technological society.

Moreover, the film Metropolis was unlucky—the meticulously crafted models and special effects nearly bankrupted UFA, and the film was also a brilliant and intelligent failure at the box office.

As for Hollywood, it dates back to the 30s!

As the popularity of horror films reached its peak, mad scientist movies began to become popular—a special genre that branched off from science fiction novel adaptations, with Frankenstein being the origin of this genre.

From this perspective, science fiction and thriller are essentially one and the same.

Initially, science fiction films depicted fear and anxiety about society.

The political, cultural, and sociological elements in science fiction films are an instinctive representation of our human hopes, fears, and values.

Then came World War II, and science fiction films came to a standstill!

Next, producer George Parr revitalized the science fiction genre!
The 1950 film "Landing in the Moon" was not only a box office hit, but also won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects, making science fiction films more popular from then on.

George Parr produced several more science fiction films in the following decades, including *When the World Ends* and *War of the Worlds*. With Howard Hawks' *The Strange Man*, Robert Wise's *The Day the Earth Stood Still*, and Jack Arnold's *The Visitor* joining the ranks of Parr's films, science fiction cinema entered its first golden age after World War II. However, this period includes the preceding…

Science fiction films are more geared towards children, not adults!
Then the Cold War broke out, leading to ideological clashes between East and West, and many science fiction films incorporated elements of this theme…

For example, "The Flower from Beyond the Heavens" is a typical example; it's a sci-fi thriller featuring human invasion, and it expresses a shift in ideology...

After that, science fiction films were no longer intended for children!

Including the Cuban Missile Crisis…

Science fiction films vividly reflect people's fear of nuclear disasters. Examples of such films include "The Last Woman on Earth," "Outbreak," and "The Day the Earth Burns."

It wasn't until 1968, with Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," that science fiction films were completely transformed, going from being on the fringes of the genre to becoming a mainstay.

However, Chinese-language science fiction films don't need this.

Since most viewers have already seen a lot of Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters, if we want to make sci-fi, we have to start with big-budget hard sci-fi!

However, science fiction and thriller movies can also be shown...

Thrillers are given a sci-fi makeover...

If movies like "Alien" and "Life" can be released openly, there's no reason why we shouldn't be allowed to release our own films!
As for the movie I talked about with Song Jia, it was actually "Little Qiao"...

Little Joe is a plant, incredibly beautiful, capable of bringing joy without a word. As a result, humanity collectively abandoned feelings of sadness and pain. One day, Little Joe finally becomes available on the market. Everyone cultivates Little Joe and becomes happy by consuming its pollen. As the only person on Earth who knows the truth and remains clear-headed, would you choose Little Joe?

The ending offers another shameful but useful way to escape—perhaps becoming an emotionless walking corpse isn't necessarily a tragedy.

Shen Yan was deeply impressed by this movie because its style of expression was very Wes Anderson-esque: candy-colored visual effects, symmetrical set design, deliberately creating a dramatic effect rather than pursuing realism.

Of course, the main reason is that "Little Joe" beat "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" to win Best Actress at Cannes...

Compared to "Burning Woman", "Little Joe" is really... pretty boring.

……

It must be said that Shen Yan had no other intentions; he simply wanted to find an actress to act in the film…

Moreover, Song Jia is quite suitable.

Her acting skills are indeed outstanding—"When the Mountain Flowers Bloom" doesn't really test her acting skills; she only needs to portray the strong, independent woman from Northeast China like Principal Zhang. If we're talking about acting skills, it's better to watch her annoying character in "The World".

One more thing…

Her salary isn't high; even as the lead actress, she wouldn't earn more than 300 million for a single film…

TV dramas are a bit more expensive; she got 10 per episode for "The Rebel," which was considered a friendly price...

However, just because Shen Yan didn't ask doesn't mean he's refusing...

Not only did she not refuse, but she even tried several times during the day in the crew's dressing room, avoiding everyone's gaze.

As mentioned before, Yan-ge has strange feelings for her…

—In her first film, she was the leading actress.

At the time, Shen Yan was around 18 years old, the age when he was infatuated with alluring older women like Song Jia…

This fulfills a fantasy I had 10 years ago!

(End of this chapter)