This director lacks vision.

Chapter 421: A Loser's Comeback or a Youthful Ideal?

Jiang Yifeng has always been decisive and efficient in his work.

The next morning, he called Mu Di to the film crew and talked to her about the Supernova Games.

Mu Di asked, "Is this program similar to the 'Star Jump' program we produced?"

Jiang Yifeng shook his head and said, "Huaguo Star Jump is limited to diving, and mainly features fixed celebrity guests."

However, the Supernova Games is a sports event with many events and many guests participating in the program.

We need to select some ordinary people and ask them to team up with celebrities.

These people don't understand sports; they need to team up and train together to eventually compete.

The program format is a combination of live streaming and editing, similar to "Farming," but the live streaming time is not as long.

In its previous life, Tencent's Supernova Games Season 1 ran for 6 episodes, 4 of which were on-demand and 2 were live.

The show featured many memorable sports moments and had a good broadcast effect, leading to several more seasons.

Jiang Yifeng talked with Mu Di for almost half an hour, explaining his general ideas, before getting up to go film.

Today we're filming the famous scene of Chen Qingquan learning a foreign language, and of course, we'll be casting Hou Tianlai for that role again.

It has to be said that Mr. Hou's narrow range of acting roles is truly enviable.

He plays this kind of role so naturally, he exudes a lewd and perverted vibe just by lying in bed.

The foreign models who acted with Mr. Hou were so engrossed in the role that they almost thought they were actually soliciting clients.

This scene also brought a lot of joyful laughter to the crew.

In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the filming of "In the Name of the People" went more and more smoothly.

Filming for the series completely wrapped up on August 25th.

Jiang Yifeng rested for two days and arrived at the company on the morning of the 28th.

Not long after I sat down, the Happy Twist team came over.

Shen Teng and Ma Li walked in front, while Yan Fei and Peng Damo walked behind.

"Please have a seat. The boss is working on a document and will be here shortly."

Today's secretary is Dilraba.

She wore a bodycon skirt that perfectly showcased the curves of her butterfly-shaped hips, exuding a sexy and alluring charm.

But Shen Teng and the others didn't dare to look too much, and just sat obediently on the sofa.

Reba asked the receptionist to bring her tea, and then returned to Jiang Yifeng's side, waiting for his instructions.

Jiang Yifeng carefully reviewed the contract documents in the OA system; this was Huanrui's transaction contract.

At the premiere of The Great Wall at the beginning of the month, Jiang Yifeng and Jia Yueting reached a general agreement on the direction of the transaction with Huanrui.

After more than 20 days of negotiations, all terms and agreements were reached.

After reviewing it, Jiang Yifeng found no problems and approved it.

He said to Reba, "Call Liu Chun and tell him to come find me in an hour."

Liu Chun is the head of Sohu Video, and he was the one who previously managed Huanrui.

"Okay, boss."

Reba made the call as instructed.

In terms of being a female secretary, she was more competent than Zhang Tianai, and she did things in a more methodical and orderly manner.

Jiang Yifeng then went to the tea room.

Seeing that Shen Teng and the other three had all stood up, he didn't waste any time and asked directly, "Is the script for 'Charlotte's Trouble' finished?"

Peng Damo took out a printed document and handed it to Jiang Yifeng with both hands.

"It's already written! Please give me your feedback, Mr. Jiang."

"There's no need to be so polite. Please have a seat. I'll take a look at the script first."

Jiang Yifeng took the script and started reading.

"Goodbye Mr. Loser" is a stage play by Happy Twist, co-created by Yan Fei and Peng Damo.

This play has been performed since 2013 and has now been performed more than 400 times, with very positive audience feedback.

However, Shen Teng rarely plays the male lead in stage plays; most of the time, Wang Ning and Zhang Zidong play Xia Luo.

Because Jiang Yifeng wants to adapt the play into a movie, Yan Fei and Peng Damo are taking it very seriously and have been refining the script these days.

Jiang Yifeng skimmed through the script. Some parts of the script were different from the movies in his previous life, such as the addition of funny scenes like parent-teacher conferences, but the story structure and character settings were still the same.

He put down the script and then asked, "Have you seen the Old Boys short film and Back to 20?"

Yan Fei nodded and replied, "I've seen it. I was very moved by Old Boy, and I cried while watching Back to 20. I've always thought Back to 20 is the best comedy movie."

Jiang Yifeng thought for a moment and said, "If Goodbye Mr. Loser were a standalone movie, your script wouldn't have any major problems, and the comedic effect would be excellent."

However, if this is intended as a sequel to the Old Boys series, then the script needs to be revised, especially the character of Charlotte.

From a comedic perspective, the movie "Goodbye Mr. Loser" is pretty good.

Shen Teng's comedic talent is on full display in this film, with various classic comedic scenes that are still talked about today in the era of short videos.

However, objectively speaking, the movie "Goodbye Mr. Loser" still has some shortcomings.

The biggest problem is Charlotte's character design.

From the movie, Charlotte is a character without any redeeming qualities; he's a useless middle-aged man who's been supported by his wife for twenty years and has a whole host of flaws.

In the words of some netizens, Charlotte is the most disgusting male protagonist in any comedy film. This makes the film's final act of repentance and the dumpling-making ending seem somewhat hypocritical and repulsive.

Jiang Yifeng understands Yan Fei and Peng Damo's creative approach.

The concept of "loser" has been very popular in recent years, and many works unfold with "loser's counterattack" as the main narrative line.

The most classic saying is something like, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never underestimate a young man's potential."

However, with social development and the gradual formation of class stratification, this concept has actually been quietly changing.

People are increasingly disbelieving in the concept of a loser's rise to success, and novel protagonists are transforming from ordinary-looking poor losers into well-built city dwellers.

Also in 2014, system novels began to emerge as an independent genre and gradually became popular in the online novel world.

Because more and more people believe that even if a poor loser is reborn, without a system to cheat him, it would be difficult for him to do very well.

However, many creators today are unaware of this change and continue to follow the old rags-to-riches story template.

The same applies to Charlotte's Trouble.

Yan Fei and Peng Damo went even further, exaggerating Xia Luo's character to enhance the dramatic tension on stage.

Ma Dongmei was the same; she willingly supported a man for twenty years and loved him as always.

This is a science fiction story.

If interpreted maliciously, the movie "Goodbye Mr. Loser" is the biggest irony of the underdog's rise to success, and also the greatest malice towards the underdog community.

Because "diaosi" is a neutral term, originating from ordinary people's self-deprecating humor.

In reality, it's difficult for an ordinary loser to find a wife, let alone expect her to support him for 20 years.

The English title of the movie "Goodbye Mr. Loser" might better illustrate the point.

This isn't Jiang Yifeng being nitpicky; he also really liked the movie "Goodbye Mr. Loser." Rather, when making a series of films, it's essential to maintain a consistent style.

For example, the "Lost in..." series, from "Lost on the Road" to "Lost in Thailand" and then to "Lost in...", are all road trip comedies about ordinary people, and the comedic elements they use are mostly toilet humor and vulgar scenes.

Old boys, on the other hand, are more about nostalgia for their youth and their life ideals.

Whether it's the short film "Old Boys" or the later "Back to 20," they are all comedies that make people laugh and cry at the same time.

While the audience laughs heartily, they can also gain some warmth, comfort, or insights into life.

Now that they're making a sequel to "Old Boys: Goodbye Mr. Loser," they certainly can't use the same awful character as Xia Luo anymore; they'll definitely have to make some changes.

Otherwise, the film series would be severely fragmented, and apart from the movie titles, it would not constitute a complete IP.

Hearing Jiang Yifeng's words, Yan Fei hesitated for a moment before explaining, "The core message of our script is to remind everyone to cherish the people around us."

The past is the past. Even if you were reborn, things wouldn't necessarily be better. You would still face various problems in life.

So don't always feel regret, and don't live in the past. Everyone should live their lives well in the present.

Charlotte's time travel and rebirth were nothing but a pipe dream.

Jiang Yifeng nodded and said, "I understand your thoughts, but we Chinese have a simple concept: evil will be punished and good will be rewarded."

Charlotte is such a terrible person. His sudden realization only disgusts the audience and doesn't offer any real insight.

If you really want to be reasonable, it would be more interesting to have Charlotte suffocate in the sink at the end.

Moreover, telling a story in the form of a fleeting dream, attributing all illogical plot points to a dream, is an extremely lazy creative approach.

Hearing Jiang Yifeng say this, Yan Fei and Peng Damo could only nod and remain silent.

The office fell into silence.

Jiang Yifeng took a sip of tea, but he was still lacking inspiration, so he said, "Please put the script here, and I'll think about how to revise it."

Jiang Yifeng really struggled with adapting Charlotte's Trouble this time.

The main reason is that Shen Teng is in his comfort zone, which is to play this kind of despicable middle-aged scoundrel. The original character design of Xia Luo was conducive to his performance.

Moreover, "Charlotte's Trouble" is a very mature script, and many of the jokes are related to the plot and character design.

Changing these things would mean losing the comedic effect.

If you make drastic changes and completely replace the story structure, then it doesn't really make much sense; you might as well just make a new movie.

After thinking for two days, Jiang Yifeng still couldn't come up with any good ideas.

On the evening of August 31, Jiang Yifeng came to Shu Chang's house.

After finishing his meal, he lay down, resting his head on Shu Chang's increasingly swollen bear, and closed his eyes while thinking about the movie script.

Shu Chang gently massaged Jiang Yifeng's temples with her small hands. Seeing Jiang Yifeng frown slightly, she said, "Actually, I don't quite understand why you wanted to film 'Goodbye Mr. Loser'."

Jiang Yifeng asked, "What do you mean?"

Shu Chang replied, "Goodbye Mr. Loser has been running for over a year, and the script has withstood the test of the market."

The story is complete, and the comedic structure is relatively fixed; it's fine to let Yan Fei and Peng Damo direct it.

Making this movie would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—a waste of your talent.

Since the core of the script for "Charlotte's Trouble" doesn't fit with "Old Boys," why not choose a different story?

Actually, when I was filming Back to 20, I kept thinking – if I traveled back to the 80s and met my mother, what kind of story would happen between us?
Am I worried that I might not be born so that I could arrange for my dad and mom to get married?

I knew my dad and mom's marriage was unhappy, so I told my mom not to marry my dad.

Or perhaps we'll become best friends who can talk about anything.

Upon hearing Shu Chang's words, Jiang Yifeng suddenly opened his eyes.

(End of this chapter)