1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

"bite--"

Huo Sheng glanced at the numbers on the elevator buttons to make sure he hadn't gone to the wrong place before stepping out.

The young sect leader followed closely behind, like a little animal that had been rescued, with a touch of restraint.

Neither of them mentioned what had just happened.

Huo Sheng figured it was ultimately a matter between them, and who knew what they were talking about? Asking as a stranger might make things awkward. So he simply led the young sect leader back to the entrance of his territory and asked directly, "Do you still want to go in?"

"..."

Vivian Chow paused for a moment, realizing that the other party had seen through her intentions and was willingly acting as a shield.

"Thanks."

She pursed her lips and said softly.

It was just a small favor.

After saying that, Huo Sheng pushed the door open.

Vivian Chow didn't move. She hesitated for a moment at the door, then said, "Then...can I stay a little longer?"

The time was too short; Ni Zhen may not have left yet.

If we go out, what if we run into...

To be honest, running into him wouldn't have been a big deal, but the awkwardness was real. It was like blatantly telling him that what happened just now was an act, a way to avoid him.

"It's okay, you can stay as long as you want."

Huo Sheng was very understanding in this regard. He pushed the door open completely and stepped aside, saying, "Come in."

He chuckled and added, "As long as you don't mind the noise. I'm going to teach my assistant how to write scripts, and what I'm saying might sound a bit boring to someone who doesn't know the ropes."

"It's okay."

She paused, then said politely, "Thank you for taking me in."

In the office, Ning Wan had arrived on time and was hunched over her desk flipping through documents.

Hearing the door open, she quickly stood up with her usual smile on her face, but when she saw who it was, her smile froze.

A popular idol followed behind the teacher.

What's going on?

The sheer volume of information overloaded Ning Wan left her stammering, "Teacher Huo, Ms... Ms. Zhou."

"Hello there."

Vivian Chow greeted them.

Huo Sheng casually waved his hand, gesturing for Ning Wan to sit down. "She'll be staying here for a while. Don't worry about her. Let's do our own thing."

After saying that, he really didn't care anymore. After letting Vivian Chow sit down on the sofa, he started discussing the plot of the next episode with Ning Wan.

"Have you carefully read through the detailed outline for all 22 episodes?"

"Um."

Ning Wan forced herself to come back to her senses and listened intently.

"So, what do you think is special about this episode?"

She hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the annotations on the script, "The plot is extremely tense, and the emotions are constantly gripping, but I just can't quite put my finger on it."

"Last time I told you the whole show was divided into three parts, so did you see what the structure was like in this episode?" Huo Sheng asked.

"I didn't quite see it, but the plot seemed to be interconnected."

Ning Wan frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Huo Sheng pointed at the script and slowly explained, "This is the most basic and crucial three-layer structure of screenwriting. Let's break it down."

"First, the first layer lays the groundwork for emotions and circumstances. There is no intense conflict at the beginning; it only describes Zhanbo's guilt, the Fang family's grievances, and Sister Ling's unease."

"By establishing the characters' current state first, the subsequent explosion of conflict won't feel abrupt, and the audience will be able to empathize."

Ning Wan then asked, "What about the middle part?"

"The second layer is to gradually tighten the contradictions and push the pace upwards. Fang Min's tragedy erupts, Ding Hai suddenly returns to Hong Kong to entangle Ling Jie, and all the hidden plots are brought to the surface."

By gradually building pressure and building up emotion, preventing the scene from unfolding flatly, the tension naturally emerges.

Ning Wan nodded, a sudden realization dawning on her: "So the final standoff at the hospital was the last layer?"

"Yes."

Huo Sheng drew a line on the blackboard, "The third layer is to ignite the climax of the entire scene. All the build-up and tension beforehand are concentrated in this hospital hostage scene, bringing the emotions to a peak, and leaving the audience in suspense at the end."

He paused for a moment, then summarized simply: "The script for an episode is to first lay the groundwork for the characters and conflicts, then gradually advance the conflict, and finally ignite the climax. If the logic is sound, the show will naturally be good."

Go back and go through these three layers of the script again, and you'll understand.

Ning Wan listened with great interest and began to write furiously.

For Vivian Chow, who was listening in, this was her first time experiencing the actual work of a screenwriter.

It's not easy; the characters, the scenes, and the dialogue all have to fit together perfectly with the characters' personalities and circumstances.

No wonder Huo Sheng cares so much about understanding the character.

As she thought about it, she suddenly understood his strictness when they first met.

It's a really complex subject.

However, since these are all long pieces of written work, no matter how novel they are, they can become somewhat boring after a while.

She silently shifted her gaze to Huo Sheng's face.

This is a face that would be perfectly adequate even for someone in the entertainment industry; the nose is straight, the jawline is sharp, and the features are so well-proportioned they look like they were carved.

Hong Kong media say Leon Lai is handsome, but after spending time with him, Vivian Chow felt that he lacked a deeper charm.

Hong Kong media also said that Ni Zhen is talented and inherited Ni Kuang's literary talent, but he is somewhat lacking in appearance.

It would be a real shame if a talented person were ugly.

The person in front of me is so young, yet he knows so much. He has arranged the forty episodes of the drama neatly, like building blocks. He is not only talented but also good-looking.

She couldn't help but think with a touch of wicked humor that once he became famous, the Hong Kong media would surely be unable to point out what he lacked.

Oh, by the way, he has a bit of a difficult personality.

Thinking of this, she secretly stuck out her tongue, muttering to herself as her thoughts wandered.

One moment she's floating into the world of the TV series "The Great Era," and the next she's staring intently at the person in front of her.

Until the very end, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he unconsciously closed his eyes as Huo Sheng lectured.

No matter how old you get, a teacher's voice is always the best sleeping pill.

……

After finishing a segment of his story, Huo Sheng paused to take a sip of water, glancing at the sofa out of the corner of his eye.

Vivian Chow tilted her head, curled up in a ball, and slept soundly.

This girl is really a bit dim-witted; she dares to sleep so soundly on someone else's turf.

However, judging from her appearance, with dark circles under her eyes, she must have been extremely busy lately.

After Huo Sheng finished complaining, he quietly lowered his voice. Even Ning Wan kindly lowered her voice, but she was more excited about the class.

"Teacher Huo,"

She lowered her voice, "That 'using a point to represent the whole' concept you just mentioned, I've never heard of it before in school. Did you come up with it yourself?"

"That's not what I wanted."

Huo Sheng turned a page of the script. "It's something I've come up with after watching a lot of movies. If you watch a thousand, you can come up with something too."

Ning Wan counted on her fingers, then her face fell: "I've only seen less than a hundred..."

"Keep watching."

Huo Sheng didn't even look up. "I'll make you a list of movies when we get back. Watch one a day, and you'll finish watching them in three years."

Ning Wan's lips twitched, and she muttered under her breath, "Watching one movie a day... how am I supposed to sleep?"

"It's up to you whether you want to learn it or not."

Huo Sheng glanced at her.

Ning Wan was speechless and lowered her head, pretending to look at her notes.

Huo Sheng ignored her and continued speaking.

The sky outside the window darkened, and the streetlights came on. Orange light filtered through the gaps in the blinds, casting streaks of light and shadow on the table.

The only sounds in the office were the voices of two people talking and the scratching of pens on paper.

Vivian Chow turned over on the sofa, buried her face in the cushions, and fell into a deeper sleep.