Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

The date was July 28th.

For the past two days, Yang Che, Cheng Er, Ning Hao, Song Xiaofei, and Wu Shixian have been staying in the studio breaking down the script. He is still drawing it all by himself, while the others are writing storyboards like Cheng Er.

Of course, it was no longer as quiet as when it was just the two of them. There was more communication and discussion. Qin Lan was no longer invisible. She took notes on some of the things that people discussed, such as adding a prop and taking over the work of the director's assistant, Liu Chang.

Liu Chang has been busy with the GG sample film at the Beijing Film Studio these past few days.

Besides that, Fan Bingbing called Yang Che once, saying she would fly to Tanzhou on the 29th. The crew of "Youth in Action" would be there to wrap things up, and she would be appearing on "Happy Camp." Of course, she also had to discuss terminating her contract with He Xiuqun (QY's daughter-in-law), and her father would be going to be with her. The current agreement is that everyone will part ways peacefully, without any trouble.

"Brother, is there anything you want to tell me?"

Upon hearing this address, Yang Che couldn't hold back: "You should just call me Brother Che, I can't stand it."

Fan Bingbing called out in an even more coquettish voice, "Brother."

After shouting, they burst into laughter. She was in a really good mood and was very grateful to Yang Che.

Yang Che said earnestly, "The worst thing you can do is open the champagne halfway through the game. This matter isn't over until the breakup agreement is signed."

Fan Bingbing pouted: "You're not my brother, you're my dad. You two say almost the exact same things."

Yang Che remained silent for a long time before saying, "I've given you all the advice you wanted. Goodbye."

Goodbye, old man Yang, wait for my good news.

That night, Yang Che struggled again.

...........

Returning to the timeline.

Early this morning, everyone arrived at a semi-permanent courtyard set at the Beijing Film Studio.

Yang Che touched the wall and exclaimed, "These blue bricks are really exquisite, are they artificially aged?"

Cao Yu, a cinematographer working at the Beijing Film Studio, smoothed his long hair: "I'd say it's been distressed, distressed 40 years ago."

Yang Che clicked his tongue: "You son of a bitch, finish what you're saying, don't just leave it halfway."

"Hehe, I'll keep you in suspense for now. This courtyard was built by Chen Huai'ai when he was filming 'Song of Youth'."

Yang Che nodded: "So Dai Si Nai."

Chen Huai'ai is Chen Kaige's father, one of the veteran directors of Beijing Film Studio, and a representative director of Chinese opera films. Aside from opera films, he was usually the second co-director, and it seems he only directed one feature film independently.

He did indeed serve as the art director for "Farewell My Concubine," but it wasn't actually directed by the old gentleman.

All the key creative personnel of "Farewell My Concubine," including the screenwriter, cinematographer, art director, and actors, were at the peak of their creative careers. Moreover, it is a film with a typical Hollywood narrative structure, something the old gentleman could never have accomplished.

Far away.

It is said that everyone came to the Beijing Film Studio for that 15-second sample of the Nokia GG, which was actually a scene from the movie, specifically the scene where the male protagonist sneaks home for the first time.

At this moment, Cheng Er, Ning Hao, Xing Jiandong, Zeng Jian and others were setting up the track. Yes, even for this 15-inch GG sample footage, with just one camera, a track was needed.

Because the camera is from the male protagonist's perspective, Yang Che still requested a long shot with Hitchcockian zoom, which means the size of the subject in the shot remains the same while the size of the background changes, also known as sliding zoom or track zoom.

Such shots usually disrupt the viewer's normal visual experience, causing anxiety and unease, but also making the viewer's vision relatively focused.

Of course, Yang Che wasn't crazy and used zoom all the time. It was just that when the protagonist sneaked into the living room and saw his mother, the zoom lens would focus on the protagonist, and that would be the end of it.

Lin Mu was leading two people to set up the scene, creating a realistic, lifelike setting.

Wu Shixian is giving instructions to three actors: a real middle-aged couple and a handsome young man.

They didn't hire professional actors or actors from the gay community; these three were found right outside the Beijing Film Studio. They were paid 30 yuan each for a morning of filming, which is considered a high salary.

Wu Shih-hsien wanted Yang Che to participate, and Yang Che also wanted to try, but he felt a little uncomfortable standing in front of the camera.

Sometimes when Zeng Jian and the others were filming vlogs, Yang Che would act very naturally and even smile and joke at the camera. But when it came to real work, he would inexplicably become nervous.

Wu Shixian said, "Brother Che, you'd better take some professional acting classes to completely get rid of this psychological barrier."

This is what many people with a background in directing say.

Watching Wu Shih-hsien guide the actors through their positions and lines again and again, then running in front of the camera to adjust the lighting, he was focused, meticulous, patient, and completely immersed in the process.

Yang Che watched everyone busily working from the sidelines, feeling a sense of accomplishment, but also a little envious. Yes, envious.

It's very strange, but it really exists.

Yang Che himself didn't realize, or didn't realize, that not only can feelings be cultivated, but interests can also be cultivated. They are essentially the same thing, except that the former involves people, while the latter involves things.

It's been a month already, and he's actually been doing one thing.

In Longcheng, things were alright; aside from having two in-depth conversations with Ulan Tana, he was basically alone. In Beijing, however, he spent every day with a group of energetic young filmmakers, and he'd picked up some of their influence.

At some point, Qin Lan tugged at Yang Che's arm: "Brother Che, it's time for a test shoot."

Yang Che came to his senses and, after the area was cleared, retreated to the sidelines.

Without a clapperboard, filming began with Wu Shih-hsien's shout of "Action!"

The young man tiptoed into the courtyard. The camera panned forward, replacing the young man, and the flowers, plants, and trees in the courtyard came into view. Later, real flowers will be planted in the empty flower bed. This is a very stylish local family in Beijing, with a detached house and courtyard.

The father was talking on his cell phone in the yard (close-up) while unconsciously scanning the yard. When he saw his son come in, he raised an eyebrow. This expression showed that the father and son got along like friends.

Hmm... this is completely based on some of Yang Che's and his father's daily life.

The son misunderstood his father's meaning, thinking his mother wasn't home, and swaggered into the main room, only to see his mother also on the sofa, talking on her cell phone. (Close-up)

The camera focuses on the young man, using a Hitchcockian zoom to capture his fear and dread.

The mother's expression changed drastically; this was a tiger mom. She raised her phone and started chasing after the boy.

After all, the premise of the movie is that as long as the male protagonist offends his mother, whatever she has will be used to beat him.

This is a Nokia.

Yang Che chuckled as he watched this scene. Once the Nokia cracking walnut meme spreads online, this scene might just become a meme.

Yang Che thought it was pretty good, but Wu Shixian and Cheng Er were not very satisfied. They praised their father and gave the young people a lesson before officially starting filming.

After four takes, it was finally done.

Yang Che felt ashamed. What was the film he made in his previous life? But it was a short drama. It was normal for the actors' positioning to be inaccurate, the camera movement to be out of sync, and the lighting to be unsuitable.

Of course, it cost a lot of money. Ning Hao reported the expenses: rental fees for venue, equipment, props, costumes, etc., plus one box of film, totaling 4200 yuan. There was no way around it; the rental period was short, so the unit price seemed high. However, it will be cheaper next time because we'll be shooting together.