Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 14 The Structure of a Three-Line Narrative

Chen An realized that choosing to go to the Beijing Film Academy was the right decision. 💀☜ 69ˢĦ𝓾ⓧ.𝓒𝕠Μ 🐨💚

I always wanted to visit Hong Kong Island in my past life, but I never had the chance or the money.

I've lived this life by taking advantage of opportunities to make movies.

After arriving in Hong Kong Island, the crew prepared for two or three days before starting filming.

"Run Lola Run" tells the story of Lola, who needs to get $100,000 within twenty minutes to save her boyfriend.

Here, Chen An changed it to 500,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Moreover, "Run Lola Run" features an innovative story structure that breaks away from the classic Hollywood narrative structure.

Using the latest emerging gaming culture, it's like being a manipulated protagonist in a game.

It adopts a three-part story structure.

Unlike Pulp Fiction, which uses multiple narrative threads that ultimately connect to form a single story.

In the movie, Lola runs a total of three times, making three choices, which represent three stories.

Each choice leads to a different ending for each story, just like the protagonist in a game.

Not only the main characters, but also the supporting characters' fates change, creating a butterfly effect effect.

His first attempt was to rob a store, but he was ultimately shot and killed by the police.

She robbed her own father a second time, forcing him to hand over 100,000 marks from the bank, and her boyfriend was eventually killed in a car accident.

He chose to gamble for the third time to win money, and in the end, while running and begging for God's help, he did not commit a crime and achieved a perfect ending.

Chen An didn't change the names of the two main characters, and the surname Luo also exists in China.

Moreover, the male lead's name, Manny, sounds like "money."

The origin of the whole story.

The other people don't have names either, so there's no need to change them.

The initial filming was relatively simple, just shooting running movements, which was a way to practice first.

"Okay! That part is done."

Seeing that the filming was almost done, Chen An kept the camera still and ended the shoot.

"Luckily, I've been training every day since I read the script, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to handle the director's filming."

Ning Jing stopped after running four times, panting heavily.

She was wearing clothes designed by Chen An, and her hair was dyed the same fiery red as the original photo.

It perfectly showcases Lola's stubborn and wildly unrestrained personality.

Seeing Ning Jing's tired appearance, Chen An offered to hand her the water glass.

"Have some water, Jingjie. This is just the beginning, the first part. There's still a lot to come. Take a break first. We'll film some running scenes today to get used to it, and tomorrow we'll film the scenes of you talking on the phone with Manny."

Chen An had no choice; this movie was all about running.

The only thing to do is to let Ning Jing adapt as quickly as possible. Of course, he doesn't dare to take pictures of the entire end of the run all at once, because if he gets hurt, it will be a big problem.

After taking a sip of water and catching his breath, Ning Jing patted his chest:

"Alright, you're the director, so you're in charge. Making movies with you is not bad, just a bit tiring. Jiang Wen is the real pain in the neck."

Listening to Ning Jing's complaints, Jiang Wu, who was sitting next to him, didn't say anything. He knew his brother's personality; he could pile up a building with discarded film.

After resting for a while, Chen An asked the lighting technician to adjust the lights and darken the colors to prepare for filming the next scene.

The movie is mostly about running, in order to prevent it from becoming monotonous.

Photographers have it much harder, constantly switching between different shooting methods.

Chen An watched his roommate Chen Wei bustling around, feeling much more comfortable.

He was so angry he wanted to bite his teeth.

When Chen An was filming his short film, he was busy running around with a camera. He was also busy with "Qin Song" as well.

Seeing my good brother like this, I was overjoyed; after all, I'm the director.

The first day of filming ended, and since it was just to give Ning Jing time to get used to it, there weren't many takes.

However, Chen An felt good and started to get a feel for filming.

It's fortunate that he's the producer; if someone else were in his position, I don't know how anxious they would be.

This is also why Chen An tried so hard to save money, so that he could spend lavishly during filming.

The second day of filming also went well.

The scene of Lola making the phone call was nothing to Ning Jing.

We already had similar personalities and temperaments, so we got it right after only two takes.

But it was Jiang Wu's part.

A burly man with a rugged appearance called his girlfriend for help.

His cowardly appearance and his impotent rage made everyone present laugh uncontrollably.

The first shoot failed, but everyone managed to get through it the second time by holding back.

Chen An also changed the plot a bit. He changed the location of the phone booth to be in front of Lin Dajiang's clothing brand "Jiang Shanghai". Although Chen An didn't know how he came up with that name, he still did it.

Moreover, when the camera pans over, you can clearly see a plastic mannequin in a transparent glass case wearing the same clothes as Lola.

Although not many shots were taken in the first few days.

However, as filming progressed, Chen An became more and more comfortable with the role, and the actors' performances improved as well.

The filming schedule also began to pick up speed.

Chen An also began to make his own appearances.

He plays the thief who steals a bicycle to sell to Lola.

It appeared three times in total.

The first time, Lola didn't say he stole it, but he was eventually caught, beaten, and then met his true love.

The second time, Lola said his car was stolen and sped away, eventually becoming a beggar.

The third time he was almost hit by Lola, he didn't ask Lola to sell the car, but instead sold it to the beggar who had taken 100,000 marks from Manny, which led to Manny finding the beggar.

In this movie, every choice you make will have a butterfly effect.

Chen An personally took to the set, intending to film the entire storyline about the thief.

This was tough on Ning Jing, since Chen An was riding a bicycle, while she was actually running around the track again and again.

Chen An rejected his own performance many times, which caused Ning Jing's legs to go weak after filming the scene.

Filming has been suspended.

Chen An had no choice but to call on others to film the rest of the subplots, including the opening scene of the male lead Manny trading flour.

This is a strength of Hong Kong films; with the help of local staff, this scene was filmed easily.

Then, Duan Long's scenes were also filmed.

He has been studying the script these days, and his performance on stage is also quite good.

The makeup artist is highly skilled; the result looks very similar to the original.

The dialogue between him and Chen An.

"I'm such an idiot. Life can be crazy sometimes, can't it?"

That playful demeanor guided Chen An through the entire process in one go.

By the time Ning Jing had rested enough, most of the other scenes had been filmed, with only a few shots featuring Ning Jing remaining.

After all, she is the true protagonist of this movie; the others are merely supporting characters.

Including the male lead, Manny.

The entire film is about Lola's resilience, self-breakthrough, and maturity.

Zhang Hanyu was relatively stable during his first shoot. Although he made a few mistakes, he eventually passed the test.

Chen An was very satisfied with the dialogue between Lola and Chen An in the corridor.

"Of course I'll help you."

"I'll walk you to the door, then go home and get some sleep. Remember to tell your mother I'm not coming back tonight, not tomorrow, and never again!"

『.』

"I didn't give birth to you; you're not my child at all!"

Although the entire long dialogue was filmed and required five takes, the final result that Chen An wanted was achieved.

After filming this segment, his performance wasn't particularly difficult, and he and Duan Long eventually wrapped up filming together.

Chen An also hosted a wrap party for the two of them, something that wasn't included in the short film.

"Thank you Director Chen for your trust and help in casting me in this movie; otherwise, I would still be a voice actor."

"Me too, I'm very grateful to the director for choosing me, a sophomore in college, to play this role."

At the banquet, the two drank and expressed their gratitude.

Chen An smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he didn't drink much because he had to continue filming the next day.

In the scene where Lola's father's friend hits three burly men with his car, Chen An directly hired two extras to film the scene with Zhao Xiong, placing Zhao Xiong in the center position so he looked like the boss.

The day after they finished eating, the two of them took a plane back to Beijing together.

Chen An continued filming, and as time passed, even Hong Kong Island felt quite chilly.

As the days went by, we started wearing more clothes.

Chen An didn't finish filming all the running scenes until the end of December.

This made Ning Jing very happy, and he even treated the group to a big meal.

All that's left are the scenes of the two of them chatting in bed.

This is also one of the core dialogues in the film. Chen An did not start filming immediately afterward, but left it for tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)