China Entertainment 1997

"I understand, okay, you go ahead and do your work..."

Cao Xuan, who had just got on the bus from Xushi Airport, hung up the phone and couldn't help but cursed. Zhang Chong poked his head from the front seat.

"Boss, are you okay?"

"Sister Jiang called me and said that Jiao Enjun had accepted the Japanese version of "The Legend of Ghosts" and could not find time to play "The Legend of Zhen Huan"."

"The Love of Ghosts" is a classic Hollywood film. Japan's Shochiku Pictures Company has obtained the copyright and wants to remake a Japanese version.

At the same time, Shochiku Pictures was very ambitious and was not willing to just release the film in Japan. It wanted to hit the Asian market, so it approached Jiao Enjun, the star of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff".

Although this movie may not be released in mainland China because it contains "ghosts", there will be no problem in DVD and other markets.

Moreover, "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" is very popular in Asia. Jiao Enjun is a familiar face in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea, which is more conducive to the promotion of the film.

At least in the eyes of Shochu Pictures, Jiao Enjun is much better than Song Seung-heon, who was promoted by South Korea's Seagate Company.

Although the latter is a top-notch actor in South Korea and became famous in Asia with "Blue Life and Death" in his early years, his popularity dropped greatly after he joined the army. He has only become popular in South Korea in the past two years.

With such popularity, compared to one of the two male protagonists of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff", which has dominated the Japanese box office market for two years, it obviously has no chance of winning.

In the end, Lao Jiao successfully won the role and rejected the male lead of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" on the grounds of adapting to the role and learning Japanese.

"this……"

Zhang Chong didn't know how to evaluate it, but Cao Xuan directly exposed Jiao Enjun's little thoughts.

"I'm so used to Japanese. I just watched "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and those girls were too difficult to deal with, so I found an excuse to escape."

Cao Xuan massaged his temples with two fingers, feeling a little discouraged.

He previously only thought about the luxurious lineup and tried his best to recruit stars, but ignored that the female star lineup was too strong, which caused too much pressure on the male protagonist.

More importantly, there is also the second house of East and West.

"The Legend of Zhen Huan" mainly focuses on palace battles, and the two people's roles do not have any intimate scenes, so there is no need to avoid too many taboos during the filming.

However, many people saw the fight between East and West in the key conference room. Although Dongwu and Ergong calmed down when they returned home, they concentrated on supporting their disciples and younger sisters in their fight.

But in the eyes of outsiders, who knows whether the two will compete with each other on the set. The fight between gods and gods will bring disaster to the pond, especially the male protagonist. The situation is special and he cannot escape even if he wants to.

The group of actresses in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" are inherently troublesome. Although Lao Jiao is popular enough, none of the others like Fan Xiaopang is any worse than him.

Originally, he may not be able to control the situation, but with the addition of the East and West houses, the conflict has risen to another level, even affecting the boss's family affairs.

Lao Jiao took this role because he was out of his mind and went to Japan to hide. The male lead of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" could not be decided one day, and he would never come back.

"They're all old Liaozhai."

Cao Xuan was a little bit sad. With Lao Jiao running away, this character was finally saved.

Generally, artists can't hold their own, and they will throw away the inappropriate ones if they have enough weight. Others either don't act in TV series or are unwilling to take risks.

After all, acting is a trivial matter. If you offend a boss lady, whispering in Boss Cao's ear is equivalent to offending Fanxing, a giant in the industry, and the gain outweighs the loss...

Not only Cao Xuan thought of this, but Zhang Chong, who had followed him over the years and developed some visionary thinking, also saw the embarrassment of this matter.

"Boss, except for you, no one else dares to act now."

"I?"

Cao Xuan's temples hurt even more. "The Legend of Zhen Huan" has more than seventy episodes. After filming this movie, he couldn't think about anything else for at least half a year.

Moreover, the role of the male protagonist, the emperor, was too miserable. He didn't care about being a scumbag. In the end, he was raped by several concubines and then died of anger. It was really frustrating.

Besides, who said that Lao Jiao was afraid of a fight between the East and West Palaces, but Cao Xuan was more afraid than him.

Lao Jiao can still run away, he has no place to hide...

"Actually, it's good to act in a TV series. You haven't acted in a TV series for six or seven years. In your words, it's time to become more grounded. A one- or two-hour movie is not as satisfying as dozens of episodes of a TV series."

Zhang Chong didn't take it too seriously to watch the excitement, and even couldn't help but persuade Cao Xuan to act in a palace fight drama with the East and West Palaces.

In his impression, Cao Xuan didn't seem to be acting at the same time as Dong and Xi Ergong, plus a bunch of starry actresses, tsk tsk, it would be too lively.

"Get lost."

Seeing this guy gloating about his misfortune, Cao Xuan got angry and turned to Zhu Jiang who was driving.

"Lao Zhu, keep an eye on this guy. If he steps left foot first after getting off the car, half a month's salary will be deducted."

Zhu Jiang has a rigorous personality and is meticulous in everything he does: "What if he steps forward with his right foot first?"

Cao Xuan: "Then I'll deduct fifteen days."

Zhang Chong: "..."

Although his salary was deducted, Zhang Chong didn't take it seriously. His income was only a small part of his salary. It was nothing to him if he deducted all his salary for a year. It would be unfair if half a month's bonus was deducted. pain.

So he also knew that Cao Xuan was not angry, so he continued to propose with a smile.

"To be honest, everyone is rushing to make movies now. In fact, TV series have a huge impact. Don't you want to become a star of Penguin? Who is as popular as you?"

Putting aside the idea of ​​watching the excitement, Zhang Chong really wants to see Cao Xuan act in a TV series, which is also the wish of many movie fans.

As Cao Xuan's assistant, he would occasionally go undercover to inquire about information and fans' tendencies, so he would know something about the situation.

Cao Xuan has a huge number of fans. When there are more people, it is naturally easy to split. Generally speaking, it can be divided into three categories: fans, movie fans, and personal fans.

There are countless subcategories under the main category. For example, personal fans are divided into CP fans, career fans, appearance fans, body fans, action fans, scumbag fans, patriotic fans, character fans, fan fans who love the house and black fans, inspirational fans, and visual fans. Fans for life goals and so on.

The same goes for movie fans, with all kinds of messy classifications.

There are those who like Cao Xuan's appearance in movies and TV shows, some who like Cao Xuan's figure, some who like watching CP in movies and TV shows, some who love Cao Xuan as a villain, some who love Cao Xuan as a martial arts actor, and some who appreciate Cao Xuan's acting skills.

Among them, movies and TV series are also important categories.

The former is okay, Cao Xuan's focus is on this, which is nothing more than arguing about themes, revitalizing the Chinese language, or impacting Hollywood.

The latter had been internally divided before, but now they only have one wish, that Cao Xuan should act in a TV series, regardless of the subject matter, and they are even a little desperate waiting for it.

Afraid that Cao Xuan would not believe it, Zhang Chong asked Cao Xuan to turn on his computer and search the Baidu Post Bar [Did Cao Xuan act in a TV series today?].

"Is there such a Tieba? There is no limit to the number of characters in the name of Baidu Tieba?"

Cao Xuan was confused. These were nonsense names. But after clicking in, he found that the popularity was pretty good. He was almost catching up with the fan posts of many celebrities.

Later, he also discovered a brother's forum [Has Cao Xuan released an album today?], which was more popular than the previous forum and even seemed to be one of his fan bases.

"Look, I didn't lie to you."

Seeing that Cao Xuan was looking seriously, Zhang Chong asked proudly. Cao Xuan nodded: "There are indeed many people."

"Are you planning to star in "The Legend of Zhen Huan"?"

"Lets see."

Cao Xuan was a little hesitant. Filming a TV series is a trivial matter. With his current status and popularity, even if he is acting in online dramas, no one would think he is outdated. Instead, they might say he is down-to-earth.

However, the filming time of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is indeed too long, which will disrupt many of his original plans. This is what he is most struggling with.

………

The specific shooting of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" will be postponed to next year, so it can be put aside temporarily. Cao Xuan still has to shoot "Let the Bullets Fly" first.

Xuzhou Airport is not far from Fanxingzao City Sub-base. If the journey goes smoothly, it will take more than two hours.

Cao Xuan watched the movie, and Xiao Mi came to the set of "Let the Bullets Fly" after a while.

He took a total of three days off for this award ceremony. As a result, because he was returning to Beijing and back, and his flight was delayed due to weather, he was overdue for half a morning. Although he had called to say hello, he still had to show his nakedness when he came back.

By chance, when he came, there was no filming on the set, and Lao Jiang and the leading actors were discussing the script. When they saw him coming in, Lao Jiang immediately imitated the master's tone in the movie and shouted.

"When the best actor comes, our crew will be stable. When the best actor comes, this movie will be a success."

"Don't talk nonsense."

Seeing Lao Jiang mocking himself with his lines, Cao Xuan couldn't help but give him the middle finger. Lao Jiang didn't care and even asked everyone to applaud.

"Welcome the acclaimed actor Cao back, everyone chirps."

Bang bang bang——

Everyone was very considerate and applauded like thunder. Cao Xuan also put away his middle finger and bowed slightly to express his thanks.

After a brief welcome ceremony, the others dispersed, and a few of the main creators gathered together to chat. Uncle Ge gave Cao Xuan a thumbs-up with a smile.

"We have all read the reports. The Chinese Grand Slam is the first among the three places across the Taiwan Strait."

"I'm just a bastard. Teacher Ge is the Best Actor at Cannes, and Lao Jiang has won many awards abroad. Compared with you two, I'm still far behind."

"This is not true."

Lao Jiang was filled with indignation: "You have won many foreign awards, right? The Grammys combined have exceeded double digits. Many people have won the three major film festivals. With so many Grammy awards, all Asians are unique." One serving.”

"Music is different from movies. You still have to learn."

"You won the Chinese Grand Slam before you turned 35, and you will become an international actor sooner or later."

"I remember that Mr. Ge was 37 when he won Cannes. It's even more amazing."

"I can't compare to Director Jiang. He won the Hundred Flowers Best Actor at the age of 24. It's a young man's success."

The three of them exchanged some modest words at first, and then they boasted about each other's business. They were actually happy to compliment each other, and Liao and the others next to them felt like their hearts were being stabbed crazily.

However, the producer Ma Ke next to him was impressed. The previous title of "Let the Bullets Fly" was the collaboration of three major movie stars, which was also one of the biggest gimmicks of this movie.

However, today the three people complimented each other in business, which made him realize that there is still room for exploration in this gimmick.

There is not only one best actor among the three, but the three best actor are a bit stingy. It would be more exciting to just count the trophies.

Cao Xuan's Golden Rooster, Golden Horse, Golden Statue, Huabiao, and Hundred Flowers Grand Slam, a total of 5 trophies.

Director Jiang Wen has achieved even greater achievements. He does not have many Best Actor trophies. He has only won the Hundred Flowers Best Actor twice, a total of 2 awards.

Uncle Ge is also a big producer of trophies, with a total of 4 Best Actor trophies at Cannes, Golden Rooster and Two Hundred Flowers.

In addition, Shao Bin, who plays the second child, also has a gorgeous appearance. Fan Xiaopang has just won the Golden Horse Best Actress, with a total of 13 Best Actor and Best Actress trophies.

And these are all mainstream authoritative trophies. If you include all other trophies with low gold content or inferior quality, even 30 trophies will be unbeatable.

Apart from other things, Cao Xuan’s messy best actor awards alone are not less than double digits.

In the College Student Film Festival alone, Cao Xuan won three awards for "Best Actor" with "When Men Are in Love", "New World" and "Painted Skin".

In addition, he won Hong Kong's Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Actor for "New World", he won a Best Actor Award at a Singapore Film Festival for "Xiu Chun Knife 2", "New Police Story" seems to have a Philippine Best Actor Award, and he also won a Changchun Film Award. Festival Golden Deer Best Actor.

Blockbusters or action films such as "Painted Skin", "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" and "The Rescue" series are not favored by film awards, but they have won several so-called Chinese or Asian Film Awards and other unknown actors.

"Rescue Mr. My" won not only one Golden Horse Best Actor this year, but also two or three assorted Best Actors.

For some awards, Cao Xuan gave the organizer the opportunity to go to the venue to practice, but it would be better to record a VCR to thank him.

Sometimes, Cao Xuan doesn't even know he has won the award. He only learns that he has another Best Actor after receiving the trophy in the mail or from media channels.

These so-called movie kings have too little reputation and nothing to show off. Cao Xuan doesn't like to talk about it, but sometimes with these trophies, his "Grand Slam" is more convincing.

Ma Ke didn't take these trophies seriously either, but they could be used for publicity.

When the time comes, I will make a movie poster with a layout divided into upper and lower parts. On the top are bust photos of the five main creators of "Let the Bullets Fly". The three giants are in the middle, with Fan Xiaopang and Shao Bin on the left and right.

Below is a dense collection of trophies for Best Actor and Best Actress. The miscellaneous awards are shrunk and placed in one corner, and the prestigious awards are enlarged and placed in the middle.

No matter what, smashing dozens of trophies, you won’t be confused about who is holding them, and it can also create the feeling of a master’s show, increase the popularity and attract the audience.

Although Ma Ke looks like an "eight-year-old", he is a qualified producer with a unique vision and is particularly good at grasping key topics.

For example, last month's "Dwelling", which he served as a producer, hit the airwaves. It focused on many sensitive topics and was once suspended.

However, it didn't take long for the show to resume airing on those local stations, and the number of online broadcasts was also very high. Because of this, the TV series became even more popular and became the biggest hit TV series at the end of 2009.

Teacher Zeng's favorite disciple Wen Zhang became an instant star and became one of the popular niche students. He was also one of the few students from Class 02 of the Chinese Opera class who did not rely on the stars.

Cao Xuan returned to the capital for a meeting this time, and some senior officials suggested poaching him to Fanxing.

But let’s not talk about Cao Xuantong’s disapproval. Even if he wanted to dig it, it was already too late. Wen Zhang participated in "Ocean Paradise" this year. During this period, he met Li Lianjie and became his father-in-law.

With such a big and thick leg, there is still a bit of a teacher-student relationship with Empress Xigong. Her girlfriend also has connections in the Beijing and Shanghai circles. In addition, the halo of the Chinese drama star Class 02 and many old classmates such as Liu Tianxian help each other. Both Yiwang and Cao Xuan felt that he had a bright future.

The premise is that you change your bad temper and don't commit suicide...

It is worth mentioning that Wen Zhang and Ma Ke have a good relationship. Later, when he was able to star in Jiang Wen's "One Step Away", it is difficult to say that Ma Ke was not involved.

Even Cao Xuan recognizes Ma Ke's ability. The numerous producers of "Let the Bullets Fly" are currently working for him.

You must know that Fanxing owns 50% of the share of "Let the Bullets Fly". In the past, most of the crews who had such a share were controlled by Fanxing. The exception of "Let the Bullets Fly" was mainly due to the abilities of Jiang Wen and Ma Ke.

…

Back in the afternoon of "Let the Bullets Fly", Cao Xuan started filming.

The crew will start shooting in late October, and according to the original plan, Cao Xuan can wrap up and leave in less than 50 days.

However, the key lies in Lao Jiang Gouri's love to change the script!

Especially the main scene has changed over and over again. It is conservatively estimated that Cao Xuan's scene will be completed by the end of 2009.

Fortunately, Cao Xuan could give directions from time to time, which saved a lot of time. Otherwise, Cao Xuan would finish filming at the end of the Yang calendar, and it would be a waste to finish it before the Spring Festival.

For example, the scene of the Hongmen Banquet at the Huang Mansion was filmed now. The script stated that the filming time was one day. At the same time, because it was the highlight, an extra day was added as a backup.

But when filming started, the time for the script didn't count at all. The filming didn't even start in the first two days. Cao Xuan and the other two went over the script over and over again. They didn't even talk about the script afterwards. Instead, they talked about everything.

It wasn't until the third day that the filming officially started, but it was a process of making changes and changes, and it took almost a week to finish.

During this period, all the cast and crew members of the crew have been working hard.

Cao Xuan doesn't really appreciate or adapt to this way of working, especially for someone like him who believes that efficiency is king... it's too torturous.

When he worked with several Hong Kong directors in the past, he would occasionally feel that they were making films too fast and seemed to be "shoddy".

But compared with Jiang Wen, he began to miss those fast shooters again...

Cao Xuan also understood why many people in the Xiangjiang actors were annoyed by Wang Sunglasses.

Lao Jiang delays time by days and weeks, but Wang Sunglasses still counts months and years.

Jiang Wen at least respected the actors. They all discussed the script together and had a general shooting direction in mind. The latter heard that the actor was treated as a tool, and there was no script. He just gave the actor a situation to let him play freely, and polished it over and over again to create a perfect character. Wang Sunglasses doesn’t even know if he can use the lens.

Although Cao Xuan disliked Lao Jiang's ink marks, he could at least tolerate it. If Wang Sunglasses had taken photos like that, he would have turned against him long ago.

In fact, having said that, although Lao Jiang's shooting method is not common in the film industry, it is not too out of the ordinary.

The main reason why Cao Xuan disliked him for procrastinating was that he knew the finished film and gave guidance overtly and covertly, but Jiang Wen refused to listen and insisted on trying one plan after another. In his opinion, it was a waste of time.

In fact, Jiang Wen himself felt uncomfortable.

After filming for more than a month, Cao Xuan had his own ideas for almost 60% of the scenes, and he was very active.

Jiang Wen considers himself an actor who loves to "make trouble" for the director. Compared with Cao Xuan, he is considered an honest person.

That's all. After all, Jiang Wen, a well-known theater tycoon, knew it well. He had imagined it based on himself in advance, and had taken enough vaccinations, so he could accept it mentally.

The most damning thing is that many of Cao Xuan's ideas coincide with his, and they are often tested and eventually adopted by him.

This surprised Jiang Wen. Cao Xuan and he were in a difficult relationship. At the same time, he also felt the pain of being robbed of his imagination and deprived of the director's sense of accomplishment. The pleasure of directing was greatly reduced.

Because of this, he wanted to overturn Cao Xuan's proposal and prove himself even more.

Cao Xuan was just giving a simple reminder. Seeing that he was becoming less and less enlightened, his words were becoming more and more explicit, and he was becoming more and more "playful". Jiang Wen couldn't help but copy his notes, and wanted to try other ideas to refute Cao Xuan. Xuan.

To some extent, the two are trapped in a vicious cycle of constant competition.

Uncle Ge was actually a little annoyed that Jiang Wen was getting slower and slower as the filming progressed. After all, his schedule was also very tight.

But watching the two of them torture each other, the annoyance in their hearts will disappear a lot, and they will enter a state of fun, and even vaguely stand on Cao Xuan's side, hoping to help him vent his anger.

In the inner room of the Huang Mansion, the plastic wrap on the table was removed and ready to start shooting.

This Hongmen Banquet took almost a week to shoot, and the dishes on the table were changed twice. Fortunately, it was winter. If it were summer, it would have been sour for half a day.

Of course, there are almost no eating scenes in this scene, and the actors will not eat even if the food is rotten. However, if a bunch of rotten vegetables are placed in front of them, the appearance and smell will always be off-putting, which will affect the performance of the actors.

The Hongmen Banquet scene is very interesting. Each of the three people has eight hundred minds. They test back and forth. They talk nine lies and one truth. During this period, they are in harmony with each other. It is full of routines and counter-routines. At the same time, the roles of both parties are somewhat similar. Speaking, it happens to be on the right track, giving the audience pleasure and satisfaction from a God's perspective.

This is also the reason why Jiang Wen went through the script repeatedly. His movies pay great attention to the condensation of lines, especially after "Let the Bullets Fly", which almost reached the point of paranoia.

The story is there and the plot is okay, but I still have to ponder the lines over and over again and refine the design repeatedly. The lines are required to be natural, interesting, deep, and thought-provoking.

Jiang Wen can even develop plots or movies just for lines. In his words——

It was because of this vinegar that I made this dumpling meal.

That's why the lines in "Let the Bullets Fly" are so classic that they were "inscribed on the World Heritage List" and are still remembered more than ten years after the movie was released.

"The boss is often empty-handed. Every day when I open my eyes, hundreds of people are waiting for me to eat, drink, defecate, and defecate. How many mouthfuls will actually fall into my mouth?"

"We don't have the courage to suppress bandits, but we still have the courage to make money in the name of suppressing bandits, and it's very big!"

"I thought, drink wine one sip at a time, walk one step at a time! If you take a big step, it's easy to lose your temper. You should separate the dollars first, and then talk about joining the leg."

"Then that time and that moment is exactly like this moment."

“US dollar, US dollar!”

"..."

Almost one-third of the above lines were suggested or revised by Cao Xuan, and Uncle Ge also added a few lines.

Jiang Wen was more of an experiment, and then he had to admit that he had underestimated the world's heroes.

The difficulty of this scene lies in the script and lines. After confirming the lines of the script, it was actually very easy to act. The three major movie stars were full of fire and acted like crazy. They acted happily, and it seemed to outsiders that they were happy.

Yinghuang's Bai Bing made a cameo appearance as a maid Daiyu Qingwen. Boss Yang and Lao Jiang also participated in the investment this time because of their good cooperation in the last film "Let the Bullets Fly".

Uncle Ge put away the diamond, secretly kissed Bai Bing, and then laughed happily.

"Isn't it Daiyu and Qingwen? Why did a woman come?"

Jiang Wen glanced at the maid and said with interest, "Could her name be Daiyu Qingwen?"

"Say you can't pretend to be confused and give yourself an Oriental name——"

Cao Xuan pointed at the two of them and shook his fingers. The three of them looked at each other, shouted their names in unison, and laughed in unison.

"Daiyu Qingwenzi! Hahaha..."

There was a scream, and suddenly another person died. Uncle Ge stood up in panic. Cao Xuan didn't give the two people time to react, raised the wine bottle in his hand and touched it with him.

"Master, high!"

He turned to look at Jiang Wen again and raised a bottle to toast.

"County magistrate, hard!"

Jiang Wen and Uncle Ge looked at each other, raised their bottles, and shouted in unison: "Master Huang is tall and hard!!!"

"Card!"

The executive director stopped, and Uncle Ge chatted with the young man, took a sip of water from the bottle, and laughed.

"Haha, I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

Cao Xuan also felt comfortable all over. It was really torturous to repeat the lines before, but after the lines were written and acted, it was really fun and special.

Jiang Wen was laughing from ear to ear watching the playback, forgetting all the little thoughts. As long as the movie was shot, everything else was trivial and not worth mentioning.

Others were even more relieved. This scene was finally finished.

Cao and Jiang have tortured each other these days, and they have also suffered a lot. Many people even swore in their hearts that they would never act with these two people at the same time in the future. Their brains hurt...