independent filmmaker

After Xie Lansheng got the "License for Film Production (Single Film)", he began intensive preparations for the shooting of "Love at First Sight".

He called Qi Dashe: "Hello? Qi Dashe? I am Lansheng! Well, the motherland is changing a lot now, changing with each passing day and flourishing..."

Qi Yong: "..."

The last time the two of them cooperated was about four or five years ago. As a result, Xie Lansheng won the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture for the second time.Qi Yong knew that his weekly salary was high, and he would not have hired Xie Lansheng if he hadn't attached great importance to him.He has cooperated with Xie Lansheng three times and won one best film in Turin and two "Big Three" best films, which is quite amazing. Qi Yong has long since disliked being a photographer for Xie Lansheng. Sometimes he even hopes that Xie Lansheng can Call again.

It's just that the opening remarks are the same every time, isn't this too perfunctory? !

He had no choice but to say angrily, "I'll go and see Little Red and Little Green."

"Yeah!" Xie Lansheng said, "Qi Dashe, this time there will be more people and more camera positions. You will be the director of photography and the main photographer at the same time. I will be responsible for arranging assistant photographers and assistants. There is a set of people for each seat.”

"Okay." Qi Yong said, "I'll take a follower."

Xie Lansheng naturally agreed: "Okay."

Unless you are extremely poor, filming requires several camera positions, and each camera position must be equipped with a photographer and a camera assistant. The first assistant is responsible for focusing, and at the same time manages the camera in his hand, doing film loading, cleaning, etc. The second assistant is responsible for coordination, and sometimes, everyone shares the second assistant, or even no second assistant.

"By the way," Xie Lansheng said again, "in order to catch up with the schedule, the shooting will be divided into two groups, day and night. I will also provide a good photographer for the night group and hire a main photographer, but you, as the leader of the team, are the best. It’s better not to be here at all.” "Love at First Sight" is on the sidelines, Xie Lansheng wants to catch up with the progress, he is worried that this movie will not be released after a while.

Qi Yong's attitude was very bad: "You really can make trouble!"

"Hahahaha!"

After the photographer is determined, the whole team needs to be built.

The main sound engineer is called Qu Danian, and he built his own recording team - Cen Chen still has a job and cannot join the crew.Afterwards, the production director, art director, photography team, lighting team, scenery team, modeling team, etc. were also determined one by one.The art director is from Hong Kong, and besides Qi Yong, photography, lighting, scenery, and modeling are almost all from Hong Kong.

This is normal.China's film industry has become market-oriented, but talent is very scarce. Talents from all walks of life who can shoot commercial films are even rarer, and even key personnel cannot be found. At the same time, because there are more audiences in the mainland, a larger market, and higher remuneration, Hong Kong teams have "" Northward”, the two sides hit it off, and the Hong Kong team often appears in the subtitles of commercial films.

Xie Lansheng also hired two people he knew as executive directors, one was in charge of the matinee and the other was in charge of the night show, but Xie Lansheng knew very well that he had to watch from both sides.He was the only one in the entire production crew who could hardly sleep. He would be upside down day and night, running around, so he could only take a few moments to squint.This is also impossible.

There are 4 assistant directors in total.One is in charge of film casting, one is coordinating the matinee scene, and one is coordinating the night scene. They will act according to the orders of the chief director and executive director.

Among them, the actor and deputy director is Zhou Jing, who was recommended by a good friend. Some of the movies he cast were very good at the box office, and several actors are very suitable. For him, Xie Lansheng has high expectations.

Although, on the day after signing the contract, when sending Zhou Jing to the subway entrance, Xie Lansheng found that when the two of them passed a hair salon next to Dark Blue, Zhou Jing couldn't take his eyes off a picture hanging on the wall of the hair salon until he walked over.In that picture, a man is using his hand...a woman, the key parts are covered by the hand, but full of desire is revealed.

Thinking of Zhou Jing often talking dirty, Xie Lansheng didn't feel very comfortable, but it's normal for a man to like to watch pornographic pictures and talk dirty.

…………

The creative staff is almost ready, and the selection of actors is on the agenda.

Xie Lansheng did the math, if all the actors were included, the entire crew would have 500 people.This is a challenge for Lan Sheng. In the past, when he was an independent director, his team had dozens of people, and the most was only 75 people at that time.

So, before the casting, he called all the team leaders to Deep Blue for a meeting. He wanted everyone to get to know each other and get to know each other. People understand the concept of the crew, the culture of the crew, as well as their respective status and tasks.Because the crew of "Love at First Sight" includes mainlanders and Hong Kong people, Xie Lansheng felt that it was necessary to hold a meeting.

He first talked about his resume, his ideas, and his goals, and then used PPT to explain "Love at First Sight" in great detail, including the rhythm and feeling he wanted, and asked everyone to introduce each other. Finally, Xie Lansheng said: "We As for this big team, it needs to be professionalized and standardized. Everyone here should work together to work together for the film. I will trust your judgment in the professional field, and you can communicate with me about new ideas at any time. I know, this is It's a temporary team, but I hope that everyone will not be perfunctory, but take a holistic view, pay attention to every detail, and let "Love at First Sight" enter the top three box office of the year, okay?" This is not only for the movie, but also for For themselves.

"Okay." "Okay." All the people present agreed, and even applauded together. Then, Xie Lansheng invited all the main creators to have a meal at "Barbecue Wan". Together, mainlanders sit together, basically there is no communication between the two sides, unless Lan Sheng asks to clink glasses.

…………

For the casting, Xie Lansheng handed over the secondary roles to the assistant director Zhou Jing, and he himself was mainly responsible for the decision-making of the two protagonists.Because of the need to hit the box office, Xie Lansheng's idea was to have two celebrities play the leading roles, because celebrities have appeal, although he was a little scared by Shi Yan when he was filming "Consummation".

The male protagonist was quickly determined. He is a veteran Hong Kong actor with handsome looks and good acting skills.

After signing the contract, Xie Lansheng called Xin Ye and said, "Xin Ye, the male lead has just been confirmed. It is Du Shitian, a Hong Kong actor."

"Yeah." Xin Ye smiled and said, "If it weren't for Deep Blue Pictures, I really want to do it myself."

"That, that is of course the best." Speaking of this, Xie Lansheng suddenly remembered a very distant event, and he stuttered, asking, "Xin Ye, the great actor, do you remember? When "Consummation" premiered After it was over, a film critic named Ares Mueller wrote a sentence in the magazine..."

"Which sentence?"

"That sentence, a very sour sentence." Xie Lansheng said in a low voice, suppressing his throat, "I have watched several Xie Lansheng movies over the years. The highest level is "Consummation", followed by "Rooting". These two can be called excellent works. It seems that Xin Ye is Xie Lansheng's artistic muse."

Xin Ye let out a breathy laugh: "I remember. It's quite sour."

"But," Xie Lansheng still said in a low voice, "what he said was not wrong. After these movies were shot, I found that you understand my thoughts best, and you can perform all the content and all the things I want. Feeling. When you're acting, I'm often like 'Yeah, that's great! That's it!'”

"That--"

"No need!" Lan Sheng knew that Xinye wanted to say that he would act in a new movie for him, so he quickly rejected it, "Du Shitian is a good actor, he can definitely interpret Liu Mu. He also has more fans, after all, he was born as a singer." .”

"……Um."

"But, Xinye." Xie Lansheng said again, "Really, you are my muse. I used to be and I am still. I am very happy to have you by my side. Because of you, I am 35 years old and can still do it wholeheartedly. Movies, from time to time, burst into inspiration." Countless times, it was Xin Ye's encouragement and support that allowed him to continue to focus on nothing else.

"Lan Sheng," said Leng Buding, Xin Ye's heart became hot and his voice became a little hoarse, "I really want to kiss you...I really want to suck the tip of your tongue, rub your tongue, explore your throat..."

Xie Lansheng smiled and said, "Me too."

"Ok?"

Xin Ye thought that Lan Sheng would say "I want to kiss you too", but in the end, Xie Lansheng said: "I also want to be kissed by you. I want to be sucked on the tip of my tongue by you, rub my tongue by you, and explore my throat by you..."

After hearing this, Xin Ye became short of breath: "Lan Sheng, I'll see you in two days."

"Okay, I'll wait." Xie Lansheng said, "Bye, Belle."

"Bye, my thank you."

…………

For this film, the casting of actresses is a more troublesome thing.

In the movie, the heroine Lu Yiting has bright teeth, beautiful face and moonlight. She is a beautiful woman with a variety of charms. Because she is an associate professor and has a good temperament. The combination of these hardware is very difficult among stars. Searching.At the same time, the twin sister Lu Yixing has the opposite temperament of her sister, very gloomy and indifferent.

The chief director Xie Lansheng and the actor and deputy director Zhou Jing turned over one by one, feeling that, in terms of appearance and feeling, a Hong Kong star and a very popular local model are the most suitable.There is another actress who is good, but she wants to make Li Xian's film, and there is no schedule.The last one was acceptable, but it was too short, 25 cm shorter than Du Shoutian, and was also passed.

So they arranged an audition.

After receiving the invitation, the model was very surprised, thinking that she was accompanying her, because she didn't know how to act!

In the past, she only played some goddess roles in film and television dramas, just a few shots, but the audience still criticized her as a vase and didn't know how to act.

The first person to audition was that Hong Kong star named Wang Qi.

The final effect cannot be said to be good.

Sometimes an actor just can't figure out a character.

The second person to audition was a local model named Sun Qianqian.

As soon as she came in, she said frankly, "Director Xie, I don't know how to act."

Xie Lansheng raised his eyelids: "Oh?"

"I don't know how to act." Sun Qianqian said, "The film and television circles and audiences have always given me this evaluation."

The corner of Xie Lansheng's mouth twitched: "Whether it will act or not, you don't count, and what circles or audiences say it doesn't count. My movie, I say it."

"Oh……"

Xie Lansheng handed a few pages of text to Sun Qianqian and said, "Act this paragraph with Du Shutian."

After the two performed, Xie Lansheng thought: It's really not good.

But he didn't give up right away.Sun Qianqian is Xie Lansheng's most hopeful heroine, because she and the heroine's growth experience have many overlaps. For example, Sun Qianqian's mother is fond of gambling. The scripts are somewhat similar.Xie Lansheng has always liked the "actor" and "role" as the exterior and interior of each other, like the two sides of a mirror.

So Xie Lansheng said: "Come on, let me tell you about the play, and then let's try again."

Sun Qianqian seemed a little surprised, but she still sat across from her and said, "Yes."

Xie Lansheng is very, very good at telling dramas among the directors.He is very good at communicating with people-expressing ideas, capturing emotions, knowing what the other person understands and what he does not understand.Chinese actors often face directors like they face teachers, only listening, not speaking, and Xie Lansheng can always guide these actors to communicate effectively.

Xie Lansheng intentionally gave an example, so that Sun Qianqian gradually understood which story and which relationship she had in the past could be substituted into this plot. Slowly, she found some feelings.

"Okay," Xie Lansheng said again, "If it were me, I would act like this. Sun Qianqian, please experience it."

After finishing speaking, Xie Lansheng turned into a woman, showing the complicated details of the performance to everyone, and, in the subsequent "decomposition action", he explained one by one, why there is such a thing here, and why it is like that there.

Half an hour later, Sun Qianqian got more and more into the mood, and she was even able to discuss her thoughts with Xie Lansheng, for example, whether this acting would be better.

Finally, in the final audition, Sun Qianqian's overall performance was in line with the requirements.

"Okay." Xie Lansheng took out the contract from a corner of the table and said, "Let's sign the contract."

"Ah???" I never thought it would be so fast, and Sun Qianqian was at a loss again. She said, "Director Xie, do you want to think about it again? The results of my previous roles were not good. , Film and television audiences have always said that I can't act. I..."

She was really frank, and said: "I'm afraid that I'm not capable enough to handle this position. I'm worried that I'll screw up the movie and let Director Xie suffer the loss." She is actually a smart person, and she doesn't want to take advantage of a good opportunity It will not be good for anyone to take a job that is beyond your ability.

Sun Qianqian's female agent also agreed: "Qianqian is a model, she has never learned this. She has only played a few supporting roles... Can she really be a good heroine? Thank you, Director, you have to think about it, Don't let Qianqian be scolded again, okay?"

"You don't know how to act, do you..." Xie Lansheng smiled, turned to the last page of the contract, pressed the fountain pen, and signed the name "Xie Lansheng" in a fluttering manner, then pushed the stack of papers to the other party with his slender fingers, and slapped With a sound, he pressed the water pen, propped his right elbow on the solid wood table, leaned his upper body slightly to the right, raised his eyes to stare at Sun Qianqian, pointed the metal end of the pen in his hand to the tip of the other's nose, nodded from the air, and said, "I let you I'll be acting from now on."