Go along Changshu Road for about 100 meters and turn left to Wuyuan Road.
Cheng Er is familiar with this road and has been there several times last year. I remember that the weather was still hot at that time, the air was filled with a quiet and lazy atmosphere, even the footsteps became gentle, and the cicadas called summer loudly. The dense French plane trees on both sides arched up the green dome, making the road look long and deep, and it could not be seen to the end at a glance.
The leaves have already fallen in this season, and the bare branches add a bit of desolation, but you can still see British-style buildings on both sides of the road, with double-slope roofs, dormer windows, towering brick chimneys, and exterior walls of clear red bricks. .
There are many shops scattered on both sides of the road, including cafes, clothing stores, boutiques, barber shops, restaurants, etc., and it is full of fireworks.
According to the agreed address, Cheng Er came to a snack bar. There were fried dumplings and steamed buns sold in the window at the door. There was a team of more than a dozen people taking pictures on the sidewalk outside, and you could tell that business was good.
Walking into the shop, Cheng Er found that it was more of a place for morning tea than a breakfast shop. The shop is very clean, with dark tables covered with white tablecloths. People are drinking tea, chatting and tasting snacks leisurely.
There is no hustle and bustle of a breakfast shop here. Most of the people speak softly, and occasionally you can hear the crisp sound of bowls clinking.
Cheng Er glanced around and found the person he was looking for at a table against the wall. It was just a little different from the image in his mind. There was no smooth parted hair, no suit and leather shoes, but instead With neat short hair and a black turtleneck sweater, he looks younger and more energetic.
"Li...Mr. Li Tang!"
Cheng Er walked over. He was not very good at speaking. He originally wanted to call Mr. Li, but the other person was obviously young, so he had to call him Mr. Li by his first and last name.
Li Tang hurriedly stood up and looked at the young man in front of him who had a pair of provocative ears, a suit and leather shoes, and black-rimmed glasses, but was a little embarrassed. He stretched out his hand with a smile on his face: "You are Director Cheng Er, right? You Okay, Director Cheng!"
Cheng Er nodded shyly, shook hands with Li Tang and said, "Just call me Cheng Er."
"Okay, Cheng Er! Sit down, I'm really sorry that the appointment is so early." Li Tang greeted warmly.
The two talked on the phone last night. Xu had been waiting for this call for too long. It had been two months since he saw the script of "Criminals" and received the call from Cheng Er, so he suddenly had the idea to make an appointment with the other party the next day. Have morning tea together.
"It doesn't matter."
Cheng Er sat down restrainedly.
"I'll take this book." Li Tang poured him a cup of tea and said straight to the point.
"Thank you, Li...er, Mr. Li."
After just a few words of greeting, Li Tang finally figured out that the Cheng Er in front of him was not very good at talking, so it was no wonder that he could "get along well" with Lou Ye.
He smiled and waved his hands: "Just like you, just call me Li Tang, don't be polite."
"Okay, Li...Brother Li."
Cheng Er finally became more flexible.
At this time, the waiter brought the menu.
Li Tang gestured to give the menu to Cheng Er, who was sitting opposite: "Order what you want to eat."
I didn't look at the menu and ordered directly to the waiter: "I want a bowl of small wontons, a fried steamed bun... Oh, and a steamed ribs."
Cheng Er looked at the menu a little strange, because it not only had Shanghai's local breakfast varieties, but also many Cantonese-style snacks, such as the steamed pork ribs that Li Tang just ordered. The menu said "Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce", a classic dish. Cantonese side dishes.
But when he saw Li Tang finishing his order, he hurriedly pointed to the menu and said, "I want a salty soy milk and a small cage."
"That's all?" the waiter asked.
"Well, that's enough."
Li Tang was a little surprised when he saw that Cheng Er actually ordered a bowl of salty soy milk. Salty soy milk is a product of the Yangtze River Delta area, and few outsiders will drink salty soy milk.
I remember the first time I took my ex-girlfriend to drink salty soy milk. My ex-girlfriend was surprised when she saw that soy sauce, rice vinegar, chopped green onion, seaweed, minced mustard and fried dough sticks were added to the soy milk, because she thought soy milk was sweet. , Tofu brain is salty.
"Cheng Er, how long have you been in Shanghai?"
"It's been more than half a year. I came to Shanghai Film Studio for an internship in July last year."
Oh, it's been more than half a year, I should be used to it.
"That's really unfortunate. If it had been half a year earlier, we might have had the opportunity to cooperate." Li Tang said with a smile.
Cheng Er nodded and said, "I have read "Shanghai Chronicle"."
"The finished film has been released, how do you feel about it?" Li Tang asked hurriedly.
He has always been looking forward to his first work.
Cheng Er pushed up his glasses and said seriously: "The movie is very good. Both the photography and composition are excellent. The lens is very modern. Brother Li, you and the actress named Yuan Quan both performed wonderfully. It's just that …”
Having said this, he hesitated for a moment and then said: "It's just that I personally feel that the movie covers too many events, causing the events to overshadow the characters, and the core emotional power reflected from the characters is insufficient."
"Well……"
Li Tang didn't expect Cheng Er to be so outspoken.
You must know that the director of this film is a senior in their Nortel directing department and a top student at the New York Film Academy. Under normal circumstances, it is carried by everyone in a sedan chair. Even if there are obvious flaws, they are selectively ignored or the tone is as tactful as possible.
He, a fledgling fourth-year directing student, dared to criticize his seniors so bluntly. Does Director Peng Xiaolian know?
At the same time, Li Tang was a little disappointed. After all, it was his first work that was so criticized. Although this problem may not necessarily be caused by the actor, he still felt uncomfortable.
"Let's talk about the script. The story is very well written and feels very real. I like it very much, and the character Hu Tian..."
Listen, Li Tang speaks so beautifully, three in a row are special. But before he finished speaking, Cheng Er took out a bunch of manuscripts from his bag, handed them over and said, "Brother Li, take a look first."
"Uh, okay."
Li Tang took it.
The first one is a character relationship chart. There are not many characters in the script, including gangsters and policemen who are part-timers. There are only more than ten characters in total. But on this character relationship diagram, all the characters, including the connections between them, are clearly marked.
The second picture is the structure diagram of the movie. Although this is just a short film, it still strictly follows the three-act plot structure.
The next dozen pictures show the character relationships and plot details of each scene. There are both text descriptions and graphic displays, which make it clear and visual.
Finally, there are the storyboards of some important scenes.
Li Tang just flipped through it roughly and was shocked. He didn't expect Cheng Er's preparations to be so thorough.
When working with Director Peng Xiaolian, Director Peng placed more emphasis on brainstorming, more on technical aspects and performance details, and strictly implemented the final decision.
Lou Ye is on the other extreme, mysterious and unconstrained. "Flying paper" is commonplace, and the actors are not allowed to have too much preparation and find inspiration during filming.
As for "Returning the Pearl II", as a TV series, there is no creation to speak of, it is simply an industrialized running account.
But on Cheng Er's side, the preparation work was so meticulous, and it was obvious that more emphasis was placed on the director's art, controlling the actors in specific situations. At the same time, he does not treat actors as marionettes to realize his directorial art, but gives actors enough space to perform in specific situations.
The reason why Li Tang came to the conclusion so quickly was because it was very simple, just by looking at the chart.
Originally, he was going to discuss the script with the director, but now it seems that there is no need for it. He has already done the preparation work in advance.
At this time, the ordered items were served one after another. Li Tang was flipping through the storyboard drawings while eating. Of course, the painter was far inferior to Lou Ye, and he was not as unconstrained and irregular as Lou Ye. Judging from the composition of the storyboards, there are more medium shots and close shots. Most of the pictures adopt a symmetrical layout. The colors also use a lot of warm tones. Some parts are gray and dark, which is probably due to the plot.
Generally speaking, it reflects the standard of a very upright academic director.
Of course, these are the sincerity shown by Cheng Er to Li Tang, and he needs Li Tang to give him back his trust in the director.
