Shanghai Film Studio, director's room.
Cheng Er raised his wrist and looked at the time. It was already past four in the afternoon. He collected the messy books and papers on his desk and added a bookmark to each book. The papers were sorted in order, and then he took a sip and it was already cold. of tea.
After working for more than a year, he has already become accustomed to his current life, reading in the morning and writing in the afternoon, drinking tea during the day and drinking at night. Although a short film called "Criminal" when he graduated caused a small sensation in a small circle centered around Nortel, everyone believed that he was a talented director.
All this once gave him a longing, hoping that he could make the movies he wanted to make like Zhang Yimou and Director Chen. But reality told him that movies are a luxurious art. Even if you are talented and have works to prove yourself, it is not easy to make a movie.
Shanghai Film Studio has brought together a large number of outstanding directors such as Peng Xiaolian, Zhang Jianya, Jiang Haiyang, etc. These people are all his predecessors. They need to be famous and have great works. Even if there is any project like a gift film in the factory, it will not be his turn.
What's more, if Cheng Er wants to make his own movie, he has no choice but to invest in self-financed projects. As a director at Shanghai Film Studio, the only convenience you may have is that the factory can help you submit your project to the General Administration for approval, and then provide convenience in terms of personnel and equipment.
More than a year was enough for his originally ambitious heart to calm down and accept the reality before him. Fortunately, on days when there is no filming, his work is still very easy, and he has enough time to do his own things, such as writing scripts and filming commercials.
I write scripts for myself, and I shoot commercials for food. The salary at Shanghai Film Studio is not high, and it is difficult for him to live comfortably in this city without extra money.
He doesn't like to talk much and doesn't have many friends. Most of his friends used to be in Beijing. After coming to Shanghai for more than a year, he didn't make a few friends that he could talk to. Most of them were colleagues or friends he met at work.
Sometimes he really missed the days when he was filming his graduation film "Criminals". The school gave him 100,000 yuan in filming funds, and the film was sponsored by Kodak. Although the more than 20 classmates often quarreled, they were all fighting for it. Working towards the same goal. And Li Tang, without his performance, their graduation work would not have been so perfectly presented. Because everything they do behind the scenes still has to be expressed by the actors' acting skills.
He still clearly remembers the scene when "Criminal" was screened at the Film Academy on July 1 last year. The thunderous applause made them eager to have a big fight, and he didn't know that that was the most relaxed and free time.
Thinking of this, Mile couldn't help but smile and shook his head, packing up his belongings and getting ready to leave. The good thing about working at Shanghai Film Studio is that the working hours are flexible and you can come and go freely.
At this time, the phone rang, and it showed that the caller was Li Tang's name.
Cheng Er couldn't help but have a smile on his face. Li Tang was probably one of the few friends he could talk to in this city. Of course, the more communication was about creative aspects when he was filming "Criminals". In fact, we don't have much contact with each other on weekdays, and during this time, he often saw some reports about Li Tang, from the most popular actor among college students at the Beijing University Student Film Festival to Linghu Chong in "The Swordsman". It is undeniable that Li Tang is already popular now, and may become even more popular when "Swordsman" is aired.
At this time, he could still receive a call from Li Tang. Surprisingly, Cheng Er felt somewhat complacent.
"Hey, Brother Li."
"Cheng Er, are you free recently? Let's get together when you have time."
Of course Cheng Er was free, almost every day, so he said, "If you are free, you can do it anytime."
"Well……"
Li Tang paused for a moment on the other end of the phone and then asked tentatively: "Is it okay to have dinner together today?"
It might sound impolite at first, after all, few people would call someone to invite someone to dinner just before dinner time.
Cheng Er didn't care, and was even a little surprised. Originally, he had no direction today, so he hurriedly said: "No problem."
He even took the initiative to suggest: "Brother Li, if it's convenient, you can come to my place. There is a good restaurant on Puhuitang Road opposite our unit."
"Okay, I'll be there in half an hour." Li Tang said cheerfully on the phone.
"Well, I'll be waiting for you at the door of the unit then."
Twenty minutes later, Cheng Er was already standing at the door of Shanghai Film Studio waiting with a small bag on his back. He was used to being early and hated others being late.
Within five minutes, he saw a taxi with a Haibo headlight slowly approaching and pulled over in front of him. Li Tang got out of the car from the rear door and walked over with a smile: "Cheng Er, long time no see, have you been waiting for a long time?"
It's been a long time indeed. After filming "Criminals", the two of them basically kept in touch by phone and haven't seen each other for more than a year. Li Tang looked a lot darker and thinner, but he was in very good spirits.
"No, I just came downstairs." Cheng Er said hurriedly.
Cheng Er was looking at Li Tang, and Li Tang was also looking at him. In Li Tang's eyes, Cheng Er had not changed much from when they met last time. He had a crew cut, glasses, and always looked like he was neither dead nor alive.
After a simple greeting, Cheng Er had nothing to say, unlike others who would always care about "Swordsman" when they saw Li Tang. After all, it was a hot topic for Li Tang now.
Li Tang didn't mind this and said with a smile: "Let's go and try the restaurant you introduced."
Puhuitang Road is a small road directly opposite the gate of Shanghai Film Studio, crossing Caoxi North Road. The restaurant is not far from the intersection, next to the Xuhui New Village Community.
It was early five o'clock, and there were not many customers in the store, so the two of them found a table by the window.
"Brother Li, what do you want to eat?"
Cheng Er handed over the menu.
Li Tang waved his hand and said, "You should be familiar with me, I don't have any taboos."
Cheng Er pointed to the menu and ordered a few dishes from the waiter, and ordered four bottles of cold beer.
A dish of white chopped chicken, a dish of bad edamame, and four bottles of beer were quickly served on the table.
White chopped chicken and bad edamame are the most common home-cooked cold dishes. The taste is similar, and it depends more on the quality of the ingredients.
Reunited after a long absence, the two drank a drink first.
Li Tang took the initiative and asked: "How does it feel to work at Shanghai Film Studio? Are you busy?"
"If you're not busy, just do what you want to do."
Li Tang has a general understanding of the situation in state-owned studios. It is difficult for young directors to obtain funding from the studios to make movies. For example, at Beijing Film Studio, Mr. Lu was lucky because he had the support of Han Sanping, the former director of Beijing Film Studio and now the vice president of China Film Studio. Others, even those with strong connections like Director Xiao Teng, are waiting eagerly unless they can get funds and projects.
So Li Tang estimated that Cheng Er's life at Shanghai Film Studio was not easy.
"Filming commercials and music videos?"
Directors do what they want to do, apart from making movies, there are only two of them. Even Lou Ye often shoots commercials outside when he has nothing to do. People always have to eat. Moreover, shooting commercials and music videos is also a process of experimentation and accumulation for a director, and he can also make money, which is the best of both worlds.
"I shot a few commercials, but not the MV. I mainly wrote scripts." Cheng Er said frankly.
In the past, singing could be divided between Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, but now everyone goes to Beijing, and there are not many opportunities to shoot MVs in Shanghai. There are a lot of advertisements, after all, it is the most economically developed city.
"The script was written for someone else?"
What the so-called sixth generation directors today have in common is that they write and direct themselves. On the one hand, they have a strong desire to express themselves; on the other hand, because they are poor, they cannot afford good scripts. That is the third generation. Five generations of patents.
Cheng Er shook his head and said shyly: "No, I just wrote it myself."
Li Tang became interested as soon as he heard it, and hurriedly asked: "Have you finished writing it? Can you show it to me?"
To be honest, he didn't have any purpose in finding Cheng Er today. He just talked about movies with Zhou Xun in the afternoon, and he thought of Cheng Er inexplicably.
How should I put it, in his several experiences of making movies, it seems that the cooperation with Cheng Er and a group of students was the process in which he felt most comfortable and had the desire to express himself.
"The first draft is complete, but it's being revised now. Maybe...well, it's not quite coherent yet."
Seeing Cheng Er's embarrassed look, Li Tang naturally couldn't force it, and said with a look of regret on his face: "Okay, let's wait and see after you finish it, okay?"
"Of course it's no problem." Cheng Er said hurriedly.
The dishes ordered came to the table one after another. October is the season for eating crabs. A fried rice cake with hairy crab. The hairy crab is very fat, more delicious than steamed and the price is very affordable. There are also dishes such as scrambled eggs with pickled vegetables, salt and pepper steaks, and fried pork liver in soy sauce.
What particularly surprised Li Tang was that Cheng Er actually ordered a dish of braised shrimps, which were marinated with white wine, soy sauce, fermented bean curd, minced garlic, and coriander. The shrimps were jumping alive in the covered glass bowl. It tastes most delicious when you are completely drunk and dying.
Li Tang noticed that Cheng Er was also very good at eating. The shells of shrimps that had only eaten the meat of each shrimp were intact and arranged neatly on the bone plate, which was in line with his obsessive-compulsive personality.
The two of them didn't talk much except about the script, and the rest was just eating hard. I have to say that the local restaurant recommended by Cheng Er tasted really good.
Cheng Er introduced that the script he is currently revising is the same as his previous graduation work "Criminals". It is a suspense crime theme. He did not introduce the specific content. It is roughly based on the daily life of ordinary people. A man suffering from A girl with brain cancer developed an ambiguous affection for her brother-in-law, and the intrusion of a stranger caused all the potential problems of this ordinary family to explode, and a series of strange events occurred.
Li Tang knew it was a typical cult movie script as soon as he heard it. The short film "Criminals" that the two had collaborated with before was actually a cult short film.
This kind of film is very common in the United States. It refers to films with unique shooting techniques, weird themes, eccentric styles, unusual styles, strong personal opinions, and controversial films. They are usually produced at a low cost and are not market-oriented. Generally popular among non-mainstream fields and specific groups of young people.
Of course, there are also cult movies that are big hits, such as "A Clockwork Orange", "Pulp", "Blade Runner", "The Fuck" and so on.
However, in China, due to censorship, this type of subject matter is rare. If there is one, it is probably director Li Shaohong's famous work "Silver Snake Murder", which can be said to be the originator of domestic cult films.
Li Tang was somewhat regretful that he had not seen Cheng Er's new script. After dinner, when they were saying goodbye at the door of the restaurant, Cheng Er hesitated for a moment, took out a stack of manuscript paper from his bag and handed it to Li Tang, saying: "Brother Li, this is It’s the first draft, if you’re interested you can take a look at it…well, we can talk about it then.”
Cheng Er was proud. He didn't say something like "please give me more valuable opinions", but said "communicate". As for communication, the implication is that I can accept or disagree with your opinions.
Li Tang was surprised and pleasantly surprised. Cheng Er just gave the manuscript to himself. It was not a simple communication, but also contained great trust.
Otherwise, if you change it yourself and publish it or submit it for review, wouldn’t it become your own work?
The first update and the second update will be posted around 90pm.
(End of chapter)
