There are two types of suspense films. One is that there is a clear ending at the end; the other is that it is suspenseful from beginning to end. Every viewer has their own answer to what the ending is.
Cheng Er's "Harmonica", uh, let's call it "Harmonica" for now, is obviously the second type. The first draft of the script Li Tang got from Cheng Er was actually the main line of the script.
Now that the main line is in place, the next modification is to improve the details of the branch lines. For a movie, perfecting the branch plots and polishing the details is particularly important, and can even directly determine the quality of the movie and the audience's enthusiasm for watching the movie.
For example, in his previous life, Li Tang watched a suspense film "Gone Girl" directed by David Fincher and starring Da Ben and Pei Chunhua. The main plot of this movie is nothing more than the cheating of a middle-aged artistic husband and the revenge of the elegant and sinister female wife.
If such a plot was placed in a mainland TV series, it would definitely be a mess, but David Fincher turned this bloody plot into a feast of heavy taste through perfect branch plots and polished details.
Li Tang still feels a little creepy when he thinks back to it. Whoever meets such a woman will be unlucky. He hopes that the woman he meets will never be the scheming Amy.
In fact, the main plot of "Harmonica" is not complicated. It is a terminally ill girl who falls in love with her brother-in-law, and then becomes obsessed with the truth about her parents' murder, and then regards her brother-in-law as the murderer. The entire plot revolves around whether the brother-in-law is the murderer.
Cheng Er has been polishing this script for a long time and is not unprepared. For example, today he brought another side plot, in which He Wei, who was an accident assessor for an insurance company, had an accident while driving on a secluded road and hit a little girl riding a bicycle.
He Wei did not hesitate, picked up the little girl who fell on the ground and drove straight to the hospital. However, the little girl's examination results showed that the sudden syncope was not caused by a car collision, but a small tumor hidden in the brain.
Faced with his daughter's situation, the little girl's father didn't know whether to scold He Wei or thank him. However, He Wei promised to use his ability in accident assessment to help the little girl get a large sum of money from the insurance company for surgery. The little girl’s father was grateful for the cost of treatment.
On the surface, this subplot gives people the impression that He Wei is a good person, paving the way for him to be a devil later; on the other hand, it also describes that he really wants to be a good person.
But looking at it from a deeper level can also explain the contradiction, complexity, and even disguise and insidious qualities of He Wei.
From this plot, Xiao Ke discovered that her brother-in-law He Wei had taken away her life-saving medicine, but it was actually for a little girl who also suffered from a brain tumor. This was a misunderstanding. But is it a misunderstanding for Xiao Ke to think that his brother-in-law killed his parents?
There is also the character of Lin Mo, which seems a bit abrupt at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it can be concluded that Lin Mo is the third person fictionalized by Xiao Ke.
These can all be elaborated on in the lines. For example, Xiao Ke always said when he confessed his love to Lin Mo: "Maybe you are about the same age as my brother-in-law."
There was also the incident when Xiao Ke met Lin Mo and found that something lost when his parents were killed was at Lin Mo's house, but Lin Mo said that it was a gift from He Wei. There can't be so many coincidences in real life, which can only mean that everything is Xiao Ke's imagination.
Brother-in-law He Wei is the most important person in Xiao Ke's mind, and the murder of her parents was the biggest psychological trauma in her life, so the two were connected when she passed away. Just like when He Wei confessed to Xiao Ke that he killed the Xiao family's parents, he asked in the last sentence: "Have you got the satisfaction you imagined?"
The "imagination" in this line obviously implies that he made up the story of killing the Xiao family's parents just to suit Xiao Ke's imagination.
And there is one catch in the whole plot, that is, Xiao Ke only found the silver frame at Lin Mo's house, but what about the watch that was lost when his parents were killed? Can it be understood that the murderers are not He Wei and Lin Mo and there is a possibility of a third person?
For several days, Li Tang was discussing various details of the script with Cheng Er. Unlike Cheng Er, who was from the creator's perspective, Li Tang was not only from the actor's perspective, but also from the audience's perspective. Cheng Er was stunned for many reasons. Who told him to read so many movies in his previous life? Among the many cults in North America and Europe, the most indispensable ones are murder, suspense, brain-burning, ethics, humanity, and strong women. , violence and other elements.
It can only be said that Cheng Er's book is still full of avant-garde in China, but it does not meet the mainstream movie viewing needs of domestic audiences and is more in line with the appetite of Westerners.
Cheng Er's writing style is indeed very strong. For example, he can easily write the lines Xiao Ke said to Lin Mo: "Why do we always have to go around in circles? Why can't we just get to the point? I just met you in the morning and will come in the evening." In your home, you don’t know why, right? Because I’m lonely, because I have expectations for you. You know the answer, but you still have to ask. During lunch, the surroundings were very noisy, but I still got distracted, and in my heart It’s quiet because I’m thinking of you!”
The meaning reflected in this line is that when a person likes another person, he always has to go around in a lot of circles before he gets to the point. But Xiao Ke is about to die. She doesn't want to waste time or talk useless nonsense. , she directly expressed her love for Lin Mo.
Look, hearing this makes people feel sad and regretful at the same time, and is also moved by her straightforward and affectionate voice, which is also very literary and artistic. It's much better than Lou Ye's vague vernacular.
The communication, exchanges, and even disputes between the two continued until the afternoon of the sixth day. After reading the finalized script that had been revised countless times, Li Tang closed the laptop screen with satisfaction and said to Cheng Er with a smile: "It's definitely OK this time!"
But as soon as his words fell, the two of them fell into silence.
The script is ready, but what happens next?
Making a movie is not an easy task. With Cheng Er's reputation and qualifications, it is impossible for Shanghai Film Studio to invest in him, let alone such a non-mainstream script.
If you want to make your own movie, you first have to make money, and then you have to build a reputation so that investors will be willing to invest in your movie.
Nowadays, these so-called sixth-generation directors in China are all following this path.
Chief Jia is the best example. He first defrauded 10,000 yuan in the name of shooting an advertisement, and made a short film "The Mountain Comes Home", which won the gold medal in the Hong Kong Video Short Film Competition. Then he used the script of "Tender Is the Night" to get an investment of 200,000 from Hong Kong to make "Xiao Wu".
Everyone knows the next story. "Xiao Wu" was a big hit at the Berlin Film Festival, won the forum section award, sold the copyrights to several countries, and made a lot of money.
When Chief Jia was about to shoot "Platform", film producers from France and Japan rushed to invest in him. Of course, Chief Jia did not disappoint these film producers. Not only was he shortlisted for the main competition of the 57th Venice International Film Festival that just concluded last month, he also won an Asian Film Promotion Alliance Award.
A literary film like this with an investment of less than 10 million, as long as it can be shortlisted for the three major European film festivals, will generally not lose money, and if you are lucky, you can make a lot of money. Moreover, an excellent literary film will have stable copyright income for several years or even more than ten years in the future.
There is also Lou Ye. With the success of "Suzhou River", he has become a popular director in the field of domestic artistic films. The only pity is that he was banned from directing by the relevant departments for five years because of illegal participation in the exhibition of "Suzhou River".
Fortunately, it is said that the official attitude has been relaxed. After all, China's WTO accession negotiations are already underway, and China will officially join the WTO next year. Movies are one of the projects being opened up in the service industry. Therefore, we must consider our international image, and we can no longer suppress it as unscrupulously as in the past.
As for why Jiang Wen, the director of "The Devil Is Coming", which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year, was banned, that's because in addition to the fact that the film itself is seriously inconsistent with the domestic theme films in terms of concept and values, there are also It touched Xiaozi's sensitive nerves and aroused Xiaozi's protest.
Although Lou Ye is still banned from directing, one thing is certain. With the success of "Suzhou River", as long as he comes back from the ban and wants to make movies, he won't have to worry about investment at all, and there will be film producers who will take the lead. Send money to your door.
But Cheng Er, who was just starting out, didn't have this treatment, or he didn't have the qualifications because he had never proven himself.
Why was Li Tang working so hard these days? He might have been idle at first, but after reading the first draft, he was inevitably a little moved. As he thought about it more deeply in the past few days, he became more and more fond of He Wei. Role.
But when I arrived, I realized that it was a waste of time and there was no money to take pictures!
After a long while, he asked dryly: "How much does it cost to make this film?"
Cheng Er probably thought about it early in the morning and blurted out: "It's probably worth a million."
Li Tang shook his head and said: "It will definitely be more than one million, maybe it will be doubled."
He has experience in this. When Lou Ye filmed "Suzhou River", the initial budget was just over one million, but as he continued filming, the money was not enough. In the end, Li Tang heard from Nai'an that he spent a total of more than two million. Just finished.
But thinking of Nai'an, Li Tang's heart suddenly moved, and he wondered whether he should look for Nai'an to see if she had any investment intention. I just think that Nai'an is now more than seven months pregnant, and I don't know if she still has the energy.
He hesitated and said, "How about I ask you later."
Cheng Er's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly said: "Brother Li, in fact, I wrote the character He Wei in your image from the very beginning."
The biggest problem Cheng Er faces now if he wants to make a movie is that he has no money and no connections. But Li Tang is different. He is now considered a well-known actor, and his connections must be much wider than him. And what he said was not to deceive Li Tang. When he wrote the character He Wei, he did subconsciously refer to Li Tang's character. Because the only actor he is familiar with who is closer to the character of He Wei is Li Tang.
When Li Tang heard Cheng Er's words, he looked at his expectant eyes again and couldn't help but be stunned: Hey, isn't it about social fear? Why are you so good at talking?
However, Li Tang still took the vaccine in advance and said: "I can only ask for you now, but you must not have too much hope, so as not to be disappointed when the time comes."
First update!
(End of chapter)
