Beijing Film Academy.
Li Yi came here at the invitation of his tutor Li Zhanshan to participate in this small seminar.
Most of the famous directors from the directing department of the film school came.
Of course, this gathering is not a public seminar or symposium, but an interesting exchange.
It is also very interesting to say that the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy has produced so many graduates of the Directing Department over the years, but the embarrassing thing is that the ones who are truly successful, except for those graduates of the older generation, in recent years, On the contrary, not many are truly successful.
In the director's profession, the threshold may not seem high, but in fact, it is much higher than that of actors.
First of all, if you are lucky enough to be an actor, you may be able to reach the sky in one step and become famous. Moreover, if you are an actor and have entered a school like the Film Academy, you will have a very high starting point. You can even say that you have already entered the industry.
But the director really isn’t.
There are few directors who can direct alone as soon as they come out like Li Yi, and even screw up a film and still get a second chance.
For students who graduated from the directing department of Beijing Film Academy, most of them are really successful, and they are not from ordinary families, but are more likely to come from family backgrounds.
Under normal circumstances, it is almost difficult for freshly graduated directing students to direct films independently, because most of the time in the domestic film industry, the director is responsible for production. In other words, it is the director who has the idea. If you want to make a movie, you need to find a script and get investment. Only when the investment is in place can you make it.
However, the threshold for film shooting seems to be getting lower and lower, as if you can shoot with a camera, but in fact, the threshold for real movies is very high.
There are budgets of millions or tens of millions at every turn.
Of course, there are also good low-budget movies, but do you really think that low-budget movies are so easy to make?
Some people may say that you can make literary and artistic films, but the fact is, as a newly graduated director, can you handle literary and artistic films?
Also, literary and artistic films really require a lot of skill from the director.
For this reason, many directors who have just graduated often work for some famous directors, or become advertising directors, or make short films, micro-movies, etc., or worse, graduation may basically mean they are unemployed. .
After all, in these days, the actor circle is in trouble, and the director circle is also in trouble.
A movie and TV series require many actors, but there is only one real director for a movie, and even if there are only a few assistant directors, the opportunities will naturally be fewer.
Most of the people who received invitations to this gathering were people who had made some name for themselves in the circle.
It's not that Li Zhanshan is snobbish, but every circle has its own rules. If you are a penniless person with no characteristics here, what will other people do?
It sounds snobbish to say that dragons do not live with snakes, but it is true.
If everyone is really invited, then it is estimated that directors like Li Yi and Tang Lu will definitely give face to the instructor once or twice, but if the number of times is too many, that may not be the case. After all, the more people like Li Yi and others are As a director, time is more precious. Li Yi usually won't attend ordinary gatherings that don't have much meaning.
So, although it was said to be a seminar, in fact, not many people came.
And most of them are familiar faces, of course there are also unfamiliar faces, but at least they are newcomers who have outstanding grades and are particularly optimistic by their instructors.
The seminar did not have any set theme, so basically it was just about talking about recently released movies.
The first thing to be discussed is naturally the most popular movie "Eight Hundred" recently. Of course, Li Yi's identity and achievements are there, so it is natural to start the topic with "Eight Hundred" as the topic.
"Actually, I think the story behind "Eight Hundred" is enough to be made into a movie. Director Li, do you have any plans to make a sequel or something?" Tang Lu asked curiously.
"Yes, I was not familiar with this period of history before, but since "The Eight Hundred" was released and I went to visit it, I always felt that the subsequent ending seemed a bit hasty. After learning about this period of history, I also felt that, What happened after the Sihang Warehouse defense battle, that is, after crossing the bridge, was far more tragic than the Sihang Warehouse defense battle." Another director Zhao Dongmin also said.
Li Yi shook his head and said: "Actually, at first, I considered filming the rest of the story, but in the end I gave up.
It is true that the subsequent plot is more tragic, the hero sheds tears more tragically, and some heroes become prisoners, etc. But if such a movie is made, how many people will be willing to watch it?
If a movie like "Eight Hundred" were to take the aftermath of the Sihang Warehouse defense battle as the main theme, then the movie would appear very depressing..."
"Of course, if anyone is interested, they can make a sequel. I can help with the investment." Li Yi himself ran out of ideas, but he didn't mind others taking over.
However, several directors, including Tang Lu, shook their heads.
It is true that the story after the Battle of Sihang Warehouse may be more in line with the appetite of literary and artistic film directors to a certain extent, but the film that was originally a main theme movie turned out to be a literary and artistic film, and the gains outweighed the losses.
"What a pity! But speaking of depression, Director Tang, how is your movie "Good People in the Countryside" going?" Another director, Zhou Changqing, asked curiously.
"It was me who screwed up. I didn't shoot it well, so the film screening didn't go well." Tang Lu sighed and said with a wry smile.
"What?" Everyone looked at Tang Lu curiously.
"It is difficult to make films with rural themes. Although "Good People from the Countryside" is adapted from real events, at the film screening, the theater representatives were not optimistic about it. I also tried to send this film to film festivals, but the evaluation was the same. Not high. Just don’t mention it." Tang Lu shook his head.
"By the way, Director Li, it seems that you haven't had much exposure to rural-themed films, right? You are famous for your unique vision in movies. What do you think should be done about rural-themed films?" Tang Lu looked at Li Yi again and asked Tao, obviously he didn’t want to mention the movie “Good People in the Countryside”.
Li Yi really doesn’t cover many rural-themed films. In fact, there were quite a few rural-themed films among literary and artistic films in the last century. But since the new century, it’s not that there aren’t any rural-themed films. But there are really not many that can truly be called excellent.
"I really don't have many exposure to rural-themed films." Li Yi shook his head.
"But I think movies always reach the same goal through different paths, right? It mainly depends on which part of the content is shown. In fact, it is no different from other movies. It is either positive, such as the good side of the countryside, such as some touching rural stories, etc. Either it’s the opposite, that is to reveal some of the dark sides of the countryside, the suffering of farmers, etc.” Li Yi added.
Tang Lu nodded and said: "Well, who says it's not the case? My film "Good People in the Countryside" falls short of this. I always wanted to be inclusive of everyone, but in the end, I fell short of the mark and ended up with a movie that is different from all others."
In fact, when it comes to rural-themed films, everyone's first reaction is to be literary and artistic films that compete for awards.
This is also true. Most rural-themed films that can be called excellent are almost literary and artistic.
In the commercial field, it is rare for such movies to be blockbuster hits.
No, it should be said that almost no rural-themed film has truly achieved commercial success.
But at this stage, it is not so friendly to directors like Tang Lu and Zhou Changqing who are more literary and artistic.
In fact, this is true for the domestic literary and artistic film market.
The reason why they say that Li Yi has a unique vision is not because he has repeatedly made achievements in commercial films and is sure to hit the mark with one hit, but because Li Yi has produced many literary and artistic films, which not only won awards, but also achieved great success at the box office. vulgar performance.
Nowadays, many people say that literary and artistic films are not popular, and Li Yi's films are always mentioned, especially those award-winning films of Li Yi, which also performed well at the box office. This makes those literary and artistic film directors It's all embarrassing, because if you want to say that literary and artistic films are naturally not popular, then others will always have a reason. If it is just one or two films, it will be nothing. But the key is that Li Yi's literary and artistic films are also very popular.
"Does Director Li have any interest in rural-themed films?" Tang Lu suddenly asked.
Everyone else couldn't help but look at Tang Lu with a strange expression. You know, although movies are artistic creations, in many cases, they actually have a lot to do with the director's experience.
Why were rural-themed films so popular back then?
On the one hand, it's because of the times, and on the other hand, it's because of those directors, who have been influenced by it.
But Li Yi has no such experience, or in other words, he is from Hong Kong himself, and his family background is considered superior. In their opinion, Li Yi should have little contact with rural areas.
Therefore, in their opinion, even if Li Yi was interested, it would be difficult for him to make any good rural-themed films.
This is caused by objective conditions. It’s not that Li Yi’s skills are not good, but that you don’t understand the countryside. How can you make a good movie and story about the countryside?
As a result, Li Yi was startled when he heard this.
However, two completely different films came to mind.
Just like what he said before, it either shows the beautiful and simple side of the countryside, or it shows the negative and dark side.
As a result, this time he actually directly remembered two rural-themed films with completely different styles.
One of them is touching, truthful, good and beautiful.
But the other one is so depressing that it makes people breathless and uncomfortable.
But both films are relatively representative rural-themed films set after the new century.
The former is both a critical success and a box office hit, and is a relatively rare commercial film with a rural theme. The latter, although it is a literary film with a very depressing content, has also achieved a good box office and is of course more controversial. .
"Director Li?" Everyone was a little surprised when they saw that Li Yi was distracted.
"Sorry, I thought of something." Li Yi said apologetically.
"Director Tang just asked me if I was interested in rural-themed films. In fact, I really thought of the two stories I heard before, which can be said to be completely opposite. Are you interested in listening to them?" Li Yi asked with a smile.
"Oh?" Everyone couldn't help but be curious.
"There are dozens of families living in a remote mountain village, and they live an ordinary life.
One day, Ergou, the son of the village chief, picked up a girl who had fainted at the entrance of the village, breaking the silence that had existed in the small village for many years. The villagers were talking around the girl. Some said that if the baby was a boy, they would take it back. Some said that if the baby is raised, and someone else takes the baby away, the baby will be raised in vain... The village chief had no choice but to promise whoever would accept the flowers to provide more food rations when the village's harvest was done. Everyone watched indifferently.
The elderly father Baozhu staggered forward, picked up the still-living baby girl and walked home. Everyone who was well aware of Baozhu's father's situation looked on in surprise.
Baozhu's daughter-in-law, Xiang Xiang, had been living for many years without having a baby. When she learned that Baozhu's father had picked up a wild baby, he thought he wanted to make her look ugly in public and let the whole village know that she couldn't have a baby. Baozhu also blamed his father for picking up a freeloader. After the kind-hearted father Baozhu learned that Xiaohua was a homeless orphan, he left the miserable Xiaohua behind under the pressure of his son and daughter-in-law.
Xiaohua is very sensible and feels sorry for her grandfather. Although Baozhu sighs a lot and Vanilla's face is so gloomy that water drips from her face, this does not affect the joy of the two of them depending on each other. There is laughter in the adobe house, and Vanilla is very jealous. , decided to send Xiaohua away.
Under the careful arrangement of her mother, Vanilla deceived the innocent little flower again and again, but in the end she failed...
This made Vanilla angry and took advantage of the meal to spread her resentment on Xiaohua. Baozhu's father couldn't stand Vanilla's expression and took Xiaohua to start a new one. From then on, the seven-year-old Xiaohua cooked for her grandfather every day and lived a very bitter and happy life.
The kind-hearted little flower does not bear grudges against her uncle and aunt, and approaches them again and again with a sincere and tender heart. Once, she sent over cakes made by herself. Baozhu and Xianghua looked at the steamed buns in their hands, and their hearts were touched. The next day, Baozhu accidentally talked to Xiaohua. After Xiaohua confirmed that her uncle was talking to her, she threw down the corn cobs and ran out of the hospital. She ran as hard as she could, fell down, got up again, and ran in one breath. I went to the fields and told Grandpa the news.
Looking at Xiaohua's excited face and bleeding hands, I couldn't help but shed tears of distress.
The studious little flower carved the characters she secretly learned into the soil with wooden sticks. Grandpa looked at the large block of characters carved in the soil and felt very sad. He decided to go up the mountain to cut willow sticks and weave baskets to exchange for the tuition fee for the little flower. He carried countless willow sticks with him. Grandpa’s body temperature was woven into a basket. Xiaohua finally went to school. She knew her grandfather would laugh if she got the first place in the exam, so she decided to get the first place in the exam.
Days passed, and there was still no movement in Vanilla's belly. Vanilla Lady heard that eating grasshoppers could cure her illness, but Baozhu ignored her. After Xiaohua heard this, she secretly caught the grasshoppers on the road one by one and put them into the bottle. Baozhu and Xianghua looked at the 10 large bottles of grasshoppers on the kang and were deeply shocked...
Xiaohua finally influenced Baozhu and Vanilla with her tolerance and kindness, and Vanilla shed tears of repentance...
Grandpa and Xiaohua were invited back to the main room. They put on new clothes made by Vanilla. Looking at the sumptuous food on the table, they choked up and found it difficult to swallow. Xiaohua threw herself into Vanilla's arms and shouted for the first time in her life. mother……"
The story of the movie "Warm Spring" is actually very dull, but it is extremely warm. It can be said that this movie is a very typical commercial film with rural themes.
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The story is actually very simple, but it wins with emotion and shows more of the good side.
It is also relatively common, with a touching ending with true emotions.
