Chapter 132 Listening to Teacher Lin

"Miscellaneous Notes from the Small Courtyard" is a very new work, which was only published in "Contemporary" in the second half of last year.

Yanying's students plan to use it as the text for their graduation projects, as they are attracted by the fresh temperament contained in this novel.

Among the three-person team of directors and screenwriters, Tian Zhuangzhuang is mainly responsible for directing, while Xie Xiaojing and Cui Xiaoqin are responsible for script adaptation.

When Tian Zhuangzhuang said that he had asked the writer Lin Weimin to help him revise the script, Xie Xiaojing and Cui Xiaoqin instinctively felt a little disgusted. What? Are our writings necessarily worse than those of the writers?

Since ancient times, scholars have looked down on each other, and their thoughts are perfectly normal.

But when they met Lin Weimin, they felt a little nervous again. A person's fame is like a tree's shadow. As a new writer who has emerged in the past two years, Lin Weimin has a great reputation, especially for "Farewell My Concubine" published this year, which has gained wide popularity across the country.

The most important thing is that everyone has heard that he is Mr. Wan Jiabao's last disciple and now writes scripts specifically for the People's Art Theater. The "Intouchables" performed at the beginning of the year received rave reviews from the drama community. Even the teachers in the school's literature department praised the drama.

"Miscellaneous Notes from the Small Courtyard" was to be adapted into a film script, so the students first changed the name to "The Small Courtyard".

Lin Weimin looked at the name on the letter paper and thought that this change was correct. The word "trivia" itself is a literary term.

He opened the script and found it was very short. Lin Weimin only took a dozen minutes to finish reading it.

"Teacher Lin, what do you think of the script?" Tian Zhuangzhuang asked.

Lin Weimin raised his head, frowning, and did not answer Tian Zhuangzhuang's question, "Teacher Xie, have you read it?"

Xie Fei smiled and said, "I have read it. But I am not a screenwriter, so I can't say it very well. If Teacher Lin thinks there is anything wrong, please ask them to change it."

Lin Weimin nodded and said to Tian Zhuangzhuang, "I told you before that it is relatively difficult to adapt "Eula's Death" than "Notes from the Small Courtyard". In fact, it is also not easy to adapt "Notes from the Small Courtyard" into a movie script. "Notes from the Small Courtyard" is not a work that is good at setting up contradictions and conflicts in the traditional sense. It wins completely by daily life. Such a work requires strong foreshadowing and performance."

He opened the script and said, "There are a few problems with your script..."

Lin Weimin casually picked up the pen on Xie Fei's desk, pointed at the beginning of the script and said, "Is the narration in your first scene useful? It is useful. But it is too straightforward, too abrupt, and also too lazy. Can't you think of a better way to introduce the characters in the courtyard by using the narration of the heroine Sangsang?"

Lin Weimin pointed out the problems with the script incisively and directly. Xie Xiaojing and Cui Xiaoqin felt a little embarrassed and wanted to explain it, but after thinking about it, they found that there seemed to be nothing to explain and there was nothing wrong with what others said.

"You completely wasted the characters' expressions, body movements, and lines in this one-minute-long scene. Don't you think it's monotonous to just put Sangsang's narration?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang observed the reactions of the two students and knew that they were thin-skinned and felt embarrassed after being scolded. He whispered to Lin Weimin, "Teacher Lin, how do you think this place should be improved?"

Lin Weimin shook his head and said, "You must remember that narration must be used with caution. For the audience, a good work must allow them to invest emotions from a first-person perspective. Narration, as a means of God's perspective, is inconsistent with this point of view, even if you are telling the story from the perspective of the heroine."

"Let's talk about how to change it. First of all, the narration should be removed. You have many ways to highlight the heroine, and you can use the language of the camera to deal with it. Another purpose of adding narration is to introduce the characters. Since the narration is removed, we need to deal with the lines, character relationships and performances.

For example, the introduction of Lao Jiang is quite good and should be continued. It only needs simple dialogue to establish this character..."

After talking about how to change the opening, Lin Weimin pointed out the problem in the plot foreshadowing, "Your foreshadowing is too weak. I guess it may be due to time constraints, but you should do better. The story of "The Courtyard" itself wins with the plot of family affairs. If you can't do well in this regard, then this work will not stand up from the root. I think the problem with the opening may be related to this. You are a bit too impatient."

Cui Xiaoqin nodded quickly and said, "Teacher Lin, you are absolutely right. This is also what we are worried about."

Lin Weimin said to Xie Fei: "Teacher Xie, I think the quality of the work should be the most important. The 10-minute length is really too restrictive for students."

Xie Fei smiled bitterly, "I understand this, but the hospital's funding is limited..."

Halfway through his words, Xie Fei realized that this was not a problem for Lin Weimin or the students. "I'll talk to the academy later and try to get more support."

When the students heard this, smiles appeared on their faces.

Finally, Lin Weimin suggested: "How is your Jingkan going?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang replied: "We haven't done it yet, but we plan to use the compound as the filming location."

Lin Weimin thought for a moment and said to Xie Fei, "I suggest that we let the students go to the slums to experience life there. From the script, I don't see that you have any understanding of life in slums."

Tian Zhuangzhuang and several other students looked a little embarrassed. Lin Weimin only glanced at the script they brought for a few minutes and found a bunch of problems with it, leaving them unable to refute and giving them precise suggestions for how to deal with it.

In just over half an hour, several students were convinced by Lin Weimin's performance.

Xie Fei also did not expect that although Lin Weimin looked young, he was so sharp in creation and could subdue the students who were usually arrogant.

"What Teacher Lin said makes sense. We'll ask them to adjust the script later. What you said about experiencing life is also a good suggestion. I'll go and coordinate it in the next two days so that they can get familiar with life in the compound."

After finishing talking about the script, Lin Weimin showed a warm smile on his face, "What I said just now was a bit harsh, don't take it to heart."

Xie Xiaojing waved her hand and said, "Teacher Lin, please don't say that. We have really benefited a lot from your criticism and suggestions just now. It is more useful than what I have learned from listening to the lectures for a whole semester..."

Before he could finish his words, Cui Xiaoqin stepped on his foot. The teacher was still there.

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "They are different. What the teacher taught you is theory, which can benefit you for a lifetime. What I teach you is more like actual combat, which is useful for a while, but it is impossible to be useful for a lifetime."

Tian Zhuangzhuang gave the two of them a look and said, "Teacher Lin is good at talking, Xie Xiaojing, you can't talk so just say less."

(End of this chapter)