Chapter 707 Return

After taking Jing Tian to promote "Sito" for a few days, Gu Wei came to the filming location of "My People, My Country" and officially joined the crew.

To be precise, it is the crew of the "Return" unit in "My People, My Country", and it is one of the sub-crews.

【Return】The general content of this unit is as follows.

When Hong Kong Island returned to China in 1997 and the sovereignty over Hong Kong Island was restored, everyone from diplomats to flag-raisers and watchmakers worked together to complete a difficult task: to ensure that the national flag must be raised on time at 00:00:00 on July 1, so that the sovereignty of Hong Kong Island would be returned as scheduled.

It sounds easy, but it is not.

An Wenbin, a diplomat at the time, once recalled: "Each of our negotiations lasted only two seconds.

I told the British side that our national flag must be raised at 00:00:00. Sovereignty must be returned and every second counts. There is no doubt about this.

So your flag must land at 23:59:58.

The British side was very dissatisfied at the time and refused to give us these two seconds, so we went through countless negotiations on this matter.

2 seconds may seem like a short time, but for China at that time, it meant that the sovereignty of Hong Kong Island could not be recovered on time, and it meant that Britain’s colonial rule over Hong Kong Island would last another 2 seconds!

Britain was extremely reluctant to return Hong Kong Island to China. Therefore, in the arrangement of the handover ceremony, the British side set up many obstacles, making the negotiations very difficult.

At the same time, in order to ensure that the Chinese national flag is raised on time, every link must be calculated accurately in seconds during actual operations. The distance that the honor guard will take each step must be calculated in advance, and there must not be the slightest error!

For this purpose, An Wenbin bought a very accurate watch from the United States and synchronized the time with the Greenwich Observatory in London and the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing.

He also assigned two emcees to manage the time, set up a chief protocol coordinator and a Chinese technical monitor to strictly control the time.

The two deputy conductors of the military band used countdown to control the time when the national anthem was played.

"Although the entire handover ceremony only lasted 30 minutes, there were 25 procedures to be carried out within these 30 minutes. Each procedure took more than a minute to complete, and it had to be completed accurately.

In order to prevent China from getting what it wants, Britain tried every possible means: Prince Charles' speech exceeded the time limit by 23 seconds.

Therefore, the host of the subsequent event spoke faster and the honor guard marched faster to regain the 23 seconds!

Afterwards, when the UK played the national anthem, it suddenly accelerated and shortened the time by 12 seconds, resulting in a vacuum of about 12 seconds at the scene!

The whole audience was in a state of solemnity. An Wenbin stood next to the band conductor and counted down. It was not until 11:59:58 that he asked the conductor to raise his baton, ensuring that the national flag was raised over Hong Kong Island with 100% accuracy at 0:0:00.

Every inch of land counts, every second counts! Hong Kong Island’s road to return was long, bumpy, and turbulent, but its ultimate success was also the result of the tireless efforts of countless heroes behind the scenes.

Of course, it is impossible for "Return" to tell the story in such detail, because it is a compilation film. "My People, My Country" has a total of 7 units, and "Return" is actually only about 20 minutes long.

Director Xue Xiaolu selected four characters, including flag-raiser Zhu Tao, female Hong Kong police officer Lian Jie, diplomat An Wenbin, and watch repairer Hua Ge, to reflect from all aspects how hard this great moment was won.

Gu Wei plays Zhu Tao, the flag-raiser who ensures the national flag is raised on time.

When "Teacher Xue" Gu Wei joined the crew, director Xue Xiaolu came out to greet him in person.

"You've graduated for so long, you don't have to call me teacher, just call me by my name." Xue Xiaolu is nearly fifty years old but looks very young, with short hair, fair skin, a slim figure, and a very gentle smile.

She is considered one of the most famous female directors in the industry. "Ocean Paradise" and "Beijing Meets Seattle" are both works directed by her.

Xue Xiaolu is a master of literature from Beijing Film Academy. She later stayed on to teach at the school and became a professor and graduate supervisor in the literature department. Gu Wei had taken her class when he was in school, so he called her Teacher Xue.

Gu Wei is the most famous student of Beijing Film Academy in the past ten years, without a doubt. He is now almost a signboard of Beijing Film Academy, and his teacher Xue Xiaolu is also very optimistic about him.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Gu Wei officially joined the crew to start filming.

"Multiplication and division took so long, what did you learn in school?

Zhu Tao, I tell you, when the national anthem ends and the national flag reaches the top, you are not allowed to look up even once in between.

You have to form muscle memory! "In a venue modeled after the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, Gu Wei and two flag bearers were training over and over again.

Gao Yalin, who played the chief conductor of the flag-raising ceremony, emphasized this to him.

"Yes!" Gu Wei answered seriously, with a soldier's unique determination on his face.

"Practice hard and complete the task, and I will give you a wife!" Gao Yalin joked.

"Report!" Zhu Yilong, one of the flag bearers, shouted loudly.

"We are both single."

"Yes, should we give them a wife as well?" another flag bearer Du Jiang echoed.

"Fa!" Gao Yalin was amused by them.

But then he emphasized, "If you make a mistake, I'll make you single for the rest of your lives!"

"Yes!" the three answered loudly.

"Cut! This time it's passed, good performance!" Xue Xiaolu's voice came.

"My People, My Country" is a tribute film to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Just like "The Founding of a Republic" produced by China Film Group, it is full of celebrity faces almost from beginning to end.

In the "Return" unit starring Gu Wei, there are four main characters including him. In addition to the flag-raiser Zhu Tao, there are also Mr. Wang Luoyong who plays the diplomat, Hui Yinghong who plays the female Hong Kong police officer Lian Jie, and Ren Dahua who plays the watch repairer Hua Ge.

Even the two flag bearers beside Gu Wei are played by Zhu Yilong and Du Jiang.

"Yilong, after we finish filming tonight's scenes, let's go out for dinner together?" Walking out of the venue, Gu Wei reached out to unbutton the collar of his military uniform and invited Zhu Yilong beside him.

They have known each other for a long time and have worked together in "The Story of Minglan".

In Gu Wei's impression, Zhu Yilong is a bit shy and introverted, but he is very serious at work and is a good actor, so he has always had a good impression of him.

"Okay, Brother Wei, you have the final say."

"Du Jiang, come with us." Gu Wei did not forget Du Jiang who was filming with him.

"Ah? Okay." Du Jiang obviously didn't expect Gu Wei to call him, and quickly agreed.

"Teacher Gao, would you like to have dinner together after the show tonight? Yilong and Du Jiang will come with us." Gu Wei said to Gao Yalin again.

This is his habitual socializing.

"You young people just eat, I won't join in the fun~" Gao Yalin replied with a smile.

His relationship with Gu Wei could be better. It was Gu Wei who generously donated money to the filming of "In the Name of People", and he has not repaid this favor yet.

"My Country, My Parents" may be the fastest film shot by Gu Wei.

[Return] is only 20 minutes long and has 4 protagonists. Gu Wei plays the flag-raiser Zhu Tao, one of the protagonists, and there are no more than 10 shots in total.

All the scenes were filmed in less than 5 days after joining the crew. The main feature was that it was fast.

Of course, his completion does not mean that the filming of "Return" has ended. The scenes of the other three protagonists have not been completed.

However, Gu Wei estimated that in about ten days, the crew of the "Return" unit would be able to wrap up filming.

At the same time, six other crews of "My People, My Country" were also filming at the same time.

This kind of compilation movie is shot very quickly. Although the total length of the movie is more than two hours, it can be completed in one month.

All seven crews started filming in March and will be finished before May. With another month or two of post-production, it will be more than enough time for the film to be released before National Day.

"We have already negotiated with Tencent for The Untamed to be released in June. Since the two main characters, Xiao Zhan and Zeng Shunxi, are not well-known enough, the price is not as high as the company's previous TV series.

However, we have signed a supplementary agreement with Tencent Video, which states that if the subsequent playback volume and membership activation volume reach the agreed amount, we will be compensated a certain amount of fees."

In the office of [Weiming Tianxia] in Beijing, Yang Liwen reports to Gu Wei on her work.

"That's normal. The income from this TV series is secondary. It's mainly for the purpose of making Xiao Zhan and Zeng Shunxi famous.

Last year's "Guardian" made Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong famous, and the "Chen Qing Ling" with the same theme was even more popular than "Guardian".

After the broadcast, there is absolutely no problem for Xiao Zhan and Zeng Shunxi to rise to the top."

Gu Wei is too aware of the influence of "The Untamed". In the original time and space, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, who were not even considered third or fourth-tier stars, were directly promoted to the top stars, and their fans have remained with them even for many years.

This is the charm of a hit drama. A good role can make an actor soar to fame.

Yang Liwen didn't understand why Gu Wei was so optimistic about a gay drama without any big-name stars, but she didn't care. She always admired her boss's vision.

"Xiao Station has already communicated with Wajijiwa to transfer his contract to Weiming Tianxia. We've made some compensation, and President Long isn't dissatisfied."

"Well done. Xiao Zhan is not valued in [Wajijiwa]. One more person in [X玖少年团] is not too much, and one less person in [X玖少年团]. Signing him is a good opportunity for us to train him well."

Gu Wei had already instructed Yang Liwen to do this at the beginning of the year.

Although he has shares in Wajijiwa, he still wants to sign a future top star like Xiao Zhan to the company.

"Boss, if Xiaozhan really becomes as popular as you said, I'm afraid President Long will have opinions." Yang Liwen thought for a while and said with some concern.

Xiaozhan is not well-known now, so Long Danni let him go so easily. Once his fame rises in the future, she will definitely feel regretful.

It would be fine if the two companies had nothing to do with each other, but Gu Wei is a shareholder of Wajijiwa, and the two companies are allies and partners.

Gu Wei thought about it.

"Don't worry about it for now. When Xiao Zhan becomes really famous, we can sign his singers back to Wajijiwa. We can eat the meat and let Boss Long have the soup. I believe she will be satisfied."

"I understand." Yang Liwen nodded.

"How are the preparations for [Detective Chinatown 3] going in Tokyo?" Gu Wei asked again.

"Director Li Xin and some of the crew have already selected the location over there and sent back a lot of materials, waiting for your decision, Mr. Gu.

There are also some Japanese actors. Except for Satoshi Tsumabuki and Yui Aragaki, who have already signed contracts, the actors for other related roles have also been selected."

"Very good~"

The script of [Detective Chinatown 3] has undergone major changes compared to the original version. It can be said that it has abandoned the excessive jokes in the original time and space, and increased the focus on detective work and logical reasoning.

Gu Wei thought that even compared with the first part, it wouldn't be much worse.

"[Joy of Life] has invited Director Sun Hao to direct as per your request, and is currently in the early stages of preparation.

In terms of casting, in addition to you, the boss, and Miss Jingtian playing the male and female protagonists, the company's Tian Xiwei has been confirmed to play "Fan Ruoruo", Guo Qilin to play "Versace", Xin Zhilei to play "Haitang Duoduo", Teacher Wu Gang to play "Chen Pingping", Li Xiaoran to play "Princess Li Yunrui", and Tian Yu to play "Wang Qinian".

The other roles have either not been decided yet or the actors are still under consideration."

"Joy of Life" is the most important TV drama project of "Wei Ming Tian Xia" this year, and Yang Liwen is well aware of all the progress of the early preparations.

"Wait, where is Emperor Qing?"

Didn't Mr. Chen Daoming accept this role? "

Gu Wei asked in surprise.

Many of the characters in "Joy of Life" were decided by him and communicated with the company, including "Emperor Qing", Guo Qilin's "Versace", Li Xiaoran's "Princess", and Tian Yu's "Wang Qinian". He felt that the original versions of these characters were already very good and it would be difficult to find better people to replace them.

"I sent the script to Teacher Chen a long time ago, but he hasn't given me a positive response yet. He just said he would consider it."

"I understand. I'll discuss this matter."

At the end of December last year, the China Film Association held a new leadership meeting, and Chen Daoming took over from teacher Li Xuejian and became the chairman of the 11th China Film Association.

He also became one of the people with the highest status in the domestic entertainment industry.

However, Gu Wei also had a good relationship with him, and he had talked with Teacher Chen during the previous association meeting.

Judging from Gu Wei’s current achievements in the domestic entertainment industry, as long as he is not the type of person with eyes on his forehead, there are few seniors who dislike him.

He planned to take some gifts to visit Teacher Chen at home, and then mention "Joy of Life". He believed that the other party would give him this face.

(End of this chapter)