Chapter 382: Midas Touch
"Yimou? You haven't left yet?"
Zhang Yimou smiled with wrinkles all over his face, "No. Teacher Lin, I talked with Mo Yan these two days and came up with a lot of ideas. I would like to ask you to help me with some advice."
The script that Mo Yan wrote for Zhang Yimou was just a literary script, and Zhang Yimou had a lot of homework to do if he wanted to be a director.
Lin Weimin brought the two men to his office, poured them a cup of tea, and listened to Zhang Yimou talk about his various fantasies about movies.
"The scene in the script where Yu Zhan'ao parted the dense sorghum bushes was so touching. The sorghum bushes swayed, and there were rustling sounds in all directions. The beams of light poured down and illuminated 'my grandmother'. This shot had to be shot with a subjective lens...
I have seen a film about reeds shot by a director in Nihong before. The light was dim, and the wind blew the reeds, which swayed softly like a woman's waist. The extreme green was simply beautiful!
Our movie is called Red Sorghum, with red everywhere in the mountains. I must film it to achieve that effect..."
Zhang Yimou is a thin man. His eyes lit up when he talked about how to shoot a movie. He got so excited that he forgot himself and was beaming with joy.
Lin Weimin couldn't help but sigh in his heart, perhaps only this kind of passion can lead to success!
Zhang Yimou talked a lot about the composition and light and shadow processing of film shots, and Lin Weimin could almost think of the scenes of "Red Sorghum" he had seen. It was obvious that his ideas were well thought out and worth pondering.
"Yimou, your poetic expression of film is very good, but there is one problem you need to consider.
As you described, for example, in the scene after Luohan's death, the mud-bombing cavalry pulled the stone mill to grind all the sorghum all over the mountains into green mud, and then it rained heavily. When the sun came out, the crushed and damaged sorghum turned red.
Such a scene would cost a huge amount of money.
And the war scenes, all the war scenes, are a waste of money.”
Lin Weimin's reminder calmed Zhang Yimou down from his fanatical imagination of the movie. He said with some regret: "Teacher Lin, you are right. I was a little too distracted."
Lin Weimin said, "No, no, it's great that you have these ideas. Creation requires these wild imaginations, which proves that you have a talent for filming. But in the actual filming process, you must know how to restrain yourself and understand the principle of not doing too much. Film is an art of collection. It requires not only the beauty of a shot and the liveliness of a performance, but also the harmony of the whole, which also includes the control of funds."
In later generations, there are many directors who do not know how to restrain themselves. The most representative one is Kaizi, take "The Legend of the Demon Cat" as an example.
Is the shot beautiful when it is taken alone? Beautiful! The appearance of Yang Guifei makes Zhang Rongrong, who has nothing to do with beauty, look stunning.
Was the performance wonderful? Wonderful! Xin Baiqing performed a move of Li Bai rubbing against the turtle's back, and countless audiences exclaimed that Li Bai was alive.
But what about the movie? It can’t be said to be bad, but it doesn’t live up to Kaizi’s reputation.
Zhang Yimou nodded in agreement, "You are absolutely right. Being too self-centered is a big taboo for a director."
After chatting for a long time and exhausting all their ideas, Zhang Yimou was very satisfied.
What he had to do next was to go back to the Guangxi Film Studio and convince the studio leaders.
The next morning, Zhang Yimou also left Yanjing.
After two months of rough rehearsal, the script revision work of the drama "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui" has been basically completed.
That evening, on the stage of the People's Art Theatre rehearsal hall, the first joint performance according to the revised script went smoothly.
After the rehearsal, Lin Zhaohua held Lin Weimin's hand.
"Teacher Lin, thank you for your help this time!"
"Why be so polite? We are all family." Lin Weimin said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, we are one family!" Lin Zhaohua also laughed.
He turned to Mu Sen and said, "Xiao Mu, you have to thank Teacher Lin for your help in this play!"
Mu Sen bowed to Lin Weimin and said, "Thank you, Teacher Lin!"
Lin Weimin helped him up. "No need, no need. I've thanked you many times."
Lin Zhaohua said: "Well, it is necessary. This time you are helping purely on a voluntary basis."
Voluntary help?
Mu Sen didn't understand what Lin Zhaohua meant by this, and there was a look of confusion on his face.
Lin Zhaohua did not explain much and instead talked to Lin Weimin about the future arrangements.
It will take several months before "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui" is actually performed. After finishing the script revision of this drama, Lin Weimin has one less thing to do. As long as he arranges his work, he can take time out to go to the United States.
"I may not be able to see the performance of this play, so I will treat everyone to a meal tomorrow as a way to congratulate you in advance on the success of the performance of our drama!" Lin Weimin invited.
The drama "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui" is a bit special in the People's Art Theatre. There are very few actors, only two, or to be precise, three, and a eunuch who only speaks but does not appear in the picture.
As there were so few actors, there seemed to be a lot of staff behind the scenes, more than 20 people in total, who appeared together in Taifeng Building in the evening of the next day.
Lin Weimin hosted a dinner and the food was of high standard. The cast and crew sat at three tables, each filled with dishes.
During the meal, Mu Sen was a little reserved and sat at the table with the most young people.
All the people sitting at the table were young people, all of them were full of energy. Today's dishes were so rich, and they might not be able to have a meal of this standard once or twice a year. Naturally, everyone ate voraciously and didn't even bother to talk.
Not until the dishes on the table were almost finished did the group of people pick up the wine bottles again.
The young man sitting next to Mu Sen was an actor who had just been admitted to the People's Art Theatre's actor training class last year. His name was Feng Yuanzheng. He had a sharp voice and Teacher Lin had fallen in love with his voice at first sight when he was selecting actors.
Giving him the role of the eunuch who only spoke but did not appear in the picture in "Jiajing and Hai Rui" was considered as an encouragement to these new actors in the People's Art Theatre.
Even though he didn't even show his face, and even though he only had three lines in the whole play, Feng Yuanzheng still felt extremely excited.
This is Teacher Lin’s play!
Compared with his colleagues who entered the People's Art Theatre at the same time, he is undoubtedly much luckier!
When he first entered the actor training class last year, what he heard most was about Teacher Lin writing skit scripts for Liang Guanhua and Song Dandan from the class of 1981. The skit "Yang Bailao and Huang Shiren" made Liang Guanhua and Song Dandan known to television audiences across the country overnight, and also made the two of them outstanding among the young actors in the academy.
The teachers in the actor training class all say that Teacher Lin has a pair of "magic hands" and that there is no role that he cannot make famous as long as it is performed under his name!
Li Guangfu in The Intouchables, Yang Lixin in Farewell My Concubine...
Feng Yuanzheng couldn't help drooling at the thought. He really hoped that one day he could become the leading actor in Teacher Lin's work.
While he was daydreaming in his mind, Feng Yuanzheng did not forget to eat as much as he could, and at the same time he said to Mu Sen, who was a little reserved beside him: "Writer Mu, you eat too!"
Mu Sen is about the same age as Feng Yuanzheng. He has not yet graduated from college and is not even a formal employee of the People's Art Theatre. But this does not prevent the young people in the theater from respecting him.
He wrote "Jiajing and Hai Rui" before he even graduated from university, and it was chosen by the academy to be rehearsed, with even Teacher Lin helping out for free.
As he thought about it, Feng Yuanzheng felt extremely jealous and couldn't help but said to Mu Sen: "I really envy you!"
Mu Sen was picking up some food and asked, "Are you jealous of me? What are you jealous of?"
"I envy you for being able to be a screenwriter for the People's Art Theatre at such a young age! The theatre really values the play 'Jiajing and Hai Rui'."
Mu Sen said modestly: "I am standing on the shoulders of Teacher Lin. The real hero of this play is Teacher Lin."
Feng Yuanzheng said: "Of course Teacher Lin has made great contributions. But he didn't sign his name on this play. Everyone only knows that you are the screenwriter of this play!"
"What?" Mu Sen was stunned when he heard this.
Feng Yuanzheng saw that his expression was not right and asked in surprise: "You don't know?"
Mu Sen shook his head in confusion.
He had not yet joined the People's Art Theatre, and usually came to the theatre in the rehearsal room. The people he interacted with the most were director Lin Zhaohua, Lin Weimin and two actors.
Except for Lin Weimin, the others were much older than him, and their communication was mostly limited to the script. No one had ever talked to him about the signature of the script.
When the dean Shi Yizhi asked him to ask Lin Weimin for help, he did not hesitate at all and did not even consider the issue of signature.
Because in his opinion, this script was completely copied from Teacher Lin's novel, so Teacher Lin was the rightful screenwriter, and it would be great if he could just have the opportunity to learn from him.
Feng Yuanzheng teased, "Don't you usually chat with everyone?"
Mu Sen looked at him blankly. Seeing his slow reaction, Feng Yuanzheng could only kindly explain, "Teacher Lin has already told the dean that he is just helping out with "Jiajing and Hai Rui". The screenwriter's name is still yours, and it's yours alone!"
The huge impact made Mu Sen unable to react. His voice was a little dry, "Why?"
"You asked Teacher Lin why he didn't sign his name?"
Muson nodded.
Feng Yuanzheng raised his neck and said, "Being noble!"
He glanced at Lin Weimin's table and said, "Who is Mr. Lin? Does he care about his name being signed on a play? He wrote the novel! He would never sign his name just to help polish the script. How could he be so noble?"
Mu Sen followed Feng Yuanzheng's gaze and looked towards that table. Teacher Lin was smiling and responding to everyone's toasts.
Low-key and introverted, a gentleman like jade.
Feng Yuanzheng bumped Mu Sen with his shoulder, "How is it? Do you understand now? You are the envy of all the young people in the hospital!"
Mu Sen suppressed his gratitude and emotion and smiled, "It is indeed enviable. Even I envy myself!"
Feng Yuanzheng laughed and said, "You really deserve to be a screenwriter!"
The banquet ended at around nine o'clock in the evening, and everyone went home, with Lin Weimin being the last one to go.
Mu Sen followed him, and Lin Weimin asked, "You have to go back to school too, right?"
"yes."
Mu Sen hesitated for a moment, but still said cheesily: "Teacher Lin, thank you!"
Lin Weimin waved his hand nonchalantly, "It's just a favor, there's nothing to thank me for."
Mu Sen did not continue speaking, but watched Lin Weimin's back disappear into the darkness.
He knew very well that for a young group of people like him who were just starting out, it was a great honor to meet a senior with such a high moral character as Teacher Lin!
Having completed the work on "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui", Lin Weimin now had one less thing to do.
After spending a few more days concentrating on the editorial work, he was able to contact Arthur Miller.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
