Chapter 770 Technical Flow
Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised and said, "It wasn't written, but the idea for this story came from me. You... have you also been following this drama?"
The person who came to ask Lu Yanhe this question happened to be a makeup artist who was responsible for Lu Yanhe's makeup and hair every day.
She nodded and said, "I'm a member of HP, and they sent me an email specifically recommending this show. The email mentioned that you are the script consultant."
HP is the exclusive overseas streaming platform for "2 Broke Girls".
However, because the cast of this drama was completely new, Lu Yanhe did not expect that HP would attach so much importance to it.
While it's not fair to say that receiving recommendations from members constitutes a top-tier or amazing resource, most dramas certainly don't receive this treatment.
HP has always hoped to get a sitcom like Friends from Lu Yanhe.
Now, "2 Broke Girls" has finally fallen into HP's hands. However, Lu Yanhe has neither starred in nor written the show, and he really thought that HP wouldn't take the show too seriously.
HP certainly didn't do this to maintain his relationship with him.
HP is completely unnecessary.
This only shows one thing: they internally believe that this show has the potential to be a hit.
Actually, you'll know whether a sitcom will be popular or not once you've watched it yourself.
In this industry, perhaps only one percent of people are capable of creating good content, but absolutely ninety percent of people can tell what good content is.
Especially the people in charge of these platforms. If they make a mistake in the preparation and filming stage and hand over a good project to someone else, that's one thing. After all, that stage is full of uncontrollable factors, and it's possible for them to make an inaccurate judgment.
But once the finished film is released, what people are unsure about is how bad the box office will be, or how good it will be. This is indeed impossible to predict accurately.
But if you still can't tell whether a film is good or bad, or whether the audience will like it or not, then you completely lack the basic judgment required to work in this industry.
-
After the first episode of "2 Broke Girls" aired, the viewership numbers were very encouraging, both domestically and internationally.
It didn't break any records, but it was beautiful.
The first episode of "2 Broke Girls" premiered on Yuehu TV and achieved a rating of 0.85%. For a TV series with a completely new cast, this result is simply a "game-winning" start.
After the show was released on HP, it garnered over 3.2 million viewers within 24 hours of its premiere, and quickly entered the top ten of HP's global charts.
Because of this initial success, both the domestic broadcasters and HP pressed their advantage and began to increase their promotional investment.
Even Lu Yanhe, who was filming "Godless," was dragged out, made to record a video, participate in a live broadcast, and was even required to post three promotional updates on his overseas social media.
With the promotion of numerous powerful and influential platforms, the publicity coverage of the show "2 Broke Girls" spread like wildfire.
Episode 2, Episode 3...
The show's popularity did not decline after a strong start; instead, it maintained its initial success.
This led to a gradual increase in discussion.
-
The two female leads of "2 Broke Girls," Deng Xiaoyuan and Cen Nan, became famous overnight.
Their fame and exposure increased entirely due to the promotion of this drama.
The promotional strategy for "2 Broke Girls" is basically the same as that for all Hollywood blockbusters.
There are no other special features except that "the promotion is very extensive," striving to ensure that everyone can see the promotion of this drama in every corner.
Therefore, even before Deng Xiaoyuan and Cen Nan starred in this drama, or even during the promotion of the drama, most people did not know who they were. They just vaguely recognized them and felt that they had seen them somewhere before. When they appeared with the title of "2 Broke Girls", they were always "looked at with more respect".
Who knows if they'll become an internet sensation tomorrow?
Look at Liu Zi, who played "Tong Zhanggui" in "My Own Swordsman," she's now incredibly popular.
Needless to say, Xiao Yun, who played "Guo Furong," was already a popular young actress, and now she is a rare actress with audience appeal and national recognition.
Before starring in "My Own Swordsman," neither their popularity nor their status in the industry was as high as they are now. Especially Liu Zi, who went from being unknown to becoming the first choice for leading roles in various major dramas, achieving fame with just one role.
During the promotion process, the two of them were interviewed most about how they got the opportunity and what their feelings were after getting it.
"I was nervous," Deng Xiaoyuan said. "But I was also very excited because I got this audition opportunity myself by asking Yan He for it. I was filming 'Chinese Paladin' with him at the time, and I never expected that I would actually get the role."
Did you never expect to get this role?
"If you knew how many people auditioned, you wouldn't dare to think you'd definitely get the role," Deng Xiaoyuan said. "Even many well-known actors came, and we all thought we were definitely out of the running."
"Many well-known actors also auditioned at the time, but you guys beat them out in the end?"
“It wasn’t that we beat them out,” Deng Xiaoyuan immediately waved her hand. “The production team decided early on that these two roles would be played by actors that the audience doesn’t know much about.”
"Um?"
"Because if the actress herself is a well-known actress, it's hard for people to believe the story's premise—that we're a pair of bankrupt sisters," Deng Xiaoyuan said with a smile.
"But this is really quite bold, to cast all the actors that the audience doesn't know much about in a play."
"Yes, actually when we were filming on set, everyone said that among the productions of Linghe, there are only two that don't use stars: one is 'Roommates' and the other is our '2 Broke Girls'."
"The third season of 'Roommates' also performed very well when it aired this year."
“Yes, I just finished watching it,” Cen Nan said. “Filming ‘2 Broke Girls’ taught us a lot. I remember we asked President Chen Yin why the company made shows like ‘Roommates’ and ‘2 Broke Girls’, which didn’t seem to make much money. He said it was because the company couldn’t rely on hit shows forever, nor could it depend on President Lu forever. I was quite shocked at the time, especially after I learned that the first two seasons of ‘Roommates’ barely made any money, yet Linghe still agreed to produce a third season. I suddenly felt, well, that’s how Linghe is. Even if my previous efforts didn’t get immediate results, I’m at peace with it.”
Will there be a second season of "2 Broke Girls"?
"Well...we don't know either, we have to follow the company's arrangements," Deng Xiaoyuan said.
-
On the set of "No God", Lu Yanhe was quite adept at playing the role of an Eastern sorcerer and did not encounter any problems.
This type of role is no longer difficult for him.
All you need to do is find the character's positioning, then find a starting point, and design a little bit for each scene, and you can create a great character.
Lu Yanhe always kept in mind one thing: never give an "imprecise" performance in a role that "doesn't require pondering complex human nature".
In films like "Path of Glory" and "Calm Wind One," the "imprecise" state of chaos is itself a form of character expression. However, in a film like "Godless," except for specific moments, his performance should have a very clear "expressive intention."
To put it bluntly, in this role, "performance of state" is more important than "performance of character".
Although many actors say that they want to portray a character, not just a state of being.
This reflects the difference in methodology among actors. It doesn't mean that a methodology for portraying one character applies to every actor and every film. At least, like Zhang Ziyi, undeniably a good actress, she possesses the charisma to "sweep through a thousand armies" in the right roles, but her performances in films like *Godzilla vs. Kong* and *Cloverfield 10* didn't quite blend into the overall feel.
Lu Yanhe had acted in several scenes, and Ignaz had not raised any objections to him. He was almost very "indulgent" in letting him perform on set. No matter how he acted, Ignaz would say it was good. Of course, Ignaz would not say it when I praised him. Many times, I would say let's shoot another take.
Lu Yanhe truly felt one thing, which was what Chen Siqi had said before—
All that overthinking beforehand was truly his own fault for throwing himself into disarray.
In reality, nothing happened.
Of course, Ignaz didn't treat every actor this way.
Lu Yanhe also discovered that for some actors who were not very independent in their performances or who did not perform well (at least in his opinion), Ignaz would change his approach and would actually teach them how to act step by step.
This level of detail is so meticulous that it even extends to knowing the right rhythm, whether to turn your head or look up, just like teaching a primary school student how to do housework.
However, there is no doubt that his method works.
This method is the most efficient.
It's not just about being efficient anymore.
Lu Yanhe believes that this kind of guidance is most useful for actors who don't know how to act.
An actor must first see the mountain before he can climb it himself.
Sometimes, Lu Yanhe even felt that some of Ignaz's guidance was very inspiring to him.
Ignaz has many very practical methodologies.
For example, when he was instructing an actress on how to deliver her lines, which were actually just one line, the actress just couldn't get it right or natural.
Ignaz simply told her, "You should prolong each syllable, like in slow motion in a movie."
Although the actress found it strange, she did as instructed.
Then, Ignaz sped up the "slow motion" video with a machine, and pointing to the sped-up video, he said to the actress, "I want it like this."
Lu Yanhe also took a look at the video.
To be honest, the performance in the video was simply unbearable to watch.
However, putting aside the details, after the processing, her performance and rhythm strangely came together.
Ignaz had the actress study how he acted in this edited version before saying, "Your delivery of lines is off, which causes problems with your performance rhythm. But your understanding and performance itself are fine. Do you understand what I mean? See if you can adjust it as soon as possible. If you can't, don't worry about the lines for now. Focus all your attention on your performance, and we'll dub it later."
It has to be said that when an actress truly stops trying to deliver her lines well, the affected and pretentious quality that comes with the rhythm of her performance immediately disappears.
Lu Yanhe was shocked.
Is this even possible?
In fact, many actors in China have this problem.
Because I don't have formal training, the most basic thing, delivering lines, is a big problem. It's so big that because I have to focus some of my attention on my lines, I get distracted and my performance rhythm gets off track.
This is a common problem among many actors.
Even many established actors with decent acting skills still have problems with their lines.
Lu Yanhe never thought that this matter could be solved directly through technology.
-
For many filmmakers, this is certainly not something to be proud of.
Because it's not performing art enough.
It is even a desecration of the performing arts.
However, from the perspective of film production, it works very well.
practical.
Lu Yanhe believes that sometimes, art and art have to be compromised, and the so-called performing arts have to give way to the director's cinematic art.
Movies are not a stage for one actor like you.
Thinking about this, Lu Yanhe wondered if he was letting himself down as an actor.
Why does he have absolutely no reverence for pure performance?
-
“Because you’re not an academic trained in an ivory tower,” Chen Ziyan said. “A sense of awe is something you either have or you don’t. And having it isn’t necessarily a good thing. There are plenty of people who are arrogant and have unrealistic ambitions.”
Lu Yanhe said, "But I'm not willing to use this technical method to complete the performance."
"That's good. She has high standards for herself and doesn't nag others," Chen Ziyan summarized. "The key is that the acting profession is a mixed bag, and you can't find a perfect actor for every role. But the film has to be made, and you can't just make films randomly. If someone doesn't have that much ability, what can you do? You can only solve it technically. You know they don't have the ability to do anything more sophisticated. It's especially good that you feel it's okay for someone like Ignaz to direct, because you subconsciously understand that film is all about the final result, and everyone's process is different."
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.
“I always feel like I don’t think that much about it, but you always summarize it in a very valuable way.”
Chen Ziyan: "Haha, I'm nothing compared to you. If you actually work in Linghe for a few days, you'll know what it means for someone to organize your nonsense into something of great value."
Lu Yanhe: "Forget it. If someone actually did that, I wouldn't know how to react."
Chen Ziyan: "What kind of reaction is needed? Just accept it silently."
Lu Yanhe: "I can't do it."
“Many things you thought you couldn’t do before, you’ve done later,” Chen Ziyan said. “For example, you used to completely refuse to take leave when you were filming, didn’t you?”
Lu Yanhe: "...Sigh, what should I do, Sister Ziyan? I feel once again that I am definitely not an actor with a heart for Tao."
"What kind of path are you following? If you're so focused on pursuing the Way, why are you even a celebrity?" Chen Ziyan laughed. "Don't set too high moral standards or impose too many moral constraints on yourself. Be dedicated, work hard, try your best to meet and balance the needs of all parties, and even when you could have all your partners revolving around you, you still cooperate with and accommodate their arrangements. That's enough, more than enough. It's not that you're more than capable compared to others, but in this kind of work environment, it's completely sufficient."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
