Chapter 97 Old Things
Shanghu, Chedun Film and Television Base.
"Director Li, thank you for your help this time." In the busy set, Meng Bai shook hands with Li Xue and thanked him.
Li Xue's name sounds like a girl, but in fact, she is a real rough man. He is the director of Noon Sunshine. He has been a student of Kong Sheng for many years and is considered one of the best "Noon School Directors".
This time, when "The Pretender" started filming, Kong Sheng was busy with the post-production of "Nirvana in Fire" and also launched a period drama "Two Families in Wenzhou"
. He had no time, so the job of chief director fell to Li Xue. Meng Bai had contact with him when filming "All Quiet in Peking" before. Although they were not particularly familiar with each other, they had a certain friendship. With this collaboration on the new drama, they became closer.
He happened to be in Shanghu recently to inspect the filming locations needed for "The Pretender". When he heard that Meng Bai needed venues and props, he helped to contact them, which was a timely help.
Hearing Meng Bai's thanks, Li Xue waved her hand indifferently: "It's all a small matter. You are half of our family. We help each other."
They are now in a small antique restaurant, and many crew members behind them are busy arranging the venue. Seeing the two walking and talking, Li Xue looked at the scene and asked curiously: "Is your play also a modern historical drama with the background of the Republic of China?"
"No, the whole play is set in modern times. It's just that this unit involves some flashbacks, and the timeline is during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, so such a scene arrangement is needed." Meng Bai explained.
The scene being prepared is one of the few branch plots that have not been deleted. The unit is called "Old Things", which mainly tells the memories of the past events that happened to "Zhao Li" a hundred years ago.
In that turbulent era, the country was in turmoil and human lives were worthless. In order to prepare a dowry for his blind daughter, Lao Chen, who runs a noodle shop, borrowed usury. As a result, the husband's family refused, and the moneylenders came to collect debts and wanted to take Lao Chen's daughter to sell a brothel. Old Chen, who had been honest all his life, was furious. He killed the moneylender and burned all the IOUs. He was beheaded.
At the end of the story, Old Chen's daughter begged Zhao Li to send her to the place where "daughters can survive by selling their bodies" because she promised her father that she would live well.
"As long as we survive, the world will get better one day."
Meng Bai roughly described the plot to Li Xue, and the other party's eyes were full of surprise.
"Wow, I really didn't expect that the story structure of your web drama is really not smaller than that of TV dramas and movies." Li Xue exclaimed.
Meng Bai smiled and said, "Web dramas are just carriers. The story itself has nothing to do with where it is broadcast. And I think that because web dramas are more free and flexible, they can often express deeper things than TV dramas."
"Indeed, some words cannot be said everywhere." Li Xue sighed, "It's a pity that I heard that the censorship of web dramas will also become stricter."
Meng Bai heard this and didn't say anything, but just sighed. Li Xue then remembered that the reason why the other party came here suddenly this time was because of the reform of web drama censorship.
This is really...
Li Xue changed the topic and talked to Meng Bai about the preparation progress of "The Disguiser".
"According to the current progress, the auditions of the relevant actors will begin next month, and the filming will start around January next year." Li Xue said: "Mr. Hou means that the actors still need to consider your opinion as the screenwriter. Do you think you will be able to audition in time?"
"Almost. I should be done filming next month. Post-production is mainly the director's job. It's no problem to take a few days off to come." Meng Bai thought about it and agreed.
After speaking, he asked curiously: "Do we have an expected candidate for the leading actor now? Will we pick it from the leading actors of "Nirvana in Fire" again?"
Li Xue smiled, knowing that he was teasing his family for liking to use "familiar faces". However, this time he was really right.
"At present, we are leaning towards Jin Dong and Hu Ge for the two male protagonists, 'Ming Lou' and 'Ming Tai'. After contacting them, they are also very interested." Li Xue said, "You should know them both, right?"
"I can't say I know them, but I know who they are." Meng Bai said, "If Senior Brother Jin Dong plays Ming Lou, his appearance and temperament are quite suitable. As for Hu Ge playing Ming Tai..."
"Why, do you think it's not suitable?" Li Xue asked.
Meng Bai said, "It's not that it's not suitable, but the setting of 'Ming Tai' is a young man of 18 or 19 years old, and the age difference may be a little big."
If it was ten years ago, or five years ago, Hu Ge would definitely be fine. But he is over 30 this year, and I don't know if he can still perform that kind of youth.
"It's okay, we'll see when we audition. If it's really not suitable, we can change people." Li Xue said seriously.
The two talked about some problems about the plot and location selection. Seeing that Meng Bai was still busy with filming, he took the initiative to say goodbye and leave. Anyway, they still have to stay in Shanghai for a while, so there is plenty of time to discuss.
After seeing off Li Xue, Meng Bai returned to the set and met with several leading actors who had just arrived.
In the unit "Old Things", although "Zhao Li" is one of the main characters in the whole story, he can only be regarded as a "witness" in this chapter. The real protagonist of the unit is "Old Chen", who worked hard and continued to run the noodle shop even if he was beheaded, just to keep his daughter alive.
This role is the "drama guts" of the entire unit, so an "old actor" with superb acting skills is needed. Meng Bai asked his teacher Professor Zou to contact several powerful actors, and finally invited Teacher Zhang Yonggang.
"Teacher Zhang, this scene depends on you." Looking at the "Buddha Wu Tian" in front of him, Meng Bai solemnly asked.
"Don't worry, you wrote a good script, and I can't let you down." Zhang Yonggang said with a smile.
Although most of the roles he played are domineering and heroic characters, he is actually a simple and honest person in reality, which is quite a contrast.
Seeing that the other party was sincere, Meng Bai was relieved. For these veteran actors with real strength, after so many years of filming, they have their own understanding of the plot and characters, so he doesn't need to say anything more. If we
really want to say who is under more pressure now, it is Yu Yi. He is the protagonist, and he also has a direct rivalry with Zhang Yonggang, and he is afraid that he will
not be able to keep up with the role. However, this outsider can't help much, so it depends on whether he can withstand the pressure.
In addition to the two of them, there is another important role, the daughter of "Old Chen", the "blind girl". Because the shooting time is tight, Meng Bai has no time to do any auditions, so he can only look for actors he has worked with before.
There are not many candidates, because many of them have appeared in the first part. In addition, not everyone has the right time. After contacting several people, Liang Jie, who had worked with him in "Psychological Crime", was finally decided.
"Junior sister, thank you for coming to help." Looking at Liang Jie in front of him, Meng Bai said politely.
"I should thank my senior brother for giving me the opportunity." Liang Jie hurriedly said.
Seeing the other party's somewhat panicked look, Meng Bai smiled and looked at Zhu Xudan next to him: "By the way, why are you here too?"
(End of this chapter)
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