Chapter 678: Isn’t the heroine miserable?
The release of "The Wandering Earth" has been confirmed, and the distributors will be jointly China Film Group and "Wei Ming Tian Xia", so there is no need to divide this piece of cake again.
In the following days, the crew of "The Accidental Murder" headed by Wen Muye returned to China.
The company gathered all the main creators of the "Dying to Survive" crew and held a lively celebration party.
Of course, the most important thing is to give everyone a red envelope of considerable weight.
The movie was a big hit, and Wen Muye, Xiao Yang, Wang Chuanjun and others became famous. Gu Wei made a fortune, and everyone was happy.
After the celebration banquet, Wen Mu also devoted himself to the post-production of "The Accidental Murder". Gu Wei received Rao Xiaozhi who came back from the crew of "Sherlock on the Plains" in the office.
"Why did Director Rao suddenly think of going to a small crew to be a producer?"
"Xu Lei is my friend. It was his first time making a feature film and he was a little unsure about the process, so he asked me for help.
I happened to be free recently, so I went to lend a hand~" Director Rao blew on the tea in front of him and took a sip slowly.
"What do you think of the movie?" Gu Wei asked curiously.
He had never heard of either Xu Lei's name or the movie "Sherlock on the Plains". It should be a not very famous movie.
Rao Xiaozhi raised his head slightly and thought about it.
"Although Xu Lei is a new director, it is undeniable that he is very talented.
[Sherlock on the Plains] is a somewhat earthy and bizarre dark comedy film, telling the story of an old rural man Chaoying and his good friend Zhan Yi who transform into Sherlock on the plains and embark on a journey to hunt down a murderer.
Whether in terms of filming techniques or story content, it can be regarded as a fine film!"
After saying the compliments, Rao Xiaozhi couldn't help but shook his head.
"However, there isn't a single actor of even moderate fame in the film. Xu Lei cast a bunch of amateurs who fit the plot and played roles that suit the plot. It's unlikely to achieve much at the box office in the future."
“Amateur actor?
Could it be that none of the main actors have acted in a play before?" Gu Wei was a little bit unconvinced.
Rao Xiaozhi smiled bitterly and said, “I didn’t expect at first that there are three main characters in the movie, all of them are rural old men, named “Chao Ying”, “Zhan Yi” and “Shu He” respectively.
Their names come from the real names of three "actors" in their 60s found by Xu Lei, Xu Chaoying, Zhang Zhanyi, and Su Shuhe.
The three of them are all villagers from the local village, and they haven’t even seen many movies, let alone acted in them.”
"Interesting, I must watch the movie when it comes out." Gu Wei's interest was also piqued by Rao Xiaozhi's words.
"Have you read the script the company sent you?"
After chatting for a few sentences, Gu Wei started to get to the point.
"Yes, after receiving the script, I read it several times on the set!" Rao Xiaozhi became serious when he said this.
"How does it feel?"
"Very good, the title of the movie is very appropriate, there is nothing important in life except life and death.
Stories about the funeral industry are relatively rare in domestic films, and the story of "Life Events" is both funny and tearful. By facing death squarely, it allows people to better cherish the present and better understand the meaning of life.
This meaning does not lie in monetary benefits, but in the sincere feelings with family, friends and people around us.
It’s a rare and wonderful story!”
Rao Xiaozhi said without hesitation and firmly.
Gu Wei smiled. "Life Events" was undoubtedly a good story, and a good story had great appeal to the director. He was not surprised by Rao Xiaozhi's reaction.
"So Director Rao is planning to take on this project?"
"I have confidence that I can make this movie well!"
"Okay, that's settled!" Gu Wei also believed that with Rao Xiaozhi's level and shooting style, he would not let down such a good story as "Life Events".
After things were settled, Gu Wei and Rao Xiaozhi discussed the movie again.
[Life Events] will be another key project of [Wei Ming Tian Xia] after [Dying to Survive], and it will be starred by Gu Wei himself.
As the director of the film, Rao Xiaozhi had a lot to communicate with Gu Wei, the screenwriter and leading actor.
“I plan to shoot [Life Events] early next year, so I should have plenty of time for pre-production.
Director Rao could go to Wuhan to look for film locations; I think that city is more in line with the temperament of the film."
Listening to Gu Wei's instructions, Rao Xiaozhi nodded unconsciously.
"The rest are relatively easy to handle, but it might be hard to find an actress who can play the role of the little girl Wu Xiaowen in the play."
Gu Wei frowned slightly.
The little actor in the original version of "Life Events" performed very well, but this version started filming more than two years in advance. For a child, the changes in two years are very big. The original "Wu Xiaowen" is too young now and is probably not up to the role.
"If that doesn't work, then we can hold an audition. There are many young actors of the right age in the industry, so there will always be someone suitable."
September 15, Huairou Film and Television Base in Beijing.
The opening ceremony of the costume love drama "Eastern Palace" produced by "Wei Ming Tian Xia" and directed by Li Muge was held here.
The filming locations of this drama are mainly divided into four places: Dunhuang with its desert scenery, Bashang Grassland, Hengdian Film and Television City and Huairou Film and Television Base.
According to the shooting plan, the crew will start filming in Huairou. After finishing the scenes here, they will go to Dunhuang and Bashang, and finally wrap up in Hengdian.
Gu Wei's new film started shooting near Beijing, which naturally attracted many media reporters.
In the morning, led by Gu Wei and Li Muge, the crew burned incense and worshipped gods to complete the start-up process, and then entered the media interview session.
"This is my second collaboration with Director Li Muge. Director Li is an excellent director, and I'm looking forward to creating some unique sparks this time."
"Ziyi is a very good actor who has appeared in many film and television works before, and many of his roles have left a deep impression on the audience.
Whether in terms of image, temperament or acting skills, she is the most suitable candidate for the role of "Qu Xiaofeng."
As the absolute core figure in the crew, Gu Wei is naturally the focus of the media.
He was already very familiar with this kind of interview. He could speak in set phrases without hesitation, praising everyone from the director to the leading actress and other main actors, and no one could find any fault with them.
Meng Ziyi was a little excited.
She has filmed many dramas over the years since she entered the industry, and has played the leading female role before, but this is the first time she has collaborated with Gu Wei to play the leading female role. Her long-cherished wish has finally come true, and her whole spirit is different from before.
“.I am very happy to be able to work with my senior brother on a film.
In fact, we have collaborated many times before, from being the heroine in his MV, to playing the school beauty who liked him in "Love O2O", to playing his ex-girlfriend in "You Are My Glory".
It’s not easy at all, this time I finally get to play his real girlfriend.
It seems like I’m making progress.”
As Meng Ziyi spoke, she turned around and glanced at Gu Wei beside her. The whole audience burst into laughter when she spoke.
After the opening ceremony, the crew officially started filming.
The morning passed quickly. Since we had just started filming, the progress was not fast. However, everyone was gradually adapting to the shooting rhythm of the new drama through shooting a few shots.
"If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten that you played so many small supporting roles in my plays." Gu Wei was chatting with Meng Ziyi during lunch.
"Since I signed up for the company when I was in school, I have always been your favorite supporting actress. From Sister Nazha to Sister Reba, it has really not been easy for me over the years." Meng Ziyi gave him a resentful look.
"Ahem." Gu Wei thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. It seemed that Meng Ziyi had been playing supporting roles in his various dramas for so many years, and most of the time, she played characters who loved him but could not get him.
"I'm just honing your acting skills. Playing the female lead right away isn't necessarily a good thing.
And people in the circle are not all like this, playing supporting roles first, and then trying to play the leading role after they have a certain degree of fame and their acting skills have matured.
You are already very popular now, and once our drama is aired, you will definitely be a huge hit, and it will be a hot hit with a solid foundation."
To be honest, Gu Wei simply forgot about Meng Ziyi. If Yang Liwen hadn't mentioned her to him all the time, he wouldn't have thought of filming "The East Palace" to promote her.
"I know that my current fame is entirely due to your cultivation, boss."
Although she felt that the opportunity to play the leading role came a little late, Meng Ziyi also knew that her current fame was all thanks to signing with Gu Wei, which gave her one opportunity after another to appear in hit dramas.
Among her classmates at the same Beijing Film Academy class, she is undoubtedly the most famous one now.
"Brother, I've read the script of [Eastern Palace] over and over again. Isn't the heroine I play a little too miserable in this romantic drama?"
The two of them ate and talked, and Meng Ziyi asked Gu Wei about the doubts in his heart.
[Eastern Palace] This drama is adapted from Fei Wo Si Cun's novel of the same name. It tells the story of the unrequited love between Li Chengyin, the fifth prince of Feng Dynasty, and Qu Xiaofeng, the ninth princess of Western Zhou Dynasty.
However, unlike traditional romance dramas where the hero and heroine end up together happily, "Eastern Palace" is a BE drama. After the two fell in love, they turned against each other and the heroine even died in front of the two armies. It can be said to be a real tragic ending.
"Have you read the original novel?"
"Yes, I did. After receiving the script, I went to read the original novel and found that we had changed a lot of things in this script."
Gu Wei nodded.
"Adaptation is essential for a novel to be adapted into a film or TV series, as long as the general outline of the story and the appeal remain unchanged.
Just like "The East Palace", the heroine is a bit miserable, but it is precisely because of this that it is attractive and the audience likes to watch it.
Unlike before, not all TV dramas and movies have happy endings now. Those with flaws and regrets are more likely to leave a deep impression on the audience."
Meng Ziyi nodded thoughtfully. She could understand what Gu Wei said, but when she thought about the fact that the dramas Gu Wei had filmed with others before were all about sweet love affairs, but when it came to her, it was a love-hate relationship, she still felt a little unbalanced.
Gu Wei briefly explained the situation to Meng Ziyi and ignored her reaction.
[Eastern Palace] This film is indeed different from all the TV series he has filmed before.
In terms of the male protagonist, Gu Wei has previously played some upright and righteous characters, whether it is a campus male god, a domineering president or an aerospace engineer. Although their professional character images are different, the core is generally similar.
But "Eastern Palace" is different. From the perspective of the heroine, Li Chengyin can be said to be a complete villain.
At the beginning of the original novel, the heroine Qu Xiaofeng, as the ninth princess of Xizhou, has a noble status and is the object of marriage with Feng Dynasty.
But the heroine was unwilling to marry, so she went to find her master Gu Jian, wanting him to take her away from the marriage. As a result, she did not meet Gu Jian at the agreed place, but met an injured tea merchant Gu Xiaowu instead.
The kind-hearted heroine saved him, and they fell in love with each other after several entanglements. After the hero helped the heroine's grandfather defeat another enemy, he was recognized by the heroine's family and decided to marry her to him.
As a result, on the day of the wedding, the army of Feng Dynasty came to attack, and the originally trusted male protagonist rebelled in the battle and turned into Li Chengyin, the fifth prince of Feng Dynasty.
As a result, the Danchi tribe to which the heroine's grandfather belonged was defeated.
Li Chengyin led his men to attack the Danchi King's tent and chopped off the Chi King's head. All this was seen by the heroine. Only then did she realize that everything before was the hero's plan.
Approaching her, using her, and ultimately aiming to wipe out Danchi.
The heroine's relatives died tragically and she was betrayed by her lover, and her world collapsed from then on. This was also the beginning of their love-hate relationship.
From Feng Chao's perspective, Li Chengyin did nothing wrong, but from Qu Xiaofeng's perspective, he was a complete devil.
Although the male protagonist took advantage of the female protagonist's feelings, he actually fell in love with her during their time together.
But Li Chengyin is not the kind of person who would give up power for love. He wants to get Qu Xiaofeng's love more than he wants to get the country.
This point of conflict is also the reason why the relationship between the two eventually ended in tragedy.
This is the first time for Gu Wei to play this type of leading actor, and also the first time for him to appear in a TV series with a tragic ending. For him, filming "Eastern Palace" was a very different experience.
As for whether the TV series with a tragic ending will become popular after it is broadcast, he is not worried at all.
With Gu Wei's current fame and popularity, even if he stars in a mediocre TV series, with his own traffic and the traffic from major platforms, it can at least become a hit.
Just like some of the TV series that Yang Mi and Zhao Liying will broadcast in the future, although the quality is average, they can still make the TV series popular thanks to their huge popularity.
What’s more, “Eastern Palace” is not a drama of ordinary quality.
The original version of "Eastern Palace" has a Douban score of 7.8, which is higher than the popular dramas "The Journey of Flower", "Princess Agents" and "Eternal Love" in recent years.
Moreover, the original male and female protagonists were two unknown 18th-tier actors who had no popularity at all. Under such circumstances, the performance of "Eastern Palace" was still good and it won a large number of loyal fans.
Now that Gu Wei and Meng Ziyi have taken over, it would be unreasonable for the TV series not to become a hit.
The news of the start of filming of "Eastern Palace" was quickly spread on the Internet after it was exposed by the media.
The crew’s official Weibo account also released makeup photos of several main creative people.
Li Chengyin, played by Gu Wei, is still handsome, and he exudes nobility in his princely attire.
Meng Ziyi's red dress was extremely eye-catching, and her looks made her a peerless beauty.
[Brother's makeup photos are still so handsome, also in ancient costume. When he was filming "Nirvana in Fire", his Mei Changsu had that kind of sickly temperament. Now the Fifth Prince has a completely different feeling. His acting skills are amazing!]
Meng Ziyi is so beautiful. When I watched "Flowers and Youth" before, I always thought she was a comedian, but I didn't expect that she is also a stunning beauty when she dresses up.
What Meng Ziyi said at the opening ceremony was absolutely right. She had always played the role of pursuing Gu Wei, but this time she finally got to play a true lover!
[A true lover, the kind who would kill her entire family? In the original novel of "Eastern Palace", the heroine is so miserable, and Li Chengyin is a scumbag!]
[Li Chengyin's character design is really not very good, but if it were played by my brother, it would be different. The filter is too heavy. Even if he played a real villain in another drama, I would still like it! ]
(End of this chapter)
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