The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 488 Our goal is Cannes
The female character in "1937" has been confirmed as Sun Li, and the two most important male characters in the movie are the male lead and the second male lead.

After careful consideration and discussions with the assistant director and others, Lee Sheng-yew finalized the cast in mid-May.

He plans to find brother Xiao Ming to play the first male lead and Zhang Yi to play the second male lead.

Although Brother Xiao Ming has always wanted to play the role of Boss Ba, he looks very greasy in some TV series.

But as long as the director can suppress it and let him act well, Xiao Ming's acting skills are still guaranteed.

Moreover, he has a good image and a good temperament, so he is very suitable to play a soldier.

Li Shengyao actually considered many people, such as Chen Kun, Liu Ye, and Tong Dawei.

In fact, the acting skills of the mainland actors born after the [-]th Five-Year Plan are all on the line, as long as their image and temperament are consistent.

The problem with Chen Kun is that he is too feminine. Even if he deliberately plays the tough guy Hu Bayi, Li Shengyao feels that he is just okay and does not feel righteous.

Liu Ye's words were too feminine when he was young, such as "What can I do to save you, my love"? Later, he deliberately got rid of this temperament, and Zhong Yuemin was very good.

It's a pity that Zhong Yuemin couldn't do it anymore, especially after Liu Ye played "Tough Guy". After exercising, his whole person became much duller, and he actually felt more naive.

As for Tong Dawei, his looks are not good enough.

The soldiers in "The Thirteen Hairpins" were very good, but Lee Sheng-yew always felt that there was something missing. Later, I felt that his appearance was not enough, and his small eyes were still very obvious on the big screen.

Especially in movies where Tong Dawei is the male protagonist, the scene is fixed on a pair of small eyes for a long time, and Li Shengyao felt that the audience would be uncomfortable.

After comprehensive analysis, Li Shengyao plans to choose Xiao Mingge.

If Zhang Yi is chosen as the second male lead, firstly, he has acting skills, and secondly, because of his temperament and appearance, he will not steal the role of the first male lead.

Lee Sheung Yew originally wanted to find someone under 30 years old to play the second male lead.

But the actors born in the [-]s are really not as good as those born in the [-]s. This guy Hui Hui later cheated on him, and Bao Qiang is prone to drama.

Zhang Yi is 32 years old, but he actually only officially debuted in 06, so he looks young.

Now that the actor has been confirmed, Li Shengyao asked his assistant to contact Xiao Ming's agent.

Not long after the phone call, the person there said he would immediately bring Brother Xiao Ming over for negotiation.

On an afternoon with soft sunshine, fluttering spring breeze and lingering fragrance of flowers, Li Shengyao saw Brother Xiao Ming.

"Director Li... If you want to thank me, I won't say much more. I will remember your support."

Brother Xiao Ming looked very excited, opened the door, entered the office first, and then held Li Shengyao's hand.

"Don't be so open-minded. I choose you not because of our friendship, but because I think you are really suitable."

"Yes, yes, I understand, I will play well."

Li Shengyao smiled and then asked Xiao Ming and his agent to sit down. "After careful consideration, I finally felt that you are more suitable. I believe that your image and acting skills are fine, but there are some things I need to talk about before signing the contract." clear."

"You said."

Brother Xiao Ming immediately followed.

He is still very grateful to Lee Sheng Yew for choosing him.

After filming "The Deer and the Cauldron", Xiao Ming actually intended to develop into the film industry. "The Wind" was the best resource Huayi gave him. Later, he found Lee Sheng Yew himself and won the villain role in "The Fall of Hong Kong Island" .

Both roles brought him good reputation.

However, Huayi's resources are limited. In Feng Xiaogang's movies, comedy is fixed on Ge You. For "Sugar Mountain Earthquake", the actors went crazy.

Brother Xiao Ming still has few resources in Huayi, so he has to cooperate with the Hong Kong circle.

"The Gunslinger" and "Tang Bohu Dian Qiuxiang 2: The Four Talents" are all works from the Hong Kong film circle.

He has also guest-starred in several Hong Kong movies, such as "Ip Man 2", "Chi Ming and Chun Jiao", "Da Hu Cheng", "Blood Drop" and so on.

For movies like "Tang Bohu Dian Qiuxiang 2 The Four Talents", even if Xiao Ming has average aesthetics, he also knows that the quality of the movie is average.

But there is no way, there are no resources, this is the highest level resource he can get.

In "Da Hu Cheng", he was just accompanying Zhou Runfu, that's all. Zhou Runfu's status was there.

Movies like "Blood Drops" are disgusting. If he works with Ruan Jing, isn't that just like supporting Wanwan artist?
This time, Lee Sheng-yew actually chose him to be the male lead in his next blockbuster. When his agent hung up the phone, he couldn't help but stand up and yelled several times.

Li Shengyao continued: "You should have heard of my rules. Even Brother Cheng Long must abide by my rules in my movies."

"In my movie, listen to me. Act as I say. Of course, if you have ideas, you can discuss them during the break, but don't question them during filming."

Brother Xiao Ming nodded immediately, "It should be."

"Movies are not allowed. I hate movies the most. People who do movies have no respect for the film industry."

Brother Xiao Ming immediately followed up and said: "The director is right, he doesn't like actors who interfere with their scenes."

"Also, I have confirmed the main actors. The filming will start in mid-June at the latest. I need you to handle everything before starting the filming. I don't want any messy trivial matters to bother you by then."

"I understand, I can handle it."

Li Shengyao smiled and took a sip of tea. "You have to be prepared. This movie will be very tiring. This is a war movie, and I will use a rather special shooting method."

"There's no problem with that. I'm not afraid of hardship."

"I believe you."

Li Shengyao paused for a moment, then nodded on the table and said slowly: "The last thing is also the most important thing. This movie will be shot for at least eight months. You have to think about it carefully."

Film shooting in the Mainland usually only takes three or four months.

It's faster on Hong Kong Island, and a movie can often be finished in one or two months.

The reason "1937" took so long was because it required a lot of time to rehearse.

In Lee Sung-yew's previous life, the rehearsal time for "1917" was six months for the actors.

Because you can't keep calling for a shot, the movie is all about long shots, so you can't make mistakes. Whether it's the main actors or the extras, they have to rehearse for a long time.

Lee Sheng-yew plans to set the rehearsal time at five months and the filming time at three months, and strive to complete the filming within eight months.Then it was produced within two months.

Attending the Cannes Film Festival next May.

When Brother Xiao Ming heard this, he couldn't help turning his head to look at his agent.

Eight months of filming, plus post-production dubbing and promotion, the total time spent on this movie might take ten months.

In other words, in the next year, this movie will be the only one. With this kind of schedule, Xiao Ming will make tens of millions less.

"This is my situation. Please don't reply to me now. Please reply to me within three days."

……

There was no need to wait three days. One day later, Li Shengyao saw Brother Xiao Ming and his agent.

"Director Li, I'm sorry, we didn't release the outside news. We didn't expect those wealthy paparazzi to be so annoying and let them take photos."

Brother Xiao Ming looked apologetic and worried, and apologized to Li Shengyao with a grimace.

Just last night, major news networks in the Mainland broke the news of Lee Sheng-yew's meeting with Brother Xiao Ming, and also released photos of Brother Xiao Ming and his manager leaving the Liangmahe Building together.

The news that "1937" confirmed Brother Xiao Ming as the starring role was like a spring breeze, quickly blowing across the country.

Such news has obviously disrupted Fenghua's plans in this regard. They should make unified arrangements for when to officially announce the starring role.

This is the reason why Brother Xiao Ming is worried and apologetic.

Li Shengyao knew the paparazzi's peeing habits, but he didn't care.

"It's okay, I understand."

Brother Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief, and then said seriously: "Director Li, thank you for taking me seriously. I am willing to act in "1937". There is no problem with the eight-month shooting time, but I..."

"Just say something."

"Director Li, I have a new girlfriend, and I have made an appointment to take her back to my hometown to meet my parents during the New Year. I hope I can have a week's holiday during the New Year."

"This is what it should be. We would have had ten days off during the Chinese New Year."

Brother Xiao Ming was overjoyed when he heard this, "Okay, director, I can sign the contract now."

Lee Sheng-yew then called on his assistants to prepare the contract.

"Who is your new girlfriend?"

"Big baby, do you know me?"

"Oh, I've met him a few times, but I'm not familiar with him."

"She's a good girl."

Brother Xiao Ming looked happy, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a naive manner.

Li Shengyao touched his chin.

Respect the fate of others...

Soon after, Huang Xiaoming signed a contract with the "1937" crew. He will star in "300" with a salary of 1937 million.

Li Shengyao breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Brother Xiao Ming, who was also relieved. He thought for a while and planned to cheer up the leading actor.

"I am very optimistic about your image and acting skills. This film will be completed before May next year. My goal is to participate in next year's Cannes Film Festival. I hope to be successful by then."

When Brother Xiao Ming heard this, his eyes lit up.

Good movies benefit actors greatly.

Just like "Farewell My Concubine", several actors did not win awards, but it had a great positive impact on the actors.

Zhang Guorong, Gong Li, and Ge You all received movie bonuses.

He didn't expect that Lee Sheung Yew would target Cannes this time.

No film has won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival since "Farewell My Concubine."

Even Lao Mouzi and Brother Kaizi dare not say they want to make a difference.

When Li Shengyao said this, he should be somewhat confident.

"This movie has very high requirements for the first and second male leads. If you perform well, you can hopefully win three gold medals in China."

In Lee Sheng-yew's previous life, this film was nominated for ten Oscars and ten British Film Academy Awards. There were various nominations.

The only reason it didn't get a nomination for Best Actor was because there weren't many scenes showing inner changes in the movie, so the actor couldn't compare with those acting greats.

However, the movie has very high requirements for actors' acting skills. They are all long shots, there is no inner monologue, and there are not many shots focusing on the actor's face.

This requires actors to use physical behavior to reflect inner changes.

If Brother Xiao Ming performs well, he really hopes to win three domestic gold medals.

Brother Xiao Ming later won three gold medals with Cheng Dongqing. In fact, this role was not as difficult to play as the male protagonist in "1917".

Brother Xiao Ming heard this and nodded excitedly, "Director, I will definitely work harder."

Well, the second bowl of chicken soup arrived.

Li Shengyao continued: "We are going to shoot an unprecedented movie. This is the first feature-length movie to do this in the history of film. If you act well, this movie will be your masterpiece, and it can be included in the textbooks of Nortel Chinese Drama." .”

When Brother Xiao Ming heard this, he opened his mouth wide and looked at Li Shengyao blankly.

The chicken soup was so thick that Brother Xiao Ming couldn't drink it for a while.

Li Shengyao smiled and said, "You will know when the phone is turned on."

(End of this chapter)