The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 590 The Shooting Goes Well
The Cannes Film Festival was over. Lee Sung-Yao and Maggie Cheung took a flight to Bangkok the morning after the awards show. They spent just one day adjusting to the time difference before continuing the on-site shooting of "Three Billboards".

On this night, there was a white crescent moon in the night sky of Amphawa, accompanied by stars, just like the lights of thousands of houses.

In a wide grassy area outside the town, the crew of "Three Billboards" is setting up the set.

Tonight's scene is crucial, and it can be said to be the scene that best reflects the heroine's power.

The plot is that the heroine spent 2000 yuan to rent three long-abandoned billboards outside the town. She wrote about her daughter's case on the three billboards and accused the town police chief of inaction.

The police chief of the small town is actually a good man. He has helped many people and has a good reputation in the small town.

Because of the heroine's accusation, her relationship with other people in the town became much more tense.

A dentist in a small town tried to tease her, someone smashed the glass in her house, someone attacked her, and her ex-husband laughed at her. Later, when the lease expired and the billboard had to be renewed, she didn't have enough money.

Under such circumstances, the heroine still insisted on erecting three billboards.

These three billboards are symbols of her feelings against the world, her fight against unfair fate, her guilt for her daughter, etc. It can be said that they are her belief in living.

On a dark and windy night, three billboards were set on fire.

The heroine happened to be passing by with her son. When she saw the raging fire, she was very angry and hurriedly took out the fire extinguisher from the car. Her son was afraid of her danger and stopped her from putting out the fire. She yelled at her son.

It is such a story.

In Lee Sung-yew's previous life, McDormand, the actress in "Three Billboards" performed this scene very well and had a shocking effect, especially her roar to her son, as if she was the heroine. Ten years of unwillingness, grievance, anger, and sadness burst out from the depths of my soul.

Just one sentence gave the audience goosebumps.

Lee Sheng-yew has now written the Chinese version of the script for "Three Billboards". In order to make the heroine's performance more intense, his heroine has more feminine characteristics and usually looks like an urban woman.

Rather than like the American version, the heroine is a tomboy.

Since there are gentle scenes, there must be explosive scenes, so that there is contrast and the character of the heroine can be better highlighted.

So this scene is very important. Whether this movie can stand up or not, this scene has at least [-]% factor.

Maggie Cheung is very aware of her current situation. She also understands the quality of her acting skills and her strengths and weaknesses.

Relatively speaking, her explosive power is not that good.

And this scene requires her to have a strong explosion.

In order to play this role well, she knew that Liang Jiahui's family was traveling in Tyrande at this time, so she invited Liang Jiahui to come over and help her with advice.

At this time, in a corner of the set, Liang Jiahui's wife and two daughters were sitting together eating fruit. Next to them, Liang Jiahui and Zhang Manyu were discussing in a low voice.

Lee Sing-yew was on the other side of the set, walking around the filming location.

Regarding this scene, Li Shengyao and Zhang Manyu had already familiarized themselves with all the performance steps, but in order to present the best effect.

When he had time, Li Shengyao walked alone.

William Chan stood behind Cheung Manyu and Leung Ka Hui, listening quietly. He played Cheung Manyu's son, and the total scene was only 3 minutes.

It just so happens that 2 minutes of it are the most important scenes.

Although his performance was not difficult, he was still very nervous.

Fortunately, in order to prevent him from holding back, Lee Sheng-yew acted with him for three consecutive nights and kept praising him, which gave him a little confidence.

Soon after, the actors were ready.

Li Shengyao then asked the prop master to light the fire, and at the same time waved the camera crew to prepare.

"Wow hoo hoo!"

The billboard doused with gasoline burned, and it was very conspicuous in the dark night.

Zhang Manyu had already entered the performance state, opened the trunk of the car, picked up the fire extinguisher, and then rushed over.

William Chan followed, and after being stunned for a moment, stepped forward to stop Zhang Manyu.

"It's dangerous, Mom, don't go there."

"Don't stop me, get out of the way."

"mom."

"Xiaohui!"

Xiaohui was his son's name. Zhang Manyu looked at his son in the flickering light and roared angrily.

When William Chen saw this, he was stunned.

Lee Sheng-yew was worried that William Chan's acting skills were not up to par. The audience watched the play and the "son" character here was more dull and expressionless.

Under this arrangement, William Chan finally did not hold back, and Maggie Cheung's performance was even more outstanding. What she shouted was in Mandarin, which was still full of various emotions, allowing the audience to feel her mood at this time.

After the performance of this plot was completed, Li Shengyao was stunned for a few seconds before he came to his senses.

"Ka, it's very good. The performance is great. Touch up the makeup. Let's do it again."

Li Shengyao shouted, waking up the others, who came to their senses and then subconsciously clapped their hands and applauded.

10 minutes later, the second shot started.

"Xiaohui!"

When the flames burned, Zhang Manyu called out her son's name. Just like before, hearing her shout gave people the feeling of goosebumps.

The onlookers thought that they had watched it once before and should have no reaction at this time. However, looking at the performances of Maggie Cheung and William Chan, they were once again calm.

After the assistant director called the card, the scene was reminded of applause again.

Liang Jiahui also clapped his hands and applauded.

Li Shengyao walked over and said, "Liang Sheng, what do you think?"

"It's very good. Ayu hasn't acted for a few years, but her foundation is still there. And after several years of experience, I feel that her spirit has become stronger. She performed this scene naturally. I think it is great."

Li Shengyao nodded with a smile.

The experience of an actor is very important. Although Zhang Manyu has not acted in the past few years, she has experienced various things, which has made her more mature. She may not be as spiritual as when she was young, but in terms of the explosive power of her performance, she is more mature than the younger ones. Even better.

"Liang Sheng, do you think there is anything that needs improvement?"

Liang Jiahui thought for a while, "I'll sit behind the director's monitor with you and take a look."

When Maggie Cheung performed for the third time, Lee Sing-yew and Leung Ka-hui sat behind the director's monitor to watch.

Because there are close-ups of faces, all the expressions of the actors can be seen, and it is clear whether the emotions are in place.

Zhang Manyu acted very well.

Li Shengyao feels that it is similar to the McDormand in his memory. He is not sure whether he will still maintain this view in one month or two months. At least for now, he feels that it is very good.

In order to find the best performance effect, he still wanted to try it a few more times.

Not only the actors, but also the photographers and lighting engineers have to try.

Find the best viewing effect from different angles, different camera positions, and different ways of moving.

And of course ask the actors for their opinions.

After Liang Jiahui finished watching it, he closed his eyes and thought for a while, "Director Li, this scene is very exciting, but I think it lacks some of Ayu's style."

Hearing this, Li Shengyao quickly understood what Liang Jiahui meant.

Maggie Cheung's delicate performance and vivid and rich facial expressions are top-notch in the world of film circles.

This scene always highlights the sense of power, but the expression is much simpler.Li Shengyao was influenced by McDormand. He was not sure which effect was better, so he and Liang Jiahui found Zhang Manyu, told him what he had just said, and then asked Zhang Manyu what he meant.

Zhang Manyu thought for a moment and said, "No problem, I'll do it again."

The next four shots were taken. In these four times, Zhang Manyu performed more delicately and still yelled at her son. But when she turned around, there was a circle of tears in her eyes. She sniffed and moved slightly. He opened his mouth as if to comfort his son, but in the end he did not turn around, but continued to walk forward.

This expression change is very brief, about two seconds.

The assistant directors, Dapeng, Bi Gan, and Wen Muye were all dumbfounded and felt like they were watching gods.

Li Shengyao was the first to react and clapped his hands.

……

"Three Billboards" is progressing very quickly. The scenes of this drama are not difficult. The main thing is the actors' acting skills, and the most important one is Maggie Cheung. [-]% of the scene is with her, and [-]% of the scene is with Simon Yam. Only one component is allocated to other characters.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Manyu and Simon Yam performed well, and the filming progressed very quickly.

Entering June, "Three Billboards" has reached the final stage of filming.

At ten o'clock in the morning on this day, the crew of "Three Billboards" were preparing in a small building.

Today's real scene is also very important. This is a very important reversal of this movie.

"Three Billboards" won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival, and it is definitely well-deserved. The script of this movie is really well written, with constant twists and turns and full of tension.

The status between the characters is constantly changing.

In the plot, the heroine seemed weak at the beginning. Her daughter was raped and murdered, and the murderer could not be found. She had to rent a billboard and use insulting words to stimulate the police chief, hoping that the police department would continue to investigate her daughter's case.

The town residents are disgusted with the heroine. They feel that the police chief is not wrong. Other police officers are also making trouble for the heroine. At this time, the police chief is in a strong position.

Just when the audience sympathized with the heroine, the story ushered in its first big reversal.

The police chief found the heroine and asked her to take down the billboard, and told the heroine that they had tried their best, but their abilities were limited and they could not solve the case.

The heroine doesn't believe it.

At this time, the two were negotiating. The police chief was condescending and still in a strong position, while the heroine was thin and in a weak position.

Suddenly, the police chief who was talking coughed up a pool of blood, and the blood sprayed on the heroine's face.

The audience then learned that the police chief was suffering from an incurable disease and had at most half a year to live. He had already submitted his resignation application to his superiors and would be resigning at the end of the month.

The plot ushered in its first major reversal.

What we are going to shoot today is the scene where the police chief coughs up blood.

Of course, actors can't really cough up blood. Here, Simon Yam just coughs, and then blood splashes on Zhang Manyu's face. Editing is used to complete the plot.

The focus is on the expressions of the two characters.

The police chief was stunned and a little desperate. He didn't expect that he would cough up blood uncontrollably and realized that the condition was more serious than the doctor diagnosed.

The heroine was shocked, with a hint of pity and regret. She did not expect that the police chief was seriously ill. She knew that although this man did not solve her daughter's case, he was a good person. She felt sorry for him and felt a little regret.

In the American version, the heroine shouts "baby" here. Naturally, the Chinese version cannot shout like this. Li Shengyao calls "Lao Liu" instead.

The police chief’s surname is Liu.

Zhang Manyu and Simon Yam had rehearsed many times before and were sitting on chairs with their eyes closed preparing.

In another corner of the set, Li Shengyao and Ang Lee stood together and talked in low voices.

Li An wore a black short-sleeved shirt and casual pants, looking like an ordinary grocery shopping uncle.

This time he came to Bangkok to participate in the Wanwan Film Festival and give a platform to Wanwan's film.

Soon after, the crew were ready and the official filming began.

Li An stood aside and watched quietly.

The more he looked, the more surprised he became. Occasionally, he looked at Li Shengyao with eyes full of approval.

The crew of "Three Billboards" is made up of Chinese people, including locals from Tyrande. They speak Mandarin, English, and Thai, but overall it is very quiet without any noise.

Both the main actors and extras are very focused.

The field workers work in an orderly manner and are very efficient.

If he hadn't known that this was Lee Sheng-yew's crew, he might have thought it was a mature Hollywood production crew.

The division of labor among actors, set workers, assistant directors, and directors is very clear. Everyone knows what they have to do, and the set operates smoothly and efficiently.

Ang Lee has seen many studios in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Hollywood, and he feels that Lee Seung-yew's control over the studios has reached the top level.

He couldn't help but think of when he was in his early thirties, when he was still studying, watching movies at home and writing scripts, relying on his wife's work to support him.

He did not direct his first film until he was 36 years old.

There really is no comparison between people.

Thinking again of the plot of "Three Billboards" just narrated by Lee Sung-yew, and the outstanding performances by Maggie Cheung and Simon Yam. If a movie like this doesn't win awards, then what kind of movie can win awards?
Li An waited for Li Shengyao for two hours, and even had dinner together at noon. After dinner, Li An revealed the purpose of this time.

"Director Li, I came here this time to invite you to serve as the chief seal of this year's Wanwan Golden Horse Awards jury."

Li An is an elegant man who speaks slowly and in his own rhythm.

"This year's Golden Horse Awards must be fair and just. Films from Mainland China, Hong Kong Island, and Wanwan will compete together. There will be no dividing of pork, no behind-the-scenes operations, no discrimination against mainland works, and no favoring of Wanwan's actors and directors."

Li Shengyao frowned slightly when he heard this, "Director Li, I'm afraid I'm not suitable. I'm the country's human rights representative, and in November I should be working on "La La Land" and I don't have time to spend about ten days on it. Bend.”

Ang Lee looked around and then said: "Director Li, everyone knows your ability. A ten-day delay will not affect your film production. As for the issue of Renda representatives, I think the leaders in the mainland hope that you will guide them more." Wanwan film and television industry."

If you go to Wanwan to hang out, you might as well work hard in Xinmatai.

"Director Li, I know what you are thinking, but it really doesn't work."

Hearing this, Li An's disappointment was evident on his face, "Director Li, we can develop together."

This time when he came to visit the crew of "Three Billboards", he was even more sure that Lee Sung-yew has a great future and his future is limitless.

He hopes that Wanwan Films will make good friends with Lee Sheng Yew, which will be good for Wanwan Filmmakers.

Li Shengyao smiled and said, "Director Li, there will be opportunities in the future."

When the high-speed railway reaches the chicken coop, it can then go to Benduan.

Li An paused after hearing this, thought for a while and said, "Director Li, we will still keep watch and help each other in the future."

"Of course."

In 2007, Lao Mouzi was the chief judge of the Venice Film Festival, and "Lust, Caution" won the Golden Lion Award.

By 2009, Ang Lee was the chief judge of the Venice Film Festival, and "1428" by mainland director Du Haibing won the best documentary.

This does not mean that there must be transactions behind the scenes. It is still possible for everyone to help each other.

Seeing Li Shengyao's willingness to agree, Li An breathed a sigh of relief.

Before he came here, he had heard many people in the Wanwan film and television industry say that Lee Sheng-yao was not easy to talk to.

That is to say, I collaborated with Chai Zhiping a few years ago, made several youth movies, made a lot of money, and then stopped cooperating with Wanwan filmmakers.

But he had dated Lee Sheng Yew several times, and he felt that Lee Sheng Yew was very easy to talk to.

(End of this chapter)