Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 812 Extremely Outrageous
After attending meetings for half a month and waiting for more than a week after returning, while also finishing the post-production of the already filmed segments, Chen Fan's understanding of "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" deepened by three points.

Originally, he planned to spend half a month filming the remaining scenes, but after a sudden epiphany, he finished filming "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" in just over ten days.

Standing on the prop box, Chen Fan shouted through a large tin megaphone, "I hereby announce that filming for 'Monk Comes Down the Mountain' has officially wrapped."

Yes, that means filming has wrapped.

The term "杀青" (shāqīng) first appeared in the preface to "Strategies of the Warring States" written by Liu Xiang, a writer from the Western Han Dynasty.

The original meaning refers to a step in the bamboo slip making process, namely, drying the bamboo slips with fire to make them easier to write on and prevent insects from infesting them.

Later, this term gradually evolved to mean that a literary work has been written and can be bound into a book.

In 1947, when the Shanghai Kunlun Film Studio was filming the classic film "The Spring River Flows East", director Cai Chusheng shouted "Finished shooting" after the film was completed. This expression quickly spread in the industry and became a landmark term in Chinese film creation.

However, on windy days, this word is rarely mentioned; perhaps only a very few, or perhaps none at all. Everyone solemnly announces the end of filming.

At the recent National Congress of Literary and Art Workers, the old political commissar proposed to loosen the ideological constraints on literary and art workers. In addition, the "Dazhong Cinema" magazine has repeatedly acted "boldly" without causing any bad consequences.

So Chen Fan finally shouted "Filming wrapped" in front of everyone, something he had been holding back for a long time.

Filming a movie without calling "wrap" always feels unprofessional, like something an amateur would say.

They're just not professional enough!

After the professional director Chen announced the wrap-up, he immediately took the footage shot over the past few days into the editing room to add the last few missing parts.

Then came the background music and voice-over...

When the time came to December 8th, which was the day of the Great Snow solar term, and the first snow fell in the capital of Jiangnan Province, all the post-production work of "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" was completed.

Next up is the film screening.

The projection room at Jiangxi Film Studio.

In addition to the staff and employees of Jiangnan Film Studio, the attendees included leaders from provincial and municipal literary and art associations such as the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Writers Association, Film Association, Music Association, and Artists Association, as well as the head of Jiangnan Provincial Film Projection Company.

Although China Film Group Corporation is the exclusive agent for film distribution in China, there's no rule that says cinema managers can't watch films in advance.

As long as the copies are still purchased from China Film Group, there will be no problem.

Master Xu was still in charge of the projector. As a beam of light shone onto the screen, the theater quickly fell silent.

The movie opens with a beautifully scenic musical.

"The sun rises over Yushan Valley, the morning bell startles the birds into flight, a babbling brook flows through the forest, and green grass covers the slopes..."

Accompanied by Sister Li's clear and melodious singing voice, a beautiful landscape unfolded before everyone's eyes. This was the mountain scenery that Chen Fan took with Jiang Lili, Jiang Tiantian, and Zhou Yali in Kunyu Mountain, Shandong.

Less than a minute later, the singing gradually faded away, and the camera zoomed in to show a Taoist temple where a dozen or so Taoist priests of all ages were doing their morning prayers. Yang Zhenlong and his team trained at Baiyun Temple for more than a week for this shot, and filmed it for several minutes, but in the movie, it only lasted for a dozen seconds.

The camera then shifts to a shot of Taoist priests practicing martial arts in the morning light after finishing their morning prayers.

At the foot of the mountain where the Taoist temple is located, the busy farmers, the free-range village girls (played by Yang Congling), and the thriving wheat all present a peaceful and harmonious scene.

He Qingsheng sat down next to Chen Fan, turned to look at him, and whispered, "This scene is excellent. Although there are no lines, there is music, scenery, and characters, which together create a beautiful picture of life that everyone yearns for."

"Just this two-minute opening alone shows that your directing skills have improved since filming 'Little Lotus Just Beginning to Bloom'."

Chen Fan hummed twice and chuckled softly, "If there's no improvement, wouldn't it be a waste to have made the last movie?"

He Qingsheng's lips twitched slightly. He shouldn't have said that. This kid is easily flattered. He gets out of breath as soon as he's praised. There's no suspense at all.

The first part of "The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain" begins in 1914 with the invasion of the Jiaodong Peninsula by the Japanese and ends in 28 with Zhang Xuansong's entry into Jinggang Mountain, spanning nearly 14 years.

Over a decade and so many events have taken place, making the storyline naturally very tight. The opening two-minute scenic shot is almost the only color scene in the entire film. Although there are moments of laughter and tears later on, the overall style is still more serious, unlike "Little Lotus Just Begins to Show Its Tip," which is mostly presented as an urban comedy.

However, at the end of the film, Chen Fan still arranged a relatively satisfactory ending, implying that the final outcome of the entire film series is bright.

At the end of the film, as a deep baritone voice rang out, the song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" reappeared before the audience.

The song appeared once in the earlier part of the story. Its melody and lyrics are simple and easy to remember. With the addition of subtitles on the screen, it actually prompted many people to sing along loudly.

It's not Cantonese, of course, but pure Mandarin.

"...The Great Wall will never fall, the Yellow River flows on forever, the landscape is beautiful with colorful peaks and ridges, how can my country look sick? Let's break through the bloody path and wave our hands, let's work hard for the rejuvenation of the country, let's not let our land be trampled on again, let everyone shoulder the mission."

The screen turned into a bright light, the songs fell in unison, and enthusiastic applause followed.

The provincial leaders sat next to He Qingsheng... By the way, He Qingsheng is also the chairman of the Jiangnan Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. However, most of the work of the Federation is administrative in nature, and he hardly manages anything. Instead, he delegates it to the secretary-general and vice-chairman appointed by the higher authorities. He is more of a figurehead there.

However, in any situation, as long as it is an event of the Jiangnan Arts and Literature System, he always sits next to the leader. Well, sometimes he even sits in the center position, with the leader sitting next to him.

So at this moment, only He Qingsheng was between him and Chen Fan.

The applause continued. The leader bent down to look at Chen Fan and said loudly, "As expected of Director Chen, your filming skills are superb. I think this movie is no less impressive than those big-budget films."

Chen Fan was very humble in front of outsiders. He smiled and said, "You flatter me, leader. I still need to work harder."

The leader was about to say a few more polite words when He Qingsheng suddenly snorted twice, pointed at Chen Fan, and said to him, "There's an extremely outrageous part in this movie that he created. Can you see it?"

Hearing this, the leader looked surprised, glancing at him and then at Chen Fan, "What's so outrageous about it? I don't see it."

Chen Fan laughed and was about to brush it off when Ji Chenfeng, the chairman of the Music Association, spoke up, "It's that ending theme song, 'The Great Wall Will Never Fall.' All the instruments in it were played by Director Chen himself, and he also sang the song. No one else was involved from beginning to end. The only help the provincial symphony orchestra provided was to help him record the audio tracks."

He shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I've lived for decades and I've never seen anything like this before. It's outrageous, absolutely outrageous."

Upon hearing this, the leader turned to look at Chen Fan, his face full of disbelief. "You really played all the instruments for this song yourself?" Chen Fan chuckled. "Actually, it's nothing much. It's just a few instruments: trombone, flute, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, and bamboo flute. They're all wind instruments, so once you're familiar with one, you can play them all. They're very easy to play."

The leader pursed his lips and said, "Don't think that just because I'm in administration now, I don't know anything about music. I also started out playing the flute, and I can play a little bit of the saxophone and trumpet. Back then, I dominated the position of playing the bugle for three years just because I was good at the trumpet."

I could tell just now that the accompaniment for this song is by a master. I was wondering when our Jiangnan Symphony Orchestra had so many master musicians. I never imagined it was all you who played it.

Old He is right, it is indeed extremely outrageous.

Chen Fan could only manage a forced smile in response to his superior's praise.

Fortunately, the leader was very busy with official duties, and was able to come to see this movie today by squeezing out time from his busy schedule. After saying a few more words, he got up to say goodbye and leave.

After he left, the leaders of the theater and other associations also said their goodbyes, and most of the other staff and cadres of the Jiangxi Film Studio also left. In the blink of an eye, only a dozen or so people remained in the screening room.

Yes, specifically including Director Wu, Kuang Mingyi, and Yang Zhenlong, Yang Congling, Yuan Wang, Xu Danping, and others who are seeking roles in their next film.

There's also Ji Chenfeng from the Music Association, I don't know why he stayed?

Meanwhile, Director Wu arranged for people to pack up the film, planning to take it to Beijing to sell it, but he kept a close eye on Chen Fan's situation.

Ji Chenfeng first offered a cigarette with a grin, then said with a fawning smile, "Director Chen, there's something I need to trouble you with."

Chen Fan took the cigarette, lit it, looked at him, then at Kuang Mingyi, and laughed, "You guys don't still want me to write songs, do you?"

Ji Chenfeng gave a thumbs up and chuckled, "That's why everyone says Director Chen is the smartest; he guessed it right away."

Kuang Mingyi seemed a little embarrassed, and said with a dry laugh, "We originally agreed that I would only ask you to write one poem, but unfortunately..."

He looked at Ji Chenfeng as he spoke, sensing that what he was about to say was rather unpleasant.

Ji Chenfeng, undeterred by revealing his shortcomings, said with a wry smile, "It's like this, the song you gave me, 'In the Spring Light,' has a beautiful melody and simple yet profound lyrics. It's a rare and excellent piece."

Look, we used this song in the last episode, so if we don't want to use the same good song in the next episode, it can't be too much worse, right?

However, even though our music association has assembled several of our most talented composers and lyricists, we still can't write a song that matches its quality.

As he spoke, he glanced at Kuang Mingyi, then turned back to Chen Fan and said seriously, "Director Kuang's film 'The Great Hero of Tianjin' is based on the famous hero Han Muxia, who was renowned in Tianjin at the time, but with some significant changes made to it."

I've seen this film, and it is indeed an excellent film. Although it is presented to the audience in the form of a TV series, it does not change the fact that it is a good movie.

Therefore, like Director Kuang, I hope this film will be perfect. If possible, I would also like you to write another song.

After a pause, he said, half-seriously and half-jokingly, "No matter what, the Jiangxi Film Studio approached our Music Association to compose the music for this film. We boldly took on some of the background music and did it, but we can't be careless with these two theme songs."

You're also a member of our music association. Right now, everyone else in the association is helpless, so we can only turn to you.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan thought that it made sense.

As a member of the Music Association, it's reasonable for the association to seek his help when it faces difficulties.

After pausing for two seconds, he turned to look at Kuang Mingyi and said, "Okay, let me take a look at what you photographed first."

Because of the movie "Monk Comes Down the Mountain", he hasn't seen the finished film directed by Kuang Mingyi yet. If what Ji Chenfeng said is true, he wouldn't mind contributing another song.

But if it's just so-so, then we'll have to say something else.

When Kuang Mingyi saw that his attitude had changed, he was overjoyed and quickly said with a smile, "Okay, okay, I'll arrange it right away."

Videotapes don't need the fanfare of film; a player and a television are all you need to play them.

In an office in the factory, Chen Fan watched Kuang Mingyi's directorial work for the first time.

Well, it's a bit like "The Taoist Priest Comes Down the Mountain," but he had anticipated this problem, and Kuang Mingyi had even been frank with him about it.

However, it also contains many of Kuang Mingyi's own ideas.

The first part focuses on internal competition, full of camaraderie and human drama. The second part takes place after the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, when a small notebook appears in Tianjin, leading to a series of stories.

Overall, the plot is somewhat similar to later films such as "Once Upon a Time in China," "Ip Man," and "The Grandmaster."

In fact, there are only a few patterns in martial arts films. Some films from later generations still use story plots from the Republican era.

In the words of our ancestors, there is nothing new under the sun.

After reading it, Kuang Mingyi and Ji Chenfeng both stared at Chen Fan expectantly.

Kuang Mingyi hopes to make his first work the best it can be, while Ji Chenfeng hopes to save face for the Jiangnan Music Association.

Otherwise, it would be so embarrassing if the provincial film studio had to submit only half a film when it came to us for help for the first time.

If Chen Fan can step in, the reputation of the Music Association can be considered barely preserved. As for the future, we must pay attention to the cultivation of the next generation of talents and vigorously recruit new members.

Chen Fan pondered for only a few seconds before making his decision.

He raised his head and said to Kuang Mingyi, "In the next episode, many martial arts masters will join the battlefield to kill the enemy. They are highly skilled and it is normal for them to have this courage."

However, alongside them were many ordinary apprentices, and even ordinary people who knew nothing about kung fu. Therefore, we should shift our focus from those "great heroes" to every Chinese person who can bravely face the enemy and charge towards them.

After he finished speaking, he tore off a few sheets of paper and wrote down lines of lyrics and sheet music on them.

After he finished writing, Kuang Mingyi and Ji Chenfeng peeked over and saw a few words written in the title. They read them aloud in unison, "Brave Chinese?"

(End of this chapter)