Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 843: Are there so many things international students can do?

"The trend of the times is changing. For a while, the market trend looked down on the military on the other side of the strait, so film and television dramas portrayed them as stupid.

Later, there were some rumors in the market that the army there was actually very strong back then, so the film and television dramas would describe them as extremely smart and powerful, and ultimately use luck, coincidence, and mechanical methods to portray their failure.

But in fact, both of these ideas are wrong. The first one makes the opponent look too weak, which will make our original battle seem like a joke. The second one makes the opponent look too powerful, which is even more wrong. The information about Gongdelin back then was not fabricated..."

The leader made his meaning very clear in his words.

Objective and fair.

After hearing this, Zhou Mo immediately assured, "Don't worry about this request. Objectivity has always been one of my pursuits when making war-era films.

I always think that shaping the opponent too biasedly, whether it is too strong or too weak, is an irresponsible shaping of one's own side."

The leader nodded slightly, approving of Zhou Mo's words.

"You said it very well... Well, actually, before you, someone had already written a script related to "The Final Battle". It was after reading that script that we changed our minds and decided to choose you."

Zhou Mo raised his eyebrows and had a guess in his mind.

"Is it not quite up to the requirements?"

"Yes!"

The leader nodded heavily. "The script is awful. Parts of it seem like a shredded product that I heard from a third-rate storyteller. It has many basic errors and is unbearable to watch."

Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian looked at each other.

The fact that such a seemingly very kind person could say such a thing shows how bad the script is.

However, he could also take this opportunity to put forward some demands.

"Leader, the script is the basis of a TV series. I hope to get some guidance during the writing process..."

After one hour.

Zhou Mo left the room with Da Tiantian, smiling.

As soon as they went out, Da Tiantian gently nudged Zhou Mo with her elbow.

"Please adjust your expression. The corners of your mouth are almost reaching your ears."

Zhou Mo coughed twice and rubbed the muscles on his face, only then did his expression return to calm.

Just now, by discussing the script with his leader, I successfully opened up the topic that he hoped to get help with this time.

After hearing his reasons, the leader simply waved his hand and agreed to most of Zhou Mo's requests.

Instructors, equipment, venues, images...

And as much freedom as possible.

If after today's conversation, Zhou Mo was only 60% confident that he could make "The Decisive Battle" well, then after today this confidence rose to 80%.

The remaining 20% ​​will depend on the conditions during future filming.

Zhou Mo got into the car quietly, and after the car started, a smile appeared on his face again.

"Today is a good day. Everything I dreamed of can come true... I have finalized the filming position, and I have received so many guarantees. I will go back and draw a prize for the fans..."

Da Tiantian sat in the driver's seat, glanced at Zhou Mo who was still laughing foolishly through the rearview mirror, smiled and shook her head.

She knew that ever since Zhou Mo learned that he was going to take over "The Decisive Battle", he had been in a rather nervous state. He was so nervous that whenever he had free time, he would sit in front of the computer to study and conceive the relevant content and plan of "The Decisive Battle".

Now, after talking with his leader, the matter was settled, so he was so excited that he lost his composure.

The car was moving slowly on the road. Da Tiantian was doing two things at once. While driving, she asked Zhou Mo, "Then you shouldn't have any major problems in the next few days, right?"

Zhou Mo came back to his senses and nodded subconsciously.

"The only thing left is a dinner with Lao Mouzi. What's the problem?"

"The day after tomorrow, the press conference for 'Zhu Lou' will be held. As a director, don't forget to respond to many questions at that time." Da Tiantian reminded Zhou Mo of the things he needed to pay attention to.

Zhou Mo lay back in the back seat, looking relaxed.

"Don't worry, I've already prepared the publicity for 'Red Tower', there will be absolutely no problem."

The main content of this press conference was to respond to some questions and expectations from the Internet and the audience about "Zhu Lou".

"Red Building" has been attracting much attention since its filming.

Since Zhou Mo said at the beginning of filming that "Zhulou" is different from "I Want to Be the Emperor" and is mixed with some helplessness or logic of real history, many viewers have expressed concerns:
Could it be that Zhou Mo had a relapse of his literary youth disease while filming "Zhu Lou", no longer putting the audience's feelings first, but deliberately pursuing some unnecessary things?

There are many similar concerns. A few days ago, there was even a small hot search under the related entries of "Zhu Lou", which shows how big a fuss Zhou Mo's words caused.

The comments from the audience were also very interesting:
"No, Director Zhou, we like to watch the kind of movies that are exciting from beginning to end. Prince Fu (the protagonist of "I Want to Be the Emperor") is very good. He recruited famous generals, killed corrupt officials, eliminated traitors, suppressed aristocratic families, and unified the world. Now that you say that, I'm really afraid that you will make "Red Mansion" into Chongzhen's child (said by Prince Fu)."

"No way, Director Zhou, you are the only director of TV dramas I am willing to watch now. Please don't be a literary youth. If even you become a literary youth, I will never watch TV dramas again."

This is what they mean by "it's hard to satisfy everyone".

Every audience has their own preferences, and every audience's desire to speak on the Internet is different.

Sometimes a certain opinion is very popular, but it does not necessarily mean that the target customers of the work all share this idea.

There may also be many people who don't speak at all and just watch while the work is playing.

If you find that you like it, you will keep watching it.

If you find something you don’t like, just click the upper right corner silently.

Zhou Mo has been trying to obtain audience preferences for TV drama content from various channels, and he has tried many methods to this end.

For example, directly collect the opinions of viewers in the "Zhu Lou" discussion area.

For example, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the consumers of "I Want to Be the Emperor", asking them about their favorite costume dramas, and arranged weights based on factors such as consumption amount, viewing time, and audience age.

Take the second survey method as an example. From the information collected by Zhou Mo, the proportion of viewers who like "The Yongzheng Dynasty" is the highest, and the audience's consumption and viewing time are relatively long.

In terms of content, the fourth prince in Yongzheng Dynasty suffered setbacks and was cheated by others. After becoming emperor, he wanted to kill Mr. Wu, which is very different from the smooth sailing experience of Prince Fu in Emperor Taizong. This shows that the audience is still able to accept the protagonist suffering a certain setback.

It is for this reason that Zhou Mo dared to add a certain amount of "real helplessness" into "Red Tower".

When Da Tiantian heard what Zhou Mo said, she looked back at him while waiting for the red light.

"So, you have already thought about how to respond to the audience?"

“Just tell the truth and express your creative ideas.

The focus of "I Want to Be the Emperor" is on the struggle for hegemony over the world, while the focus of "Red Tower" is on the struggle in the court. The core of the two is different. The former can be exciting until the end, while the latter must have contradictions and setbacks in the plot design, otherwise it will lose logic.

I think once you say this, the audience will basically understand it.”

Da Tiantian raised her eyebrows and said, "When you wanted to change The Ming Dynasty, you didn't say that. I remember you made Director Zhang (Zhang Ting) so angry."

"The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" is a project of Shanhe Company. It was approved in 2018, started filming at the end of last year, and is still in filming.

When "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" had not yet been approved as a project, Zhang Ting found Zhou Mo with the script, hoping for an investment.

He said that he had watched several TV series set in the Ming Dynasty produced by Shanhe Company and felt that this story had a large market. It just so happened that Shanhe Company had not yet launched a project about the story during the reign of Zhu Di, so he wanted to make a TV series from the period of Zhu Di to Zhu Qizhen.

Zhou Mo agreed with Zhang Ting's idea, but did not agree with the script he brought.

When "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" was broadcast in the previous life, it had a lot of traffic and was very controversial.

The TV series tells the story of the love-hate relationship among Zhu Di's family of five, which includes conspiracy and calculation as well as father-son affection.

The overall style is quite distinct, tending towards traditional historical dramas.

In the second half of the TV series, after Zhu Di's death, the main perspective of the TV series shifted from the five members of the Zhu family to the heroine Sun Ruowei, telling the series of struggles and stories she experienced since her husband Zhu Zhanji (Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty) registered, from a concubine to a queen, and then to a queen mother.

Many viewers view this drama as if they were reading two novels with completely different styles.

But this is actually a necessity.

"The Glory of the Ming Dynasty" is not an original script, but an adaptation of the female novel "The Biography of Sun Ruowei, Concubine of the Ming Dynasty".

As the name suggests, the protagonist of this novel is Sun Ruowei, and the main storyline basically follows Sun Ruowei throughout, rather than the five members of the Zhu family who were full of joy in the early stages.

The plot of the Zhu family of five was adapted by Zhang Ting and other screenwriters based on the original novel.

In terms of quality, Zhang Ting's adaptation is quite good, and the subdivision around the three generations of Zhu Di's ancestors and grandchildren is unique in the entire circle.

But by connecting the play about Zhu Di's three generations of ancestors and grandchildren with the play about Sun Ruowei, it can only be said that Zhang Ting wanted both types of audiences, but in the end got nothing.

At the beginning, customers attracted by the three generations of the Zhu family abandoned the show after Zhu Di passed away and Sun Ruowei took office.

Audiences who came for the original novel will most likely not wait until more than thirty episodes, when Zhu Zhanji ascends the throne and Sun Ruowei becomes the Imperial Noble Consort, before starting to watch.

"My situation is different from Zhang Ting's. My target audience has not changed from the beginning to the end, but Zhang Ting actually wants to attract two groups of audiences in one drama. It would be strange if his drama can be good."

Da Tiantian asked back: "So, this is why you asked him to cut the plot?"

Zhou Mo shook his head: "I didn't ask him to cut the plot directly, but I discussed the plot with him and suggested that he focus on one thing, either to film the three generations of the Zhu family, or to film Sun Ruowei, instead of grafting, which is easy to cause problems.

In the end, he changed his mind and decided to focus on the struggles between the three generations of the Zhu family, so he deleted the plot related to Zhu Yunwen. "

Da Tiantian was stunned for a moment, "Zhu Yunwen's plot line was deleted?"

"correct."

"This line is actually quite important. In history, Zhu Di sent people to sea to find Zhu Yunwen, which led to the historical event of Zheng He's voyages to the West."

Zhou Mo thought for a moment and explained, "There are many real reasons why Zheng He sailed to the West, not just for Zhu Yunwen, but let's not discuss that for now.

Take Zhu Yunwen in "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" for example. There are actually two main reasons for his existence. One is to introduce the female characters, and the other is to enrich the image of Zhu Di.

I won’t talk about the first reason. As for the second reason, the script also mentions that Zhu Di regretted killing people related to Jianwen, which is actually unnecessary.

Zhu Di was a horse-riding emperor and the only person in history who successfully rebelled as a vassal king. His abilities were already top-notch. Zhu Yunwen, on the other hand, was a man who came out of retirement with all his might but ended up killing himself. Putting the two on opposite sides of the scale is a joke.

Therefore, it is better to directly delete the subsequent series of plots about searching for Zhu Yunwen, and then move the overall plot line of the story forward to start from before Zhu Di's rebellion. "

Da Tiantian followed Zhou Mo's line of thought and thought about it.

She had read the original script of "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" and was quite familiar with the plot. When she first read it, she felt something was wrong, but she didn't realize what was wrong. Later, when Zhou Mo reminded her, she realized it.

Now, after Zhou Mo's modification, "The Glory of the Ming Dynasty" has basically become a traditional historical drama...

Ok?
Da Tiantian suddenly realized that "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" was quite different from the traditional historical dramas he had in mind.

The plot between Zhu Di's three generations of ancestors and grandchildren obviously adds some comedy elements, which is a content that was not often found in some traditional historical dramas in the past.

"In "Da Ming", the plot of the five members of the Zhu family scheming against each other and competing with each other in wits and courage, can it really satisfy the audience? Will some viewers feel that it is not serious enough?"

“It’s actually OK. Although Professor Zhang said that adaptation is not fabrication and drama is not nonsense, apart from the original content related to Zhu Yunwen, the adaptation of the conflict between the three generations of the Zhu family in The Great Ming actually has a historical basis.

Zhu Di did indeed tell Zhu Gaoxu something like "the Crown Prince is often ill"; Zhu Gaoxu did indeed think about vying for the throne many times, and Zhu Zhanji did eventually cook his second uncle into a clay pot chicken.

Since there are traces of the adaptation, the rest depends on the ability of the actors. Appropriate comedy can improve the viewing experience of the TV series. With Zhang Ting's ability, it should be no problem to handle this aspect. "

Da Tiantian nodded slightly and asked her last question.

"Since the script of The Glory of the Ming Dynasty has removed the content about Zhu Yunwen, where will the final plot end? Will it still be about the Ming Dynasty students studying abroad?"

Zhou Mo shook his head to express his disapproval.

"No, there is no need for that. The story of Bao Zong seems too disgusting. Anyone who likes to read the story of the three generations of Zhu Di in the early period will definitely not be able to accept what Zhu Qizhen did.

Sending heads, calling for the city gate, and building a temple for Wang Zhen...?"

Da Tiantian frowned: "Wang Zhen? Is he the eunuch who performed very 'outstanding' in the Battle of Tumu?"

"Yes, it's him."

Da Tiantian didn't quite understand the operation of this move: "No, even if he regained the throne, shouldn't he put all the responsibility on Wang Zhen and remove himself from the responsibility? Why would he build a temple for Wang Zhen?"

(End of this chapter)