Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 860 A pair of Crouching Dragon and Phoenix in the Ming Dynasty TV series

In the final results of the Magnolia Awards, "The Doctor" won four awards including Best TV Series, Best Screenwriter (Original), Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, which can be said to be a full return.

In the evening, Zhou Mo first met with Gao Xixi and others.

"Director Gao, thank you very much for this award."

"You're welcome, Director Zhou. It's unreasonable for a film like 'The Doctor' to not receive these awards, as it's so good."

Gao Xixi and Zhou Mo raised a glass and said with emotion, "It's a pity that I heard about "The Doctor" too late. Otherwise, I would have asked Director Liu for the directing job anyway. It's a pity that I can't participate in the filming of a work of this level."

Zhou Mo immediately understood what Gao Xixi meant.

At this time, I felt the urge to take photos.

"Director Gao wants to work with me?" Zhou Mo went straight to the point.

Gao Xixi was not surprised that Zhou Mo was so straightforward. Having known Zhou Mo for many years, he already understood Zhou Mo's character, so he nodded directly.

"Yes. Director Zhou, I have actually wanted to work with you for a long time, but I have never had a good opportunity before."

Gao Xixi, under the influence of alcohol, told Zhou Mo his thoughts:

"The market has been changing unpredictably in recent years. To be honest, I often feel that I can't grasp the direction of the market. But I'm reluctant to retire just like that. So after much thought, the best way is to cooperate with you and Shanhe Company."

After listening to this, Zhou Mo fell into deep thought.

What can I say about Gao Xixi? His skills and experience as a director are good, but he doesn't pay enough attention to the script, so he often shoots things that make people laugh and cry.

This situation is indeed in line with his habits and ideas of cooperation:

Shanhe Company provides the script and team, and the director himself provides the directing techniques.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Gao Xixi can really accept the conditions of Shanhe Company.

"Director Gao, the requirements at Shanhe Company are quite stringent."

Gao Xixi said without hesitation:

"Shoot strictly according to the script and hand over the final editing rights. I know all this and I can agree to it." Gao Xixi agreed first.

He really wants to cooperate with Zhou Mo.

In the past few years, all directors who have worked with Zhou Mo have achieved quite dazzling results, whether it is movies or TV series.

He himself has not produced any particularly classic works for several years.

In addition, he had another reason that he did not state explicitly. He signed a gambling agreement with someone a few years ago. The numbers required by the agreement were very high. Given his current situation, the probability of meeting the requirements of the agreement was 0%.

(A true story. In 2020, Gao was listed as dishonest due to a failed bet and his consumption was restricted.)

Therefore, Gao Xixi was eager to cooperate with Zhou Mo and achieve some results so that he could overcome the crisis behind the gambling agreement.

Seeing this, Zhou Mo had already decided in his mind that he wanted to cooperate with Gao Xixi, but he had no idea what kind of work to collaborate with Gao Xixi on.

After thinking for a moment, a play suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Director Gao, I remember that you accepted a script set in the Ming Dynasty last year. I think it was called "Mountains, Rivers, and Moonlight"?

Gao Xixi was stunned.

"Director Zhou, have you heard of this drama?"

"Well, the company has collected the script of "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight" before, and I took a general look at it."

"So what does Director Zhou think of the script?"

Looking at Gao Xixi's expectant eyes, Zhou Mo hesitated for a moment and decided to give Gao Xixi a shot of prevention first.

"Does Director Gao want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Gao Xixi's expectant expression suddenly became conflicted.

He's not mentally retarded.

How could I not understand what Zhou Mo meant by this sentence?

After taking a few deep breaths, Gao Xixi said to Zhou Mo, "I want to hear the truth, Director Zhou, just tell me."

In any case, he wanted to hear Zhou Mo's evaluation of his work.

At the same time, he still had some expectations for the script of "Mountains, Rivers and the Moon". He thought that Zhou Mo's low evaluation might be the result of his overly high requirements for the script, and it did not necessarily mean that the script of this drama was really too bad. Maybe it could still reach the passing line if it was put on the market?
Who knew that in the next second, Zhou Mo would directly throw out a Bian Que triple combo.

"It can't be cured. There's no hope. Just wait to die."

Gao Xixi: ...

What a cruel heart and what a poisonous mouth.

"Director Zhou, is it really that bad?" Gao Xixi's lips trembled a little when he spoke. His blood pressure was a little high because of Zhou Mo's nine words.

Seeing Gao Xixi trembling all over, Zhou Mo secretly thought that it was a good thing that he didn't say all his thoughts out loud, otherwise Gao Xixi would probably have to take quick-acting heart-saving pills.

But there is no way, "Mountains, Rivers and the Moon" is indeed at this level.

He couldn't lie with his eyes open.

In the previous life, once "Mountains, Rivers and Moons" was broadcast, it was immediately criticized by countless viewers. The reason was naturally the same as Gao Xixi's old situation:
Historical nihilism, disrespect for history, fabrication, making things up out of nothing, and making them up out of thin air.

There is not even a hint of historical seriousness or rigor.

But for a work like this that has been criticized by the audience, can you imagine that this is the result of a round of cuts?
"Mountains, Rivers and the Moon" was filmed for a total of 70 episodes, and 35 episodes were later deleted, which means nearly half of the content was cut at once. This shows how many unreliable plots there are.

Coincidentally, because "Mountains, Rivers and Moon" and "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" were filmed at the same time in the previous life, many viewers put the two dramas together, saying that the two dramas can be called the Dragon and the Phoenix.

But in Zhou Mo's opinion, "Mountains, Rivers and Moon" is less reliable than "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty".

"The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" was originally an adapted work, and the original work is a female-oriented novel, so it makes sense that the main perspective in the second half of the plot is placed on Sun Ruowei.

However, "Mountains, Rivers and the Moon" is a 100% original work.

How it is written depends entirely on the director and screenwriter.

So, Gao Xixi once again demonstrated her talent for making history in this drama.

including but not limited to:

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to marry Xu Miaoyun to his fourth son Zhu Di, but not only was he strongly opposed by Xu Da, but even Zhu Di kicked his father in the face and loudly said that he didn't want to.

Zhu Yuanzhang established the Jinyiwei and sent the fourth son Zhu Di to join it. This is very similar to the story in "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" (Zhu Di sent Zhu Zhanji to the Jinyiwei).

On the night of Xu Miaoyun and Zhu Di's wedding, Xu Miaoyun almost chopped Zhu Di to death with a knife because Zhu Di had abused her before. After Zhu Di finally coaxed Xu Miaoyun, he chose to sleep on the floor.

A Mongolian princess who appeared out of nowhere wandered among a group of top nobles in the Ming Dynasty, including Prince of Yan Zhu Di and Duke of Cao Li Wenzhong, with the intention of subverting the Ming Dynasty. Hmm...

how to say.

Such shitty content cannot be written by the authors who write about the history of the Ming Dynasty on novel websites, let alone the viewers who watch Panda Head videos and listen to the song "The Unholy Ming Dynasty" all day long.

But these plots were clearly filmed and broadcast on TV.

This shows how unreliable the drama "Mountains, Rivers and the Moon" is.

After Gao Xixi took deep breaths for a long time, she finally slowed down her heart rate.

He looked at Zhou Mo and seemed to want to struggle.

"Director Zhou, I'd like to hear from your perspective what problems there were in the script of Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight that led to this situation."

Zhou Mo's eyes swept over Gao Xixi's hand on her heart and he hesitated slightly.

"Director Gao, make sure you want to listen."

Gao Xixi also noticed Zhou Mo's eyes and gritted her teeth.

"Director Zhou, tell me. I can handle it."

Since you said so, I won’t be polite.

Zhou Mo thought about the words in his mind and slowly expressed his thoughts.

"First, the original script of "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight" was too amateurish. It was so amateurish that it couldn't even pass our company's online review. There were too many fabricated stories in it, and the characters didn't conform to the personalities and behavioral logic of real historical figures."

After listening to this, Gao Xixi hesitated for a moment and explained: "Director Zhou, in fact, I have always advocated that big things should be true to life, and small things should be taken lightly (the original words when filming "Chu-Han Period")."

Zhou Mo waved his hands with a slightly teasing expression.

"Director Gao, this kind of talk is only for dealing with the media and the audience. There's no need for you to use this excuse to cover up a dispute between the two of us directors. I don't need to explain the real situation."

Gao Xixi's face turned red and he couldn't continue explaining.

Those eight words were indeed just a reason.

The truth is that he didn't want to spend time studying historical materials, and was too lazy to do so, so he simply wrote the plot based on the little historical impression he had.

In his early years, he did not have such a high status as he has now. There were people to supervise him and put pressure on him, but he was still able to be rigorous and meticulous. Later, when his status became higher and no one could supervise him, he completely let himself go.

"That's actually easy to say. Anyway, if I work with you, Director Zhou, I don't have to worry about the script anymore, so this isn't a problem."

"Okay, let's talk about the second point: I don't quite understand why Director Gao insisted on adding so many ancient puppet elements into the script, such as the love-hate relationship between Zhu Di and the Mongolian princess, and the triangle relationship between several main male and female characters.

Logically speaking, when you were filming The Legend of Chu and Han and Three Kingdoms, although you often created history, at least you didn’t film so many love stories.”

Gao Xixi sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.

"This is a decision made after a certain amount of market research. Director Zhou, to be honest, I don't really want to shoot romance-related content, but the problem is that the current market is craving for this kind of plot, triangle relationships, love-hate grudges, you love me and I love you..."

"wait."

Zhou Mo stretched out his hand and interrupted Gao Xixi's complaints again.

"Director Gao, before you said that, did you forget that my movie "Zhu Lou" just made 30 billion yuan? There are no weird love triangles in my movie "Zhu Lou", right?"

Zhou Mo was not satisfied with what Gao Xixi said. He had worked so hard to make the market richer and add more types of works, but now you rejected it with just one sentence.

Isn’t that a bit too much?

At the same time, Zhou Mo felt somewhat helpless. He had obviously already achieved some results in the market and demonstrated to people in the industry that he did not need love affairs or triangle entanglements, and could still produce box-office-winning works that would still be appreciated by enough audiences.

However, when these people talk about ideas, they still subconsciously run in the old direction.

When talking about the two brothers Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, Zhang Yimou's first reaction is that Sima Zhao colluded with Sima Shi's wife, and the two were in true love, and eventually Sima Shi was killed.

Gao Xixi, his first reaction was to send Zhu Di a Mongolian princess as the heroine, and the two of them, plus Xu Miaoyun, would make trouble from beginning to end.

Who knew that after hearing what Zhou Mo said, Gao Xixi slapped her thigh and said happily: "Yes, that's why we need to cooperate with you, Director Zhou, to correctly guide the direction of the TV series!"

I wipe?

Can this also make you get it back?
Zhou Mo glanced at Gao Xixi and had already made a decision in his mind.

Since the other party has said so, he can give his opinions with peace of mind.

"Director Gao, then I will just state my request directly."

"Well, Director Zhou, you say."

"First, the focus of the script must be changed from Zhu Di's love, hatred and vengeance to the changes and struggles in the court during the Hongwu period.

Second, the love triangle between Zhu Di, the Mongolian princess, and Xu Miaoyun should be erased. The emotional portrayal can be placed on the warmth Zhu treats his wife and children, and the relationship between the brothers and the crown prince Zhu Biao...

If you really want to write about conspiracy, then focus on Crown Prince Zhu Biao and Lu. Lu murdered Crown Princess Chang and eldest grandson Zhu Xiongying.

Third, the several wars during the Hongwu period must be exciting, such as the struggle between Xu Da and Wang Baobao, and Lan Yu's successful attack on Buyuer Lake and the defeat of the Yuan army.

Fourthly, the characters in the script must conform to the logic of real historical figures. Zhu Yuanzhang was very domineering and murderous, and had extremely strong control over the court. It was impossible for such a person to accept Zhu Di's disobedience to his marriage arrangements.

If there are too many mistakes like this, then there is no need for the script to exist.”

Gao Xixi had been listening carefully to Zhou Mo's explanation, and at the same time was thinking about the details of Zhou Mo's narration in her mind.

Obviously, if the original script was adapted according to Zhou Mo's above ideas, it would basically become a serious drama again.

"Director Gao, you spent so much time and called in so many veteran actors, is it just to make this drama into a costume idol drama?" Zhou Mo asked back.

Gao Xixi reacted immediately.

Yes.

If the purpose was to film a costume idol, why would he call on so many talented actors?

Just muddle through.

It seems that I still want to make a good TV series, but my ideas are influenced by the market.

Gao Xixi comforted himself in his heart, and then he asked another question:
“But such a major change in the script basically means rewriting the script, which takes a lot of time.”

"Director Gao, you don't have to worry. Our company will take over the script of "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight". We should be able to complete the script modification in a month at most."

"The filming team...?"

"That's easy to say. I wonder if Director Gao has heard of "The Glory of the Ming Dynasty"?"

(End of this chapter)