Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 191 201 [Gong Li and Qingxia's CP feeling! Long Wu and his wife came to visit]

It's about six o'clock in the evening.

Li Yishu took a car to the set of "New Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Part Two: The Childlike Grandma of Tianshan" at Shaw Studios in Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong.

As soon as they arrived at the place, Li Yishu saw a group of people waiting at the door in the car. He also saw the rare white-haired Gong Li!

"Director Li, welcome!"

Director Qian Yongqiang came forward enthusiastically.

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Hello, Director Qian. I'm sorry to come here and disturb your crew's normal filming."

Qian Yongqiang shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, why would I bother you! I was so happy to learn that Director Li was coming in person. You are the pioneer of new-style martial arts technical films. I would like to ask for your guidance on this film."

"Haha, I don't deserve your advice. Let's learn from each other, learn from each other."

Li Yishu waved his hand. He really had no advice on the other party's movie.

Before coming to the crew, Li Yishu also asked someone about this director.

An old director who is not very famous but has made many movies. He has been a director since 1991 and has made six or seven movies in recent years, most of which are low-cost urban films.

The most famous film among them may be "Girlfriend", which was co-produced with the current third-level queen Yip Yuqing, Simon Yam and Rosamund Kwan.

Thanks to the presence of the third-level queen, the movie still earned more than 10 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office and sold very well in Taiwan.

This "The Fairy of Tianshan" is Qian Yongqiang's first big-budget film directed by him, and the production cost alone is as high as tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

In Hong Kong, this is already a big production!

The main cost is the film pay. Now the pay of Qingxia, Gong Li and the third female lead Zhang Min all starts at one million. The pay of these three people eats up almost half of the production cost.

After greeting the director, Li Yishu also looked at Qingxia, Gong Li and Zhang Min.

I have to say that this movie, which brings together three of the most popular actresses from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, is quite eye-catching.

"What? I don't know you anymore?"

Gong Li touched the white hair on her temples and said with a smile: "How is it? How do you feel about my look?" (pictured above)

Her look is really stunning, with bright eyes, white teeth, long eyebrows, beautiful face and red lips, she is extremely beautiful.

She also has white hair, which is rare in this era. Combined with the makeup, her skin looks even whiter and rosier.

The classical and gorgeous dress she is wearing is not as cumbersome as those in later costume films. It does not have complicated colors and patterns, and the cut is simple and elegant. Her hair is puffy and she has long sleeves and a wide robe. Once she puts it on, she looks like a fairy in colorful clothes, full of fairy spirit.

Every frown and smile is truly extraordinary.

Li Yishu gave a thumbs up and praised: "Beautiful! I didn't expect that Gong Lijie's white hair would suit her well."

“I feel pretty good too.”

Gong Li nodded in agreement. When she first learned that she had to wear a wig, and a white one at that, she was quite resistant. But once she put on makeup, she found that the effect was really good.

After chatting for a while, Li Yishu also reminisced with Qingxia about the past. After talking about the start of filming in the second half of the year, he looked at Zhang Min and said with a smile, "Ms. Zhang, long time no see."

"Yes, Director Li, long time no see." Zhang Min looked at Li Yishu, feeling full of emotion.

Two years ago, the other party was just a big director who had just won the Golden Lion Award.

Even with a brief glance at the Academy Awards before, Li Yishu did not achieve such a great result. Unexpectedly, just a few months later, he became the number one Chinese director widely reported by the Hong Kong media.

After exchanging pleasantries with everyone in the crew, Li Yishu also got to know Lin Wenlong, who played Xu Zhu, and Xu Shaoqiang, who played Ding Chunqiu.

After half an hour.

After Li Yishu took a tour, the crew resumed filming, and Gong Li and Qingxia began filming the literary scenes.

Li Yishu took the initiative and sat directly in the director's chair, flipping through the script, and occasionally looking at the people filming in the distance.

Qian Yongqiang, who was supposed to be sitting in the director's seat, took a small chair and began to explain to Li Yishu his ideas for filming the film.

"Director Li, what do you think of my movie?"

Qian Yongqiang looked at Li Yishu eagerly. The main investor of this movie was Yongsheng Film Company. Long Wu was not a good person. If he made the other party pay compensation, Qian Yongqiang would probably want to die.

"Nice costume, who designed it?"

Li Yishu did not answer him, but asked about fashion design instead.

Qian Yongqiang replied: "It's Zhang Shuping."

It's him.

Li Yishu thought to himself that it was no wonder the styling design fit the person so well, it turned out to be William Chang!

In the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, he was probably the most famous costume and art designer in Hong Kong, and also the most popular director among directors and actors.

"A Chinese Ghost Story", "As Tears Go By", "Green Snake", "New Dragon Inn"...

These well-known films all have William Chang participating in the art and costume design.

"Director Li, do you want to watch my movie?"

Seeing that Li Yishu changed the subject, Qian Yongqiang, who had just asked casually, suddenly became worried.

"Uh, Director Qian, your movie is an adaptation of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, right?"

"Yes, it's adapted from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils."

"But your adaptation..."

Li Yishu looked at the script in his hand and shook his head. "I feel like you just added a name and background, but there's no other plot at all. Also, I think your martial arts design is a bit too exaggerated."

"The New Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: Part One" is really frustrating. The graphics and art design are very beautiful, but the plot is so fragmented.

Not only are people like Qiao Feng, Murong Fu, and Duan Yu gone, but even Ding Chunqiu can unify the martial arts world...

It would be unreasonable for this movie not to flop after its release.

This is just like how the original fans later hated the randomly adapted TV dramas and movies. For example, Lu Chuan, who is still preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, his later work "Nine-story Demon Tower", apart from using the name of "Ghost Blowing Out the Light", in terms of the plot, Shirley Yang is almost an alien.

Even though the box office was good, earning over 6 million yuan, it is certain that this is all thanks to the fans of the original novel and has nothing to do with Lu Chuan.

"Mojin: The Lost Legend", a film with the same theme, earned 16 billion yuan directly due to word-of-mouth, ranking second in the annual box office. This was because the director grasped the preferences of fans.

"This, this..." Qian Yongqiang stammered. He and the screenwriter completed this script together.

Moreover, the plot and martial arts moves were changed because he learned from "Sword Rain" directed by Lee Yi-su.

"Sword Rain" was so successful that almost all martial arts films in Hong Kong are imitating it.

So Qian Yongqiang saw a lot of exaggerated martial arts moves in the movie, not only flying around in the bamboo forest, but also splitting raindrops and flying needles.

What if we increase the fighting action?
Wouldn't it be more appealing to the audience if the original light Kung Fu could be turned directly into flying in the air, and the martial arts moves could be turned directly into the confrontation between the two sides in "Dragon Ball", followed by explosions all the way?

Qian Yongqiang gritted his teeth and said, "I learned this from Director Li. After watching "Sword Rain", I really liked this martial arts style, so I wanted to learn from it."

Is this still my fault?
Li Yishu had a strange look on his face. He didn't expect that Qian Yongqiang was actually influenced by him when taking the photos.

"Director Qian, everyone has their own style. My Sword Rain is an original martial arts worldview, and yours is an adaptation based on the martial arts worldview of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. So it's easy for viewers who have watched the related TV series and novels to feel out of place and not be able to accept such a big change."

"Then what should we do, Director Li?"

If the audience can’t accept it, doesn’t that mean there will be no box office?
If someone else said such things, Qian Yongqiang would definitely sneer at them.

But this is what the number one Chinese director said himself, so there must be some truth to it.

"The solution is very simple. Just change the title of the work to Tianshan Tonglao."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "You should have seen the movie 'A Chinese Odyssey' which was released in February this year, right?"

"I've seen it." Qian Yongqiang nodded.

"Along with the name, the plot of A Chinese Odyssey was also greatly adapted. Although it has the blessing of comedy and Zhou Xingchi's nonsensical style, the main reason why the audience can accept it is because it did not copy the words of The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

"Is it okay to just change the name?"

"Well, I can only say that changing the name has some effect."

Li Yishu touched her nose and said, "However, you can add more scenes of Gong Li and Qingxia. Maybe some fans will like it."

Upon hearing this, Qian Yongqiang's eyes lit up. He originally hoped to make a film about the love, hatred and grudge between Wu Xingyun and Li Qiushui, which is why he did not give Wuyazi any face-showing shots.

Therefore, Qian Yongqiang chose Qingxia to play Li Qiushui and Gong Li to play Wu Xingyun, because he felt that these two famous, mature and beautiful actresses would produce a wonderful chemical reaction when paired together.

Facts have also proved that his casting was very successful. After putting on makeup, Qingxia's heroic spirit was charming, Gong Li's was bright and moving, and they played the offense and defense perfectly.

However, nine out of ten movies invested by Yongsheng Films would feature Zhang Min, so he had no choice but to add extra scenes for A Zi.

In fact, if the movie "The Fairy of Tianshan" had only focused on Heroine Wu and Li Qiushui, it might have been possible to make a female version of "Brokeback Mountain", and a martial arts version at that.

Li Yishu had seen the original movie, and he could feel that the director seemed to have some interest in it, but perhaps because of the market or the times, he only tried it superficially and did not go into it in depth.

Otherwise, why didn't Wuyazi, who was fought over by the two heroines, even show his face, only his back and the part below the neck?
This is not just a tool to cover up the strange eyes of the world!
Just as Qian Yongqiang was about to continue asking questions, Gong Li and Qingxia had already finished the photo shoot and walked over side by side.

The two of them are standing on the left and right, with black hair and white hair, and red and blue hairstyles...

With two such a well-matched couple, Lee Yi-su really feels that if this movie is shot according to his ideas, it’s hard to say whether the box office will be high, but at least the audience will be blessed in the future.

It can also be sent to film festivals in Europe and the United States, where some female judges might be excited enough to vote for it.

"Why are you looking at us like that?"

Gong Li noticed that Li Yishu's eyes kept moving between her and Qingxia, and asked curiously, "Did we take a bad picture just now?"

“No, it’s a good shot.”

Li Yishu shook her head and said, "I think you two acted well. The director and I were discussing your acting skills."

Gong Li raised her eyebrows and asked, "Who acted better, me or Sister Qingxia?"

Hearing this, Qingxia also became interested: "Yes, Director Li, who do you think performed better, me or Ali?"

Qingxia also wants to know who has better acting skills between the two of them in the eyes of Li Yishu, a director who has achieved great success both artistically and commercially?
Li Yishu immediately laughed and said, "Haha, they all acted well!"

Qian Yongqiang was also afraid that the two would continue to ask questions, so he immediately helped to interrupt and said, "Yes, yes, Director Li is right. Ms. Gong Li and Ms. Qingxia, your acting skills are equally good, and you have achieved excellent results in your respective fields."

Seeing this, Gong Li did not ask any more questions. She just asked casually.

For this kind of topic, Li Yishu could only answer "both are good". No matter who she chose, it would be offensive. It would be better to ask her privately when she gets home at night.

After they chatted for a while, Qian Yongqiang asked the crew to leave early. He usually shot until seven or eight o'clock in the evening.

But this time the famous director Li Yishu is here, so he must leave work early and invite Director Li and the main creative staff of the crew to go out for a midnight snack to catch up.

Waited to find a place nearby for a midnight snack.

Long Wu hurriedly drove over, accompanied by his wife Long Tai.

The couple walked up to him enthusiastically and said, "Director Li, why didn't you tell me in advance that you are visiting our crew? I want to host a banquet for you, too."

"Haha, Mr. Long is too polite. There's no need to host a banquet for me. I'm just here to go through the process and visit the set. There's no need to mobilize so many people."

Seeing Long Wu and Long Tai coming, Li Yishu's expression was a little subtle.

"This is not a big deal."

Mrs. Long Chen Lan said with a smile: "Director Li is the first Chinese director to reach the world level. He is a banner for Chinese-language films overseas. We filmmakers have great respect for Director Li. No matter how big a banquet we hold, it will not be enough to show our admiration for Director Li."

"Director Li, please do me the honor of finding a good restaurant tomorrow and inviting some friends and filmmakers to host a banquet for Director Li."

Looking at Long Zuo's biological mother, Li Yishu couldn't help but sigh that the other party was really good at talking. She held a grand banquet and showed great respect. No wonder she was able to clean herself up easily later.

If it were any other mainland director, he would have been confused a long time ago, but unfortunately, the Long family's background was exposed thoroughly on the Internet. Although Li Yishu didn't want to have any entanglement with the other party, she still had to do some superficial work.

He said, "There's no need to host a banquet. How about Mr. Long treat us to a midnight snack tonight?"

"no problem!"

Long Tai agreed immediately.

The food at the dinner was very bland. Long Wu was not a talkative person, and it was Long Tai who kept talking. As they chatted, they talked about Li Yishu's previous statement that she would collaborate with Cheng Long on a movie.

After eating most of the meal, Long Tai showed his true colors: "Director Li, we at Yongsheng are still well-funded. No matter how big the investment is, we at Yongsheng can afford it. I wonder if this movie can bring us Yongsheng success?"

"this…"

Li Yishu pretended to be embarrassed and said with a wry smile, "Mr. Zou of Golden Harvest has already reached an agreement with me. As for the specific investment matters, why don't you go talk to Mr. Zou? I'm just a director. Mr. Zou will be responsible for the specific investment matters."

(End of this chapter)