Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 161 What good screenwriter doesn't let the director change the script?

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang took a walk around Weiming Lake after lunch and ran into Wang Xiaoping and Cha Jianying from the Chinese Department. There were two foreigners beside them, who were obviously international students.

The two sides greeted each other, and Wang Xiaoping introduced the two foreign students to Lin Chaoyang.

The two international students were both Americans, one named Li Congren and the other named Lan Wendy. They both followed the local customs and gave themselves Chinese names.

Like A Mao, they were the first batch of publicly funded overseas students sent by the Carter administration after the two countries established diplomatic relations. Compared with the overseas students of later generations, the quality of today's overseas students is much higher.

Li Congren is a student of Chinese Department at the University of Michigan, and Lan Wendy is a master's student at the University of Berkeley.

Among this group of international students, the one with the highest academic qualifications was a student named Fei Nengwen, who was the roommate of Liu Zhida from the Chinese Department and was said to have a PhD from both Harvard and Yale.

Li Congren and Lan Wendy were accompanying Wang Xiaoping and Zha Jianying to practice English, mainly with Zha Jianying because she was planning to study abroad at her own expense.

She has been attending Spanish classes since the beginning of this semester. When she has nothing to do, she goes to the international students building and finds someone to practice speaking with her.

Wang Xiaoping introduced Lin Chaoyang as a writer, and Li Congren and Lan Wendy showed great curiosity about him.

Although they are both international students, their research directions are both Chinese literature: Li Congren studies Ming and Qing dynasty novels, while Lan Wendy studies Lu Xun.

The two of them talked to Lin Chaoyang for a long time before Wang Xiaoping got the chance to chat with Lin Chaoyang. She mentioned the newly renamed "Yenching Literature".

"Chaoyang, have you read the article "Taking the Precepts" in Yenching Literature? Wang Zengqi's writing style has a similar aesthetic to your works in some aspects."

The language of Wang Zengqi's novels is plain and simple, without pursuing gorgeousness and complexity, but at the same time it is interesting, full of charm, and has a smooth narrative. It is indeed similar to Lin Chaoyang's style, but the two have their own characteristics.

Lin Chaoyang chatted with a few people for a few minutes, and when he saw that it was almost time, he returned to the library.

After he left, Li Congren and Lan Wendy asked what works the writer Wang Xiaoping and Lin Chaoyang had written.

It is true that they studied Chinese literature, but the subjects of their research had all passed away. Lin Chaoyang was one of the few Chinese writers they had come into contact with, and according to Wang Xiaoping, he was quite famous. Naturally, the two wanted to read some of his works, and Wang Xiaoping enthusiastically recommended Lin Chaoyang's works to them.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang and his colleagues were busy organizing the library.

Generally, there are three sources of books for libraries:

The first is the library's ordering, which means the library purchases books at its own expense. The ordered books and periodicals must be reviewed by experts before purchase and can only be purchased after approval by the library committee. The Yanda Library also encourages teachers and students to recommend excellent books and periodicals to the library.

The second is purchase or donation. For example, Yanda received a large number of books donated from Harvard University in the early years, and many faculty members of the school also donated to the library.

The third is exchange. This method is usually between libraries, because each library has different collections. The Yanda Library has established exchange relationships with many libraries in China.

In a few days, Yanda Library will be exchanging books again, and Lin Chaoyang and others are specifically responsible for compiling the books to be exchanged.

After working for most of the day, he finally finished organizing the bibliography. Just when he wanted to take a break, a note was sent up to him by the elevator downstairs saying that someone was looking for him.

He went downstairs and saw a middle-aged man with a square face whom he did not recognize.

"you are……"

The middle-aged man extended his hand to Lin Chaoyang and introduced himself: "Hello, Comrade Chaoyang, I am Teng Hongsheng from China Film Co-production Company."

After listening to the man's self-introduction, Lin Chaoyang became even more confused.

China Film Co-production Company? He couldn't think of any connection between him and them.

"I came here this time on the request of Director Li Hanxiang. Do you know Director Li Hanxiang?"

Lin Chaoyang nodded, "I know."

Before, when they were at Yanying Studio, Cheng Yin mentioned that Li Hanxiang was going to return to the mainland to make movies.

Teng Hongsheng explained, "Recently, Director Li came to our mainland to prepare a movie. It's a long story..."

"Before, Director Xie Jin wanted to film my movie The Shepherd. I heard them talking about the movie Director Li was going to film."

Teng Hongsheng laughed, "That's even easier. Let me tell you the purpose of my visit. Director Li watched your play The World's No. 1 Restaurant at the People's Art Theatre two days ago and liked it very much. He would like to invite you to meet and chat when you have time."

"Director Li wants to talk to me? What?"

"Well... I'm just responsible for passing on the message." Teng Hongsheng said cautiously, and then, afraid that what he said would make Lin Chaoyang feel a little perfunctory, he added: "Director Li is here this time for his new movie. The leaders of the Propaganda Department and the Film Bureau also attach great importance to his movie, so..."

Teng Hongsheng looked earnest, "I hope you can spare some time to meet with Director Li."

It is not difficult to see from Teng Hongsheng's attitude that the leaders above value Li Hanxiang. In fact, it is not difficult to guess the purpose of Li Hanxiang's meeting with him. Teng Hongsheng was not convenient to say it clearly because Li Hanxiang did not say it directly.

Lin Chaoyang pondered and said, "It's no problem for us to meet. How about Sunday?"

"Today is only Monday... How about this? I'll ask for leave from your company, and you can take some time to meet with Director Li tomorrow. How about that? We'll send a car to pick you up tomorrow morning."

Teng Hongsheng said he would help him to take leave and arranged a car to pick him up and drop him off, so there was no reason for Lin Chaoyang to refuse.

He happily said, "Okay, it's settled then."

The next morning, a black Toyota Crown sedan parked in front of the Overseas Chinese Apartment, attracting the attention of many residents in the community.

People who live in Overseas Chinese Apartments are either rich or noble, but cars are still rare here. If you say it is a Yanjing 212, people may not pay much attention.

However, cars like Toyota Crown are rare in China now, so they immediately attracted everyone's attention. Lin Chaoyang got into the car under the attention of many eyes and joked with Teng Hongsheng: "It's an imported Crown. Your company is of a high level."

Teng Hongsheng smiled and said, "It's not because we are high-ranking, but mainly because we are a co-production company and have to pick up and drop off foreign guests, so the car we are equipped with is a little better. This car was purchased two years ago. Apart from the Foreign Affairs Department, we are the first department to be equipped with this kind of car."

"So I got to experience the treatment of a foreign guest today?"

"Haha, you're joking."

The two chatted all the way when the car arrived at the Yanjing Hotel on East Chang'an Avenue. To the east is Wangfujing, and to the west are Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Built in 1900, the Yanjing Hotel has witnessed the city of Yanjing's century-long vicissitudes and also carried the changes in Yanjing's world. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has always been an important place for holding foreign affairs receptions.

Teng Hongsheng took Lin Chaoyang upstairs and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, a rough-looking man with thick eyebrows opened the door.

"Comrade Chaoyang, this is Director Li Hanxiang. Director Li, this is Comrade Lin Chaoyang."

Teng Hongsheng introduced the two to each other, and Li Hanxiang enthusiastically extended his hand to Lin Chaoyang with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Lin. I didn't expect you to be so young. You are really young and promising!"

"Hello, Director Li."

After saying hello, Li Hanxiang invited Lin Chaoyang into the room. Teng Hongsheng did not follow him in, but walked out.

The hotel room where Li Hanxiang stayed was a suite with a dedicated reception room. An old man was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

After Li Hanxiang's introduction, Lin Chaoyang learned that the old man was Shi Kuan, the head of China Film Co-production Company.

After a few pleasantries, Shi Kuan and Lin Chaoyang briefly introduced the cooperation between their co-production company and Li Hanxiang.

At present, Li Hanxiang's film is still in the promotion stage. He wants to shoot a historical blockbuster, which will cost a lot of money. The co-production company had previously found Changchun Film Studio according to the arrangement of the Ministry of Culture, but Changchun Film Studio was unable to invest in such a large-scale film due to economic accounting reasons.

So the co-production company found the Youth Film Studio, which was a teaching studio of the Yanjing Film Academy and was also unable to afford a film with such a large investment.

In desperation, Li Hanxiang had to find a solution on his own. He recently contacted Mr. He from Haojing, who was interested in investing.

The funding issue is finally expected to be resolved, so Li Hanxiang is now eager to finish the script and take it to Haojing to try to get Mr. He's investment.

Originally, Li Hanxiang was planning to contact playwright Mr. Yang Chunbin to write a script for him, but this time he went to the People's Art Theatre to watch a drama, and heard several old friends there talk about how good "The World's Number One Restaurant" was, and also heard about the grand occasion of the drama's performance.

Li Hanxiang was itching to watch a play.

"The World's Number One Restaurant" was first performed five months ago. Even though many performances were added later, this year's performance had already ended. Where would the stage be for him to perform?
But Li Hanxiang was a guest that the higher-ups valued very much, and since he had made a request, the National Theatre of China could not just ignore it.

It is impossible to see a complete stage performance, so let the actors perform a simple one.

Everyone put on costumes and makeup and performed in an empty rehearsal room, with no stage lights, sound effects, scenery or props.

But it was this drama, which was so plain and almost in a rehearsal state, that made Li Hanxiang so excited after watching it. He praised it highly and couldn't wait to meet the screenwriter Lin Chaoyang, which led to today's scene.

After learning about the objective situation of the film's preparation and the reason for the meeting with Lin Chaoyang, Li Hanxiang eagerly asked Lin Chaoyang: "Mr. Lin, what do you think if I adapt the play "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" into a movie?"

Hearing Li Hanxiang's words, Lin Chaoyang frowned and said thoughtfully: "Director Li, although "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" is my work, I feel that this play is not suitable for you to adapt into a movie."

"Why?" Li Hanxiang asked.

“I heard that you wanted to shoot Teahouse before. Actually, both The World’s No.1 Restaurant and Teahouse have their own advantages. If they are adapted into movies, their disadvantages are also very similar.

The plot of a drama is driven by dialogue, while film is first and foremost a visual art. This is the inherent shortcoming of film adaptations of dramas.

When adapting a play into a movie, it is not enough to just show the play part, it must fundamentally conform to the tone of the film, and the difficulty of doing so is undoubtedly extremely great.

It would be better to give up the idea of ​​adaptation and write a new script."

Lin Chaoyang expressed his thoughts frankly and sincerely. After he finished speaking, Li Hanxiang had a solemn expression and said nothing.

After a few seconds, Li Hanxiang finally smiled.

"Mr. Lin is indeed a young talent. He is not only good at writing novels and plays, but also has a deep understanding of film creation."

Lin Chaoyang said modestly: "You are too polite. I don't know much about movies. What I said just now was just a show of my own."

"I'm not being polite." Li Hanxiang laughed heartily and said, "Mr. Lin, I would like to invite you to be the screenwriter of my new movie. What do you think?"

Li Hanxiang's invitation did not surprise Lin Chaoyang. His discussion on the topic of adapting drama into movies was more like a test of Lin Chaoyang's understanding of film creation. Obviously, he was very satisfied with Lin Chaoyang's answer.

Lin Chaoyang glanced at Shi Kuan. Seeing that he didn't say anything, Li Hanxiang asked, "Mr. Lin, do you have any concerns?"

Shi Kuan also said: "Comrade Chaoyang, feel free to speak up if you have anything to say. We are all family."

Lin Chaoyang nodded and said, "I have two questions. One is about the content of the script. Director Li is the director, and you must be the one to check the script of the movie. But I have a habit when writing scripts. I don't like others to change the script. Minor revisions are fine, but major revisions are not."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Li Hanxiang fall into silence. He has been in the film industry for nearly 40 years, and this is the first time he has heard of a screenwriter not allowing a director to change the script.

He didn't know what the "minor repairs and modifications" that Lin Chaoyang mentioned meant, but he knew that as long as such conditions were put forward, it would definitely be a tough one.

What good screenwriter wouldn’t let the director change the script?
He couldn't help but glance at Lin Chaoyang, and only saw the four words "youthful and vigorous" on Lin Chaoyang's face.

(End of this chapter)