Exciting 1979!

Chapter 286 Black Cat Detective is adapted into an animation; Sister Xue and Sister Lin pass the baton.

"First merit" is a humble way of saying it.

Everyone understands that 60 copies sold is the basic circulation of Harvest magazine, and Wei Ming's serialized novel doubled Harvest's circulation.

Even when Wang Anyi invited Wei Ming for coffee, she expressed her gratitude to him, thanking him for making her novel accessible to at least 120 million readers.

She refused to believe that readers would spend a huge sum of money to read "The Right Path in the World: Middle" and then throw away a copy of "Harvest." She believed that if a magazine was purchased with their own money, they would definitely read all the other works as well.

Wang Anyi, a newcomer to the literary world, has become more widely known and recognized thanks to the phenomenal circulation of this issue of "Harvest" magazine.

She also told Wei Ming, "Just a few days ago, I received a letter from the 78 class of the Directing Department of Yenching Film Academy, requesting that they adapt my novel 'The Locked Courtyard' as their graduation project for the Directing Department."

Wei Ming knew about this, after all, it was starring his own sister Lin, and it could be considered an early, somewhat awkward, video record of her.

"That's great news. I'll treat you to dinner when you go to Beijing to write your script."

This coffee was paid for by Wang Anyi's sister. Wei Ming came to Shanghai to revise the final part of the "Human Path" manuscript.

The two met at the Shanghai Writers Association, and Sister Wang invited him out, insisting that he experience the flavors of Shanghai.

Drinking coffee was secondary; the main topic was literature. Wang Anyi also longed to write a novel and wanted to learn from Wei Ming.

After chatting for more than two hours, Wei Ming pointed to his empty cup and said, "I have a very sensitive reaction when I drink this stuff, so I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Wang Anyi smiled and said, "Isn't this perfect? ​​We can revise the manuscript more."

Wei Ming smiled and shook his head. Revising the manuscript? Not a chance!

When he returned to the old house at No. 12 Huating Road, Sister Xue was packing her luggage; she was leaving.

Wei Ming hugged Xue Jie from behind and said coquettishly, "I just got here and you're leaving already?"

They say old people are like children again, and Sister Xue said helplessly, "It's work, there's nothing I can do about it."

The filming of "Mom, Love Me Again" has officially started. Several scenes were filmed in Shanghai first, and the next scene will be filmed in Beijing.

Wei Ming came to Shanghai yesterday, and Xue Jie is leaving tomorrow. Moreover, she hasn't had time to spend with me these past two days. At this time, "Midnight" was released, and the two of them didn't even have time to go see a movie.

Wei Ming: "Then I'll revise the manuscript quickly, and then I'll go to Yanjing to reunite with you."

Gong Xue turned around, took Wei Ming's hand, and said seriously, "You don't need to rush, and I don't want to see you when I'm filming."

"What?"

"I don't want you to see me acting crazy."

"That's it?"

"Also, I finally got into character, but as soon as I saw you, my emotions went wrong. It was so hard to go back and forth between the roles," Gong Xue comforted Xiao Wei. "So it's better to cherish the memory than to meet again. I'll spend more time with you after this drama is finished."

What she said makes sense. This role and the character must be completely immersed in. Gong Xue treated it as her masterpiece and devoted a lot of energy to it. Even when she was having sex with Wei Ming, she was thinking about whether she would get pregnant and give birth to a little gourd.

"Fine then, I'll just have to stay here all alone," Wei Ming said resentfully.

Gong Xue chuckled, laughing because the room would soon be full again, as Zhu Lin was about to arrive in Shanghai.

"Joyful Reunion" was a film produced by Shanghai Film Studio. After filming the actual scenes in Shandong, they would come to Shanghai Film Studio to film the studio scenes. Zhu Lin told her this in a correspondence, and even Wei Ming did not know it.

However, Gong Xue insisted on comforting the young man tonight, otherwise he would go crazy before Zhu Lin arrived in Shanghai. Twenty years old is the most ferocious age for a boy.

However, Gong Xue never expected it to be this fierce. Don't you ever need to sleep?

Wei Ming: Blame Wang Anyi, who told her to insist on inviting me for coffee.

The next day, Wei Ming watched the tired Sister Xue leave home. The weather was nice, so Wei Ming didn't stay at home to work. He remembered that he hadn't visited the Shanghai Animation Film Studio on his last trip to Shanghai, so he set off for it.

The "The Legend of Sealed Book" project has been underway for a year. As it is a key project to earn foreign exchange, it has brought together the core staff of the entire factory and drawn a large number of people, so the progress is quite good. At this point, we can already see movie clips that can move.

That's right, that's the taste. In fact, with the involvement of foreign capital, the production is even more exquisite. This is for export.

When Wei Ming arrived at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, he was received by Wang Bairong, the workshop director, who optimistically said, "If things go smoothly, our film can be released next year."

Because it reduced the intermediate wrangling with the British, it was actually a bit faster than the original timeline of 83.

"Hello, Director Wang." They then found the film's director, Wang Shuchen, who led them on a tour and gave them a presentation.

He told Wei Ming, "We have communicated with the BBC. If we can finish filming before May next year, we will take the film to Cannes. If we can finish filming before September, we will take the film to Venice. If we cannot finish filming next year, we will wait to film it in Berlin in 83."

The overseas rights outside of Asia belong to the British side, and they hope that "The Legend of the Heavenly Book," which has received so much investment, can fetch a good price globally. In that case, the BBC will cover the expenses for the Chinese personnel to promote the series overseas.

Wang Shuchen was implying to Wei Ming that he might also go abroad.

Wei Ming was certainly willing to go abroad, as there were more opportunities overseas and more chances to earn foreign exchange by going abroad.

However, it would be best to go in 82; he was afraid that if he went in 83, he wouldn't want to come back.

I originally just came to visit quietly, but I didn't expect that when the factory director, Mr. Te Wei, heard that Wei Ming had come, he would also come to the workshop to see him.

In the workshop, a worker who had just been put in a job at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio through his parents' connections and joined the crew of "The Legend of Sealed Book" looked at Wei Ming, who was surrounded by several big shots in the factory, and said to his colleague next to him, "Who is this guy? He's so awesome."

Colleague: "You don't even know this? The author of 'The Legend of the Heavenly Book' is Wei something."

"He's so young!"

"That's right. This is the third film the factory has made of him. I heard that a script costs more than a thousand yuan. Moreover, many people abroad read his works, so he can earn foreign exchange."

At this moment, an experienced worker said to the new worker, "Lou Ye, stop chatting and get to work."

"Keep urging, keep urging," Lou Ye thought to himself, feeling resentful. "A real man should be like this. In the future, I will also make a lot of works for foreigners to watch, earn foreign exchange, and have these big shots revolve around me!"

Director Te Wei was the first director of Shanghai Animation Film Studio, and he led the studio for more than 20 years. His representative works include "The Proud General", "Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother" and "The Shepherd's Flute". He pioneered ink-wash animation, a unique animation form belonging to the Chinese people.

Director Te Wei came to see Wei Ming today to talk about his fourth collaboration with Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

"I heard that your 'Lion King' has a large audience overseas, and Mr. Why is famous in Europe and America?" Factory Director Te Wei asked. By this time, they had arrived at the private room in the canteen, where there were only the four of them.

Wei Ming said without any modesty, "After all, it's based on Shakespeare, and Macmillan is an international publishing company, so its sales in the UK are pretty good right now. It should be able to rank in the top three of children's books this year."

Te Wei laughed and said, "What do you think about our Shanghai Animation Film Studio adapting it into a movie?"

Wei Ming didn't think it was a good fit. Shanghai Animation Film Studio wasn't the most suitable partner for "The Lion King," and the studio had always made traditional films with stories set mostly in China. Their later film, "Lotus Lantern," did have an international perspective, adding African scenes, but it was heavily criticized.

So he said, "As far as I know, The Lion King is far less popular in China than my other works. You probably want to make The Lion King to earn foreign exchange, right?"

Te Wei nodded: "If we invest ourselves and sell it on the world stage, we might earn more foreign exchange than if we cooperate with foreign institutions."

The country is desperately short of foreign exchange right now, and the old man is truly selfless and devoted to public service, which is commendable, but Wei Ming still has a few words of advice to offer.

"If we want to make a film that is welcomed and accepted by the world, then it must be a high-quality production that breaks free from the constraints of our local creative style. First, the crew members will have to go to Africa for a period of time to collect information about the African landscape and animal life. So many people will have to travel by plane and risk getting sick or even dying from acclimatization issues. Then the music will also have to be in the African style, and we may have to invite foreign musicians to participate. The costs involved are enough to make several 'The Legend of the Heavenly Book' films."

He wasn't exaggerating. Disney started making The Lion King in the late 80s, and it cost $4500 million, which was not a small or medium-sized investment film in those days.

At the same time, Jurassic Park cost only $6000 million, which was already a rare big-budget production in the early 90s.

Even if it were the Shanghai Animation Film Studio at that time, with its cheaper labor, even if it were only one-tenth of the cost, it would still cost at least $450 million. Let alone $450 million, even 450 million RMB would be unaffordable for the government.

The person in charge of spending so much money on a movie, especially an animated one, could be held accountable.

It's worth noting that CCTV only paid 300 million yuan to produce the TV series version of Journey to the West.

Moreover, even with so much money, Wei Ming didn't think the Shanghai Animation Film Studio could replicate the global success of Disney films; high artistic merit didn't guarantee market success.

Director Te Wei knew that the difficulties Wei Ming mentioned were objectively real, but the popularity of "The Lion King" abroad gave him hope for the Shanghai Animation Film Studio to go global, so he brought it up.

Of course, it's impossible to actually film it now, because the Shanghai Animation Film Studio's next film project has already been decided. It's called "The Monkey King Subdues the Demon," which tells the story of the White Bone Demon from Journey to the West. It will be directed by Te Wei himself and can be considered another Journey to the West-themed film following Wan Lao's "Havoc in Heaven."

If Shanghai Animation Film Studio wants to make its next feature film, it will definitely have to wait until "The Monkey King Conquers the Demon" is finished. Neither the staff nor the funds can support Shanghai Animation Film Studio to operate two major projects at the same time.

Although Wei Ming is not optimistic about the collaboration between "The Lion King" and Shanghai Animation Film Studio, he still hopes to continue working with the studio in the remaining days to produce more high-quality films.

The childhood of the so-called 80s and 90s generations was nothing more than two categories: animation from Shanghai Animation Film Studio and foreign animation. Wei Ming was going to be the man who would take over their childhood and their childhood goddess!
"Mr. Te, I wonder if the Shanghai Animation Film Studio has any plans to produce television animation?" Wei Ming mentioned during the meal.

"Is it like Astro Boy and Jimmy Choo?"

"Yes." The former is Japanese, and the latter is American.

Since before the Lunar New Year, Astro Boy has been dominating the prime time slot before CCTV's News Broadcast, bringing a brand-new animation experience to young and even adult viewers across the country, and popularizing the term "horsepower" nationwide.

Last night, when Wei Ming was tormenting Sister Xue, she even said that Wei Ming had the strength of "ten horses," which was an immense encouragement to Wei Ming. As a result, after the third battle, there was a fourth.

Te Wei said, "We need to discuss cooperation with the TV station, since the film will be broadcast on television. However, our country still has a small number of television sets."

At that time, television coverage was not as extensive as that of movies.

"But the growth rate is fast. At the end of last year, it was 900 million units, and now it has reached 1000 million. The country attaches great importance to television. Recently, the China National Radio and Television Administration decided to hold a national award for outstanding TV dramas every year."

This award is the predecessor of the Feitian Award, which was renamed in 92.

Next, Wei Ming began to paint a rosy picture for them, eventually successfully steer the conversation towards "Black Cat Detective." "Black Cat Detective now has nine stories, each independent yet interconnected, making it perfect for a TV animation. It's also arguably the most beloved series among my young readers. Every time a new story is published, I receive hundreds, even thousands, of letters from readers; my house is almost overflowing with them," Wei Ming said at the Versailles Circuit.

At the beginning of the month, the first physical book of "Black Cat Detective" was published, which brings together the previous five stories. The initial print run of 50 copies was easily absorbed by various markets, and it is estimated that a reprint will be needed before the second book is published.

Te Wei and Wang Bairong exchanged a glance, clearly somewhat tempted. At present, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio only has one continuous animated story, "Avanti," which is a low-cost puppet animation. There are no traditional animated series yet.

They've also followed stories like "Black Cat Detective," which tells a different story in each episode. Besides the police catching bad guys, it also teaches some knowledge about nature, making it both educational and entertaining. No wonder it's popular with children.

The characters designed by Wei Ming and Liu Rulong, such as Black Cat Detective and One-Ear, have become deeply ingrained in people's minds through so many issues of "Children's Literature" and can even be used directly, saving the trouble of designing characters in the early stages.

Perhaps we could film a few episodes first to test the waters.

However, if each episode is 20 minutes long, then five episodes would be 100 minutes long, which is equivalent to the length of a movie. This would definitely crowd out the production schedule of other short films. This needs to be discussed at a meeting and consulted with higher-level leaders.

Back home from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Wei Ming found himself alone and with no one to talk to, so he started working. First, he revised the manuscript, and when he couldn't sleep at night, he took out the manuscript for "Jurassic World" and wrote it again. He had almost finished it.

Before coming to Shanghai, he had told Ah Long to draw some illustrations for him.

Two more boring days passed, and there wasn't even a familiar face to watch "Midnight" with him, so Wei Ming went to the Shanghai Film Studio to chat with director Xie Jin.

Director Xie has just finished filming "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" and is currently working on post-production. He has already decided what to film next.

“Since you can’t bear to part with ‘The Shepherd’s Spring,’ then I’ll have to go and film ‘Qiu Jin.’” Xie Jin said, shaking the script in his hand as if he were shaking a wine bottle.

Wei Ming knew that this film was one of Xie's least well-known and worst-reviewed movies; it wasn't very successful and was a bit too rigid.

Wei Ming also knew that the film had been delayed for a year. Originally, Xue Jie was supposed to play Qiu Jin. To prepare for the role, Xue Jie improved her health, practiced calligraphy, memorized poems, and even learned swordsmanship from He Weiqi, a martial arts coach at the Shanghai Stadium.

Gong Xue was ultimately replaced before filming began because she was too thin and her appearance and temperament were too weak. Li Xiuming was chosen instead.

So Wei Ming asked, "Since it's a film about Qiu Jin, the actress playing Qiu Jin is of utmost importance. Have you thought about who you'd like to cast?"

Xie Jin thought for a moment and said, "I think Gong Xue has good potential."

Wei Ming: "She's too thin."

They can toss themselves up and down at will.

"You can supplement your diet with food. You should gain about ten more pounds."

Wei Ming shook his head: "I still think Li Xiuming is more suitable, even Liu Xiaoqing is more suitable than her."

Xie Jin was greatly surprised, not expecting Wei Ming to be so clear about separating public and private matters, and not to speak against his conscience just because he had a good relationship with Gong Xue.

Judging from their appearance, these two seem to have more of the spirit of the Jianhu Heroine and are more worthy of the name "Competing Heroes".

Of course, this is just a suggestion for now; the complete script hasn't been finalized yet. Xie Jin is adapting Xia Yan's play "The Biography of Qiu Jin."

Wei Ming: Speaking of Professor Xia, where is my original manuscript now?

When his domestic colleagues learned that he wanted to make a film about Qiu Jin, they all offered their unconditional support. Ke Ling, the editor-in-chief of Popular Cinema, also provided Xie Jin with his own script of the same name for reference. Xie Jin then invited Huang Zongjiang to adapt it.

Wei Ming is here today, so I have to chat with him for a bit.

Xie Jin had wanted to film Qiu Jin for a long time because his family had a long-standing friendship with Qiu Jin. His grandfather had worked with Qiu Jin and had close ties with Xu Xilin, so he had heard stories about Qiu Jin from his grandfather since he was a child.

It is precisely because of this relationship that his version is too serious and formal, and the whole film can be summed up in two words—dull.

It belongs to the kind of "classic old movie" that Wei Ming mentioned before, which you can praise a couple of times through short video clips, but you definitely can't watch it without fast-forwarding.

Therefore, unless Xie Jin changes his creative approach, this film is unlikely to achieve great success.

As the two were talking, someone suddenly arrived at the door; it was Zhu Shimao.

Zhu Shimao's visit to Director Xie and his unexpected encounter with Wei Ming was also unexpected.

Wei Ming was both surprised and delighted: "Did you come back by yourself, or did the whole 'Joyful Reunion' crew come back?"

Zhu Shimao truthfully stated, "Our crew has returned to Shanghai to film studio scenes."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ming immediately stood up and said, "Director Xie, you have a guest, so I'll be leaving now."

Old Mao felt conflicted. Did Teacher Wei not like me anymore? Why did he leave as soon as he saw me?
Wei Ming: Because I like Sister Lin more!

He immediately ran to the Shanghai Film Studio guesthouse and found Zhu Lin.

"Oh, Xiao Wei, you're in Shanghai too?"

In front of other crew members, Zhu Lin greeted and chatted with Wei Ming openly, as if they were just ordinary friends, showing no sign that they had once shared a bed and carpet.

"Yes," Wei Ming nodded. "His acting has improved; his performance is very natural and lifelike."

Wei Ming also got to know the actresses who played her sister-in-law, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law. They all knew Wei Ming's name. Gong Xue is now able to be compared with actresses such as Zhang Yu and Li Xiuming, thanks to Wei Ming's "The Herdsman".

Zhu Lin then asked Wei Ming if he had eaten, and then naturally transitioned to, "Then I'll treat you to something. Let's go find a northern restaurant."

The two walked out of the Shanghai Film Studio and went on a date.

Zhu Lin knew that Wei Ming was currently staying in Gong Xue's old villa, and she was trying to figure out how to find him when she unexpectedly walked right into his trap.

Wei Ming: You're the one who ran into the line of fire.

Zhu Lin wasn't very familiar with Shanghai, so he naturally needed Wei Ming, who was an expert in Shanghai, to guide him.

"There are more Western restaurants in Shanghai, let's go eat at Deda first."

Zhu Lin: It seems you've eaten with Xiaoxue before.

She guessed right. Even the staff at Deda still remembered Wei Ming, after all, he had come to eat with Gong Xue and was quite handsome.

This time they've changed to another stunning beauty; could she also be an actress?
Zhu Lin and Wei Ming had eaten at Lao Mo in Yanjing, and Zhu Lin skillfully picked up a knife and fork to start cutting the steak.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you. The crew is very hospitable, and the fellow villagers are also very nice, but the food is really not good. We don't see any meat every day. What I miss the most is the local pancakes wrapped with scallions and scallions dipped in sauce."

Wei Ming: "Then I'll have to test if it tastes like scallions later."

"You're so annoying." Sister Lin kicked him under the table.

This kick woke Wei Ming up. He adjusted his posture, and his cerebellum directed his brain as he began to think about whether he could take Sister Lin back to Sister Xue's house, where there were no photos of Sister Xue on the first floor.

But it seems a bit like animality.

So, what about at the Shanghai Film Studio guesthouse?

The experience was terrible, and the soundproofing was poor.

This is really worrying.

"Where are you staying now? Still at the Writers' Association guesthouse?" Zhu Lin asked casually.

"Oh, I'm staying at a friend's house," Wei Ming replied almost unconsciously.

"Don't your friend's family mind you bothering them?"

“That’s their old house. No one lives there usually, so they lent it to me.”

"Oh~" Zhu Lin took a sip of soup, hiding her smile. She didn't ask which friend was so generous, because she knew that Xiao Wei must feel bad for lying to her.

After finishing their meal, Zhu Lin suggested, "How about we go see where you're staying?"

"what?"

Zhu Lin: "You're not welcome? Then I'll go back to the guesthouse now."

Wei Ming hardened his heart, thinking, "So what if he's a beast? Welcome! Let's go, let's take a taxi there."

Zhu Lin had to return to the guesthouse that evening, and time was limited, so when they arrived at the two-story old villa, Zhu Lin didn't even have time to take a closer look before Wei Ming pulled him into a clean little room.

Wei Ming hugged her head and kissed her. Because they had eaten ice cream dessert at the end of that Western meal, the kiss was milky and reminded Zhu Lin of the cake cream that Wei Ming had smeared on her on her birthday.

The thought of that day and that scene made Zhu Lin immediately soften, while Wei Ming did the exact opposite.

~
"Old Dai, Old Dai."

Inside the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Wang Bairong called out to a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

Dai Tielang pushed up his glasses: "Director Wang, what's the matter?"

Wang Bairong: "The factory manager wants to discuss something with you. Come on, let's go together."

……

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(End of this chapter)