Exciting 1979!

Chapter 397 Wei Ming, Director? (Seeking monthly votes!)
There were 13 people in total, and the dishes they ordered were quite elaborate, a fusion of Chinese and Western cuisine. In addition to a small amount of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, the total came to 285 yuan, which was paid with foreign exchange certificates.

Now not only Tie Ning will have to write a diary, but everyone else will also have to make a big record of it. Wei Ming is right, food tastes especially good after working, and the aftertaste is unforgettable.

They will never forget this meal; it was the most expensive meal they had ever eaten in their lives, costing an average of the monthly income of a worker who had just entered the workforce.

Furthermore, Ah Long invited them to his wedding on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, which was also held here.

Is it possible to enjoy such a luxurious delicacy twice in one month?!
I didn't realize that Teacher Wei's friend was so capable!
They said if they were still in Shanghai at that time, they would definitely come over to ask for a drink at their wedding.

Ah Long sent a car to take Wei Ming and the other man there, but when the car stopped, they saw that the lights were on in the mansion.

Wei Ming: "Did we forget to turn off the lights when we left?"

Wei Hong: "No, electricity is so expensive, how could I forget? Besides, it wasn't even turned on."

Suddenly, she covered her mouth in fear: "Could it be a thief? A home invasion robbery?"

The driver at the Peace Hotel remained silent. In Beijing at this time, the driver would have exchanged a few words with the driver.

Wei Ming said, "Master, please don't leave yet. You wait here while I go in and take a look."

A few minutes later, Wei Ming came out: "Master is alright, you can go back now."

"Brother, what's the situation inside?" Wei Hong asked after everyone left.

Wei Ming: "My aunt is here."

"what!?"

In addition, there is her assistant, Lizhi.

My aunt came to discuss the production of the Transformers TV animation. Lizhi is from Shanghai and missed her grandmother, so she brought her along.

“Auntie!” Wei Hong exclaimed excitedly, showing her affection.

Wei Lingling hugged the little girl. They had luggage with them and had just arrived.

"I originally just wanted to visit the old house and was going to stay at a hotel later, but I didn't expect it to be so clean. I can stay here now and find the treasure I left here back then."

"Treasure?!" Wei Hong was even more excited; such a good thing had happened.

“No rush, we can talk about that tomorrow,” Wei Lingling stretched. “Let’s talk about where I’ll sleep first.”

Wei Ming: "There are enough beds, but not enough new blankets. It's a bit cold in Shanghai right now."

Wei Lingling: "Then what should we do?"

Wei Ming: "It seems I'll have to find somewhere else to stay temporarily."

Lizhi immediately thought of the old villa that Gong Xue supposedly bought; could it be that she was going to stay there temporarily?

She immediately said, "It's okay if there aren't enough blankets. I can go back to my grandma's house. Besides, it's not safe for three girls to live here."

Wei Ming: "So you're safe going home alone?"

Lizhi: He cares about me!

In the end, Wei Ming decided to trouble Ah Long. He went out and made a phone call, asking him to bring over a few more blankets. If the Peace Hotel sold them, he could buy them there directly, and then ask Ah Long to stay with him tonight.

Then Wei Ming called the old villa on Huating Road, but no one answered. It seemed that Sister Lin was staying at the guesthouse.

"Ah Long is here. I just happened to bring the contents of the first episode of Transformers. Come and take a look and see if there are any parts that need to be changed. Xiao Ming, you come too."

The original plan was to invite Ah Long over to sleep, but when they started talking about work, all three of them got excited and chatted until very late.

"This episode is quite substantial; it could be split into two issues for a magazine. 20 minutes is enough, and the art style is also good. I was helping Niu Lao adjust it before I left Hong Kong, and it didn't go astray later on."

Wei Lingling asked, "When are we going to visit the Shanghai Animation Film Studio?"

Wei Ming: "It's only the third year of junior high school. People haven't even started working yet. At least wait until after Ah Long's wedding. You should have a good time in Shanghai these next few days."

Wei Lingling: "It doesn't feel like there's anything fun to do. It's not as lively and festive as Chinatown in San Francisco during Chinese New Year."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "What do you know, you're from out of town? You can ask Xiao Li where's fun to go."

Lizhi, a local, also showed little interest in the Spring Festival in Shanghai: "There's nothing much to do except visit the temple fair at Yu Garden. It's not as lively as Hong Kong usually is."

Xiao Hong joined the discussion: "Let's watch a movie then. I haven't seen 'Rickshaw Boy' yet."

“Oh, besides ‘Rickshaw Boy,’ there’s another one called ‘Shaolin Temple’ coming out soon,” Wei Ming said, looking at Li Zhi. “Have you seen it in Hong Kong?”

Lizhi said, "I haven't seen it yet, but it's really popular. It even surpassed Jackie Chan's 'Young Master'."

Wei Ming highly recommended: "You should take a look; it is indeed very well made."

Lizhi invited, "Then you can come along."

Wei Ming: "I, I'm busy."

He's going to the Gong family with Ah Long tomorrow to present the betrothal gifts.

That night, Wei Ming and A Long lay together. A Long tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and then tugged at Wei Ming's sleeve: "Brother Ming, A Ying is planning to wear a wedding dress when she gets married!"

Wei Ming, with his eyes closed, asked, "Brought from Hong Kong?"

"Yes, and she designed it herself."

"You can even design wedding dresses now, you're making rapid progress."

Ah Long: "The main reference is Princess Diana's wedding dress, but it doesn't have such a long tail. You'll see when the time comes, it's especially beautiful! You have to take some good photos for us that day."

"No problem, but my photography skills are still a bit inferior to Lao Zhang's. It's a pity he's on vacation and back in his hometown right now."

Ah Long: "I think no matter how good the photos are, they can't compare to a wedding in motion, so when I hold the wedding back in Hong Kong, I plan to record it with a video camera."

"That's a great idea. When we're old, we can take it out and watch it. Why use a video recorder? We can just rent a camera and shoot something with a cinematic quality."

Ah Long got excited too: "Great, great, let's do it!"

Wei Ming: "Let's not wait to go back to Hong Kong. Let's just stay here. After I deliver the betrothal gifts tomorrow, I'll go to the Shanghai Film Studio to borrow equipment. Although we have a plan for the film, we can borrow it first and return it to them when we get back to Hong Kong."

"Brother, I'm counting on you tomorrow!" Ah Long excitedly grasped Wei Ming's hand, now he couldn't sleep at all.

The next day, Wei Ming got out of bed, while A Long had just fallen asleep.

As he stretched by the window, he saw his aunt carrying a shovel, dressed in a sophisticated urban style, which was quite jarring.

"Auntie, what are you doing?"

"Treasure hunting, are you coming?"

Wei Ming hurried downstairs. Xiao Hong was already prepared in the living room, holding a hammer. Li Zhi wasn't there; she had gone to see her grandmother early in the morning.

The Wei family trio went down to the basement level and turned on all the lights. The area was empty; it used to house things from the original unit, but now they had all been cleared out.

“It should be this room,” Wei Lingling said, “the center floor tile, here!”

"Wait a minute," Wei Ming interrupted, "how are we going to divide it after we dig it up?"

Wei Lingling: "Whoever likes something can take it. Whatever's left over can be given to your dad and Brother Ping An, how about that?"

The three of them chuckled and agreed.

Wei Ming took the sledgehammer from Xiao Hong, first smashing the floor tiles to expose the ground underneath, and then digging deeper and deeper with a shovel.

"I found it! I see the wood!"

But the box seemed to be bigger than the broken floor tile, and they had to break the tile to get the box out.

"How about we call it a day? Ah Long and I still need to exchange betrothal gifts." Wei Ming stopped in time.

Wei Lingling: "Okay, then Xiao Hong and I will go to the movies."

Wei Ming went upstairs and woke Ah Long up. Then he went to the Peace Hotel to find Ah Long's parents before going to the Gong family's house.

The alleyway leading to the Gong family's residence was packed with onlookers eager to see what was going on. When they saw two people emerge from a car carrying a mountain of gifts, they began to murmur amongst themselves: "Wow, that's quite a lot of betrothal money! Not socialist at all!" "No wonder he's a Hong Kong son-in-law!" "Excuse me, let me see, which of these two is the Gong family's son-in-law?"

Wei Ming's voiceover: All of them.

Sister Xue was also at home. When she saw her lover return, she was overjoyed, as if he had come to propose marriage to her.

Wei Ming quickly pulled her aside: "Hasn't the Shanghai Film Studio started work yet today?"

"Yes, but the production didn't stop. I didn't go because I didn't have any scenes to film."

"Oh dear, that's troublesome. I'd like to borrow a camera and film from the Shanghai Film Studio."

"what?"

Then Wei Ming mentioned his idea of ​​using film equipment to record the wedding.

"The cost must be very high, right?"

"Your brother-in-law isn't short of money either."

"But do you know how to use a camera?"

Wei Ming smiled wickedly, his lips curling into a Nike shape: "My skills are no worse than those film school students. After all, I've been involved in so many film crews, and you know my learning ability. I can learn anything in no time."

"Go say that to mathematics."

Ah! Wei Ming's sore spot was hit. If this weren't the Gong family's residence, he would definitely have retaliated against Sister Xue's ticklish spot. Seeing Wei Ming's humiliation, Sister Xue chuckled.

“It’s okay if you’re not at work. I’ll take you directly to Director Xie Jin and ask him for help,” Gong Xue suggested.

That's a good idea. Wei Ming secretly blew a kiss to Sister Xue behind everyone's back.

Ah Long has also completed the formalities. Most of the gifts he gave were high-end goods brought back directly from Hong Kong, and there was also a dowry of 10,000 foreign exchange certificates.

Gong's mother quickly put it away and hid it, because she didn't dare to talk about it or show it off. Ten thousand RMB was one thing, but this was foreign exchange certificates. People in big cities loved these things. They were something that could really distinguish them from others in terms of social class.

"Mom, Xiao Wei and I have to go out for a bit," Gong Xue said.

"What's the matter with you all?"

"For Aying's wedding." Gong Xue put on a hat and scarf, making her look even younger and more charming.

Wei Ming said to A Long, "Explain to your uncle and aunt that we are in a hurry and we have to go first."

It wouldn't be appropriate to visit Director Xie Jin's house empty-handed, so Wei Ming went to the Friendship Store and bought some gifts, but not any alcohol.

At this time, Xie Jin was still in the preparation period for "Qiu Jin". Filming was expected to start within the year. Li Xiuming specially gained weight for the role, an effect that Gong Xue could not achieve no matter how much she ate, since her frame was too small.

"Borrowing a camera and film, just to film the wedding process?" Director Xie found it hard to understand.

Wei Ming: "Don't worry, they're Hong Kong capitalists. They won't lend it for nothing. They'll pay for the machine, and we'll buy high-quality color film from Hong Kong and return it to you."

Old Xie still gave Wei Ming face, but things are different now. If we tell the factory director about this, he definitely won't say a word.

Wei Ming is able to spread his novels and songs all over the world, which is much better than filmmakers. Who in the cultural field wouldn't give him face?

"Alright, come to the factory with me."

Upon arriving at the equipment depot, Xie Jin listened to Wei Ming speak fluently about various devices and nodded in agreement, acknowledging his expertise.

"However, there aren't many color films left; we'll have to wait for new ones."

Do you have black and white ones?

"Have."

"Then let's have a little of each."

Xie Jin asked with a smile, "Do you want to learn 'Little Flower'?"

When the Beijing Film Studio was filming "Little Flower," there wasn't enough color film. So the director used color film to shoot the story along the normal timeline and black and white film to shoot the flashback scenes. The interweaving of color and black and white was both a necessity and a bold innovation, which is of great significance to the reform of Chinese film language.

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Not only should we intersperse color and black-and-white films, but we should also mix silent and sound films."

"You're just messing around. Old Song, you keep track of how much they took, both black and white and color. We'll make them return all the color copies," Director Xie Jin instructed the doorman.

Wei Ming didn't take the camera with him today; he just decided which one to use.

After leaving the warehouse, Xie Jin said, "How about this, I'll assign you another director."

Wei Ming: "No need, I'm the director and cinematographer."

"I'm worried you might damage the machine if you use it improperly. I'll send someone; you can just provide a meal."

"Who?"

“He is Zhang Jianya, a top student from the Film Academy, majoring in Directing in 78.”

"He."

"Oh, you know him?"

Wei Ming smiled and said, "I know almost everyone at the Film Academy, and Zhang Jianya is also a classmate of the groom, so he should have been invited."

Zhang Jianya's most famous and successful work is the film "Sanmao Joins the Army," which is considered a masterpiece of Chinese comic book adaptations. He has also directed commercial films such as "Desperate Situation" and "Emergency Landing," as well as historical dramas such as "The Reign of Zhenguan."

Later, he stopped directing and started making cameo appearances in various films and television dramas, such as Commander Cai in "Blossoms Shanghai".

However, throughout the 1980s, he was most famous as the husband of the famous actress Zhang Yu. Oh, later he became her ex-husband because she went abroad and left him.

After leaving the Shanghai Film Studio, Gong Xue was also going home. Her younger sister was getting married and needed her in every way, so she had become the backbone of the family.

Wei Ming said to the capable Sister Xue, "If you run into Sister Lin, just tell her I'm back. But Xiao Hong is with me, and my aunt from America is back too. They're quite a handful. I'm staying at No. 2 Jueyuan. If you miss me, come visit me."

"I don't miss you at all, let's go."

When Wei Ming got home, it was already afternoon. His aunt and nephew had also returned from outside. They had watched a movie, visited the Yu Garden Temple Fair, and bought some useful and useless things.

Wei Hong said, "The cinema said they won't be showing 'Shaolin Temple' until next month."

“It’ll be next month in a few days, it’ll be quick,” Wei Ming said. “Shall we continue digging for treasure?”

Wei Lingling stood up: "Let's go!"

The result was likely because the light bulb had never been replaced. After flickering a few times, the bulb burned out, leaving the area dark and unable to function.

Wei Ming went upstairs to get candles and matches.

Come on, let people light candles, and let ghosts blow out the lamps.

Wei Ming lit candles around the hole he had dug and continued digging.

Suddenly, one candle went out, then another, and soon only one candle remained.

Wei Ming quickly climbed out of the pit: "What happened?"

"I feel a breeze?"

"I don't know."

"what happened?"

Wei Ming couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine: "Is there someone else here?"

Why did three people answer "themselves"?
Lizhi quickly stood next to the last remaining candle: "Don't be afraid, there's another one of me. I'm Xiaoli."

Her face looked even paler under the light. She had solved the case. She sneaked into the house and stirred up a gust of wind, blowing out the candle.

"Couldn't you have said a word when you came in?" Wei Ming complained, sitting on the floor.

"I guessed you were digging for treasure, but you didn't dare to tell anyone," Lizhi said, burying her head in her chest with guilt.

Forgive her.

That's it for today's treasure hunt. We'll continue tomorrow, this time we'll change a lightbulb.

Upon reaching the first floor, the four of them stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Wei Hong sighed, "I really want to watch TV. I heard that CCTV has already started broadcasting 'Huo Yuanjia'."

"Who did you listen to?"

Wei Hong: "We saw people queuing up to buy TVs today. They said that the show will start airing on the first night of the Lunar New Year."

Wei Ming: "Why didn't you say so earlier? I'd go to the Friendship Store tomorrow and bring one back."

Wei Hong felt embarrassed: "Brother, isn't this too wasteful? We don't live here much."

Wei Ming: "I plan to stay until at least the tenth of the lunar month, I'll be staying for several more days, so I need to buy some things!"

The next day was the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Wei Ming changed the light bulb in the morning, and Wei Hong installed an imported color TV.

In the afternoon, Wei Ming grabbed two shovels and ran to the Shanghai Film Studio to pick up the equipment; he needed to get used to it beforehand.

Zhang Jianya was already waiting for him in the equipment room. He was originally an employee of the Shanghai Film Studio, so he was able to return to his original unit after studying at the Film Academy for four years.

Upon meeting him, he tightly grasped Wei Ming's hand to express his admiration. Although they had met before, he had never spoken to Wei Ming. He never expected that they would be able to cooperate today.

In addition to a domestically produced camera, they also received six rolls of Lucky black and white film and five rolls of color film from the Shanghai Film Photosensitive Factory.

Black and white is fifty yuan a roll, color is 100 yuan a roll, that's 800 yuan. The key is that the supply is tight. Wei Ming has to replenish the supply after he uses it, otherwise it may delay the filming.

Each roll can only be used to shoot 10 minutes of footage, meaning that a total of 100 minutes of footage can be shot. This means that Wei Ming cannot afford to waste too much footage and should try to keep the film length under 30 minutes. The ratio of scrap to unusable footage in a typical film is usually between 5:1 and 10:1.

He has been working on the details of the shoot these past two days in order to reduce the number of unusable shots.

After meeting with Zhang Jianya, Wei Ming told him about his filming ideas.

Zhang Jianya thought he was being asked to help as a director and cinematographer, but little did he know that Teacher Wei already had a plan in mind, and it sounded like he had a lot of ideas.

If this can really be implemented, I feel that the resulting film should be no worse than Tian Zhuangzhuang's "The Courtyard".

"Teacher Wei, I understand. So where do we go now?"

Wei Ming: "Let's go to the Peace Hotel first. I need to film some footage of the groom at work. By the way, could you please let us bring another set of lights and a light shield?"

Wei Ming planned to direct the camera himself and have Zhang Jianya handle the lighting. Since Zhang Jianya was studying directing, he would definitely know about lighting, and if he didn't, Wei Ming could teach him.

Zhang Jianya felt somewhat isolated and helpless, but Wei Ming said, "It's alright, we can have Gong Xue assist us if necessary."

"what?"

……

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(End of this chapter)