Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 42 New Challenges and Jiang Wen
Return to the capital and continue filming.

The heroine of "Ten Years" was still chosen from students, and Zhang Tong from Class 96 of the Central Academy of Drama was finally chosen.

Because no one else has the treasure chest except her.

The entry for this girl’s green treasure chest is very simple, it says: I want to be the heroine.

Take it easily.

It is worth mentioning that Zhang Tong’s classmate Zeng Li also came to audition with her.

This woman, who was said to be a beauty of two hundred years, finally revealed her true appearance in front of Lu Jiang.

She is indeed good-looking, tall and with long legs, and her looks have a very striking impact like a young lady in blue.

But judging from Lu Jiang's current level, this face is indeed not suitable for the big screen, it is a bit too long.

After selecting Zhang Tong, a MV will drop from the treasure chest: "The Shepherd of Keketuohai".

It's a good song, and it could be used on the next album. Lu Jiang is also wondering if this has something to do with Zhang Tong being from XJ.
For the sake of convenience, the filming location of "Ten Years" was located on the campus of the Central Academy of Drama. During the filming, the class teacher and Director Liu from the directing department came to the set.

As Lu Jiang is the most popular graduate of this year's college directing department, it is natural for them to come and see the graduation project.

Lu Jiang didn't hide anything and directly showed them the script and storyboard of "Not Drunk".

Then I received continuous praise from Director Liu, who said that the script was very good.

Then we started talking about direct admission to undergraduate studies.

Lu Jiang just said to wait until the filming is finished.

After Director Liu left, Gao Xixi, who had not been heard from for many days, finally brought news from Beijing Film Academy.

"Xiao Jiang, let's meet my teacher tomorrow night."

That night, Lu Jiang went to Teacher Gao Xixi's home with Gao Xixi.

On the way, Lu Jiang found out that Gao Xixi's teacher was actually Situ Zhaodun.

This big shot was once the director of the directing department of Beijing Film Academy and the head teacher of the 78 class of the directing department of Beijing Film Academy.

In other words, famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, the great poet, and Tian Zhuangzhuang are all his students.

However, compared to this, his identity as the grandson of Situ Meitang is even more famous.

After opening the door, Lu Jiang saw a tall man in his sixties welcoming him warmly.

"Here I am, this must be Lu Jiang."

"Hello, Teacher Situ."

"Okay, come in."

After entering the house, have some tea first.

During the brief conversation, Lu Jiang learned that Situ Zhaodun was now starting a new career. Last year, Beijing Film Academy opened a documentary major, and he was the main person in charge.

Shooting documentaries is much harder than filming TV series and movies, because the core of documentaries is truth. Since it is true, it must be shot on location and based on facts.

A few days ago, he had just taken a group of students to shoot a film about the Spring Festival travel rush and Spring Festival-related topics. They traveled to six provinces and spent New Year's Eve outside. They only came back yesterday.

This is also the reason why there has been no news about Gao Xixi for so many days.

After drinking a pot of tea, the topic turned to Lu Jiang's "Not Drunk".

Situ Zhaodun first asked how to achieve a sixteen-minute one-shot shoot.

"Your exploded diagram shows many shots switching between first-person and third-person perspectives in confined spaces. You should know that with current technology, these shots can only be achieved through editing, and it is very difficult to achieve them in a single shot. Why did you make it so difficult?"

Situ Zhaodun frowned and looked quite serious.

What he was talking about was the scene in "Not Drunk". In the previous second, the camera was shooting the back of Huang Bo's head, and in the next second, the camera turned 180 degrees to shoot Huang Bo's face, and then turned 180 degrees again to shoot from Huang Bo's perspective, which is the perspective of "a camera on the head" in later generations. The protagonist's two hands can also be stretched out from behind the camera, giving a complete first-person perspective.

This type of lens became easy to produce in later generations because photographic equipment had become miniaturized.

It can actually be achieved nowadays, and it is not difficult. Just shoot in segments and edit it in the later stage.

But now Lu Jiang wants to shoot the whole thing in one shot, and in a small space, which is very difficult.

Situ Zhaodun really wanted to know whether Lu Jiang came up with this idea on the spur of the moment and ultimately failed to realize it, or whether he had carefully considered it and was confident in his ideas.

Lu Jiang didn't keep anyone in suspense and explained the solution in detail according to the storyboard.

Huang Bo used a Steadicam stabilizer + digital camera for the filming.

The entire set of equipment is mounted on one person, the weight is acceptable and the operation is easy. Huang Bo almost controlled the camera himself throughout the entire process.

This type of shooting will be easier to achieve if you have more time.

A mobile phone and a small handheld stabilizer are all you need.

But it was 99 after all, and digital cameras alone were not feasible.

Using a film camera is too big and heavy to be done by one person alone.

Fortunately, Gold Finger also provides some tips and solutions. These solutions may not be worth mentioning ten years later, but they represent "innovation" now.

With the help of these innovative technologies, Lu Jiang can now use Huang Bo's method for a small part, and use the traditional third-person camera method to shoot the rest.

The former is used for first-person perspective and small space shooting to achieve the ultimate restoration effect, while the latter is responsible for most of the other shots.

Of course, this will also bring about the problem of manual and single-person equipment transfer.

Lu Jiang has also arranged the nodes for this.

That is to say, in certain shots, equipment conversion is achieved manually.

Overall, it is still very difficult and involves a lot of scheduling and rehearsal work.

But the visual effect of the shooting will be very good.

It can highlight the movie's one-shot and first-person perspective as much as possible.

After hearing this, Situ Zhaodun became more optimistic about Lu Jiang.

Experimental films like this one require the director to explore his personal artistic style or production techniques.

It is quite remarkable that Lu Jiang is now brave enough to try new things in production technology and has achieved innovative results.

He even thought that if the final effect of the film was really good, he would dare to submit it to the three major European film festivals. Maybe he could win an award just by shooting it in one shot!
But before that, there is still a problem that needs to be solved.

After discussing the production issues, Situ Zhaodun directly suggested: "It's a bit of a waste to use a single shot for this kind of theme. You should think of a way to further simplify and elevate the theme of the script."

"Streamlining and sublimation?" "Yes, your current script, with exposed thighs, money stuffed in bras, and drinking, drinking, drinking, is a bit exaggerated. This is not to say it is bad, and I am not a conservative person, but it lacks some substance after all.

I see that you also intentionally explored deeper things, such as wealth, class, youth, friends, suffering, five boxes and five small worlds. Overall, it is definitely better than your MV plots, but you didn't explore them deeply enough. You wanted everything, but ended up doing nothing well.

My suggestion is that you focus on one theme, such as class or life, and then develop the five or four boxes around this theme, making the different stages more detailed and then presenting them in one shot."

After listening to it, Lu Jiang's first reaction was Mayday's "Cheers" MV.

I can’t remember the specific details now, but when I first saw it, I was really moved.

The second thing that comes to mind is another short film about class, but I can't remember it clearly either.

Gao Xixi then helped out by saying, "But this is an MV after all, we have to take care of the general audience."

"I'm talking about a short film, not an MV?" Situ Zhaodun frowned and told Gao Xixi to shut up.

Then he looked at Lu Jiang again, his expression turning gentle again: "Are you thinking that this change doesn't match the original song? Haha, if you insist on making it into an MV, I won't stop you, but I still suggest that you don't shoot it as an MV. Don't be restricted by the song and your status as a singer. Just shoot it as a short film and make it worthy of being a movie. What do you think? Do you have the courage to give it a try?"

Situ Zhaodun looked at Lu Jiang with a smile.

At the same time, a green treasure chest popped up above his head:
Situ Zhaodun hopes Lu Jiang will determine his career direction, accept challenges, and create a new script that satisfies him.

【Exceeding the requirements, the treasure chest can be upgraded】

Gao Xixi, who was standing by, also had encouragement in her eyes.

Lu Jiang felt emotional about this.

As expected, Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama are very different.

After the director of the directing department of the Central Academy of Drama read the script, he just said "OK, OK", and that was it.

This guy from Beijing Film Academy went straight for the intensity.

Although this does not fully represent the teaching attitude of Beijing Film Academy.

But at the very least, the fact that people give such advice shows that they really have confidence in themselves and hope that they can make greater progress in their career as a director.

In this regard, Lu Jiang is of course willing to accept the challenge

After all, I was meant to be a director.

As for the difficulty?
Lu Jiang knew it was difficult.

Because there are no gold finger works to refer to.

So this is the first time since I traveled through time that I have done my homework seriously on my own.

It’s scary to think that a idiot wants to show off in front of the big boss.

Fortunately, his screenwriting skills in the past were not that outstanding, as he had only made melodramatic films, which made this challenge less stressful.

Furthermore, the script will need to be adapted in order to ensure its authenticity.

Might as well start from this time.

"Okay, let me give it a try!"

"Well, that's great. I'll give you three days. Turn in your homework here at 11:8 AM on the th. No waiting after you've made it!"

"Row!"

Lu Jiang and Gao Xixi sat for a while and then said goodbye and left.

Not long after, a new visitor came to Situ Zhaodun's house.

"Lao Zhao, why didn't you tell me you were back? I bought some new tea. What kind? It smells really good."

Jiang Wen walked in carelessly, put down the fruits he had bought from the shop downstairs, and then sat down on the main seat at the tea table, making tea by himself, as if he was back home.

Situ Zhaodun had long been accustomed to Jiang Wen's bandit-like demeanor, and didn't care. He simply asked directly, "If you have to fart, just fart."

"I can't come visit if I have nothing to do?"

Jiang Wen's face was slightly embarrassed. He did have a purpose for coming here today.

"The Devils" has just been completed and is currently in post-production, but some people say that this film is a bit dangerous.

So he wanted to find a big boss to advise him.

But before he could speak, Situ Zhaodun pointed at the script on the tea table and said, "Take a look at this script and give your opinion."

Jiang Wen had no choice but to swallow his words for the time being and open the script.

Then he quickly shook his head. "2B Youth: The Unintoxicated Life? What do you mean by 2B? Is this a script by your students? Students are pretty naughty these days."

"how do you feel?"

"good."

"Look carefully, it's a one-shot shot!"

"One shot to the end?"

Jiang Wen was stunned at first, then he carefully read the storyboard again. This time, he finally became interested. "It's interesting, but how can we shoot it? We don't have the conditions in the mainland. What's going on? Beijing Film Academy got new equipment. When did it arrive? Can you lend it to me for a few days?"

"They have their own folk methods."

"Who is so awesome?"

"Lu Jiang."

"Which Lu Jiang, the one singing?"

"Who else is there?"

Situ Zhaodun then explained the content of the conversation just now.

Jiang Wen listened with great interest.

"If you're interested, you can come and see it on the 11th."

"I'm not interested, but I'm not in the mood. I'm annoyed right now."

"What's wrong."

"Well, what else can it be? It's about my movie."

(End of this chapter)