HuaYu: A Great Director Starting with Dream of the Red Chamber

The interior scene is set in a residential area near Taoranting Park.

It's a new development from 04; the houses are quite large and have excellent natural light.

Li Yan did not rent a photography studio.

the reason is simple.

It has a human touch and a lively, down-to-earth feel.

Most importantly, it's free!

The title of producer was changed.

Because this is Ding Xiaoxiao's house.

……

Inside the study, the morning sun shone brightly, but the atmosphere was somewhat subtle.

"This is utter nonsense!"

Zhao Gang slammed the budget sheet on the table, pointed at Li Yan who was adjusting the lights, and yelled at Zhang Qiang:

"Why rent a house instead of using a studio? Using cameras as equipment is one thing, but the director is going to direct and act in everything? You're just trying to fool us!"

Zhao Gang had been harboring resentment ever since he made the proposal.

He was the head of Canon's marketing department, subordinate to the Chinese manager.

They had a long-standing relationship with Huang Jiawei of Ogilvy, and they had already pre-arranged to give this order to Ogilvy, with the kickbacks almost finalized.

Who knew that even a cooked duck could fly away? That old devil Yamada was actually fooled by this small company!

He's been nitpicking these past few days.

As long as we get rid of this shoddy team, we can bring Ogilvy back to save the day.

"No monitors, no tracks, not even a focus puller!"

Zhao Gang slammed his hand on the table, sneering repeatedly:

"This is the professional team you've been touting? I'm calling Manager Yamada right now and they have to stop!"

Zhang Qiang and Wang Hao looked grim and wanted to explain.

It's perfectly normal for the client to send someone to supervise the filming.

Domestic film crews sometimes deliberately use "Action" instead of "Start" when the client arrives, in order to highlight their internationalization and professionalism.

However, Zhao Gang's constant surveillance from beginning to end was a bit excessive.

Li Yan lowered his rolled-up sleeves, a little impatiently, "Let him hit me."

To fit the role of a man who had lost his wife, he stayed up all night, resulting in dark circles under his eyes, a messy stubble, and a wrinkled suit that made him look particularly disheveled.

I was also extremely irritable.

Li Yan walked up to Zhao Gang, not indulging his bad habits at all:

"Manager Zhao, it's your prerogative to give a report, but this is my film set. You either shut up and watch, or get out and get beaten up."

"You...you dare talk to me like that? I'm the client's representative!"

"A representative from Party A?" Li Yan scoffed. "Anyone who didn't know better would think you were a representative from Ogilvy."

Wang Hao had discussed the ins and outs of this matter with them quite a bit, and everyone present understood it without saying a word.

Zhao Gang's face stiffened, but he forced himself to remain calm: "Don't you dare make false accusations!"

"Whether it is or not, you know it in your heart."

Li Yan was too lazy to waste words with him, so he turned around and walked to the center of the field:

"Li Yong, don't move the light position. We need this kind of natural light. I won't be able to see the screen for a while, so the focus will depend entirely on your feel for it. Pay attention."

"Don't worry, Director Li, we'll keep a close eye on him!" Li Yong said, holding the stabilizer with the "Canon 5D Mark II" installed, his expression focused.

Just as Zhao Gang was about to continue finding fault, the outer door was suddenly pushed open.

Yang Mi walked in, wearing a camel-colored trench coat and with her long hair draped over her shoulders.

Seeing that it was her, Li Yan finally managed a slight smile: "Why are you only arriving now?"

"I just happened to run into Teacher Li, and we came here together."

Yang Mi stepped aside, making way for the sprightly old man in his sixties behind her.

Li Guangfu, a veteran actor of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

That's Zheng Xipo from Dafeng Factory, who later appeared in "In the Name of the People".

Originally, Li Yan wanted to invite his teacher Guo Fumin to play the role of his father.

As a result, the teacher said that he only had theory but no practice, so he immediately invited a big name from the Beijing People's Art Theatre to help him.

Li Yan quickly went to greet him: "Teacher Li, thank you for coming all this way, you've really gone to a lot of trouble."

Li Guangfu waved his hand cheerfully and raised the script in his hand:

"Xiao Li, right? Don't be so polite with me. Lao Guo praised you to me, and I didn't quite believe it at first, but when I received the script and looked at it, wow, it's really impressive! You put a lot of effort into it!"

Experts know the intricacies.

Li Yan's script is quite different from those in China; it was written according to Hollywood's standard format.

Scenes, actions, characters, dialogue, descriptions, transitions, camera angles... all are concise, clear, and easy to understand.

Although actors at the Beijing People's Art Theatre don't earn much money, they're not short of money either.

Given Li Yan's style and the fact that the script was quite good, he had a reason to mentor younger generations.

The cast includes veteran actors from the Beijing People's Art Theatre, plus Yang Mi, a rising starlet.

Zhao Gang didn't know what else to say for the time being, and could only mutter resentfully:

"Hiring even the biggest stars won't help. With this makeshift team, what good can they possibly produce? Isn't this just ruining their reputation?"

Yang Mi was about to explode when she heard that.

She had to negotiate with Li Shaohong to get Rong Xinda on two shows that promoted new talents, and she was still holding a grudge.

She raised her eyebrows, ready to retort.

Li Yan quickly stopped him: "Whether we can get a good shot or not, we'll have to see the results in person. We're already here, let's try one take and we'll know."

Li Guangfu, being an experienced and shrewd man, had seen it all. He glanced at Zhao Gang, then sat down with a smile.

"Well, we'll see what it's really like, Li. If the filming isn't good, I'll have to talk to Guo Degang about it!"

With his intervention, the situation finally eased somewhat.

Li Yan didn't say anything more, took a deep breath, and walked to the desk to sit down.

Close your eyes and adjust your breathing.

When he opened his eyes again, he was a man who had just lost his beloved wife and was immersed in grief.

His back was hunched, his eyes filled with despair, like an empty shell.

"Quiet."

"One scene, one shot."

"start!"

This scene depicts the male protagonist sorting through his wife's belongings.

There are no lines; it's all internal monologue.

Li Yong held his breath and slowly advanced the stabilizer.

The camera lens cuts through the dust motes dancing in the sunlight, sweeps across the scattered photo frames on the table, and finally lands on Li Yan's hand.

He carefully stroked the camera in his hand.

Very light, very slow.

Suddenly, he stopped moving.

The camera pans up for a close-up of the face.

As if recalling some past event, his Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. He wanted to laugh, but it looked worse than crying.

Immediately afterwards, a huge, silent tide of grief surged forth.

His eyes visibly reddened quickly, tears welling up, yet he stubbornly held them back.

"Click!"

The scene was completely silent.

Even Zhao Gang, who had been looking for trouble, didn't know what to say at this moment.

As soon as he called a halt, Li Yan immediately composed himself, stood up, and instructed Li Yong to connect the monitor:

"Let's see how it goes."

The screen lights up.

The advantages of the 5D Mark II's full-frame sensor were fully utilized.

The sunlight outside the window shone on Li Yan's profile, and with the reflector and the backlighting added from behind, it was the perfect Rembrandt lighting.

The close-up of the reddened eyes, in particular, is full of narrative tension and cinematic quality.

Zhao Gang pointed at the screen, his voice a little hoarse: "This...was taken with a camera?"

Having seen a lot, he's become quite knowledgeable in the field.

Handheld, natural light, straight out of the camera!

He knew all too well what it meant to achieve such a cinematic effect.

He glanced again at the photography assistant who was carrying equipment and shooting behind-the-scenes footage.

He knew that with this footage available, nothing he said would make a difference.

Ogilvy is completely finished.

Li Yan turned her head and looked at him with a half-smile:

"Manager Zhao, should we call Department Head Yamada again? Should I give you his number?"

Zhao Gang forced an awkward smile. "No...no need."

Zhang Qiang, who hadn't said a word, walked over with a keen eye.

He put his arm around Zhao Gang's shoulder, laughing warmly as if they were old friends.

"Oh, Manager Zhao is just trying to be responsible for the project, we understand!"

"Come on, come on, it's too crowded and stuffy here. Let's go out for a smoke, and maybe we can talk about the budget later..."