Reborn in the Chinese Entertainment Industry: You're a Director, But You're a Casanova?

"Jiang Wen, with his overflowing hormones, playing a cowardly young master? That's such a contrast!"

"Yes, that's the greatest sense of absurdity."

"Do you remember when we were making 'Farewell My Concubine,' Jiang Wen was actually planning to play Cheng Dieyi?"

The two elders in the back row exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.

"That's true, I really can't imagine what he would be like as Cheng Dieyi."

"This play needs to have this kind of contrast."

"In the play, Jiang Wen relied on his big star status to portray the cowardly young master as a bandit leader. When rehearsing the scene where Zhou Ping commits suicide, he thought the prop gun was too fake, so he directly pulled out a real one from his bag."

Liu Yuehua imitated Jiang Wen's tone in a fake manner.

"He was holding a real gun and mocking the audience. A few years ago, he was filming a ridiculous movie about losing a gun with a guy surnamed Lu in Guizhou."

"That bastard was so scared he wet his pants. I secretly traded a fake gun for a real one."

"How can you portray the fear of death without a real weapon pressed against your head?"

The carriage fell silent; Feng Gong and Niu Qun were completely dumbfounded.

"Are you not going to let the Lu family father and son off the hook, either on or off screen?"

"You still want Jiang Wen to bring up the matter of 'The Missing Gun'? Everyone in the industry knows that 'The Missing Gun' was actually adapted and filmed by the domineering actor Jiang Wen himself."

"Lu Chuan was indeed terrified and cried at the scene. If you let Jiang Wen say this on stage, it would be like killing him and destroying his spirit."

"And Fanyi from 'Thunderstorm' is also the second female lead in our play."

"This character needs to be charming and passionate, but I don't know much about that. I'm what you'd call a virgin."

"I still need my master's help to find a suitable role. In the end, I'll have to pretend to fight Jiang Wen on stage. I can't accept a girl who's too shy."

"Did I hear that right? Yuehua? You're going to do it on the stage for real? Do you want to be blacklisted in China?"

"Oh dear, we're just filming a movie, why are you taking it so seriously, Master?"

"You can't just do whatever you want when filming. There are always some mentally sensitive, self-castrated eunuchs who might think it's a satire of them. What if they take it seriously?"

"Alright, alright, we'll see how things go. Jiang Wen shouldn't be the type to really fight."

"Are you implying there's something more to it than just real fighting?" Feng Gong was somewhat skeptical. Could there really be actors with such poor manners?

"Well……"

Niu Qun interrupted in time when he saw this.

"And the last film critic? Male or female?"

"If they're planning to cast a man named something like Tianming or Mingtian, that would be even more ironic."

"That seems a bit too direct."

"You already told Jiang Wen to say the director's surname is Lu, do you still think saying 'Tianming' or 'Mingtian' is too direct?"

"How about this, what do you guys think of Teacher Li Mingqi?"

"Is it Rong Momo? Why did you choose her?"

"Her character is obviously a bad guy, which gives people a preconceived notion."

"The character in the play can be named Li Qiming or Li Tianming, which sounds similar to the name of Grandpa Lu, but it feels like Li Mingqi's own pseudonym, making it impossible for Grandpa Lu to find an excuse to scold him."

"That seems interesting, and he's also a film critic and playwright."

"The one who holds the pen handle can kill someone with a pen anytime, anywhere. It's so similar."

The main characters were mostly settled, and the two people in the back row nodded in agreement.

They understood; Liu Yuehua still hadn't let go.

On the surface, this film is supposed to be an exploration of the art of performance, but in reality, it is another sarcastic and ironic slap in the face by Liu Yuehua, who wants to tear the hypocritical masks of Lu Chuan and the entire Beijing circle to shreds.

"Not only the script and lines, but also the audiovisual language of this play, I want to make it the best in the world."

Liu Yuehua then began serving the final, main course.

"I won't cut the shots; I'll use a one-shot filming technique. I'll personally carry the camera and move around the theater, filming from beginning to end."

Niu Qun was still wondering when Feng Gong couldn't help but laugh.

"Yuehua, I'm not making fun of you."

"You've been with me for so many years, how many times have you actually touched a camera?"

"You've been in university for over a year now, have you attended a single class?"

"You're going to carry the camera yourself? You probably don't even know what each button does!"

"I remember, you personally directed 'Perfect Strangers,' right?"

"You just turned on the video recorder, put it there, and recorded for two hours."

Liu Yuehua's face immediately turned red.

"How can directing be attributed to not knowing how to use a camera? What do you comedians know?"

They started talking in incomprehensible terms like Steadicam and orbital zoom, which made the two of them burst into laughter.

The car was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"That's not a problem. I'll take some extra lessons and find someone to teach me. If all else fails, I'll just edit it into a fake one-shot film."

"Of course, the most important thing is that I'm strong enough to withstand the camera."

"I can confidently say that no one in the world can carry this camera for a whole day."

"Alright, alright, you can practice it later. If it really doesn't work, I can ask someone from the troupe to come over."

"If that doesn't work, go find your teacher Tian, ​​or ask Gu Changwei or someone else."

Liu Yuehua coughed.

"Alright, alright, let's talk about the climax and the ending."

"One of the climaxes of the film is also the last rehearsal before the play's official premiere, and there is a climax in it."

"Master, you were smoking in the back alley when you accidentally locked yourself out of the door and your clothes got caught in it. Now it's your turn to perform on stage."

"I have no choice but to strip down to just a pair of bright red thermal underwear, and I'll be following you with a camera."

"You walk barefoot and shirtless through the bustling Wangfujing and Nanluoguxiang streets, and we take pictures wherever there are the most people."

"You have to run all the way back to the stage, through hundreds and thousands of tourists taking pictures of you and laughing at you for being crazy and going mad on the Spring Festival Gala stage."

Feng Gong's expression changed instantly.

Running naked in the streets of Beijing wearing red long johns—that completely shattered the dignity of an old artist like me, throwing it on the ground and trampling it underfoot.

He hesitated. For someone who cherishes his reputation, this psychological barrier was harder than climbing to heaven.

"Yuehua, tell me honestly, did you change this at the last minute?"

"Just because I made fun of you for not knowing how to film, right?"

Liu Yuehua noticed Feng Gong's hesitation. He knew that simply subverting his image was not enough; he had to paint a grand, unattainable picture.

"Master, that's not true. How could I possibly trouble you like this?"

"Just flip through the pages; it's all written in the script."

Niu Qun flipped through two pages and exclaimed, "Hey, it's true! That brat wasn't lying to you."

Liu Yuehua's voice lowered.

"If you want to obediently cater to those old fogies in China, then we won't make this film. But you should know that compromise will never earn their respect."

(Unexpectedly, QReader is also online, but it seems I can't see my author's comments.)