dkrc Chapter 83 Collaboration of Comedy Masters
Chapter 83 Collaboration of Comedy Masters
Chapter 82 Collaboration of Comedy Masters
With almost no buffer time, Zhang Jun immediately got into work mode.
In the original film, the characters' names were the actors' own names, although Zhang Jun changed them slightly. Uncle Benshan played Guang Kun, Fan Wei played Liu Neng, and Liu Peiqi played Zhao Si.
Upon seeing the character's name, Uncle Benshan remarked, "Isn't this the same name as a character in our Benshan Media's upcoming 'Country Love' series?"
Fan Wei also chimed in with a complaint: "This name was already used in 'Little Miss Sunshine.' As long as the filming location is in Northeast China, it'll probably be one of those names."
"Yeah?"
Uncle Benshan smirked: "Could it be that great minds think alike?"
"Possibly!"
Besides the three main actors, there are many minor roles in the film. At Uncle Benshan's suggestion, Zhang Jun basically chose to have artists from Benshan Media play these roles.
Uncle Benshan has done quite well, securing opportunities for his apprentices to act in movies, even if their roles are small.
After he returned, he told his apprentices, "Our company is investing in this film, and the director is Zhang Jun. You must make the most of this opportunity."
The subtext is clear: Zhang Jun will not interfere with whoever he values.
Meanwhile, Gao Yuanyuan, who was doing a brand endorsement event in Shanghai, called after learning that Zhang Jun had gone to film a new movie.
"Are there any suitable roles for me in the new movie?"
"No,"
Zhang Jun answered bluntly: "The main cast this time consists of three old men. What are you doing here? Playing the village belle?"
Gao Yuanyuan laughed and said, "I can play any role as long as you have a request."
"Come on, you're a national goddess now, adored by countless men. I heard that a coal mine owner spent a fortune just to have a meal with you," Zhang Jun teased.
What he said is true.
Since "About Time," Gao Yuanyuan's fame has soared, and she has also made many men aware of her charm.
Previously, at a charity gala, a coal mine owner donated five million yuan just to deepen his relationship with Gao Yuanyuan.
However, while Gao Yuanyuan enjoyed the adulation, she did not agree to the coal mine owner's offer. He seemed determined to appear whenever Gao Yuanyuan was in public.
Gao Yuanyuan was also helpless, complaining on the phone: "Don't even mention it, it's so annoying, like a fly."
"That's a good thing, it means you're popular."
Zhang Jun suggested, "Why don't you just give in to her and become a coal mine owner's wife worth billions? That's much better than your miserable acting career."
"Get lost! You're the one who should give in to him!"
Gao Yuanyuan said angrily, "I'm not talking to you anymore. You never say anything serious. I'm hanging up."
Zhang Jun smiled and went back to his work.
"Sherlock on the Plains" required almost no pre-production preparation. After the three lead actors had familiarized themselves with the script for a week, Zhang Jun took them to the rural areas of the Northeast Plain for filming.
With Uncle Benshan, a local bigwig, on board, the filming went very smoothly, with almost no major problems.
Although the artists from Benshan Media didn't have much acting experience, fortunately their roles weren't demanding, so it didn't take up too much of Zhang Jun's energy.
At this time, Uncle Benshan did not hold an apprenticeship ceremony, but there were already many disciples, making it seem somewhat chaotic.
So Zhang Jun said to Uncle Benshan, "Uncle Benshan, the order of your disciples is a bit chaotic, and they can't distinguish between senior and junior disciples."
As the saying goes, "Without rules, there can be no order." Why don't you hold a formal apprenticeship ceremony, set rules and hierarchy, and create a Zhao Family Troupe?
Uncle Benshan's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea, I need to think about it."
He said to Zhang Jun, "Director Zhang, thank you for your suggestion. You must come to the apprenticeship ceremony!"
"If I have time, I will definitely come!" Zhang Jun said.
The filming of "Sherlock on the Plains" went smoothly. The three lead actors were experienced and had excellent acting skills, which saved Zhang Jun a lot of trouble.
Uncle Benshan and Fan Wei often improvised, adding impromptu lines and on-the-spot performances, which made the comedic scenes in the whole play even better.
Of course, Zhang Jun also managed to maintain a good balance, preventing the film from becoming a skit and preserving the quality of a movie.
Besides that, what amazed Uncle Benshan the most was Zhang Jun's camerawork skills. Under Zhang Jun's direction, the vast and boundless Northeast Plain, with its bountiful harvest, was vividly displayed.
After a shoot, he said to Zhang Jun, "I have seen many works on rural themes, most of which show the low quality of rural people and the dirty and chaotic conditions."
But with this film, I found a different feeling.
Zhang Jun said, "When I was attending the Cannes Film Festival in France, I met a European investor who wanted me to make a film that showed the hardships of life in rural China and the depravity of human nature."
"What did you say?" Uncle Benshan asked curiously.
Zhang Jun said, "Of course I agreed, after all, it's on their turf. After I came back, I planned to film this 'Sherlock on the Plains'."
I want to tell foreigners that people in rural areas may be stupid or ridiculous.
But they are hardworking, simple, and resilient, and they believe in human relationships. These are qualities that people in modern metropolises are gradually losing, and I wanted to capture them on film.
After listening to Zhang Jun's words, Uncle Benshan remained silent for a while, then patted Zhang Jun on the shoulder.
"Well said, Xiao Zhang. I have even higher expectations for this film."
Inviting Uncle Benshan to act in this film was absolutely a brilliant idea, especially paired with Fan Wei. The two of them can often use the simplest language to convey profound truths in comedic scenes without causing offense.
During the filming of "Sherlock on the Plains", Jackie Chan's "The Myth" was released on September 23.
At this point, "About Time" had already grossed 8836 million yuan, heading towards the 90 million yuan mark.
However, at the current pace, it's basically impossible for the film to break 100 million at the box office.
But this result is enough to satisfy everyone.
Zhang Jun's career box office total has reached 1.3 million yuan, surpassing many film directors in an instant with just two films, and his total box office ranking has risen sharply.
Popular Cinema magazine published a special report, stating that the era of commercialism has arrived and winning awards is no longer the mainstream.
As a popular director like Zhang Jun, he naturally wouldn't be overlooked by the media, with many outlets eager to interview this rising star.
However, Zhang Jun kept a low profile and rarely accepted interviews during the filming of the movie, only giving a brief interview to YTV6's "China Movie Report".
In the interview, Zhang Jun reiterated why he decided to make movies.
"I've always longed for the stars since I was little, and I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. After watching all sorts of science fiction movies, I thought, if I can't go to space, I can still fulfill my dream with my own camera."
Zhang Jun explained again why he didn't study directing.
"The main reason is that the Beijing Film Academy's directing department didn't have any enrollment plans back then, and even if you could get into Tsinghua University, your parents probably wouldn't agree to you studying an art major."
After the interview was released, it sparked another round of heated discussions online, especially among the directing department of Beijing Film Academy.
Some say the directing program at Beijing Film Academy has high entry requirements, even harder to get into than Tsinghua University. But others say the requirements aren't actually that high, it's just that there are fewer openings.
Of course, there are also doubts, such as some people saying that the directing department of Beijing Film Academy does not teach anything substantial.
A person claiming to be a graduate of the directing department of Beijing Film Academy posted online: "The threshold for the directing department of Beijing Film Academy is indeed very high, but this threshold does not depend on your grades and talent, but on your connections."
Simply put, if you have connections in your family, you can get in.
It's okay, you just can't get in—"
This post caused a huge stir, quickly getting hundreds of replies, with various examples of teachers' misconduct during art exams emerging.
There are countless examples of people using connections and backdoors to get things done.
However, the online public opinion did not spread to reality, and art schools such as Beijing Film Academy and Central Academy of Drama continued to operate as usual.
Netizens just hurl a few insults; there's nothing they can do about it.
But from then on, the name Zhang Jun became the name that all art schools, especially the Beijing Film Academy, least wanted to hear.
His existence is a slap in the face, proving that there are loopholes in the training system of art colleges such as Beijing Film Academy.
How could they possibly have loopholes? There must be something wrong with Zhang Jun.
However, the problem now is that Zhang Jun does indeed have issues. Zhang Jun's problem is that he has no background or connections, nor does he come from a family with a strong academic background, yet he is still incredibly capable.
The suspicion of using proxy photographers has long been cleared. After all, so many actors have worked with Zhang Jun, it's impossible that none of them noticed or were bribed by Zhang Jun.
Therefore, this only proves one thing: Zhang Jun is indeed capable and talented.
This person doesn't have an art background, yet he does better than many art students. Isn't that a slap in the face to art students?
Fortunately, artists generally share a common characteristic: their bottom line is pitifully low.
Once people accept the fact that Zhang Jun is talented and capable, they are not so upset anymore, and they might even voluntarily classify Zhang Jun as an art student.
Although Zhang Jun graduated from the Department of Astronomy, astronomical observation is also an art.
At the end of the interview, the reporter asked, "You entered the film and television industry because of science fiction films. Will you make science fiction films in the future?"
It is well known that science fiction films have always been a weak point for Chinese-language cinema, with almost no notable works.
Therefore, Zhang Jun did not give a clear answer, but only said: "The conditions for Chinese-language films to make science fiction films are not yet mature, but perhaps there will be opportunities in the future."
That's the truth. The total market volume of Chinese-language films in a year might not even be enough to make one science fiction film. Without a mature production line, the cost would be much higher.
But you should always have dreams, what if they come true!
On September 30th, on the eve of National Day, Ning Hao's film "Crazy Stone" was released.
At that time, the concept of the National Day holiday film season had not yet become popular, but Cheng Lung's films did achieve good results when released during this period.
The director and actors in the movie "Crazy Stone" are not big names, some of them are even unknowns. Therefore, the biggest selling point is actually Zhang Jun, the producer.
On the movie theater posters, Zhang Jun's name was more prominent than everyone else's, as if afraid the audience wouldn't see it.
And I must say, it really works.
Because Zhang Jun has always been a hot topic, many viewers have a very good impression of him, and movies with his name on them, even if they are not directed by him, can still attract a portion of the audience.
This proves one thing: Zhang Jun's name has already begun to have box office appeal, which is an essential foundation for becoming a top director.