Huayu started by giving the system to female stars

Chapter 256 255. "Crossing Guandong" and "Going West"

"Director Kong, how are you? Are you used to staying here?"

Kong Sheng quickly stood up, respectfully took the teacup, casually placed it on the tea table in front of him, and replied with a smile:

"I am used to it. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Wei."

Wei Wu nodded slightly: "That's good. Director Kong has been in Jinan for many years. It will take some time to adapt to coming to Yanjing to work suddenly.

"You can tell me any needs here, whether in work or life. I will definitely help solve them. If they cannot be solved immediately, I will also help you find a solution. "

As long as the hoe is used well, there is no corner that cannot be dug down?

The public relations company that Wei Wu hired with a lot of money did not disappoint him.

The second TV drama director besides Guo Jinyu, the first TV drama director in the previous life, Kong Sheng, was finally poached.

As the saying goes, money makes the devil work. Kong Sheng was poached together with his old partners Li Xing, Sun Molong, Jian Chuanzhi and Zhang Yongxin.

The old team of Noon Sunshine in the previous life was basically wiped out by Wei Wu!

There was even an additional Zhang Yongxin. You should know that he stayed in Shanying in the later life and did not follow the big team to jump to Noon Sunshine.

But this is a different time. At that time, Zhang Yongxin stayed because he had made certain achievements and Shanying still valued him.

But now the situation is very different. Shanying has never used him, so he naturally has no reason to be loyal alone!

Kong Sheng said excitedly: "Okay, Mr. Wei, thank you for your trouble. "

He saw that Wei Wu's tone was so sincere, and it should not be a polite remark, so he was still very grateful in his heart.

Although he didn't know what he had done to deserve Wei Wu's attention? But at least he fully felt Wei Wu's attitude of respecting the wise and humble.

The two of them drank tea and exchanged pleasantries for a while, and Kong Ran finally stated his purpose:

"Mr. Wei, I came here today to talk to you about the script you gave me before - "Going West". ”

Originally, before Kong Chang and his group were poached, Wei Wu was supposed to direct the second drama "The Hidden".

However, since Kong Chang and his group had been poached, Wei Wu changed his mind temporarily. He decided not to shoot "The Hidden" first, but to shoot "Going West" instead.

Normally, the Douban score of "Going West" is 7.6, which is very good, but not particularly outstanding. So why did Wei Wu suddenly want to shoot this drama?

The reason is very simple, because this drama was the annual ratings champion in 2009.

That's the annual revenue champion, no joke.

Even the super popular dramas such as "Kangxi Dynasty", "Bright Sword", "Soldier Assault" and "Crossing Guandong" have only won the annual ratings runner-up, and they are still a breath away from the championship.

Yes, although "Crossing Guandong" is very popular, it is not the annual ratings champion. The TV series with the highest ratings.

"Crossing the Guandong" did have a very high rating. It was launched on January 2, 2008, with an average rating of 7.7 and a peak rating of 11.84, setting a record for the highest ratings of CCTV's opening drama of the year.

However, there are stronger ones among the strong. The ratings champion of that year was the phenomenal hit drama "The Legend of Bruce Lee" with an average rating of 7.9.

But what "Crossing the Guandong" failed to do, "Going West" did!

"Going West" was launched in the following year, that is, on January 2, 2009, as CCTV's opening drama of the year.

In the end, with an average rating of 9.6 and a peak average rating of 12.47, it easily won the ratings champion of 2009, beating "The Hidden", "Dwelling Narrowness", "My Brother is Shunliu", "Let's Watch Meteor Shower" and other dramas.

Therefore, Wei Wu was of course very impressed by this TV series. High hopes are placed on it, hoping that it can also win the annual ratings championship.

Of course, the premise of all this is that this drama must be the opening drama of CCTV in 2009, which may achieve this achievement.

But CCTV may not accept it, but it is not a big problem.

After all, "Crossing the Guandong" has brought up the popularity. If it is broadcast on other TV stations, even if it does not win the annual ratings championship, it will always be no problem to get the annual ratings in the top three.

In fact, Wei Wu can shoot "Going West" by himself, so why did he bring Kong Ran in?

Except for himself, I am afraid that others would not think that he wanted to take advantage of the popularity of "Crossing the Guandong".

After all, "Crossing the Guandong" will not be broadcast for another six months. Who can think of this? Wei Wu is actually going to take advantage of the popularity of a TV series that will not be broadcast until six months later.

And Wei Wu is going to direct this drama himself If he was acting by himself, he would of course need a capable assistant to help him, so Wei Wu invited Kong Sheng to be the deputy director.

Kong Sheng had no objection, after all, he didn't have much capital to be arrogant now.

After all, up to now, his most famous drama is "Qianmenlouzi Jiuzhangjiu". This drama didn't win any awards, so the ratings were just so-so!

To put it bluntly, he is now far less famous than Guo Jinyu. Guo Jinyu has been nominated for the Magnolia Best Director for at least two consecutive years!

But then again, Wei Wu could have waited until "The Hidden" was finished before filming "Going West", so why was he in such a hurry?

The reason is very simple, the audience's tastes are different in different periods.

The audience's tastes are constantly changing. Sometimes a certain type of subject matter suddenly becomes popular, which is brought up by a hot drama, but that trend is fleeting.

The reason why Wei Wu was so anxious to launch this drama was mainly to catch up with the popularity of "Crossing Guandong".

The three major population migrations in my country's history were:

Break through Guandong, take the west exit and go to Nanyang.

After "Crossing Guandong" became popular in the previous life, the next two themes, "Walking to the West Exit" and "Going to Nanyang" were immediately made into TV series of the same name, which were successively broadcast on CCTV in 2009 and 2011 respectively.

However, only the first two parts of this series received very high ratings, and the third part was a complete failure.

Moreover, the first two series were broadcast on CCTV's first channel, but "Go to Nanyang" was broadcast on CCTV's eighth channel.

In addition, the ratings of the three films are getting lower and lower: "Crossing the Guandong" 9.3, "Going to the West Exit" 7.6, and "Going to Nanyang" 6.5.

It can also be seen from the ratings that the reputation of "Walking to the West" is not as good as that of "Enter Guandong", but why can its ratings be so high?

In fact, to a large extent, it is because of the popularity of "Crossing Guandong".

And they are all CCTV's new year dramas. When the audience hears this name, they naturally think that this is a companion piece to "Crossing Guandong".

Another point is that in fact, the ratings of TV series are not completely positively related to word-of-mouth.

Some TV series with poor reputations have particularly high ratings, such as "Motherhood", which ranked second in the annual ratings.

On the contrary, some TV series with very good reputations have poor ratings, such as "The Ming Dynasty 1566" with a Douban score of 9.8.

Filming other TV series may not necessarily be a hit, but filming this "Walking to the West" is 100% popular, and Kong Shu also happens to be the second director of "Enter Guandong".

It’s not just Kong Shu either. Li Feng and Sun Molong are the photographers of “Crossing the Guandong”, and Jian Chuan is the casting director of “Crossing the Guandong”.

There are already 4 people, so it shouldn’t be a problem for Wei Wu to promote the film as “created with the hard work of the original team behind “Crossing the Guandong””.

It's a pity that Zhang Xinjian, the chief director of "Enter Guandong", couldn't recruit him, otherwise this banner would have been more upright!

However, there is one thing to say. The reason why the rating of "Walking to the West Exit" is much lower than that of "Enter Guandong" has a lot to do with its behind-the-scenes team, including the cast.

Comparing the two, "Crossing the Guandong" was directed by Zhang Xinjian and Kong Shu; "Walking to the West Exit" was directed by Li Sanlin.

Kong Shuo is a well-known director with a long list of popular dramas; and apart from "Walking to the West Exit", few people know about the film and television dramas directed by Li Sanlin.

The screenwriter of "Crossing Guandong" is Gao Mantang, whose representative works include "Wenzhou Family", "Old Tavern", "South and North", etc.; and the screenwriter of "Going to the West Exit" is Yu Zhixian, whose representative work is "Genghis Khan".

As for the cast, the gap is even bigger!

The starring roles of "Crossing Guandong" are Li Youbin, Sarina, Song Jia, Niu Li, Zhu Yawen and others.

The starring roles in "Walking to the West Exit" are Du Chun, Miao Pu, Fu Dalong and Zhang Jiawenhan.

It is not difficult to see that the two dramas have quite different lineups, both in front of and behind the scenes, so it is normal for the ratings to be lower.

Now Wei Wu has polished the script and corrected several flaws in the original play.

For example, in episode 26, Doudou goes to prison to exchange for Cuihua. Cuicui was tortured by Governor Xia at the county government office and her legs were injured, so she could only sit there.

After Douhua and Cuicui changed clothes, how could Cuicui escape from prison alone?

Another example is episode 48. Tian Qing talked with Shouhou in prison, and he analyzed that Liang Mandun had the idea to harm him.

But the next day, when Tian Yaozu taught him a lesson, he couldn't remember it for a while, and changed his story and said that Bao Jinzhong was the one responsible.

There were many other minor bugs, all of which were corrected by Wei Wu.

At that time, we can also work more on props and scenery to restore the historical weight as much as possible.

In short, in Wei Wu's view, it is obviously impossible for this drama to reach the level of "Enter Guandong".

But if you just raise the score to above 8 points, it shouldn't be a big problem.

"Well, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Kong Shuo said politely: "I mainly want to ask about your thoughts on casting?"

Wei Wu pondered and said: "As for the casting, let me tell you my thoughts first -

"First of all, the male lead, Tian Qing, must be me. After all, I have said before that I direct and act myself!"

This role was played by Du Chun in his previous life. In fact, Du Chun was only three years older than Wei Wu, not much different.

I have to say that in the early days, Du Chun had really good resources. His father paved the way for him, and it was really clear.

The first drama "The Legend of the Flag Hero" in which he played the leading role was broadcast on CCTV's eight prime-time slots, and it was also the opening drama of 2007.

Later in 2008, "Depot No. 51" premiered on CCTV's prime time series. In the same year, "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp" premiered on CCTV's eight prime time series. "Walking to the West Exit" was the opening drama of CCTV's first series in 2009.

Du Chun starred in the first four TV series in his acting career, two of which were CCTV one-set, and two CCTV eight-set, and they were all prime time. At this time, Du Chun can be called the "son of CCTV".

"And as for the heroine Douhua, our company really doesn't have a particularly suitable candidate, so let's give it to Fan Bingbing! After all, she has the best acting skills!"

Douhua is a woman with a strong personality who dares to love and hate. This role was played by Miao Pu in the original drama, and her performance was pretty good.

But her age is too different from Wei Wu's. She was born in 1977, 7 years younger than Wei Wu, and she herself doesn't look very young.

Wei Wu felt that her acting opposite him would not have a sense of cliché. In fact, she and Du Chun have nothing to do with each other.

When Wei Wu watched the play, he felt that she didn't look like Du Chun's wife, but more like a big sister, or the kind of child bride who brought Du Chun up since childhood.

In fact, one of the important reasons why she got this role was because she was from Shaanxi.

"Xikou" refers to the passes of the Great Wall in Shanxi, so who are the main people going there? In fact, it is the people from northern Shanxi and northern Shaanxi.

Kong Ran listened carefully to Wei Wu and continued:

"As for the second male Liang Mantun, I plan to give it to Fu Dalong."

This role is Tian Qing's brother-in-law, who is narrow-minded, timid, and calculating. He went to Xikou with Tian Qing.

In order to make a name for himself in Baotou, he was determined to become a "Chen Shimei", divorced his child bride Tian Dandan, became the son-in-law of Mr. Qiu, turned against Tian Qing, and finally died in the hands of the warlord.

The original play was played by Fu Dalong, who really brought this role to life, and interpreted Liang Mantun's early stupidity and later evilness vividly.

However, it is not surprising that he has such acting skills, because just one year before the filming of this drama, that is, in 2007, Fu Dalong had just won the Golden Rooster Award and the Huabiao Award for the movie "Tengu" released in 2006.

This means that at this time, Fu Dalong was already a double actor, so is there any need to say more about his acting skills?

In fact, the best actors in this drama are not the male and female protagonists, but the two villains.

One is Liang Mantun played by Fu Dalong, and the other is Tian Yaozu played by Hou Tianlai.

Teacher Hou Tianlai is worthy of being a national first-level and third-level actor.

Whether it is the perverted boss Hou Dengke, the wretched editor-in-chief Wang Xiansheng, the spy chief Lan Yaoting, the corrupt cadre Chen Qingquan, or the gambling prodigal son like Tian Yaozu.

In short, Hou Tianlai can easily play all kinds of villains, and he is familiar with them, which makes people applaud!

So Wei Wu did not plan to change the third male lead Tian Yaozu, and still let Hou Tianlai play.

But then again, Liang Mantun played by Fu Dalong can suppress Du Chun's Tian Qing to a certain extent, but he certainly can't suppress Wei Wu's Tian Qing.

Hearing this somewhat unfamiliar name, Kong Ran asked tentatively:

"Is it the one who just won the Golden Rooster Award this year?"

Wei Wu nodded and said, "Yes, that's him."

Fu Dalong's appearance is a little disadvantageous. If he was a little more handsome, he would have been famous a long time ago.

When he played "Going West", he had already won the double award for Best Actor, and also starred in a popular drama with the annual ratings champion, but he still didn't become popular. The drama was popular but the actor was not.

Wei Wu talked about the second female lead of this drama again: "As for the second female lead Qiu Qiaoqiao, I think there must be an actor from Shanxi or Shaanxi among the leading actors, so let's give it to Jing Tian!"

This role was played by Zhang Jiawenhan in the original drama.

Qiu Qiaoqiao is the only daughter of the owner of a leatherwork shop. She lost her mother at a young age and was spoiled by her father, which made her arrogant and domineering.

She fell in love with the handsome and free-spirited Tian Qing, who was both civil and military, and wanted to recruit Tian Qing as her son-in-law, but was rejected. She had no choice but to settle for the second best and marry Liang Mantun.

Liang Mantun and Tian Qing became enemies and secretly harmed Tian Qing. When Qiu Qiaoqiao learned all this, she was completely desperate for Liang Mantun, kicked Liang Mantun out of the house, sold the family property and gave it to Tian Qing to atone for Liang Mantun's sins.

Wei Wu knew that Kong Sheng didn't know Jing Tian, ​​so he introduced her briefly:

"She is a friend of mine, from Xi'an, who just passed the Beijing Film Academy this year and is going to be a freshman in September."

"Oh", Kong Sheng nodded.

Of course he didn't know who Wei Wu was talking about, but it didn't matter, after all, Qiu Qiaoqiao's role was not that important.

Compared with Tian Qing, Liang Mantun and Douhua, Qiu Qiaoqiao's role was much less.

Then Kong Sheng asked another question that he was very concerned about:

"When will we shoot this drama?"

Wei Wu pondered for a moment and said: "The post-production of my "Snow Leopard" may not be completed until the end of July, and then I will go to Thailand to shoot "Lost in Thailand" in August. The shooting and production, post-production will take about three or four months!

"August, September, October, November, so it should start in late November or early December!"

"Okay, I know."

Kong Sheng calculated in his mind and found that there was about half a year left. As a period drama, the preparation time was just enough.

Wei Wu said: "Because I really don't have time in the next few months, then I'll trouble you with the pre-production of this drama!"

Kong Sheng nodded and said: "Okay, leave it to me! I will definitely do it properly!"

Wei Wu raised his teacup and nodded: "Okay, thank you for your hard work!"

"You are too polite, this is all I should do..."